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The Lake Isle of InnisfreePoem by William
Butler Yeats (1865-1939)By Mr. Dunford
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Poem Overview

• Poem Background Information
• The poem symbolises Yeats youth and establishes
  a contrast between busy London and the peaceful
  country. In London, he passed by a fountain, and
  the water dropping into the pool of the fountain
  reminded him of the water of Lough Gill.
• Poet Background Information
• Yeats was interested in all things that were
  Irish. This is seen in this poem, for he longs to
  return to County Sligo in western Ireland, where
  he spent much of his youth. Yeats was influenced
  by American transcendentalists such as Thoreau, a
  movement about returning to nature.
• Poem Context
• Yeats thought of the idea to write the poem on
  the busy London streets. When Yeats wrote the
  poem Ireland was going through economic and
  political turmoil, and Yeats and his family were
  struggling financially. Ireland was an
  agricultural country in the nineteenth century,
  but British landlords controlled many farms.
  Farmers had fought for almost three centuries for
  greater say in their livelihood. In the 1880s,
  they finally achieved some success.

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Poem Overview Continued

• What its about?
• This poem is about peace, tranquillity and
  independence. The poem takes the reader to a
  small island in the middle of the lake. The poem
  takes reader away from the fast paced city
  life. The poems speaker recollects Innisfree,
  journeying both emotional and spiritually to a
  place one enjoyed in youth. Although the speaker
  can not physically return to the lake, the
  speaker can return in thought.
• Terminology
• wattles upright wooden poles or stakes through
  which sticks and branches are laced horizontally
  and daubed with clay to make weatherproof walls.
• glade an open area in a woodland area
• veils a head covering garment
• all a glimmer may refer to the light of the
  stars
• purple glow may refer to sunlight or flowers
• linnet a finch, a tiny bird that eats seeds
• roadway refers to Fleet Street in London,
  England

Contrasts City and Country
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Form

• Techniques and Analysis
• Three quatrains (a stanza with four lines which
  may or may not have a set line). Analysis/Effect
  Simple form allows for intimacy with audience.
  Simplicity mirrors a desire to return to nature
  and is like nature quickly. Gives order and
  easily read, followed. Symbolic of beginning,
  middle, and end, stages of life. Order shows that
  the poet took his time writing the
  poemillustrates how important the topic was to
  him.
• Mostly in hexameter (six stresses in each line)
  in a loosely iambic pattern. Analysis/Effect
  Used to give musical flow to the poem and the
  order/preciseness of the hexameter suggests that
  the author valued the topic. Yet, the loose
  iambic pattern suggests that author does not the
  topic controlled, or that the topic can not be
  controlled. Rather it must be free. Invites
  peace.

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Form Continued

• Techniques and Analysis
• The last line of each four-line stanza shortens
  the line to tetrameter (four stresses)
  Analysis/Effect used to bring emphasis of the
  connotations of each line and the ordering of the
  lines as the same effect as above.
• Form is unusual for Yeats, for her rarely worked
  with hexameter, and every rhyme in the poem is a
  full rhyme there is no sign of the half-rhymes
  Yeats often prefers in his later work.
  Analysis/Effect Symbolic of the importance of
  the topic, the topics fullness. Shows poets
  change in thinkingnot wanting to be
  caged/trapped the busy way of life. He is
  breaking away from the roadway of London life.
  Illustrates his change in thinking.

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Structure

• Techniques/Analysis
• The three stanzas have the same ABAB rhyme
  scheme. Analysis/Effect Used to create an rhythm
  of the poem (symbolic of the speakers thoughts
  and his connection to nature. Also used to mirror
  nature and the lapping water of Innisfree). Shows
  that the poet valued the topic, for he spent a
  wealth of time to construct it. Enhnces
  readability to by bringing order/structure to the
  poem. Gives musical quality. Connotations of the
  ryhminig words are emphasised.
• Has end rhyme in an abab rhyme scheme.
  Analysis/Effect See above. Also, perhaps is
  symbolic of the end of of his time in London.
• Lack of Punctuation and Question Marks.
  Analysis/Effect Not used, for the author does
  not want the reader to question his opinion,
  rather accept/adopt it. The lack of exclamation
  marks illustrates that author does not wan to
  startle the audience. This reinforces the
  peacefulness of the poem.
• Comma/Semi-colons/Colons. Analysis/Effect Used
  with within the lines or at the end of lines.
  Used to create pauses, connect ideas, establish
  lists. Adds to the rhythm/natural flow of the
  poem. Connection of ideas presented through the
  use of the aforementioned items is symbolic of
  his connection with nature, of how everything is
  connected, of how Innisfree is always flowing
  and/or of how Innisfree will always be inside of
  him.

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Structure Continued

• Techniques/Analysis
• Long Line Length. Analysis/Effect Allow the
  reader to feel the power of the tranquillity and
  absorb a lot of information. Connects to the
  theme of the poem.
• Full stops. Analysis/Effects Used only after the
  second stanza and third stanza. The lack of the
  full stops creates a flowing pace, symbolic of
  the flowing water that runs peacefully at
  Innisfree. The first full stop brings closure to
  the speakers thoughts about the past, allowing
  us, the reader, to chunk the information and
  recognize the speakers movement to change.
  Additionally, the second full stop marks the end
  of the poem and highlights the speakers decision
  to leave, returning to the glory of Innisfree.
• Content/Structure of Stanzas. Analysis/Effect
  The first two stanzas are filled with images of
  the past, of the glorious Innisfree and of how
  the speaker found harmony there. The last stanza
  presents uncertain speaker, perhaps confused
  (where is he standing? He doesnt know). The
  ordering of these stanzas stresses the importance
  of the past and what was once was. It is used to
  bring emphasis to his thoughts, not to where he
  is now (London).
• Rhythm of the Stanzas Analysis/Effect The two
  stanzas are soft, dreary and somewhat hypnotic,
  while the last stanza is faster, symbolic of the
  get out of London desire of the speaker. Look
  at the number of syllables per line.

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Language

• First Person I Analysis/Effect Used to
  focus on the speakers thoughts/emotions. This
  establishes a personal tone and establishes a
  sense of nostalgia.
• Verbs will Analysis/Effect Used to show
  movement to the new, rebirth. The speaker is
  coming of age. We, the readers, are taken with
  the speaker to a new place, making us read on for
  we wonder what it has to offer and why change was
  needed. The movement reinforces the ever-moving
  pattern of nature and how life is not static.
  Other verbs are also used.
• Alliteration/Repetition go, have, hive,
  honey, cabin, clay, live, alone, loud,
  glade, lake, lapping, low. Analysis/Effect
  Yeats relies on the alliteration and the nature
  sounds--the droning of bees, the chirping of
  crickets, and the flapping of birds' wings--to
  suggest peace and tranquillity. The technique is
  also used to emphasis the connotations of the
  words All the alliterated words also deal with
  nature, the topic of the poem. They also add to
  the musical rhythm and flow of the poem, making
  nature emphasised/superior to busy life in
  London.
• Allusion Innisfree Analysis/Effect Used to
  make the destination of the place concrete.
  Yet, depending on the readers knowledge of
  Innisfree, the reader may or may not have to read
  on, for we may still wonder why this place is
  important and why the speaker gave the past up to
  go to. Essentially, although the noun is
  concrete, the allusion adds an element of
  mystery, which invites us to read on.
• Emotive Language peace, veils, glimmer
  Analysis/Effect Used to associate the past with
  beauty and to give further definition to the noun
  Innisfree. Create mood of peace embodied
  throughout the first two stanzas. The veil
  connotes to marriage, symbolizing unity and
  togetherness.
• Imagery glimmer, purple, lapping
  Analysis/Effect See above. Also used to
  establish a contrast between the past and the
  present (see juxtaposition).
• Personification cricket sings
  Analysis/Effect Used to bring the past to life,
  for the cricket symbolises the speakers past a
  past filled with freedom and tranquillity. The
  past is not heighten and more prominent then the
  present (busy London).
• Juxtaposition of Images purple, bright,
  water, lapping. These create colourful images
  representing the island. grey, dreary,
  roadway. These create dreary images
  representing London. Analysis/Effect Used to
  highlight and intensity the contract between the
  past and present and the country and the city.
  Could also represent life and death.

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Language Continued

• Metaphor I hear it in the deep hearts core.
  Analysis/Effect The deeper meaning of this
  metaphor is the internal struggle the speaker
  goes through to try to remain true to his natural
  identify, despite the busy, engulfing life that
  is presented in the city. The whole poem may also
  be an extended metaphor, symbolising the value of
  nature and the duality of life.
• Assonance repetition of vowel sounds ee and
  aa Analysis/Effect Used to emphasize the
  musical tone and rhythm of the poem and to
  highlight the how much the speaker longs to back
  in Innisfree.
• Internal Rhyme dropping, morning, sings
  Analysis/Effect Used to create rhythm and to
  bring order, melody and musical qualities to the
  poem. May also mirror the water hitting the
  shores on the lake.
• Onomatopoeia lapping Analysis/Effect The
  sound of a water fountain bustling London street
  transports him back to the past, creating a link
  between the past and present and thus unifies the
  poems stanza and causes the change of the
  speaker. The change of the speaker is
  demonstrated the verb used. See above. The
  onomatopoeia helps personify the past, making is
  come to life and it have more value/importance.
  of the lapping water of Lough Gill and stir the
  boyhood dream he had of living on Innisfree,
  unencumbered by the demands of modern urban life.
• Rhythm and Stress I WILL aRISE and GO
  now, PAUSE and GO to INN is FREE,  And A
  small CAB in BUILD there, PAUSE of CLAY
  and WAT tles MAD. Analysis/Effect It appears
  that the stress pattern of the poem mimics the
  rhythm of a tranquil heartbeat. It may also
  represent the rise and fall of the ocean tides
  along the shore of County Sligo. A pause occurs
  in the middle of the first three lines of each
  stanza.