Summary of 'For Anne Gregory' by W.B. Yeats

The poem is written as a conversation between the poet and a young, beautiful woman named Anne Gregory. In the first stanza, the poet tells Anne that young men will fall in despair (become heartbroken) over her, but they are not really in love with her soul. They are completely hypnotized by her magnificent, yellow (blonde) hair. He compares her beautiful hair to a 'rampart' (a castle wall) around her ear. He states clearly that men love her only for her outer physical beauty, not for the person she is inside.

Anne Gregory confidently replies to the poet. She says that physical beauty is temporary and can be easily changed. If men only love her for her yellow hair, she says she can easily dye her hair black, brown, or carrot (red) tomorrow. She wants to prove that her physical appearance is just an external decoration. She hopes that if she makes herself look less beautiful, a young man will eventually look past her hair and love her for 'herself alone' (her inner personality and soul).

In the final stanza, the poet shatters her innocent hope. He says he recently heard an old religious man declare a profound truth found in an ancient text. The truth is that human beings are fundamentally shallow. It is absolutely impossible for any human man to love a woman purely for her inner soul while ignoring her outer physical beauty. Only God has the divine capacity to look past the yellow hair and love a person unconditionally for who they truly are.