PoemoftheWeek

He echos what I have gone thru many times in my walk with God. But he is covenanted as I am and that is a bond stronger than whims and fancies, of h ormones and changing humours thru the passage of years. I love it, I love metaphysical poetry for the most part.
oh and dear Virgil, jackass droppings long sat in the wind and rain and harsh unyielding sun have not the same glitter nor cast. they seem to stubbornly stay dark grey like their owner. jackass indeed. sweet man perhaps but never that. goyim perhaps never jackass.

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Originally Posted by rachel

He echos what I have gone thru many times in my walk with God. But he is covenanted as I am and that is a bond stronger than whims and fancies, of h ormones and changing humours thru the passage of years. I love it, I love metaphysical poetry for the most part.
oh and dear Virgil, jackass droppings long sat in the wind and rain and harsh unyielding sun have not the same glitter nor cast. they seem to stubbornly stay dark grey like their owner. jackass indeed. sweet man perhaps but never that. goyim perhaps never jackass.

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:lol: Thanks, Rachel. You're a dear.

Hey guys, somehow missed Virgil's question. Rachel is right, of course, what else? :)
Horse droppings turn from dark to light with the passage of time, and generally keep their shape, unless disturbed somehow. I always thought of that line as taking something as mundane as waste, and turning it into a precious thing, gold. How small moments or a glance at a winter river (while driving bickering children to school), can catch your eye, and fill your heart and soul with wonder and the joy to be alive.

also, I take it you two haven't seen a spotted baby jack before? There is sweetness and loveliness in the lowliest creature, (not saying that you are lowly, Virgil :) just defending my lovely equine friends) and I'm too distracted to read the above poem, Virgil. I just brought home my new puppy. Check out the animal posts in the near future for some puppy pix.

Oh, a new puppy!!! I must see pictures.

I think brandi must be THE most loved and cherished of dogs, how blessed she is to have a tender and devoted owner like you Virgil.
Riesa why don't you write a book of poetry. You see things thru the eyes of the Creator and tired hearts and broken minds would find nourishment and peace in your words that come down softly always into my mind like dove's feathers bringing such a hushed and holy quiet feeling.

Last week, Jay and I spent over an hour discussing this poem and would like to hear your interpretations too... Not necessarily what you studied and were told it meant at school but your own thoughts and feelings about the poem.

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

-- William Butler Yeats

Several impressions and thoughts...

Like most poets, Yeats was no doubt a very reflective man. And when I read the name of the isle, I'm thinking of it literally --In - is - free, almost as though Yeats believes that only by getting in touch with his deepest self will he "have some peace." He writes with an almost wistfulness, as if he wishes to convince himself that it could be so simple, so matter-of-fact to get to this 'place': I will arise and go now."

I know, too, that Yeats (like alot of Irish writers) spent a chunk of his 'writing life' outside Ireland. Perhaps his absence from his homeland made his heart grow fonder of it; his reminiscences of the peaceful places of his times there seem to be coming from "the deep heart's core."

I'm hearing a little of Thoreau's self reliance in the poem, too: Yeats speaks of living alone in a cabin, of taking care of his own needs while he appreciates nature. Thoreau, in fact, wrote a poem called The Inward Morning, that (like its name implies) is a morning communion with both his inner self and with nature.

Scher

Great choice. I love this poem. There were certain poems I would memorize when I was younger. This was one of them. So I know this extremely well. I'll try not to hog the whole thing up.

Two quick points of literary allusion, one obvious, one not so. The obvious is the reverence for nature and the "peace" that it brings. This echoes Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" where nature is a healing place and religious place. We see this with "midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow" and other lines. The second point, not so obvious, is the allusion to Henry David Thoreau's Walden Pond, where Thoreau goes and builds a cabin by a pond for a few years and lives by growing beans. And that's waht the poet narrator does too: "small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:/Nine bean-rows will I have there...And live alone in the bee-loud glade."

Another other important thing I see in this are the repetitions. Words he repeats: "arise" (2x), "go" (3x), "peace" (2x), "dropping" (2x). Still another are nature's sounds that are identified: "bee-loud", "cricket sings", "linnets wings", and the "water lapping with low sounds." And still another are the rhyming vowels, all long, accented vowels: free/bee, made/glade, slow/glow, sings/wings, day/gray, shore/core.

And finally one last thing that must be pointed out is the repeated phrase, "I will arise and go now" in the first and third stanzas. It serves as a return, a rondo and thereby structures the poem. So much more here, I've left out the central point, but I'll let others add and explain.

WOW. I always considered this poem as more of a practicle ditty regaurding the land of beauty and freedom (as mentioned by lavendar1: in is free). Yeats did in fact roam natural areas in search of the fairy folk as well as for personal reflsction. But I never thought much of this poem other than a reminiscence of a time he had at the Isle of Innisfree. Cool.

I have to post a disclaimer that I have not studied this poem nor am I familiar with the Thoreau poems mentioned (though I will look them up... I will arise and go now... ;)).

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Originally Posted by lavendar1

Like most poets, Yeats was no doubt a very reflective man. And when I read the name of the isle, I'm thinking of it literally --In - is - free, almost as though Yeats believes that only by getting in touch with his deepest self will he "have some peace." He writes with an almost wistfulness, as if he wishes to convince himself that it could be so simple, so matter-of-fact to get to this 'place': I will arise and go now."

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I love this interpretation, Lavendar :)

Virgil> Thank you very much for highlighting the important references in the poem but I really would like to hear your interpretation of the poem. What does it say to you? What do you think it is about?

My interpretation is somewhat different...

I consider this poem as an ode to procrastination. The persona in the poem is talking about this lovely, heavenly, out-of-this-world place which, he knows, will bring peace of mind and happiness to him. He is daydreaming about the place 'While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,'... His desire to be there (to find peace?) is so very deep. However, the fact that the poem starts and ends with the line 'I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree' tells me that he is still not getting up and going; ie, not taking the actions to reach this peaceful place (might be both physical or metaphorical). If he took the necessary actions, rather than simply musing about them, he will probably find the peace he is longing for but... alas...

We all do this at times, don't we?

:)

I love this poem, especially the phrase 'bee-loud glade'. It's a beautiful way of describing a place of peaceful, busy-yet-lazy summer.

I'm not a great one for reading about poems. I prefer to read the things themselves and form my own stupid ideas about what they mean. I'll do my best to describe how I read this one.

I see it as a longing for the unattainable, or rather, longing for the briefly attainable to become permanent. He wants a place of perpetual summer. That the island is within a lake and therefore ringed by land is, I think, significant too. It is surrounded by the world at large but cut off by the lake's water. I think Yeats wants his perfection to be his alone (he says, 'to live alone', in fact). He longs for an escape from the rat-race and hustle (roadways & pavements). A splendid isolation. Bucolic bliss. And I think that he longs as much for a spiritual retreat as a physical one - an escape from fame perhaps - I've never been quite decided if that's the case.

I really like Scheherazade's take on it too. It's not a way I've ever looked at the piece, but it will probably colour my readings from now on (in a nice way). By the way, the name of the island literally means "Isle of heather".

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

I consider this poem as an ode to procrastination. The persona in the poem is talking about this lovely, heavenly, out-of-this-world place which, he knows, will bring peace of mind and happiness to him. He is daydreaming about the place 'While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,'... His desire to be there (to find peace?) is so very deep. However, the fact that the poem 'I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree' starts and ends with this line tells me that he is still not getting up and going; ie, not taking the actions to reach this peaceful place (might be both physical or metaphorical). If he took the necessary actions, rather than simply musing about them, he will probably find the peace, he is longing for but... alas...

:)

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Very very interesting. Yeats was in love (as you probably know) with a republicanist Maud Gonne (at the time of their life Ireland was in a political and literal war for freedom from British rule). He did his work to "up the rebels" and fought in words agains the Brittish rule. He loved Maud Gonne (partially) because she was very farceably active in this time of political oppression. She did not love him, however, because he only wrote ... no actual actions. Perhaps the sentiments of procastination were shades of his personl life's conflict with his political innaction. ???

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

Virgil> Thank you very much for highlighting the important references in the poem but I really would like to hear your interpretation of the poem. What does it say to you? What do you think it is about?
:)

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Ok. I will.

First kudos to Lavendar for pointing out the noun, "Innisfree" as a place to be free. I for all these years took it as an actual place, and it is an actual place. In the Google Image game, Reisa posted a picture of it. I never thought about it as having meaning. It is a place to be free and Innis, sujests inward or inner, so a place of inner freedom. A bit of serendipity, but who knows the name might have inspired the poem. Xamonas, is Innisfree celtic for Isle of Heather?


I think everyone else is also on the mark (the isolation, the buccholic setting, even the procrastination).
The key I think is "I will arise and go now." He's not there. It's all a mental excercise. It's all recall, perhaps all wish. Is it procrastination or just impractical? The poem isn't definitive. He's never in motion, just stands which supports procrastination. Certainly there is stark contrast between the gray pavement and Innisfree. If he could get there he knows he'll get peace, ala Wordsworth in "Tintern Abbey". Do we believe him that he's going to go? I've questioned it, but there's nothing to suggest that he won't. He even gets specific, he's going to build a cabin.

So, if you force me to stretch myself and articulate my impressions, I think it might be a wish, but an impractical one. He's been there, he's absobed it, it's in his heart's core, but to build a cabin out of clay and wattles (clay?, wattles?, come on) just is impractical. Nature is just too magnificent: midnight all a glimmer, noon a purple glow. Too imaginary. And the fact that he has to tell himself twice to arise and go, coupled that he's never in motion, really does suggest, he ain't getting there. I think it's a wish, it's in his heart, but it's impractical, which by the way would be a break from Wordsworth.

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Originally Posted by Xamonas Chegwe

By the way, the name of the island literally means "Isle of heather".

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Very interesting... OK, let's carried away and read too much into it! Does heather have a significant meaning? Language of the flowers kind of way? :D

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Originally Posted by IrishCanadian

Yeats was in love (as you probably know) with a republicanist Maud Gonne (at the time of their life Ireland was in a political and literal war for freedom from British rule). He did his work to "up the rebels" and fought in words agains the Brittish rule. He loved Maud Gonne (partially) because she was very farceably active in this time of political oppression. She did not love him, however, because he only wrote ... no actual actions. Perhaps the sentiments of procastination were shades of his personl life's conflict with his political innaction. ???

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Had no idea and another valid suggestion, I think.

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Originally Posted by Virgil

I think everyone else is also on the mark (the isolation, the buccholic setting, even the procrastination).

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Why, thank you, Virgil! :D - On a serious note, thanks for your interpretation, too! :)

Like Xamonas, I don't like reading about poems (or other literary works for that matter) unless I am really stuck and/or intrigued and I am very glad we can come up with different interpretations which are all very interesting among ourselves! :)

As you wish, Virgil.

http://www.usm.maine.edu/~mcgrath/ir.../Innisfree.jpg

I don't know if anyones picked this out, but for me, the poems less about procrastination and more about 'ability.' The speaker's ability to choose whenever he wants he can go to this place(Innisfree). Uses of phrases, like
I will in stanzas 1 and 3, and I shall in stanza 2 are all showing command--command over when he goes to this place. Go now,he says. Total control.
I agree with Virgil that he has been to this place just by the fact that he gets very detailed as far as describing Innisfree.
So by the end of the poem, it says While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray, I hear it in the deep heart's core. Its almost as if he is standing, almost straddling, one leg on the roadway and the other leg on
the pavement, and in between these two places is his body; and
inside is this place(Innisfree). Connecting him to all of these places, and almost showing you(the reader) his ability to choose, whenever he wants to,
he can go to Innisfree.

Its probably irrelevant, but its kinda freaky that if you take a look at the poem:
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, 5
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; 10
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

imagine this line:



While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray

visualize the line above as solid mass, and visualize him straddling with one
leg on the phrase While I stand on the roadway, and the other leg on
the phrase or on the pavements gray. So his body points upward towards the rest of the poem which just happens to all be description of Innisfree. Look at all the lines devoted to describing Innisfree--The image
come to life. And the importance of sounds of words...its too much. This really is a great poem!

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Originally Posted by ktd222

I agree with Virgil that he has been to this place just by the fact that he gets very detailed as far as describing Innisfree.

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I don't think him being very detailed in describing Innisfree means he's ever been there. It could have been any other island. How are you, from that description, to figure out he was talking about Innisfree if he didn't 'hint' that in the title and mention its name in the poem?

I think the poem might be about a dying man. He might be dying for real or from within, I don't think it's of much importance which. His Innisfree might be his picture of heaven. It's peaceful and calm and he seems to be trying to get there for some time and for a reason he can't get there, be it it's too far away (if we're thinking about the actual Innisfree), or out of reach if it's only a dream, an image (a symbol of peace, heaven, whichever you prefer), as if he's dying he won't get there no matter what the location of the island is (that is if you don't believe in an afterlife).

Have you ever wondered what the poet would say if he were alive today to read this thread?

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Originally Posted by IrishCanadian

Have you ever wondered what the poet would say if he were alive today to read this thread?

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Funny, I was just thinking that exact thing last night.

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Originally Posted by Virgil

Xamonas, is Innisfree celtic for Isle of Heather?
....
but to build a cabin out of clay and wattles (clay?, wattles?, come on) just is impractical.

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Yes, it is Irish gaelic - I looked it up in an online Irish dictionary - can't remember which - I went through the google directory / reference / dictionaries / world languages. There are dictionaries for everything from Albanian to Zulu in there, arranged alphabetically - very useful favourite to have in my opinion.

Yeats is referring to traditional, pre-industrial methods of making houses in Ireland. 'Wattle & Daub' is how it's usually termed in English. And, lacking bricks, concrete & an abundance of timber, it's an extremely practical, strong and long-lasting way of constructing houses. See here

I think that is the beauty of poetry - or literary works for that matter - that we all read the same text but interpret them differently and each of these interpretations can be as valid as the other as long as they get enough support from the text. The interpretations of a work is not only what the writer means but also the reader's contribution to that work, drawing from their own experiences and personalities at times; and I believe that the richness of intrepretations is an indicator of author's/poet's success... that they are able to address so many people.

On the subject of Maud Gonne. Another of my favourite Yeats poems is, 'No Second Troy', where he compares her courage with his own reluctance to take a physically active role in the rebellion. My favourite line is, "Had they but courage equal to desire?", which sums up the image of his reluctance feeling perfectly.

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Originally Posted by Jay

I don't think him being very detailed in describing Innisfree means he's ever been there. It could have been any other island. How are you, from that description, to figure out he was talking about Innisfree if he didn't 'hint' that in the title and mention its name in the poem?

I think the poem might be about a dying man. He might be dying for real or from within, I don't think it's of much importance which. His Innisfree might be his picture of heaven. It's peaceful and calm and he seems to be trying to get there for some time and for a reason he can't get there, be it it's too far away (if we're thinking about the actual Innisfree), or out of reach if it's only a dream, an image (a symbol of peace, heaven, whichever you prefer), as if he's dying he won't get there no matter what the location of the island is (that is if you don't believe in an afterlife).

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You are right. It must have been the late hours speaking. But, take a look at
what he wrote about Innisfree, literally. Yeats being from Ireland; there is an island off Ireland named Innisfree; He names it DIRECTLY as Innisfree in the poem; and so I'm just assuming that he is talking about that specific island. Or am I totally off-base?

As for the poems meaning, there is no reference to dying in the poem. No mention or allusion to Heaven or the afterlife. Innisfree is a place just as he describes. A place where he can go to find peace. Its not that he can't get to Innisfree. In the opening phrase of each stanza I will, I shall(can), I will, each is followed by a description of Innisfree. It is as if when he says these commands--he is there at Innisfree describing it.

He is there, He has been there, thats why he can describe it so well. There is a tone of command and not delay or inability. A tone that would contrast well
against this poem is T.S. Elliots The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock, where he constantly states there will be time, there will be time. Thats a tone of delay or procrastination or never able to 'get' to a destination.

Holla back!

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Originally Posted by Xamonas Chegwe

Yes, it is Irish gaelic - I looked it up in an online Irish dictionary - can't remember which - I went through the google directory / reference / dictionaries / world languages. There are dictionaries for everything from Albanian to Zulu in there, arranged alphabetically - very useful favourite to have in my opinion.

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Thanks, but I don't know what to make of that. How does it fit?

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Yeats is referring to traditional, pre-industrial methods of making houses in Ireland. 'Wattle & Daub' is how it's usually termed in English. And, lacking bricks, concrete & an abundance of timber, it's an extremely practical, strong and long-lasting way of constructing houses. See here

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That was very interesting. I didn't realize that. It's still not practical, though. I mean not practical in the sense that you're just going to get up and go and build this house on impulse: "I will arise and go now". Hmm. Actually it does add a layer of nastalgia, perhaps. This old Irish custom. Perhaps recalls a mythic age, something Yeats was interested in. Double hmm.

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Originally Posted by ktd222

You are right. It must have been the late hours speaking. But, take a look at
what he wrote about Innisfree, literally. Yeats being from Ireland; there is an island off Ireland named Innisfree; He names it DIRECTLY as Innisfree in the poem; and so I'm just assuming that he is talking about that specific island. Or am I totally off-base?

He is there, He has been there, thats why he can describe it so well. There is a tone of command and not delay or inability. A tone that would contrast well
against this poem is T.S. Elliots The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock, where he constantly states there will be time, there will be time. Thats a tone of delay or procrastination or never able to 'get' to a destination.

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I don't think you're off base. How we read the tone is critical. I still don't feel it as a tone of command, as you say. I still feel it's a longing rather than determined.

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Originally Posted by ktd222

visualize the line above as solid mass, and visualize him straddling with one
leg on the phrase While I stand on the roadway, and the other leg on
the phrase or on the pavements gray. So his body points upward towards the rest of the poem which just happens to all be description of Innisfree.

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That is a really interesting observation.

Virgil--
Could you please explain to me how a tone of longing would read like?
Use the phrases of I will and I shall.
To me it is under his command because the word 'will' is defined as to order
or direct by his own will or to determine by an act of choice(merriam webster dictionary). In this case, then, yeats is exercising his command or will over when he will go to Innisfree.
But I do see your point that the poems about longing as well. Anyways maybe I just like too much to discuss the points of views.

This is really cool that we can discuss poetry in a forum.
Should I post the next poem?

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Originally Posted by ktd222

But, take a look at
what he wrote about Innisfree, literally. Yeats being from Ireland; there is an island off Ireland named Innisfree; He names it DIRECTLY as Innisfree in the poem; and so I'm just assuming that he is talking about that specific island. Or am I totally off-base?

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No, you're not, I was just more seeing the poem as it is, from an annonymous person's POV, not Yeats' (therefore dismissing the idea of Yeats being Irish, probably having visited Innisfree).

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Originally Posted by ktd222

there is an island off Ireland named Innisfree; He names it DIRECTLY as Innisfree in the poem; and so I'm just assuming that he is talking about that specific island. Or am I totally off-base?

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The Innisfree in the poem is not off the coast of Ireland but within a lake in county Sligo. See Riesa's post on the previous page. Innisfree is a common name for an island in Ireland, there are several dotted about. At least one in Canada too.

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Originally Posted by ktd222

Virgil--
Could you please explain to me how a tone of longing would read like?
Use the phrases of I will and I shall.
To me it is under his command because the word 'will' is defined as to order
or direct by his own will or to determine by an act of choice(merriam webster dictionary). In this case, then, yeats is exercising his command or will over when he will go to Innisfree.
But I do see your point that the poems about longing as well. Anyways maybe I just like too much to discuss the points of views.

This is really cool that we can discuss poetry in a forum.
Should I post the next poem?

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ktd - I'll try later tonight. I'll have to think about that for a little while.

For everyone's information, I looked up the poem in my Norton's Anthology of English Lit, checking to see if there were any annotations. There were two:
Innisfree - Island in Lough Gill, County Sligo. "My father had read to me some passage out of [Thoreau's] Walden, and I planned to live there some day in a cottage on a island called Innisfree"
wattles - Stakes interwoven with twigs or branches.

Perhaps it really was procrastination, because as far as I know, he never built that cottage.

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Originally Posted by Virgil

Perhaps it really was procrastination, because as far as I know, he never built that cottage.

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:lol: :lol: :lol:

Nice point Virgil.

Lets say I believe you all, then, you all need to give me some evidence and explanation to why you believe the poem means what you all think?
How do you know that as your reading the poem, the image of him going there and describing Innisfree isn't happening? For me the will, shall is present tense.

Use exerpts out of the poem ;) if you want to. Change my mind for me Jay? Virgil? anyone.

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Originally Posted by ktd222

Virgil--
Could you please explain to me how a tone of longing would read like?
Use the phrases of I will and I shall.
To me it is under his command because the word 'will' is defined as to order
or direct by his own will or to determine by an act of choice(merriam webster dictionary). In this case, then, yeats is exercising his command or will over when he will go to Innisfree.
But I do see your point that the poems about longing as well. Anyways maybe I just like too much to discuss the points of views.

This is really cool that we can discuss poetry in a forum.
Should I post the next poem?

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I'll try, but I'm not sure I can put it into words. If a person says I will do that, it is possible by the tone of how he says it to detect a lack of committment. I've done it myself, hearing my own words at work for instance saying I would do something but at the same time realizing the difficulty of doing it and that I probably wouldn't do it. On a page it's harder to really get that across. But I sense it, others do to, I think. The poem is completely static. He doesn't even put it in the present tense; "I will, I shall" are future tense. And everything else is nastalgic reminiscing.

Let's hold off on the next poem for another few days. Perhaps some might still want to add to this discussion.

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Originally Posted by Jay

No, you're not, I was just more seeing the poem as it is, from an annonymous person's POV, not Yeats' (therefore dismissing the idea of Yeats being Irish, probably having visited Innisfree).

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You are not, because then you wouldn't have reference ideas about a dying man or heaven because there is no mention of those ideas.
If you think you are, use the poem as evidence and tell me why.

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Originally Posted by Virgil

I'll try, but I'm not sure I can put it into words. If a person says I will do that, it is possible by the tone of how he says it to detect a lack of committment. I've done it myself, hearing my own words at work for instance saying I would do something but at the same time realizing the difficulty of doing it and that I probably wouldn't do it. On a page it's harder to really get that across. But I sense it, others do to, I think. The poem is completely static. He doesn't even put it in the present tense; "I will, I shall" are future tense. And everything else is nastalgic reminiscing.

Let's hold off on the next poem for another few days. Perhaps some might still want to add to this discussion.

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He tells you he will go, and specifies by saying now. The tone of command comes back to me, again.

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Originally Posted by ktd222

He tells you he will go, and specifies by saying now. The tone of command comes back to me, again.

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But I had forgotten to mention in that post that the repetitions enforce the static feeling. It's like a person who keeps saying, "i'll get to that, yeah, I'll get to that, really, I'll get to that." You may be right as far as we can catagorically tell. But the lack of action in the poem, the reminicing, the repetitions, the the future tense of "I will", all work for me to undermine the narrator's committment. Even the long vowels that he uses throughout kind of give it a static feeling. There's no action really taken.

Jinshui on another thread of poetry pasted a poem from Wordsworth (similar to "Tintern Abbey") that could have been running through Yeat's mind as he wrote this:

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth
I WANDERED lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay: 10
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood, 20
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.


It's the last stanza which I think relates to "Innisfree". Is Innisfree in Yeat's mind like the daffodills in Wordsworth's? Wordsworth has visited them in the past, but now lying stationary on a couch they flash back. For Wordsworth they give him "bliss" for Yeats, "peace".

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" was in a childerens anthology when i was younger and it is fully responsible for my love of poetry. This poem basically was my introduction to all poetry! What a great week this week.

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Originally Posted by ktd222

But, take a look at what he wrote about Innisfree, literally. Yeats being from Ireland; there is an island off Ireland named Innisfree; He names it DIRECTLY as Innisfree in the poem; and so I'm just assuming that he is talking about that specific island. Or am I totally off-base?

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I have always thought that Innisfree represents an idyllic place; it is of little consequence that it actually exists. The persona might have been there and it might be his idea of of a refuge; a sanctuary (he might be talking about this particular place because it comes really close to his idea of 'sanctuary'?)

As for the line, 'I will...', as I stated in my initial post on the poem too, it shows a willingness and ability but the fact remains that he is not getting up and going. The poem starts and ends with this line, which shows that the persona is not taking the action. He spends his time thinking, dreaming, musing about this wonderful place, which he needs to go to find peace but he simply is not! The constant use of 'will' shows that he is postponing the actual action.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ktd222

Lets say I believe you all, then, you all need to give me some evidence and explanation to why you believe the poem means what you all think?
How do you know that as your reading the poem, the image of him going there and describing Innisfree isn't happening? For me the will, shall is present tense.

Use exerpts out of the poem if you want to. Change my mind for me Jay? Virgil? anyone.

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The aim of the thread is not to change other people's minds on certain poems or make them agree with us. I am sure those who have been posting will agree with me that we are all here to share our interpretations and hear theirs as a way of expanding our understandings. I can easily say that almost every post here has made me think about the poem again and understand it better. It has become more meaningful and richer owing to these different perspectives even though I do not necessarily agree with every interpretation.

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Originally Posted by ktd222

Should I post the next poem?

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This is how it goes:

Quote:

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* Please post a new poem only on a Monday.

* The same person cannot post another poem within the same month.

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So please feel free to post the next poem on Monday. :)

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Originally Posted by Virgil

But I had forgotten to mention in that post that the repetitions enforce the static feeling. It's like a person who keeps saying, "i'll get to that, yeah, I'll get to that, really, I'll get to that." You may be right as far as we can catagorically tell. But the lack of action in the poem, the reminicing, the repetitions, the the future tense of "I will", all work for me to undermine the narrator's committment. Even the long vowels that he uses throughout kind of give it a static feeling. There's no action really taken.

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I disagree. I think these repitions are actually transporting us to this place. And the fact that the transport can be done by a short phrase shows his control of the 'transport' to this place. It is like having a password that permits you to go to this place. So repititon is the necesary password is the transport that will allow him be at Innisfree and continually go back there.

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Originally Posted by ktd222

And the fact that the transport can be done by a short phrase shows his control of the 'transport' to this place.

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'Beam me up, Scotty!'???


http://www.crystalinks.com/beamtransporter.jpg

:D