Class 10 English Chapter 1 Question Answers - First Flight

Q.1. What does the young woman wish?
Ans: The young woman wishes that she should be loved for herself alone and not for her yellow hair. She says that she could dye her hair brown, black, or carrot-coloured.

Q.2. Would the young man love her for herself alone?
Ans: The young man’s desires have been frustrated for want of hope because he has fallen from grace. He will never love her for herself alone, though he might love her yellow hair.

Q.3. Why is the youth in despair in the poem “For Anne Gregory”?
Ans: The young man loves Anne. He is attracted to her external beauty. He feels that young men are in despair because of her exquisite beauty.

Q.4. What did the religious man tell the poet?
Ans: The religious man told the poet that he found a book to prove that only god could love her for her spiritual beauty and not for her physical beauty.

Q.5. What colour is the young woman’s hair? What does she say she can change it to? Why would she want to do so?
Ans. The young woman’s hair is yellow. She says that she could get her hair dyed to brown, black or carrot colour. She would change the colour of her hair so that the young men in despair would love her only and not her yellow hair. She wanted them to love her for what she was and not for her appearance such as her hair colour.

Q.6. How will the hair dye help Anne?
Ans. The hair dye will help Anne change the colour of her hair from yellow to brown or black or carrot. Thus she would prove that a young lover loves her for herself alone and not for her yellow hair.

Q.7. What did the text say?
Ans. The text said that it is God alone who loves you for yourself alone.

Q.8. What did the young lady expect?
Ans. The young lady expected that her lover should love her for herself only.

Q.9. What is the central idea of the poem ‘For Anne Gregory’?
Ans. The central theme of the poem is that young God often loves appearances of the real person. Everyone wants that he or she should el lover for or she what he or she looks like. The poet feels that only

Q.10. What does the old religious man have to say?
Ans. The old religious man says that he has found a text which proves that only God could love us for ourselves alone and not for physical beauty. He is the one who truly loves us.

Q.11. To whom is the first stanza of the poem addressed? What does the speaker say to her?
Ans. The first stanza of the poem is addressed to a lady named Anne Gregory. She had a great influence on the poet. He had great respect for her. He tells her that although she is a noble lady, yet nobody would love her for herself alone.

Q.12. What does the woman say she can do to make herself more desirable to young men? What does this show?
Ans. The woman says that she would dye her hair brown, black or in carrot colour. This shows that young men give more importance to physical appearance than inner beauty.

Q.13. What does the religious man tell the poet about God’s love for man?
Ans. The religious man has told the poet that he has found a religious text. According to that, God loves a person, not for his or her physical qualities. He loves human beings for their inner qualities.

Q.14. What are those ‘great honey-coloured ramparts’ at the ears of that young lady? What is the poetic device used here?
Ans. The blonde hair of Anne Gregory is honey-coloured. The long honey-coloured hair falls in curls covering her ears. The long hair falling on the ears looks like the wide walls or ramparts around a fort. The poet uses ‘metaphor’ quite effectively to produce the desired effect.

Q.15. Why should a young man never love a young woman for ‘herself alone’
Ans. A young man is generally attracted by the outward appearance of a young woman. Her beautiful face or her blonde hair may attract him towards her. A young man may never love a woman for what she is. He never loves her for ‘herself alone’.

Q.16. What does the lady want to do and why?
Ans. The young lady, Anne Gregory doesn’t like that a young man should love her for her external appearance or her beautiful yellow hair. External appearances can easily be changed. She can dye her hair black, brown or carrots, the way she likes. She wants that she should be loved not for her yellow hair but for ‘herself alone’.

Q.17. Why doesn’t the young woman like to be loved for her yellow hair? What does she want to prove?
Ans. The young lady has a point to prove. She wants to prove that she can change her external appearance or the colour of her hair easily. She can dye her hair brown, black or of carrot’s colour. But she doesn’t want to be loved for her beautiful long yellow hair. She should be loved for `herself alone’ or for what she is.

Q.18. What did the old religious man declare? What did he want to prove?
Ans. The poet heard an old religious man declare one truth the previous night. He quoted a text to prove his point. He wanted to prove that only God can love a woman for ‘herself alone’ without caring for her beautiful exterior or yellow hair. Human beings can’t resist external temptations or appearances.

Q.19. What is the difference between God’s attitude towards a young woman and the attitude of humans towards her?
Ans. God goes beyond external appearances. God loves a woman for ‘herself alone’. He pays no attention to her beautiful looks or yellow hair. On the other hand, humans can’t go beyond outward appearances and beautiful yellow hair.

Q.20. What is the theme or the central idea of the poem?
Ans.  In ‘For Anne Gregory’ W.B. Yeats gives a definite message. Human beings can’t go beyond external appearances. Their love is just skin-deep. A young woman like Anne Gregory may be liked and loved not for what she is but for the colour of her hair. Only godliness in man can penetrate and go beyond these physical appearances and see the inner beauty and nobility of the soul.