CBSE class 10 English First Flight Chapter 11 For Anne Gregory – Poem Summary: The poem “For Anne Gregory” is written in the form of a conversation. The conversational tone of the poem is in relation to Anne Gregory and W.B. Yeats. W.B. Yeats is the poet while Anne Gregory is a young girl. The poet is trying to tell that if a young man feels upset about Anne’s rejection of his proposal, then he is not a true lover in any sense. The young man might only be attracted toward her external beauty. And therefore, does not love her truly.
As per the poet’s opinion, a true lover is the one who has the capability to see beyond the outer looks. To this, Anne replies that she could change her hair colour and become less attractive in her external appearance. In this way, she might get a chance to find the true love of her life. But the poet concludes this conversation by giving the example of a religious man who had claimed that only God can see the real inner beauty of a person.
CBSE Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 11 For Anne Gregory – Poem Summary
The poem begins with the poet making a reference to Anne Gregory. He says that her gorgeous, honey-coloured hair can entice any man who comes across her. According to the poet, any man can fall in love with that hair. The poet is directly accrediting all her beautiful features. Going further ahead, the beautiful hair of Anne Gregory is compared with the walls.
The walls are used as symbols to show that outer beauty prevents anyone from peeping deep into her soul. By comparing her soul with the wall, the poet says that it is what keeps a man restricted from looking beyond that beauty and looking into Anne’s character. The poet also claims that no man can love Anne for her actual nature because they can only see the outer beauty. She will only be loved for her beautiful yellow hair and her exterior charm.
In the second stanza, Anne is replying to Yeats. She tells him that outside beauty is not the reality. What seems visible on the outside is not the actual thing and is not equally important. By taking the example of her own hair, she goes on to say that it is changeable. She can dye her hair to any colour- black, brown or carrot. By giving this example, she proves that outer beauty is temporary and does not hold true. Anyone who falls in love with her must look out for the actual inner beauty and not the superficial one. The young men who fall in love must see her inner self and not just her yellow hair.
In the concluding stanza, Yeats again replies to Anne’s thoughts on love and internal beauty. Yeats gives the example of a religious old man. This old man proclaimed that he had found a text where it is written that God only looks for inner beauty. The poet is trying to tell that humans do not have that kind of capability to look deeper into a human’s soul. They are always carried away by external beauty and do not bother enough to know a person beyond their external appearance. Therefore, the poet affirms that only God has the capability to love Anne beyond her external beauty.
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Important Word Meanings from the CBSE Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 11 For Anne Gregory – Poem Summary
Here you can check the word meaning for CBSE Class 10 English First Flight For Chapter 11 For Anne Gregory – Poem
- Alliteration: he had, your yellow
- Metaphor: honey-coloured Ramparts at your ear
- Here, Anne’s hair is compared to the ramparts of a fort
- Word Meanings:
- Despair: feeling sad
- Ramparts: Wide, high walls around a castle or fort
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