The Lake Isle of Innisfree — Class 9 English (Beehive Poetry)
"I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore..."
— W.B. Yeats
1. About the Poem
'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' is one of the most beloved short poems in English literature. Written by William Butler Yeats in 1888 (published 1890), it expresses the deep human longing for peace, solitude, and connection with nature — a longing that arises most sharply in the middle of busy urban life.
Quick Facts
- Poet: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
- Year: Written 1888, published 1890
- Form: 3 quatrains (4-line stanzas)
- Rhyme: ABAB
- Setting: Innisfree — a small, real island in Lough Gill, County Sligo, Ireland
- Inspiration: Yeats heard the sound of a fountain on a London street and was reminded of Sligo waters
Why It's Famous
- One of the most-anthologised English poems
- A perfect short poem — simple, deep, lyrical
- The birth poem of modern Irish nationalism in literature
- Endlessly quotable
2. About the Poet — W.B. Yeats
Quick Facts
- Full name: William Butler Yeats
- Born: 13 June 1865, Sandymount, Dublin, Ireland
- Died: 28 January 1939, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France (aged 73)
- Nationality: Irish
- Profession: Poet, dramatist, mystic
Major Honours
- Nobel Prize in Literature (1923) — first Irish laureate
- Senator of the Irish Free State (1922-28)
- A founding figure of the Irish Literary Revival
- One of the foremost poets of the 20th century
Famous Works
- 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' (1890)
- 'The Second Coming' (1919)
- 'Sailing to Byzantium' (1928)
- 'Easter, 1916'
- 'An Irish Airman Foresees His Death'
- Plays: 'Cathleen Ni Houlihan', 'The Countess Cathleen'
Style
- Lyrical, musical — almost songlike
- Drew on Irish folklore and myth
- Early works (like Innisfree) — romantic, dreamy
- Later works — harder, more political, more modernist
- Master of rhythm and traditional forms
Background to the Poem
Yeats was living in London. While walking down Fleet Street, he saw a fountain in a shop window. The sound of the water reminded him of the lakes of County Sligo in his childhood. In that moment, he composed 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' in his head — a perfect homesick poem.
3. The Poem (Full Text)
Stanza 1
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.Stanza 2
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.Stanza 3
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.
4. Stanza-by-Stanza Explanation
Stanza 1 — The Decision
The speaker declares: 'I will arise and go now' — a strong, biblical-sounding opening. He will go to Innisfree (a small island in Lough Gill, Ireland). There, he will:
- Build a small cabin of clay and wattles (mud and woven branches)
- Plant nine bean-rows
- Keep a beehive for honey
- Live alone in the 'bee-loud glade' — a clearing full of buzzing bees
Imagery: rural, simple, self-sufficient. A return to basic, traditional Irish farmhouse life.
Stanza 2 — The Peace
On Innisfree, the speaker will find peace. Importantly, peace 'comes dropping slow' — gradually, gently, like dew or mist.
Throughout the day, peace drops from:
- Morning veils (mist) to where the cricket sings
- Midnight all a glimmer (starlight on water)
- Noon a purple glow (heat haze, maybe heather)
- Evening full of the linnet's wings (a small Irish songbird)
This is time experienced naturally — by sights and sounds of the natural world, not by clocks.
Stanza 3 — The Yearning
The speaker repeats: 'I will arise and go now'. Why? Because night and day, he can hear in his imagination the lake water lapping softly by the shore.
Even when he is in the city — standing on a roadway or grey pavement — he hears the lake water 'in the deep heart's core'.
The poem ends with this powerful image: the inner sound of the lake carried in the heart, even in the heart of urban grime.
5. Themes
1. The Longing for Nature
The poem is the purest expression of the human urge to escape urban life and return to nature.
2. Solitude as a Spiritual Need
The speaker wants to live alone — not as a punishment, but as a chosen spiritual state. Solitude is what enables peace.
3. Simple Living and Self-Sufficiency
The cabin of clay and wattles, the nine bean-rows, the beehive — all imply a life lived close to the earth, free of consumer accumulation.
4. The Power of Memory and Imagination
Even far from Innisfree, in London, the poet hears the lake's water in his heart. Place can live in us through memory.
5. The Healing Pace of Nature
Peace 'comes dropping slow' — not in sudden bursts but in gentle, gradual accumulation. Nature heals at its own pace.
6. Inner vs Outer Reality
The speaker stands on London pavements (outer reality) but hears Innisfree's water (inner reality). The deeper truth is the inner one.
7. Irish National Romanticism
Yeats wrote this as part of the Irish Literary Revival — celebrating Irish landscapes and rural traditions as part of forming an Irish cultural identity.
6. Literary Devices
Imagery
- Visual: cabin, bean-rows, beehive, glade, purple glow, linnet wings
- Auditory: bee-loud, cricket sings, lake water lapping
- Tactile: clay and wattles, the deep heart's core
Sound Devices
- Alliteration: 'bee-loud', 'lake water lapping with low sounds'
- Onomatopoeia: 'lapping' (water sound)
- Internal rhyme: 'and glow, evening full of the linnet's...'
Form
- 3 quatrains (4-line stanzas)
- Rhyme scheme: ABAB
- Loose iambic hexameter (some variation)
- Refrain: 'I will arise and go now' (stanzas 1 and 3)
Symbols
- Innisfree = ideal of peace, simplicity, home
- Bee-loud glade = the buzzing fullness of nature
- Lake water lapping = the deep, inner peace the poet carries
- Pavements grey = the dullness of urban modern life
- Deep heart's core = the soul, the essence of identity
Tone
- Yearning, wistful, decisive
- Calm and dreamy, but with quiet urgency
- A balance of longing and resolve
7. The Real Innisfree
Innisfree (from the Irish Inis Fraoigh, 'island of heather') is a real, small, uninhabited island in Lough Gill, County Sligo, Ireland.
- Sligo is in northwest Ireland
- Lough Gill is a beautiful, narrow lake
- The island is only about 1.5 acres
- Today it is a tourist site because of the poem
- Yeats spent summers in Sligo as a child — it became his spiritual home
The poem made Innisfree (and Sligo) world-famous.
8. Memorable Lines
"I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree..."
"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..."
"While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core."
9. Central Message
- The soul longs for peace and nature — even in the busiest city.
- Simple life on the land is a real and valuable alternative to urban chaos.
- Peace cannot be rushed — it comes 'dropping slow'.
- Memory and imagination can sustain us through difficult times.
- Our true home is within us — Innisfree lives in the poet's heart wherever he goes.
- Sometimes resolve is needed — 'I will arise and go now'.
10. Today's Relevance
Urban Stress in 2026
- Indian cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru) are noisier and more polluted than ever
- 'Slow living', 'cottagecore', 'farm to table' movements echo Yeats's vision
- Young professionals dream of leaving cities for hill stations / villages
Mental Health
- Modern psychology recognises the restorative power of nature ('biophilia')
- Doctors prescribe nature walks for anxiety and depression
- The poem's wisdom is borne out by scientific research
India's Own Innisfrees
- Many Indians dream of village/mountain retreats
- Auroville, Tiruvannamalai, Himalayan ashrams, Goa beach huts
- The 'pahad' (mountain) dream of urban Indians
For Students
- The poem is a brief escape in the middle of a busy school day
- A reminder that nature and peace are also worthy goals
- A model for how to write lyrical, sensory poetry
11. Conclusion
'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' is a perfect short poem. In just 12 lines, Yeats captures one of the deepest human longings: to leave behind the noise and complexity of urban life and return to simplicity, nature, and peace.
The poem's genius is its balance — between the dreamy image of Innisfree (clay cabin, bean-rows, bees, linnets) and the gritty reality of city life (roadway, pavements grey). Yeats does not promise that the speaker will actually go to Innisfree — only that the longing is real and lives 'in the deep heart's core'.
For Class 9 students, this poem is an introduction to lyrical poetry at its finest — short, musical, deeply felt. It is also a personal invitation: to find your own Innisfree — a place, a memory, a state of being — that you can carry within you wherever the busy world takes you.
