This well known poem explores the poet’s longing for the peace and tranquillity of Innisfree, a place where he spent a lot of time as a boy. This poem is a lyric.

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 honeybee, 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 evenings full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear the 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.

Willam Butler Yeats

Glossary

wattles: twisted sticks for making fences, walls

glade: clearing; open space

linnet: a small brown and grey bird with a short beak

Thinking about the Poem

I. 1. What kind of place is Innisfree? Think about:

(i) the three things the poet wants to do when he goes back there (stanza I);

(ii) what he hears and sees there and its effect on him (stanza II);

(iii) what he hears in his “heart’s core” even when he is far away from Innisfree (stanza III).

2. By now you may have concluded that Innisfree is a simple, natural place, full of beauty and peace. How does the poet contrast it with where he now stands? (Read stanza III.)

3. Do you think Innisfree is only a place, or a state of mind? Does the poet actually miss the place of his boyhood days?

II. 1. Look at the words the poet uses to describe what he sees and hears at Innisfree

(i) bee-loud glade

(ii) evenings full of the linnet’s wings

(iii) lake water lapping with low sounds

What pictures do these words create in your mind?

2. Look at these words;

… peace comes dropping slow

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings

What do these words mean to you? What do you think “comes dropping slow…from the veils of the morning”? What does “to where the cricket sings” mean?

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

Gautama Buddha