For Anne Gregory

The poet tells Anne that no young man thrown into despair by her great honey-coloured ramparts at her ear will love her for herself alone and not her yellow hair. Outward beauty, he suggests, blinds lovers.

The opening stanza is spoken to Anne Gregory. The poet declares that never shall a young man, thrown into despair by those great honey-coloured ramparts at her ear, love her for herself alone and not her yellow hair. The word 'ramparts' compares her hair to walls that defend or display beauty - men fall in love with the golden appearance, not the person within.

Anne answers that she can use hair-dye and set brown, black or carrot colour there, so that young men in despair may love her for herself alone, and not her yellow hair. She wants to test whether love can reach the real person.

Anne Gregory responds practically and playfully. She says she can get a hair-dye and set such colour there - brown, or black, or carrot - that young men in despair may love her for herself alone, and not her yellow hair. By changing what attracts them, she hopes to discover if anyone values her inner self rather than a single physical feature.

The poet reports that he heard an old religious man declare only the night before that he had found a text saying only God, my dear, could love Anne for herself alone, and not her yellow hair.

In the final stanza the poet shifts voice. He heard an old religious man but yesternight declare that he had found a text upon which was writ: 'Only God, my dear, / Could love you for yourself alone, / And not your yellow hair.' The poem ends on a serious, almost spiritual note - human love may always be tied to appearance; divine love alone may see the soul.

The poem contrasts outer beauty with inner worth. Anne wants genuine love; the poet is sceptical about human lovers; the religious man suggests only God loves truly. Yeats uses simple language but deep questions about identity and love.

Taken as a whole, the poem asks what it means to be loved 'for yourself alone'. Is physical beauty an obstacle to being known? Can people ever separate the person from the body they see? Yeats leaves the answer open: Anne's hope, the poet's doubt, and the old man's faith in God's pure love together create a thoughtful lyric suitable for discussion in class.