‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’Poem by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

By Mr. Dunford

Poem OverviewPoem Background InformationThe poem symbolises Yeats’ youth and establishes a contrast between busy London and the peaceful country. In London, he passed

by a fountain, and the water dropping into the pool of the fountain reminded him of the water of Lough Gill.

Poet Background InformationYeats was interested in all things that were Irish. This is seen in this poem, for he longs to return to County Sligo in western Ireland,

where he spent much of his youth. Yeats was influenced by American transcendentalists such as Thoreau, a movement about returning to nature.

Poem ContextYeats thought of the idea to write the poem on the busy London streets. When Yeats wrote the poem Ireland was going through

economic and political turmoil, and Yeats and his family were struggling financially. Ireland was an agricultural country in the nineteenth century, but British landlords controlled many farms. Farmers had fought for almost three centuries for greater say in their livelihood. In the 1880s, they finally achieved some success.

Poem Overview Continued

What it’s about?This poem is about peace, tranquillity and independence. The poem takes the reader to a small island in

the middle of the lake. The poem takes reader away from the fast paced city life. The poem’s speaker recollects Innisfree, journeying both emotional and spiritually to a place one enjoyed in youth. Although the speaker can not physically return to the lake, the speaker can return in thought.

Terminology‘wattles’: upright wooden poles or stakes through which sticks and branches are laced horizontally and

daubed with clay to make weatherproof walls.‘glade’: an open area in a woodland area ‘veils’: a head covering garment‘all a glimmer’: may refer to the light of the stars‘purple glow’: may refer to sunlight or flowers‘linnet’: a finch, a tiny bird that eats seeds‘roadway’: refers to Fleet Street in London, England

Contrasts: City and CountryContrasts: City and Country

FormTechniques and Analysis• Three quatrains (a stanza with four lines which may or may not have

a set line). Analysis/Effect: Simple form allows for intimacy with audience. Simplicity mirrors a desire to return to nature and is like nature quickly. Gives order and easily read, followed. Symbolic of beginning, middle, and end, stages of life. Order shows that the poet took his time writing the poem—illustrates how important the topic was to him.

• Mostly in hexameter (six stresses in each line) in a loosely iambic pattern. Analysis/Effect: Used to give musical flow to the poem and the order/preciseness of the hexameter suggests that the author valued the topic. Yet, the ‘loose’ iambic pattern suggests that author does not the topic controlled, or that the topic can not be controlled. Rather it must be ‘free’. Invites peace.

Form Continued

Techniques and Analysis• The last line of each four-line stanza shortens the line to

tetrameter (four stresses) Analysis/Effect: used to bring emphasis of the connotations of each line and the ordering of the lines as the same effect as above.

• Form is unusual for Yeats, for her rarely worked with hexameter, and every rhyme in the poem is a full rhyme; there is no sign of the half-rhymes Yeats often prefers in his later work. Analysis/Effect: Symbolic of the importance of the topic, the topic’s ‘fullness’. Shows poet’s change in thinking—not wanting to be caged/trapped the busy way of life. He is breaking away from the ‘roadway’ of London life. Illustrates his change in thinking.

StructureTechniques/Analysis• The three stanzas have the same ABAB rhyme scheme. Analysis/Effect: Used to

create an rhythm of the poem (symbolic of the speaker’s thoughts and his connection to nature. Also used to mirror nature and the lapping water of Innisfree). Shows that the poet valued the topic, for he spent a wealth of time to construct it. Enhnces readability to by bringing order/structure to the poem. Gives musical quality. Connotations of the ryhminig words are emphasised.

• Has end rhyme in an abab rhyme scheme. Analysis/Effect: See above. Also, perhaps is symbolic of the end of of his time in London.

• Lack of Punctuation and Question Marks. Analysis/Effect: Not used, for the author does not want the reader to question his opinion, rather accept/adopt it. The lack of exclamation marks illustrates that author does not wan to startle the audience. This reinforces the peacefulness of the poem.

• Comma/Semi-colons/Colons. Analysis/Effect: Used with within the lines or at the end of lines. Used to create pauses, connect ideas, establish lists. Adds to the rhythm/natural flow of the poem. Connection of ideas presented through the use of the aforementioned items is symbolic of his connection with nature, of how everything is connected, of how Innisfree is always flowing and/or of how Innisfree will always be inside of him.

Structure ContinuedTechniques/Analysis• Long Line Length. Analysis/Effect: Allow the reader to feel the power of the tranquillity

and absorb a lot of information. Connects to the theme of the poem.• Full stops. Analysis/Effects: Used only after the second stanza and third stanza. The

lack of the full stops creates a flowing pace, symbolic of the flowing water that runs peacefully at Innisfree. The first full stop brings closure to the speaker’s thoughts about the past, allowing us, the reader, to chunk the information and recognize the speaker’s movement to change. Additionally, the second full stop marks the end of the poem and highlights the speaker’s decision to leave, returning to the glory of Innisfree.

• Content/Structure of Stanzas. Analysis/Effect: The first two stanzas are filled with images of the past, of the glorious Innisfree and of how the speaker found harmony there. The last stanza presents uncertain speaker, perhaps confused (where is he standing? He doesn’t know). The ordering of these stanzas stresses the importance of the past and what was once was. It is used to bring emphasis to his thoughts, not to where he is now (London).

• Rhythm of the Stanzas: Analysis/Effect: The two stanzas are soft, dreary and somewhat hypnotic, while the last stanza is faster, symbolic of the ‘get out of London’ desire of the speaker. Look at the number of syllables per line.

Language• First Person: ‘I’’: Analysis/Effect: Used to focus on the speaker’s thoughts/emotions. This establishes a personal

tone and establishes a sense of nostalgia.• Verbs: ‘will’: Analysis/Effect: Used to show movement to the new, rebirth. The speaker is ‘coming of age. We, the

readers, are taken with the speaker to a new place, making us read on for we wonder what it has to offer and why change was needed. The movement reinforces the ever-moving pattern of nature and how life is not static. Other verbs are also used.

• Alliteration/Repetition: ‘go’, ‘have, hive, honey’, ‘cabin, clay’, ‘live, alone, loud, glade’, ‘lake, lapping, low’. Analysis/Effect: Yeats relies on the alliteration and the nature sounds--the droning of bees, the chirping of crickets, and the flapping of birds' wings--to suggest peace and tranquillity. The technique is also used to emphasis the connotations of the words All the alliterated words also deal with nature, the topic of the poem. They also add to the musical rhythm and flow of the poem, making nature emphasised/superior to busy life in London.

• Allusion: ‘Innisfree’: Analysis/Effect: Used to make the destination of the ‘place’ concrete. Yet, depending on the reader’s knowledge of Innisfree, the reader may or may not have to read on, for we may still wonder why this place is important and why the speaker gave the past up to go to. Essentially, although the noun is concrete, the allusion adds an element of mystery, which invites us to read on.

• Emotive Language: ‘peace’, ‘veils’, ‘glimmer’: Analysis/Effect: Used to associate the past with beauty and to give further definition to the noun Innisfree. Create mood of peace embodied throughout the first two stanzas. The ‘veil’ connotes to marriage, symbolizing unity and togetherness.

• Imagery: ‘glimmer’, purple’, ‘lapping’: Analysis/Effect: See above. Also used to establish a contrast between the past and the present (see juxtaposition).

• Personification: ‘cricket sings’: Analysis/Effect: Used to bring the past to life, for the cricket symbolises the speaker’s past; a past filled with freedom and tranquillity. The past is not heighten and more prominent then the present (busy London).

• Juxtaposition of Images: ‘purple’, ‘bright’, ‘water’, ‘lapping’. These create colourful images representing the island. ‘grey’, ‘dreary’, ‘roadway’. These create dreary images representing London. Analysis/Effect: Used to highlight and intensity the contract between the past and present and the country and the city. Could also represent life and death.

Language Continued• Metaphor: ‘I hear it in the deep heart’s core.’ Analysis/Effect: The deeper meaning of this

metaphor is the internal struggle the speaker goes through to try to remain true to his natural identify, despite the busy, engulfing life that is presented in the city. The whole poem may also be an extended metaphor, symbolising the value of nature and the duality of life.

• Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds ‘ee’ and ‘aa’ Analysis/Effect: Used to emphasize the musical tone and rhythm of the poem and to highlight the how much the speaker longs to back in Innisfree.

• Internal Rhyme: ‘dropping, morning, sings’: Analysis/Effect: Used to create rhythm and to bring order, melody and musical qualities to the poem. May also mirror the water hitting the shores on the lake.

• Onomatopoeia: ‘lapping’: Analysis/Effect: The sound of a water fountain bustling London street transports him back to the past, creating a link between the past and present and thus unifies the poem’s stanza and cause’s the change of the speaker. The change of the speaker is demonstrated the verb used. See above. The onomatopoeia helps personify the past, making is come to life and it have more value/importance. of the lapping water of Lough Gill and stir the boyhood dream he had of living on Innisfree, unencumbered by the demands of modern urban life.

• Rhythm and Stress:‘ I WILL | aRISE | and GO | now, [PAUSE] | and GO | to INN | is FREE,  And A | small CAB | in BUILD | there, [PAUSE] | of CLAY | and WAT | tles MAD. Analysis/Effect: It appears that the stress pattern of the poem mimics the rhythm of a tranquil heartbeat. It may also represent the rise and fall of the ocean tides along the shore of County Sligo. A pause occurs in the middle of the first three lines of each stanza.