The Lake Isle of Innisfree by William Butler Yeats (Grade 12 NSC Matric English FAL): Revision Notes

The Lake Isle of Innisfree by William Butler Yeats

Summary

This beautiful poem expresses the speaker's deep longing to escape city life and find peace on the island of Innisfree. The speaker presents Innisfree in an idealised manner, describing the magical qualities of different times of day and the complete solitude and peace he hopes to achieve there. Throughout the poem, the speaker directly connects peace with nature, revealing that his intense dreams about reaching Innisfree stem from living in an environment that lacks the natural elements essential to his happiness.

Themes

Yeats explores three interconnected themes in this poem: nature, peace, and spirituality. These themes work together to create the poem's central message.

Nature and spirituality

The speaker fantasises about creating a solitary, peaceful life on Innisfree, an uninhabited island in Ireland. He presents nature as having incompatible virtues with modern life, suggesting that returning to nature offers unique spiritual rewards. When describing Innisfree, the speaker uses mystical language, praising the natural world as a strong spiritual force.

Religious references continue throughout, such as "the veils of morning" - a metaphor comparing early morning mist to head coverings worn for religious purposes.

Escape from urban life

The contrast between city and nature becomes clear in the final stanza. The speaker reveals he currently stands "on the roadway, or on the pavements grey" - both unnatural manifestations. This grey urban environment prevents him from achieving the peace and happiness he seeks. The poem questions whether meaningful connection with nature is possible in modern civilisation.

Structure and form

The poem consists of 12 lines arranged in three quatrains with an ABAB CDCD EFEF rhyme scheme. This straightforward structure supports the poem's themes, but closer examination reveals sophisticated formatting choices that make this poem a classic.

Literary devices

Yeats employs several important literary techniques that enhance the poem's meaning and emotional impact:

Alliteration

Found in line 2 of the third quatrain: "I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore." This creates a gentle, flowing sound that mimics the water's movement.

Repetition

The repeated use of "I" when read aloud creates an auditory effect reminiscent of waves. Additionally, "grey" rhymes both with "day" at the end of its line and with "roadway" within the same line, creating internal rhyme.

Imagery

One of the most important techniques in the poem. Consider these lines from stanza two: "And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, / Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings." These words appeal to multiple senses, encouraging readers to feel, hear, and see the scene.

Analysis: stanza by stanza

Stanza one

"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 declaring his intentions to travel to Innisfree. The repetition of "go" twice in the first line emphasises the importance and determination of this action. He plans to build a small cabin from natural materials (clay and wattles - sticks and rods), suggesting he will be the only inhabitant. His dreams include practical elements like growing beans and keeping bees, showing this isn't just romantic fantasy but a concrete plan for self-sufficient living.

Stanza two

"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."

This stanza provides the reasoning behind his desire to travel to Innisfree: to find peace. Yeats establishes a metaphorical relationship between peace and nature, describing peace as "dropping slow" from morning mist to cricket sounds. The poet continues by describing three different times of day and their magical qualities on the lake isle: midnight glimmers, noon glows purple, and evening fills with the sound of linnets (small brown and grey finches).

Stanza three

"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."

The speaker returns to reality, revealing he's been daydreaming about the scenes on Innisfree while actually standing in an urban environment. He repeats his intention to leave, but this constant repetition raises questions about whether he will actually go or if this dream exists only in his mind.

The contrast between the natural sounds he imagines ("lake water lapping") and his current urban setting ("roadway," "pavements grey") becomes clear. The poem concludes sombrely - the haunting sounds of Innisfree are heard not in his head but "in the deep heart's core", suggesting this longing has become an obsession that may never be fulfilled.

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