Nature

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

by W. B. Yeats 1865–1939

From The Rose (1893)

NatureLiving

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 gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

✦ ✦ ✦

The speaker will arise and go to Innisfree to build a cabin of clay and wattles with nine bean rows and a hive. Standing on the grey pavements, he hears the lake water 'in the deep heart's core'. Yeats's most popular lyric.

MLA

Yeats, W. B. “The Lake Isle of Innisfree.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/yeats/1/.

Chicago

Yeats, W. B. “The Lake Isle of Innisfree.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/yeats/1/.

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