English Literature

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 midnights all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnets 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 hearts core.

WHAT IS SEEN AS THE TRAGEDY OR TRUTH IN THIS WORK

In The Lake Isle of Innisfree, Yeats waxes on about a cabin near a lake, where he longs to go and live. He holds this cabin, or this dream, as one that will bring him peace. The tragedy in this work is in the last line while I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray, I hear it in the deep hearts core.  Yeats has perhaps not quite found the peace he desires, it is there in his heart, but unattainable in reality. He stands on the pavement, perhaps in a city, and not near the lake or at the cabin that he holds ideal. It is this ideal he believes will bring him peace, which he admittedly is unable to achieve  for peace comes dropping slow.  It is perhaps a tragedy as well, that one may often seek a peace only held in ones mind or heart, but never achieved.

WHAT IS THE MORAL LESSON OF THIS POEM

The moral of the poem addresses the tragedy. To seek real peace, one must arise and go now.  Not just sit idly by and wait for it to come. Otherwise, it will continue to be out of ones reach. Each person perhaps has their own small cabin, whether it be a real cabin by a calming lake, a sunny beach on an island in Greece, a patisserie in France with the scent of fresh bread baking, sipping wine at a vineyard in Italy, or even just finding those 5 minutes of quiet in every busy day. Unless one goes out to find the peace they so desire, or make the effort towards ones goals or dreams, it remains in their deep hearts core or locked inside, perhaps leading to an unfulfilled or unsatisfied existence.