Tired of grey city streets, the poet dreams of escaping to a tiny peaceful island where he will build a small cabin, grow beans, keep bees and finally find calm. It is a poem about longing for the simple, healing life of nature.
Poet
William Butler Yeats, the famous Irish poet (1865–1939).
Setting
Innisfree, a real little island in Lough Gill, Sligo, Ireland.
Genre
A lyric poem – personal, musical, full of feeling.
Mood
Longing, restlessness and a deep wish for peace.
About the poet and the poem
W. B. Yeats was one of the greatest poets of Ireland and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. He wrote The Lake Isle of Innisfree when he was living in the crowded, noisy city of London. One day, feeling homesick, he heard the tinkling sound of water from a little fountain in a shop window. That sound suddenly reminded him of the lake water of his childhood in Ireland, and the whole poem came to him. So the poem is born out of nostalgia – a longing for a quiet, natural place far away from the busy modern city.
Stanza 1 – The decision to leave
The poem opens with the firm line, 'I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree.' The poet has made up his mind to leave the city and travel to the peaceful island. There he plans to build 'a small cabin' made of clay and wattles (woven sticks). He will plant 'nine bean-rows' and keep a 'hive for the honey-bee'. He wishes to live completely alone in this 'bee-loud glade' – a clearing in the woods buzzing with the sound of bees. This stanza paints a picture of a simple, self-sufficient life close to nature.
Stanza 2 – Peace at every hour
In the second stanza the poet says he will find peace there, because 'peace comes dropping slow'. Peace is not sudden; it falls gently like dew, slowly soaking into the heart. He describes the island through different times of the day. The morning is veiled in mist ('the veils of the morning'); at noon there is a 'purple glow'; midnight 'is all a glimmer' with starlight; and the evening sky is 'full of the linnet's wings' as small birds called linnets fly about. Each hour of the day has its own special beauty.
Stanza 3 – The call of the lake water
The last stanza brings us back to reality. The poet says he 'will arise and go now' because day and night he keeps hearing the sound of the lake water lapping 'with low sounds by the shore'. This sound calls to him constantly. Then he tells us where he actually is – standing 'on the roadway, or on the pavements grey' of the dull city. But in his 'deep heart's core' he always hears the gentle lake water. This shows how powerfully his soul is pulled towards nature even while his body is stuck in the city.
City versus nature
The whole poem rests on a contrast between two worlds. On one side is the city – grey pavements, hard roads, noise and loneliness in a crowd. On the other side is Innisfree – the cabin, beans, honey-bees, birds, mist, starlight and the soothing sound of water. The poet clearly longs for the second world. The poem gently reminds modern readers, who live busy stressful lives, that nature has the power to heal and bring peace to the tired human heart.
Does he really go?
An important point is that the poet never actually travels to Innisfree in the poem. He only dreams about it and promises himself, again and again, that he 'will' go. The island is more of an ideal place of peace inside his imagination than a real trip. This makes the poem touching, because every reader has a special place they long to escape to.
- 'I will arise and go now' – the firm decision (repeated for effect).
- The small clay-and-wattle cabin with nine bean-rows and a bee-hive.
- 'Peace comes dropping slow' – peace falls gently like dew.
- Day described hour by hour: misty morning, purple noon, glimmering midnight, linnet-filled evening.
- Lake water 'lapping with low sounds by the shore' heard in the 'deep heart's core'.
- The poet stands on the 'pavements grey' of the city, dreaming of the island.
Long answer: Why does the poet wish to go to Innisfree, and what kind of life does he hope to live there?
- State the main reason: he is tired of city life and longs for peace.
- Describe the simple life he imagines on the island.
- Show how nature gives him peace at every hour.
- End with the deep, constant pull he feels in his heart.
Identify the figures of speech and sound devices used in the poem.
- Alliteration: 'lake water lapping with low sounds', 'bee-loud', 'hive for the honey'.
- Imagery: 'purple glow', 'midnight's all a glimmer', 'evening full of the linnet's wings' – pictures we can see.
- Metaphor / personification: 'peace comes dropping slow' – peace is shown as something that can fall like dew.
- Repetition: 'I will arise and go now' is repeated to stress his strong wish.
- Refrain & rhyme: a regular rhyme scheme (abab) gives the poem a gentle, song-like music.
Remember the island life with 'B-B-B': Beans, Bees and Birds (linnets). And remember the three stanzas as Decide → Dream → Hear: he decides to go, dreams of the peace, and hears the lake calling him back.
Many students wrongly write that the poet actually travels to Innisfree. He does not – he only longs and dreams about it while standing in the city. Also do not confuse 'linnet' (a small bird) with an insect, and spell 'Innisfree' correctly.
Q1. What does the poet plan to build at Innisfree and what does he plan to grow there?
Answer: The poet plans to build a small cabin made of clay and wattles (woven twigs). Near it he wants to plant nine bean-rows and keep a hive for the honey-bee. In this way he hopes to lead a simple, self-sufficient life alone in a clearing that is loud with the buzzing of bees, completely surrounded by the beauty and calm of nature.
Q2. How does the poet describe the arrival of peace at Innisfree? Explain the line 'peace comes dropping slow'.
Answer: The poet says that on the island peace will come to him gently and gradually, not all at once. The line 'peace comes dropping slow' compares peace to dew or rain that falls drop by drop in the misty morning. It suggests that true inner peace cannot be rushed; it slowly soaks into the heart over time, soothing the tired mind as the calm island life works its magic.
Q3. Describe the beauty of Innisfree at different times of the day as given in the poem.
Answer: The poet describes each hour of the day with its own special beauty. The morning is wrapped in soft mist, the 'veils of the morning'. At noon the place shines with a 'purple glow'. The midnight is 'all a glimmer', lit up by the twinkling stars. And in the evening the sky is 'full of the linnet's wings' as small birds called linnets fly about. Through these images he shows that Innisfree is beautiful and peaceful around the clock.
Q4. Where is the poet actually standing while he dreams of Innisfree, and what does this tell us about him?
Answer: The poet is actually standing on the hard 'roadway' and the dull 'pavements grey' of a noisy, crowded city, most likely London. Yet even there he constantly hears the gentle lapping of the lake water in his 'deep heart's core'. This tells us that his body is trapped in the busy modern city, but his heart and soul truly belong to the peaceful world of nature. It shows his deep longing, his nostalgia for his homeland, and his belief that nature alone can give him real peace.
- ✅ A lyric poem by W. B. Yeats about longing to escape the city for a peaceful island.
- ✅ He dreams of a small cabin, nine bean-rows, a bee-hive and a quiet life in nature.
- ✅ Peace 'comes dropping slow'; every hour of the day has its own beauty.
- ✅ He never really goes – he hears the lake calling in his heart while stuck on the 'pavements grey'.
- ✅ Theme: nature heals the tired human heart; the poem is full of imagery, alliteration and gentle music.
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