Author: Ami Asija, Class XI E
My commentary on ‘For Anne Gregory’ by William Butler Yeats
The poem discusses the topic of love. Love arising from a “young man in despair” and why all he’d ever fall for would be the female’s (Anne’s) golden lovely hair and appearance, not her, her personality. The point arises that the man is young, therefore presumably naive and in despair, therefore hopeless. Does such an immature person deserve the interpretation of being seen in love?
Worse, Anne focuses on the concept of being loved by a man of such sort (for he is labeled as common) to an extent that she’s ready to degrade and undermine herself, ready to make her personality the spotlight of her being, when she should be able to live as herself, letting her beauty be another ornament.
Mother Abbess (The Sound of Music) once said “The love of a man and woman is holy too”, so why? Why is it implied that only God has the potential to love you for who you are? Surely, God is the one who knows you, the real you, but that doesn’t mean that humans are incapable of reaching that extent. Does knowing someone head to toe, past to future define love? Is knowing all you need? For the question arises, what is love?
I’ll try, but sincerely, words are mere. Love is the wind that blows from one to another with scents and history until they are one, it’s unheard and unseen by all others incapable of understanding, the color of their eyes staring into their pools, long enough to merge. Be one. The souls are so well acquainted, they need no words to express themselves, a silence singing everywhere.
And it’s everything, respect, unwavering support, memories, smiles, tears, hope, humanity, poetry, art, dance, nature, life.
Yet, it’s nothing. For what “all” is, is nothing at once. (God?)
So love is larger, love is surrender and victory, love is truce, allies, love leaves only one kingdom, of not an “I” or a “you”, of “us”. It can never come down to a word, a person, a poem, an analysis. And so the interpretation wanders as I hope Anne can go out in the world and feel it, for that is love.
