complete analysis of the poem

2. About William Butler Yeats William Butler
Yeats, more commonly known as, W.B. Yeats, was born
in Dublin, Ireland in 1865. He was educated in London
and was an instrumental figure in the defining years
of the 19th century. Yeats wrote both poetry and
plays, his early plays were focused mainly on
interpreting Irish legends and his own personal
spiritual beliefs. Later in his life, after 1910, his
work took a turn, becoming more experimental and
poetical. He would win the Nobel Prize for Literature
in 1923. During the last 16 years of his life, from
1923-1939, Yeats published a number of volumes of
poetry, containing what is now considered his best
work. During the decade in which Yeats wrote, The
Lake Isle of Innisfree, Ireland was in the midst of
significant financial struggles. It is possible that
Yeats cast himself as the speaker in this poem;
considering that Innisfree is an actual place, on
Lough Gill in County Sligo, Western Ireland, and that
when he was a boy Yeats’ family visited County Sligo.

3. I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
The Lake Isle of Innisfree

4. Form
This poem contains four quatrains (a
quatrain is a 4 line stanza)
This poem also contains a Rhyme Scheme
(a rhyme scheme occurs when there is a
definite pattern of end rhymes within a
poem)
This poem is a lyric poem (rich in musical
devices and expressing emotion)
It is NOT a free verse poem because it
contains a definite rhyme scheme

6. I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
The speaker begins by telling the reader of his intentions,
he will, “arise and go now,” to the isle of Innisfree. In this
first line, the word “go” is repeated twice, the Yeats made
this choice to provide special emphasis on the importance
of the speaker’s action. The speaker is determined, he
must, and will, go to Innisfree. The second line provides
additional details as to what he is going to do when he gets
there. He plans to create a “small” home for himself. The
use of the word “small” in this line gives the impression
that he is going to be the only one living in the house,
without any family or relations of any kind. He plans to
build the cabin from clay and wattles (sticks and rods).
Once he’s living in his small cabin, he dreams of having
“nine” rows of bean plants and a hive for presumably,
many honeybees, as in the next line, the glade (or small
clearing in a forest), is filled with their sound.

7. And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
The second quatrain, provides the reader with the
reasoning behind his desire to travel to Innisfree: to find
some peace. This stanza also contains the
important metaphorical relationship that Yeats sets up
between the notion of peace and nature. He describes
peace as “dropping slow,” “from the veils of…morning
to…the cricket[s].” Yeats relates peace to morning dew. In
the glade he will be surrounded by it, from the leaves on
the trees, to the grass on the ground, “where the cricket
sings.” Continuing on, the poet describes three more times
of day and the magical qualities they possess on the lake
isle of Innisfree. The imagery calls up sequences that
further emphasize the importance of the daydream to the
speaker, midnight “glimmer[s],” noontime glows purple,
and the evening is full of the beating of “linnet’s wings” (a
small brown and gray finch, with a reddish-brown breast).

8. I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
It is at this point in the poem that the speaker shakes
himself out of his daydream in which he has
described the scenes on the lake isle of Innisfree, and
begins to address the real world. Once again he states
he is going to leave for the isle, reinforcing the
importance of the other uses of “go” in the first
quatrain. This constant repetition of the action of
leaving his home to create a new one, presents the
question of, is he actually ever going to go? Has this
dream been something he is now going to realize or
does it only exist in his mind? These questions remain
pertinent as the poem concludes.

9. Yeats continues the stanza by telling the reader that the speaker hears
the water lapping at the shore all day and night. This dream has
become a mantra, it is an obsession that has come to haunt him, and it
is no more prevalent than when he “stand[s] on the roadway, or on
the pavements grey.” It is now evident that the speaker is wishing to
escape a world that is antithetical to his ideas of peace and happiness.
It seems that the speaker lives in a city, or at least somewhere in
which he is surrounded by roads and pavements, both of which are
not classical manifestations of nature.
The poem concludes on a very somber note. The poem’s last line, “I
hear it in the deep heart’s core” refers to the sounds of the waves
lapping on the shore. The haunting images of the lake isle of Innisfree
are heard not in his head but in his heart. The reader is left with
unanswered questions regarding the reality of the speaker’s plan to,
“go now, and go to Innisfree.” Will the speaker ever make it from his
current home to the peace he needs to achieve happiness? Or will he
remain in his city or town, stuck in a fantasy daydream he will never
realize?

10. Words to know
arise - to occur as a result from a particular situation / wake up and
go
cabin - a small house or shelter
clay - a type of heavy, sticky earth that becomes hard when it is
baked and is used to make things such as pots and bricks
wattles - sticks twisted together as a material for making fences,
walls
hive - a structure made for bees to live in
bee-loud glade - a small open area of grass in a wood or forest
peace - a situation or a period of time in which there is no war or
violence in a country
veils - a thin layer that stops one from seeing something
glimmer - a faint unsteady light
linnet - a small brown and grey bird of the FINCH family

11. lapping - touching something gently and regularly, often
making a soft sound
shore - the land along the edge of the sea or ocean
roadway - a road or the part of a road used by vehicles
pavements - a flat part of the side of a road for people to
walk on
grey - having the colour of smoke or ashes
core - the most important or central part of something
desires - strong wishes in a person to do something
urge - a strong desire or drive to do something
expectation - believe that something would happen, hope
for something
optimistic - a positive feeling that things would turn out well
paradise - a sanctuary or place where one can find peace and
harmony
determination - a drive to do something to achieve a goal
natural heritage - the natural environment, the environment
that we inherit

12. Themes of The Poem
The theme of the poem relates to the general idea or ideas running
throughout the poem. A poem may have one or more theme depending on
the subject of the poem the persona deals with and the experiences the
persona undergoes and inner desires of the persona. There are several
themes in the poem "The Lake Isle of Innisfree".
The themes are:
1. The need for peace and quiet
2. The need for preservation of nature
3. The inner drive for freedom and harmony
4. To be part and parcel of nature
5. To appreciate nature's wonders
6. To escape the hustle and bustle of city life
7. To be forward-looking or having a vision in life

13. 1. Rhyme Scheme: abab
2. Alliteration: The repetition of a consonant
sound in two or more closely placed
words is called alliteration. The instances
of alliteration in the poem are –
a.‘hive’, ‘honey bee’ - ‘h’ sound is repeated;
b.‘lake’, ‘lapping’, ‘low’ - ‘l’ sound is repeated
• Repetition: ‘I will arise and go now’ is
repeated in stanza 1 and 3
• Personification: morning is personified
• Metaphor: clouds are compared to veils