PoemoftheWeek

[Scheherazade]

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

[lavendar1]

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.

[Virgil]

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.

[IrishCanadian]

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.

[Scheherazade]

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... ).

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 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?

[Xamonas Chegwe]

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".

[IrishCanadian]

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...

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. ???

[Virgil]

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?

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.

[Scheherazade]

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

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?

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. ???

Had no idea and another valid suggestion, I think.

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

Why, thank you, Virgil! - 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!

[Riesa]

As you wish, Virgil.

[ktd222]

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!

[Jay]

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.

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).

[IrishCanadian]

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

[Riesa]

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

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

[Xamonas Chegwe]

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.

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