Introduction of the Poem:
The poem entitled The Lake Isle of Innisfree is remarkable for the purity of heart. It has autobiographical essence. It was published in the volume entitled The Rose. When Yeats wrote this poem, he was staying in London. He did not like London and craved for a life he had once lived in childhood at Sligo. It was a period of his life when he had begun to develop a love for solitude. Sligo was a land full of beautiful natural scenery. In the present poem the poet feels that life of materialism is not the life of pleasure. Being tired of materialistic life, he wants to escape to the Island of Innisfree. He hates the modern world of fret and fear, of science and materialism, or logic and crookedness. He wants true peace and joy, so for this purpose he imagines an ideal place of Innisfree. This Island is located on the off shore of Lough Gill in Sligo County. Though this Island is an ordinary Island but the poet's imagination has transformed it into an ideal Island.
Stanzawise Summary of the Poem:
Stanza 1:
I will arise ……………………………………the bee-loud glade.
The poet is greatly wearied of the hustle and bustle of this world. He desires to escape into the peaceful and lonely atmosphere of Innisfree. When he sees a fountain in a shop-window, he recollects his emotions associated with the Lake Isle of Innisfree. He makes up his mind to go to the lake country which is the ideal world of beauty, peace and eternal bliss. He wishes to settle there. He thinks that he would live there all by himself. He would build there a beautiful small hut with mud and sticks. For his livelihood, he would engage himself in farming. He would plant there nine rows of bean to serve as a vegetable garden. He would cultivate bee-hives there where the bees would supply him with fresh honey. He would live all alone in the valley resounding with the humming of the bees. He wishes to live in these ideal surroundings which would fulfil his inner urge.
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| W.B. Yeats' Poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree—Summary and Critical Analysis |
Stanza 2:
And I shall have ……………………………………..the linnet’s wings.
Being tired of the noisy and disturbed life of London, the poet has decided to go to Innisfree. He would enjoy the peace of mind in the island of Innisfree, which is his dreamland. Here he would not be troubled by unnecessary noise and tension of the world. He thinks that if he lives in a modest cottage made beside the lake of Innisfree and leads a natural life there, he would gradually enjoy the peace which Nature gives away in plenty. In this island peace slowly descends from the veil of the dim light of morning. It remains there from morning to evening when the crickets start singing. The misty and foggy dawn greeted with the songs of crickets would give him rest and serenity unknown to the people of the town. There the midnights glimmer with faint light and the noons are aglow with purple light. The evenings in this island are musical with the rustle of the fluttering wings of the linnet. In this way, the poet would like to live there in perfect peace surrounded by beauty. All the sights, sounds and other activities taking place in the atmosphere of Innisfree would make the poet calm, quiet and cheerful. He would enjoy the bliss of Nature far away from the madding crowd and the ignoble strife of the modern world.
Stanza 3:
I will arise ……………………………………deep heart’s core.
The poet is extremely fed up of worldliness. He wants to leave the city of London for natural joy and he thinks that mental peace may be attained in a place like the isle of Innisfree. The attraction of Lake Isle of Innisfree is irresistible. He is prepared to get up and go there at once, because the association of that enchanted island invites him every moment. Even while living in London he enjoys the sights and sounds of that island in his imagination. When he walks along the road or on the dusty footpaths, he hears in his heart the murmuring sound of the waves striking against the sea-shore. Even noise of the streets of London cannot suppress this musical sound that he hears in the innermost part of his heart. The magic power of the enchanted island overpowers him and he always remains lost in its thoughts.
Critical Analysis of the Poem:
Introduction:
The poem entitled “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” is an example of Romantic escapism. It was published in the volume The Rose (1893). The poet's Thoreau-like dream of living a solitary life on an island in Lough Gill (Sligo) has been immortalised in this poem. The poem can be called tranquility recollected in emotions. It shows that the poet is an escapist. He becomes disgusted with aimless life of London. He feels that the life of materialism is not the life of pleasure. Being tired of materialism, he wants to escape to the Island of Innisfree. This island is located on the off shore of Lough Gill in Sligo County. Though this is an ordinary island but poet's imagination has transformed it into an ideal place.
Thought-Content:
When the poet sees a fountain in a shop-window, he recollects his emotions associated with the Lake Isle of Innisfree. He decides to go to the lake country—the ideal world of beauty, peace and eternal bliss, and settle there. He thinks that he would make there a small cottage of clay and twigs for his shelter. He would grow beans in rows and rear honey-bees for his livelihood. The misty and foggy dawn greeted with the songs of crickets would give him rest and serenity unknown to the people of the city. The faint and unsteady light of the midnight, the bright golden light of the noon and the hovering linnets of the evening—all would make him calm, quiet and cheerful. The poet hears in the innermost depth of his heart the lake water striking rhythmically against the sea-shore.
Sensuous Word-Picture:
The pictures of small cabin made of clay and wattle, the rows of bean and the hive of the honey-bee are very superb. The "midnight's all a glimmer" and "noon a purple glow" create enchanting beauty. The music of the poem heightened by the humming of bees, the song of cricket, the rustle of linnet's wing and the lapping of waves leave an indelible impression on the mind.
"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 along in the bee-loud glade."
Style and Language:
This is a lyrical poem consisting of three stanzas of four lines each. The words culled for the purpose are soft and monosyllabic. The studiously careful rhythmical structure is equally effective. Some use is made of repetition, but little of inversion. There is no rigid syllabic structure, the number of syllables to the lines ranging from eight to fifteen. The accented vowels vary greatly in the amount of time that they force the tongue to linger over them:
"I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee."
The emotional effect of the poem is also heightened by the subtle interaction of vowel-music and consonant values, combining a preponderance of open, vowels with a judicious use of alliteration and sibilants, to suggest the bees and linnets, crickets and lapping water. This might seem, at first, to be nothing but the familiar device of onomatopoeia, but that is no more than the stem upon which a variety of other devices is grafted.