About the Poet: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was educated in London and Dublin and was interested in folklore and mythology. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
Summary of the poem: The poem is written as a conversation between the poet, Yeats, and a young girl named Anne Gregory. The poet tells her that if she finds a young boy who becomes sad because of her rejection, it doesn’t mean that he is a true lover. He could have been in love with her because of her beautiful yellow hair. It implies that the boy might be in love with her because of her attractive looks. The poet says that a true lover will be the one who will love her for her inner qualities and not her looks. Then, Anne says that she will change her looks by dying her hair into some other colour. She will become less attractive and then, maybe, she will find true love for herself. At last, the poet explains her that the previous night, he had heard some religious man saying that only God loves us for what we are. The conclusion is that God loves us for our inner beauty but never for our outward appearance.
“Never shall
a young man,
Thrown into
despair
By those
great honey-coloured
Ramparts at
your ear,
Love you for
yourself alone
And not your
yellow hair.”
Literary Devices:
Rhyme Scheme: abcbdb
Metaphor: honey-coloured Ramparts at your ear (Anne’s hair is compared to the ramparts of a fort)
“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 my
yellow hair.”
Literary Devices:
Rhyme Scheme: abcbdb
Alliteration: repetition of consonant ‘s’ sound at the start of two consecutive words. (Set Such)
“I heard an old religious man
But
yesternight 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.”
Literary Devices:
Rhyme Scheme: abcbdb
Anaphora: Repeated use of a word at the beginning of two lines (That he….That only god)
Alliteration: he had, your yellow
1- What does the young man mean by “great honey-coloured /Ramparts at your ear?” Why does he say that young men are “thrown into despair” by them?
Ans. The “great honey coloured/ Rampart at your ear” means the yellow coloured hair of the girl. Her ears are covered by her hair like a protective wall around a fort. Young men may fall in love with Anne because of such beautiful hair. They may be thrown into despair if she rejects them.
2. What
colour is the young woman’s hair? What does she say she can change it to? Why
would she want to do so?
Ans. The hair of young woman is yellow in colour. She says that she can change them to brown, black or carrot color by using a hair dye. She wants to do so to get rid of the lover who loves her for the yellow – coloured hair. She seeks a true lover - one who loves her for her inner beauty.
