Yeats - Lake Isle and More

[Vada Dagon]

Hey Folks,

Yes I am new to this forum and I don't have an Avatar yet!

Anyway, I am one of six people in my age group in these forum (which is actually depressing) and I am taking a literature course. In this course we need to create a critique of an author. I am doing a psychological critique of Yeats. In part, because his work has three different periods but mainly because my favorite Poem was written by Yeats.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

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.

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.

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 gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

I just find his poem inviting and makes me want to go to Innisfree. In any instance aside from the Yeats Society at Siglo, Wikipedia, and here. Anyone know a good website for a source on Yeats. I need to get an understanding where his symbolism comes from and where did he started. I realize that most (ok all) poetic symbolism comes from the poet's mind but they are based on real life or sitautions interpreted by the author.

Thanks in advance.
Eddy

[behindblueeyes]

How come you said you were born in 1903? i find that kinda hard to believe...

http://www.123helpme.com/assets/2621.html analyzes one of his poems
http://chapters.ivanrdee.com/15/666/1566636124ch1.pdf - the first section is about him with a biography and then some poems

but i just googled different things so i doubt i'll find anything new

[Vada Dagon]

Thanks!

I was looking for something comprehensive on his symbolism; however I appreciate your help.

I'll have to do some more research on my own.

Thanks again!

[mono]

Hello, Vada Dagon, welcome to the forum. :)
Thank you for sharing "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," as I, too, have always admired this poem, finding some of Yeats' work a little difficult to understand, but very enjoyable, nonetheless. His ability of learning and expressing such intelligence seemed immense, to say the least, and he probably writes of more symbolism in his poetry than most poets, especially of his era.
I did a little bit of research to answer your question, and could not find the most satisfying websites, but a few that offer slightly more in-depth biographies that may help. This site (http://www.britannica.com/nobel/micro/648_91.html) always seems worth trusting, and offered some decent information, and this site (http://www.montfort.org.br/index.php?secao=veritas&subsecao=arte&artigo=yeats&lang=eng) also had some good information, specialized in Yeats symbolism, but some of the writings seemed slightly . . . biased.
If you really want to go that extra mile for researching Yeats, I highly recommend reading Axel's Castle: Study in the Imaginative Literature of 1870-1930 by Edmund Wilson, offering lots of symbolic studies on William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), Gertrude Stein, and Marcel Proust. I have yet to read it myself, but others have strongly recommended it to me - perhaps worth looking into for your research.
Good luck!

[IrishCanadian]

I find with Yeats the more you know about his life the more practical he gets. Just make a small study on the social issues that surrounded him and think about a guy in love with a woman that does not love him back.
This particular poem is especially intersting if you consider that it was written not only around the rise of the Nazi "empire" but also nearing the time that Ireland was given home-rule. Happy studying!!

[Vada Dagon]

How come you said you were born in 1903? i find that kinda hard to believe...

http://www.123helpme.com/assets/2621.html analyzes one of his poems
http://chapters.ivanrdee.com/15/666/1566636124ch1.pdf - the first section is about him with a biography and then some poems

but i just googled different things so i doubt i'll find anything new

1903? Wow - I'll have to look at my profile. No, just add 66 to that number and you'll get the year I was born.

Sorry, been a little busy lately haven't logged on since this last post.

[Vada Dagon]

Hello, Vada Dagon, welcome to the forum. :)
Thank you for sharing "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," as I, too, have always admired this poem, finding some of Yeats' work a little difficult to understand, but very enjoyable, nonetheless. His ability of learning and expressing such intelligence seemed immense, to say the least, and he probably writes of more symbolism in his poetry than most poets, especially of his era.
I did a little bit of research to answer your question, and could not find the most satisfying websites, but a few that offer slightly more in-depth biographies that may help. This site (http://www.britannica.com/nobel/micro/648_91.html) always seems worth trusting, and offered some decent information, and this site (http://www.montfort.org.br/index.php?secao=veritas&subsecao=arte&artigo=yeats&lang=eng) also had some good information, specialized in Yeats symbolism, but some of the writings seemed slightly . . . biased.
If you really want to go that extra mile for researching Yeats, I highly recommend reading Axel's Castle: Study in the Imaginative Literature of 1870-1930 by Edmund Wilson, offering lots of symbolic studies on William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), Gertrude Stein, and Marcel Proust. I have yet to read it myself, but others have strongly recommended it to me - perhaps worth looking into for your research.
Good luck!

Thank you for the great websites you provided me and I do agree that learning the author, his views and the political as well as the economic situations of his life do help greatly (not to mention his/her own status in life and the culture in which they live). While I am not writing a thesis on him I think that is the only way how to understand some of the underlying symbolism for any author. Although, sometimes the author may not be aware of the symbolism they are using like Ann Rice used the symbolism of Vampires (disease of the blood) without realizing she was relating it to her daughter who died of Lukemia (disease of the blood).

Anyway, this response was simply to say thank you and as always I rambled on (as I often do) about different subject.

[Vada Dagon]

I want to Thank you all for the responses.

Eddy