CBSE Class 10 English For Anne Gregory Worksheet

For Anne Gregory

“For Anne Gregory” by W. B. Yeats was published in 1933 as part of his collection of poetry entitled, ‘The Winding Stair and Other Poems’.
In 1898, Yeats met Lady Augusta Gregory, an aristocrat and a poet who shared his passion for old Irish folktales and legends. Lady Gregory encouraged him to write plays on this very theme, and together they established the Abbey Theatre. Anne Gregory, who is mentioned in this poem’s title, was Lady Gregory’s grand-daughter.

INTRODUCTION
‘For Anne Gregory’ is one of the best love poems by William Butler Yeats. In this poem, the love between a man and a woman is presented. Love is done by the core of one’s heart. It does not matter a little on love if the colour of the hair or the skin changes. The poet is in deep love for Anne Gregory and wants to love her in all forms.

GIST
Yeats is of the view that most people love others just because they attract them physically. The complexion of the skin and the colour of the hair are more important for us than the ‘real’ worth of a person. We rarely love people ‘for themselves alone’. Even the beautiful Anne Gregory is not liked or loved for her inner beauty or her rare qualities of head and heart, but for her beautiful yellow hair.
Shallow minded people adore only physical beauty. We should look for spiritual beauty before falling in love with a lady. Physical beauty is just skin-deep. It is momentary. Unfortunately, most of the people are attracted by the colour of the skin and hair. Only God can love a person for himself alone.

Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow :

1. But I can get a hair-dye
And set such colour there,
Brown or black, or carrot,
That young men in despair
May love me for myself alone
And not your yellow hair 

Question. What is the colour of her hair ?
(i) brown
(ii) black
(iii) carrot
(iv) yellow
Answer.(iv) yellow

Question. Find the word in the passage which means same as ‘hopelessness’.
(i) sorrow
(ii) despair
(iii) dejection
(iv) gloom
Answer.(ii) despair

Question. Who is ‘I’ in the stanza ?
(i) Anne
(ii) poet
(iii) reader
(iv) lady stranger
Answer.(i) Anne

Question. Name the poem.
(i) Amanda
(ii) For Anne Gregory
(iii) Fog
(iv) Dust of Snow
Answer.(ii) For Anne Gregory

OR

Question. What is the antonym of word ‘despair’ ?
(i) happiness
(ii) joyfulness
(iii) enjoyment
(iv) cheerfulness
Answer.(iv) cheerfulness

Question. How can she change her hair colour ?
(i) by bleaching
(ii) by painting
(iii) by hair-dye
(iv) by hair colouring
Answer.(iii) by hair-dye

Question. What is the rhyming scheme of the above stanza ?
(i) abcbdb
(ii) abccdb
(iii) aabbcd
(iv) abcdab
Answer.(i) abcbdb

Question. How does Anne want to be loved ?
(i) for her external beauty
(ii) for herself alone
(iii) for her good looks
(iv) for her nature
Answer.(ii) for herself alone

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1.”I heard an old religious man
But yester night declare
That he had found a text to prove
That only God, my dear,
Could love you for yourself alone and not your yellow hair.”
 

Question. What, according to the poet, is more essential in the eyes of God?
Answer.God loves an individual for himself/herself alone.

Question. How is God’s love different from the love of the young lovers?
Answer.Young lovers love her hair that represents physical beauty whereas God loves an individual for being himself/herself.

Question. What does the old man’s text prove?
Answer.That only God could love Anne for herself.

Question. What does ‘I’ refer to here?
Answer.The Poet, W. B. Yeats.
 

2.”But I can get a hair-dyeAnd set such colour there,
Brown, or black, or carrot,
That young man in despair
May love me for myself alone
And not my yellow hair.” 

Question. The speaker wants _________________________________.
Answer.That she should be loved for what she is and not for the colour of her hair. 

Question. What different colours have been mentioned in the extract?
Answer.Brown, black, carrot and yellow.

Question. Why does the speaker talk about changing the colour of hair?
Answer.So that she would be loved for what she is and not for the colour of her hair.

Question. Who does ‘I’ stand for?
Answer.Anne Gregory

Short Answer Questions :
 

Question.To whom is the first stanza of the poem addressed? What does the speaker say to her?
Answer. The first stanza of the poem is addressed to a lady named Anne Gregory. She had a great influence on the poet. He had great respect for her. He tells her that although she is a noble lady, yet nobody would love her for herself alone.

Question.What does the woman say she can do to make herself more desirable to young men? What does this show?
Answer. The woman says that she would dye her hair brown, black or in carrot colour. This shows that young men give more importance to physical appearance than inner beauty.

Question. What is the theme of the poem ‘For Anne Gregory’?
Answer. The poem conveys the idea that physical beauty may be important for young men or human beings. But God does not love human beings for their physical beauty. In this poem, the poet gives an example of a lover who loves the yellow hair of a young lady but does not like her ramparts. The lady disapproves his love.

Question. What makes a young man not to love the woman referred to in the first stanza?
Answer. The woman has beautiful yellow hair. But the outer part of her ears is not attractive. The poet says that never shall man love her only for herself.  

Long Answer Questions :

Question. People are not objects. They should be valued for being themselves. What lesson does the poet want to give to the readers through this poem?
Answer.Absolutely true. People are not objects. Appearances may be deceptive. A person should be liked and loved for being himself or ‘herself. Outwardly appearances do tempt and dazzle us. There may be many persons who would love to see Anne’s beautiful hair falling over her ears like the ramparts of a fort. Many would love Anne Gregory for her beautiful yellow hair. It would be difficult to find a real lover who loves Anne for `herself alone’. What is so great about yellow hair? Anne ridicules the idea of being loved for her yellow hair. She can dye her hair the way she likes — brown, black, carrot or yellow. But the irony of this world is that people will go on being tempted and dazzled by glamour, show and outwardly appearances. Only God can love a person for ‘himself or herself’ alone.

Question. Do we love people because we like their appearances or we are fascinated by their physical appearances? How does Anne Gregory want to be loved?
Answer. This is the world of pomp and show. Things and people are often liked and loved not because of their merit but because of their external appearances. Anne Gregory’s honey-coloured yellowish hair look like the ramparts of a fort when they fall on her ears. There are many who love Anne Gregory only for her yellow hair. However, Anne doesn’t like to be liked and loved this way. After all, how does the colour matter? She can dye her hair the way she likes. She can dye them brown, black, of carrot’s colour or the way she likes. If her lover likes only for her beautiful hair, she won’t accept him. She should be loved for `herself alone’. But this world doesn’t go by her wish. Only God can love a person for what he is. Human beings will go on being tempted by beautiful yellow hair.