Class 10 English Poem 11 Solution – For Anne Gregory (William Butler Yeats) | SEBA Assam

Class 10 English Poem 11 – For Anne Gregory – All Textual Solutions | ASSEB Assam (English Medium)

Class 10 English Poem 11 – For Anne Gregory Complete Textual Question Answers and Solutions (ASSEB / SEBA Assam – English Medium)

The eleventh and final poem of the Class 10 English textbook ‘First Flight’, titled ‘For Anne Gregory’ by the legendary Irish poet William Butler Yeats, is a deeply philosophical and conversational piece. Based on the latest guidelines of the new ASSEB (Assam State School Education Board) syllabus and the New Education Policy (NEP) for upcoming board exams, we have prepared complete textual question answers and solutions for this poem. This special compilation includes very short answers (VSA), short questions, long answers, and poetic device explanations. At Ospin Academy, these solutions are provided in an easy, accurate, and completely exam-oriented format.

This poem is structured as a conversation between a young man and a young woman named Anne Gregory. It explores the universal theme of physical beauty versus inner beauty. The poet tells Anne that young men are merely attracted to her beautiful physical appearance, particularly her stunning “yellow hair,” and not for who she truly is inside. Anne argues that she can change her hair color, hoping someone will love her for her inner self. However, the poet concludes with a religious truth: only God has the capacity to love a human being entirely for their soul, rather than their physical looks. For board candidates, understanding this deep thematic message and the conversational tone is extremely important. Our textual solutions cover not only the textbook exercise questions but also extra important questions and answers that may appear in the exams, helping students prepare thoroughly.

What you will learn and get from these textual solutions:

• Detailed summary and analysis of the poem’s central theme regarding superficial love vs. spiritual love.
• Perfect answers for 1-mark very short questions (VSA objective type) and 2-3 mark short questions.
• Simple and standard solutions for 4-5 mark long questions and extract-based stanza explanations.
• Proper knowledge of poetic devices, metaphor, and the rhyme scheme used in the poem.
• Solutions for the latest pattern MCQ questions along with important questions according to the new syllabus.

Special benefits of these Ospin Academy solutions:

• Complete textual solutions prepared on the basis of the latest ASSEB new syllabus.
• 100% accurate, high-quality notes written in simple English that are easy for students to memorize (Class 10 English Notes).
• Specially curated easy-to-understand answers for quick revision before exams.
• A special collection of extra important questions from ‘For Anne Gregory’ for the board examinations.

Keeping in mind the academic upliftment of the students, Ospin Academy has brought forward these special textual solutions. Start your board exam preparation now and step forward towards scoring the highest marks in English.

Chapter 10

For Anne Gregory

Thinking about the Poem

Q.1 What doesthe young man mean by “great honey coloured/Ramparts at your ear?” Why does he say the young men are “thrown into despair” by them?

Ans.: “By the honey-coloured ramparts “, the young man means the golden coloured hair locks of his lover that hung around her ears. By “ thrown into despair ”, the poet means that the hairs were so attractive that young men gained a strong desire to love her. They loved her for her beautiful hair and not for what she actually was as a person.

Q.2 What colour is the women’s hair? What does she say she can change it to? Why would she want to do so?

Ans.: The colour of young woman ’s hair is grey and yellow like gold. She wished that her hairs changed to brown or black instead of golden because she wanted her lover to love her for her personality not because of her golden hair.

Q.3 Objects have qualities which make them desirable to others.Can you think of some objects (a car, a phone, a dress …..) and say what qualities make one object more desirable than other? Imagine you were trying to sell an object: what qualities would you emphasise?

Ans.: The physical and utility qualities of objects make them desirable as people tend to get attracted to these qualities. When choosing a car, we are generally affected by the way it looks and the style it imparts to the riders. Only after looking at the physical traits we shift to other traits like utility and specifications. If I would be willing to sell an object then I would like to emphasize on the utility and the performance traits of it. This is so because the physical characteristics tend to wither over time and lose their sheen but favourable utility characteristics will remain with the object for far long.

Q.4 What about people ? Do we love others because we like their qualities, whether physical or mental? Or is it possible to love someone “for themselves alone”? Are some people ‘more lovable ’ than others? Discuss this question in pairs or in groups, considering points like the following:

(i) a parent or caregiver’s love for a newborn baby, for a mentally or physically challenged child; for a clever child or a prodigy?

(ii) the public’s love for a film star, a sportsperson, a politician, or a social worker.

(iii) your love for a friend, or brother or sister.

(iv) your love for a pet, and the pet’s love for you.

Ans.: There is no denying the fact that the liking of an individual is highly dependent on the physical appearance and mental maturity shown at the times of interaction. Indeed some people are more lovable, but this choice depends on the individual preferences and there is no hard lined rule for this.

(i) A parent ‘s love for a newborn baby or a mentally or physically challenged child depends only on the emotional connect and the feeling of belongingness. A parent will like the child irrespective of the mental and physical abilities but in practical terms cleverness of the child is the next benchmark for the liking.

(ii) The public’s love for a film star, a sports person, a politician , a film star or sports person is based on his/her performance in the respective genre. This means that this love will eventually wither if these individuals fail to deliver on their respective jobs.

(iii) The love for siblings is basically an emotional connect . There is hardly any materialistic stance to this emotional attachment and therefore this love will remain unchanged even in the face of most difficult situations.

(iv) Love for the pets and vice versa is dependent on the compatibility between the two parties at a given instant. This means that the degree of belongingness and emotional connect can vary over time.

Q.5 You have perhaps concluded that people are not objects to be valued for their qualities or riches rather that for themselves. But elsewhere Yeats asks the questions: How can we separate the dancer from the dance? Isit possible to separate ‘the person himself or herself’ from how the person looks,sounds, walks and so on? Think of how you or a friend or member of your family has changed over the years . Has your relationship also changed? In what way?

Ans.:  The general idea of liking is based on the fact that every person has some basic characteristics that make them likable. These traits can be physical, mental or some vocational abilities.

It is obviously difficult to see someone beyond their traits, but once someone develops a level of liking for the person, it hardly matters whether the abilities remain the same or change. At personal interaction level, it is possible to make the distinction between the characteristics and the personality of the people.

There were many friends in school but over the time this number got on reducing as new people started to come in everyone’s lives. One of the friends of that time is still with me; his nature, preferences, likings and the stance towards the life has changed a lot and obviously it has affected our relationship dynamics in one way or another but the level of belongingness and attachment remains constant. This shows that even in the light of changes, strong relationships remain intact.