I found many of Yeat's poems less enjoyable than other authors. I chose to write about "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" because of the emotion expressed by the speaker. In Yeat's poems "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," the speaker seems to yearn for something other than his life at present. He dreams of another place and time, but is eventually thrown back into the reality of his life.
In "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," the speaker begins by describing a place that he wants to visit and even says that he is on his way there: "I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree...And live alone and in the bee-loud glade" (1,4). The speaker desires to leave his present state and travel to a new place: Innisfree. The speaker describes various characteristics of Innisfree and the way he would carry on while there. While the reader is unsure why the speaker wants to get away, I think most people can relate to this concept. There are times when we all want to escape, leaving our troubles and worries behind us. In much the same way, the speaker longs for a place to clear his mind: "And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow" (5). It seems that the speaker in the poem wants to be somewhere other than where he has been; a place that makes him happy. The speaker therefore, relates that sometimes taking time away from the routine of life sharpens are mind and our judgement.
As the speaker continues in "Te Lake of Innisfree," it becomes clear how much he loves this place and enjoys the scenery: "There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,/ And evening full of the linnet's wings" (7-8). When the speaker is at Innisfree, if only in his mind, he feels free and at peace. Innisfree seems like a get-away for the speaker; a place of rest and relaxation. Again, the reader can relate to this type of place because we all like to take a vacation and slow down for a while. People, like the speaker, look forward to leaving home for a while to catch up on sleep and try to forget about the reality of their lives. While the speaker does not go into depth about his reasons for wanting to go to Innisfree, it is easy to relate to the speaker's feelings and connect further with the poem. This connection intensifies when the speaker jolts the reader back to reality: "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" (10-12). The tone of the poem changes upon reading he last two lines of the poem because the speaker recognizes the sounds of the world around him. It is now that the speaker conveys that he is no longer able to dream about the serenity of Innisfree, but rather forced to face his real life.
Yeats strongly contrasts the ideal with reality; while the speaker begins by describing this lovely retreat to Innisfree, he returns from his thoughts and is left once again to hear the sounds of the nearby lake in the road. The reader wonders if "the deep heart's core" led him to dream of his retreat or if it brought him back to reality. I tend to think that it was the mind's wishful thinking that led the speaker to Innisfree and his heart, being able to feel the depth and reality of his present situation, that led him to once again realize that he is not actually in Innisfree. Why is the poem written this way? I think Yeats wants to convey that while dreaming is okay, it is crucial to listen to the voice of the heart that always leads you back to reality. Your mind wonders and dreams of unrealistic things, but the heart knows better. While Yeats seems to compare the value of both the mind and imagination with that of the heart, in the end, he portrays his own, individual conviction: the heart knows best.
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3 comments:
Karen,
As usual, you have done superlative work in your post on this poem. I tend to find Yeats rather difficult, and he is not one of my favorites, but I think this is one of his more accessible poems and you explicate it well.
Wow Karen, another great job. I do agree with you that Yeats work is difficult to understand, thus making it less enjoyable. I did not concentrate on this poem so I was very interested to see what was your take on this poem and to say you did a good job is an understatement. You did an excellent job. By reading your blog it was so clear to me that the speaker was dreaming of this beautiful place however, he had to face reality of his present situation and accept it. What was of most interest to me though was how you have concluded your blog. You have sumed it up so beautifully by telling your readers that Yeats decided in the end that the heart knows best. Although this is what the author concluded, that the heart knows best, sometimes we have to follow our head by using common sense and not to act on what we think our heart is saying.
You are a great writer. Thanks for sharing.
Karen, I did not really enjoy Yeats either, but your post was helpful in figuring out the meaning of the poem. After reading your post, I too found the poem very relateable because everyone has some place to escape to. The mind is a wonderful tool that can be used to escape from any reality even if it is only temporary.
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