Write a critical appreciation of the poem 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree in 120 words.
In William Butler Yeats poem 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree,' the poet presents an idyllic setting. Yeats was drawn to this peaceful place of refuge in Lough Gill in Ireland. Yeats makes a decision at the beginning of this poem. He says, 'I will arise and go now.' He has decided to make the break from modern society and all of the hectic madness it can bring and go to a place he loves, Innisfree. Yeats then describes Innisfree. He decides to build a cabin to live in of clay and 'wattles.' Wattles are strong sticks that interweave to form a structure. He imagines his garden with exactly nine rows for growing beans and he wants to have a beehive for honey. He then will live by himself in the 'bee-loud glade.' Here Yeats wonderfully expresses that all he will hear is the loud drone of bees, not the drone of civilization.
The next line is really the centre of what Yeats longs for in Innisfree - peace. By saying that 'peace comes dropping slow,' Yeats continues to let us know that from the time the morning dawns until evening when the 'cricket sings,' there is a gradual pacing of the day until evening falls. There is no stress, no noise. All is an expression of peace. Midnight is 'a glimmer' with stars, and noon he calls a 'purple glow.' There are small birds, or linnets. Once again, Yeats affirms that now is the time to 'arise and go' because he always hears 'lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore.' Yeats lived in London when he wrote this poem, and he didn't literally hear the lake. He heard it in his memory. He longed for that peaceful place.
He continues to say that when he is on the 'pavement,' on the 'roadway,' he hears that lake in the deepest part or 'core' of his heart. Yeats' word choice is so precise here, for the core of a person is where that person is grounded. Yeats realizes that he is grounded and most at peace at Innisfree.
The next line is really the centre of what Yeats longs for in Innisfree - peace. By saying that 'peace comes dropping slow,' Yeats continues to let us know that from the time the morning dawns until evening when the 'cricket sings,' there is a gradual pacing of the day until evening falls. There is no stress, no noise. All is an expression of peace. Midnight is 'a glimmer' with stars, and noon he calls a 'purple glow.' There are small birds, or linnets. Once again, Yeats affirms that now is the time to 'arise and go' because he always hears 'lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore.' Yeats lived in London when he wrote this poem, and he didn't literally hear the lake. He heard it in his memory. He longed for that peaceful place.
He continues to say that when he is on the 'pavement,' on the 'roadway,' he hears that lake in the deepest part or 'core' of his heart. Yeats' word choice is so precise here, for the core of a person is where that person is grounded. Yeats realizes that he is grounded and most at peace at Innisfree.