For Anne Gregory

William Butler Yeats


About William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was an Irish nationalist. He was educated in London and Dublin, and was interested in folklore and mythology. He won the Noble Prize for Literature in 1923.

"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."

 

"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."

 

"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."

Available Answers

  1. 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?

  2. 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?

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