“Never shall a young man,

Thrown into despair

By those great honey-coloured

Ramparts at your ear,”

A. Who is the speaker of these lines? Who is he speaking to?

B. What does the young man mean by “honey-coloured ramparts?

C. What does the word “despair” mean?

A. These lines have been taken from W.B Yeats’ poem “For Anne Gregory” and the words have uttered by the poet himself.

Yeats has addressed these words to Anne Gregory, who helped Yeats in establishing the Abbey Theatre.

B. In these lines, Yeats is describing how the golden tresses as they fall over Anne Gregory’s ears and envelope them in a similar manner in which the ramparts surrounding a castle or a fort against invaders.

C. “Despair” refers to a miserable condition. In this context, the poet says that the young men are “thrown into despair” by the sight of the “honey coloured ramparts” of the lady because the presence of these strands of hair enveloping her ears enhance her beauty and the young men fall into despair as their love for them is heightened by the very charming appearance of the lady.