Thoughts on ' The Lake Isle of Innisfree ' - W B Yeats

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 grey,

I hear it in the deep heart's core.

I feel that this poem has become more appealing, as the years pass. More and more of us move to the city or suburbs, and drive our gas guzzler to work every day. We sit down for lunch at our office, University, building site, hospital, store, or wherever else we spend most of our life. Working away until we are lucky wnough to escape. Our bodies and minds really do cry out for a clean breath of air and a glass of water from a spring lake.

While most of us are willing to settle for a plastic bottle of water from the cafeteria or vending machine, it seems that Yeats was determined to break free from the “pavements grey” and just go. get up and get out of here.

It’s such a wonderful poem, yet it does leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Monday morning in a box, surrounded by the coughs and complaints of co workers who surround me. I presume many of you feel the same. And although this poem relaxes our mind, and creates a desire to return to a natural setting, when we return to reality and the words of this poetic master come to an end, we land back in our plastic and metal cages. Maybe when lunch time arrives, we might get to breathe some fresh air, for those of us lucky enough to have a tree outside of our buildings. Block out the noises of the engines roaring by, and feel as Yeats felt when he penned this classic poem.

Let us not overlook the beauty of nature, and when the weekend comes, it does do us good to get away and enjoy some peace and tranquility. Afterall, we do all have our lake isle of Innisfree, dont we?