CLASS IX ENGLISH SOLUTION

THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE

By WB Yeats

CLASS IX ENGLISH SOLUTION

The poem talks about the beauty of a rural area. It is all about how the speaker’s aspirations do not quite align with his present situation, and how visions and reality clash with one another.

The poet dreams of escaping the busy and crowded streets of London. He wants to go to a small island in a lake, of which he had fond memories of his childhood memories. It is a simple natural place where birds sing, the bees buzz and the lapping of water of the lake is heard. He will build a cottage, grow beans, have a beehive and live alone there. The poem expresses a set of aspirations common to the world of modernity; to escape, to achieve place and solitude, to be at one with nature.

WORD MEANINGS

Arise – stand up.

Innisfree – an island in a lake.

Cabin – a small wooden shelter.

Clay – mud.

Wattles – material consisting of rods interlaced with twigs or branches used for building walls or fences.

Bean-rows – rows of bean plants.

Bee-loud – place having the loud sound of bees’ buzzing.

Glade – open space in a forest.

Peace – (here its meaning is) dew.

Dropping slow – dropping slowly.

Veils – the misty atmosphere in morning.

Cricket – an insect.

All a glimmer – shining.

Purple glow – the light of afternoon.

Linnet – a small bird of brown and grey in colour.

Lapping – the sound of water striking the shore.

Low – soft.

Roadway – road in the town.

Pavements grey – dull and drab paths.

Deep heart’s core – deep in my heart.

CLASS IX ENGLISH SOLUTION

EXPLANATION

The poem begins with the poet saying that he will wake up and go to the island of Innisfree. He compares his life in the city to sleep. As he wakes up and becomes conscious, he is taken away to a life of action in a rural setting from the sedentary urban life. The poet describes, in particular, two activities he intends to pursue – physical labour, i.e. building a cabin, planting nine rows of beans and beekeeping. He would like to be alone where the bees' buzzing sound fills the entire environment.

In the second stanza, the poet says his life will be peaceful on the island of Innisfree. He connects peacefulness with the early morning in particular. Peace will come easily to him as morning arrives, waking up to the cricket's chirping sound. When the sun rises, morning drops her veil of darkness and brings peace upon the rural environment of Innisfree. The poet likes midnight when the stars shine in the sky. He likes noon and also an evening full of the sound of the linnet birds' melodious song.

In the last stanza, the poet declares that he is going to Innisfree right now because Innisfree never goes beyond his reach. Throughout the day and night, he is only able to hear one sound in his mind – the soft lapping sound that reaches the banks of the island of Innisfree at a calm pace. In his heart, he hears this sound as he lives in the urban setting of roadways and pavements. This urban environment does not contain any of the colours which make Innisfree beautiful; rather, it looks grey and boring.

CLASS IX ENGLISH SOLUTION

I. THINKING ABOUT THE POEM

1. What kind of place is Innisfree? Think about:

(i) the three things the poet wants to do when he goes back there.

Answer: Innisfree is a peaceful, tranquil place with a beautiful, vibrant setting. It is an island that is uninhabited.

(i) The three things the poet wants to do in Innisfree are:

          (a) build a small cabin of mud and wattles.

          (b) plant nine rows of beans.

          (c) install a beehive to breed bees.

(ii) What he hears and sees there and its effect on him.

Answer: He hears the sound of bees buzzing. He sees the purple glow of the sky at noon and the midnight sky full of sparkling stars. He also sees the flight of the linnet birds in the evening. He thus feels peaceful in the lap of nature.

(iii) What he hears in his ‘heart’s core’ when he is far away from Innisfree.

Answer: In the concrete jungle of the city, the poet’s heart aches for going back to Innisfree. He can hear the lapping sound of the water on the lake.

2. By now you may have concluded that Innisfree is a simple, natural place, full of beauty and peace. How does the poet contrast it with where he now stands?

Answer: Innisfree is thought by the poet to be a simple, natural and quiet place very close to nature, as he talks of the insects, birds, bees, stars, etc. The place where he stands now, in contrast, is noisy, far from nature and full of activities.

3. Do you think Innisfree is only a place or a state of mind? Does the poet actually miss the place of his boyhood days?

Answer: While Innisfree is a haunt to the poet’s boyhood, it also represents his state of mind. The poet wants to flee to Innisfree because it is more peaceful than where is now. Innisfree depicts what the poet believes to be an ideal place to live in, without the restless humdrum of his life.

Yes, the poet misses the place of his boyhood days. He recalls the sound of the lake water washing the shore when he is away from Innisfree.

CLASS IX ENGLISH SOLUTION

1. Look at the words the poet uses to describe what he sees and hears at Innisfree.

(i) Bee-loud glade.

(ii) Evening full of the linnet’s wings.

(iii) Lake water lapping with low sounds.

What pictures do these words create in your minds.

Answer:

(i) Bee-loud glade – these words bring the image of buzzing bees to our minds. 

(ii) Evening full of the linnet’s wings – these words make the picture of linnets flying across an evening sky. 

(iii) Lake water lapping with low sounds - these words evoke not only an image but also the soft sound of a lake’s water washing the shore.

2. Look at these words:

... peace comes dropping slow

Dropping from the veils of the morning to

where the cricket sings.

What do these words mean to you? What do you think ‘comes dropping slow...from the veils of the morning/’ What does ‘to where the cricket sings’ mean?

Answer: The lines indicate that the peace of mind can be acquired gradually from the natural surroundings. It is the peace that ‘comes dropping slow ... from the veils of the morning.’ The phrase ‘to where the cricket sings’ refers to a peaceful place where the vibrant sounds of the nature like the songs of the crickets can be heard at dawn.

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS:

1. How shall the poet live at the isle of Innisfree?

Answer: The poet will live in a quiet and safe cabin made of clay and wattles on the island of Innisfree. The poet will raise beans and collect honey from the honeybees there.

2. How is the roadway in the city different from the isle of Innisfree/

Answer: The roadway in the city is dull and grey. But, there is the beauty of nature all around at Innisfree. The poet listens to the gentle lapping of lake water, the singing of the cricket and sees the birds flying.

3. Where does the poet want to go and why?

Answer: The poet wants to go to Innisfree, a rural island because it will give him what he needs. Most of all, he will get peace there. He envisions a simple life in a cottage surrounded by a garden instead of the dull pavement of the city.
CLASS IX ENGLISH SOLUTION

4. How will the poet have peace at Innisfree?

Answer: The poet is a lover of nature. He will enjoy the natural beauty of Innisfree, undisturbed by the hustle and bustle of the city. Thus he will have peace at Innisfree.

5. How would the poet enjoy his time at Innisfree?

Answer: In the morning he will look through the morning mist and listen to cricket singing. In the evenings, he will see the bright wings of the flying linnet birds. He will see the stars shining in the sky at midnight. All these are enjoyable to him.

6. Explain the phrase, ‘lake water lapping with low sounds.’

Answer: This phrase explains the stunning natural setting at Innisfree, in which the lake water strikes the island with a sweet sound. Since there is no noise around, one can hear this soft sound.

7. Why does the poet miss the isle of Innisfree?

Answer: The poet spent time at Innisfree during his childhood. He continues to hear the sounds of that place and feels that it is calling to him. He wants to get out of the city and go there. So he misses the isle of Innisfree a lot because the busy city of London has little peace or loneliness.

CLASS IX ENGLISH SOLUTION

8. How does the Isle of Innisfree contrast with the place where the poet now stands?

Answer: The poet contrasts the island's colourful images with the city's bland ones. These two images are the base of the poem. The island is brighter even at night with the stars and music due to the cricket singing, the bees buzzing and the lake water lapping softly on the shore. In contrast, the roads in the city are noisy. While the city’s roadways and pavements are dull and grey, the isle has a purple glow at noon. Thus, there is a major contrast between these two places. The isle of Innisfree is full of peace as it is uninhabited and far away from the city. It is full of natural surroundings.

9. Describe Innisfree as visualised by the poet so graphically.

Answer: Innisfree is a lake-island far away from the dull grey city both physically and metaphorically. You can see dewdrops on the ground through the morning mist, where the cricket sings. At noon the sun shines with a purple glow, while colourful linnet birds begin to fly to their nests in the evening. The stars are lit up at midnight. On the shore of the island, the lake water laps softly.  The poet wants to live there alone in a cabin made with clay and wattles, rearing bees for honey and planting none rows of beans.

10. Life in cities is so mechanical that people long/desire to go places which are peaceful and full of natural beauties. How it is a flow of urbanisation. Elaborate in the context of the poem ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree.’

Answer: As a result of urbanisation, there are more and more cemented houses, less open spaces and peaceful areas in the city life. Life in cities is crowded and chaotic due to overpopulation, industrialisation and pollution. Men lead a mechanical life with no peace and solitude.

A place full of natural beauty, away from the city, will provide the people with a peaceful atmosphere with a perfect place who look for it.

The poet feels that we will only receive a heavenly bliss if we associate with nature. Poet’s idea of peace is based on the usual early morning sights one sees in rustic island life. The poet who lives in London and leads a mad city life chooses eventually to move to Innisfree. He dreams of the beautiful and quiet Lake Isle of Innisfree and the secluded and self-sufficient life he wants to live there.
CLASS IX ENGLISH SOLUTION

11. Who is the poet of the poem ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’?

Answer: The poet of the poem ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’ is W.B. Yeats.

12. What is the best thing about Innisfree?

Answer: The best thing about Innisfree is that it is a place of great natural beauty.

13. Where will the poet stay in Innisfree?

Answer: The poet will stay in a small cabin of clay and wattles that he will build with his own hands.

14. What does the poet hope to get in Innisfree?

Answer: The poet hopes that he will get the peace in Innisfree.

15. Where is the poet at the time of writing the poem? 

Answer: At the time of writing the poem in London.

16. What does the poet hear day and night in the core of his heart?

Answer: The poet hears day and night in the core of his heart the sound of the lake water lapping against the shore of Innisfree.

17. How does the poet describe the mornings on the lonely island?

Answer: The poet describes how peaceful and calm the mornings on the lonely island are. The atmosphere of the morning is hazy with fog or mist. Peace falls gently and quietly from the hazy heavens on the land.

18. What are the roadways and the pavements a symbol of?

Answer:  The roadways and the pavements are a symbol of urban places such as London, where the pot lived, which are noisy and crowded. They stand in contrast to the calm, relaxing and vibrant environment found on the Lake Isle of Innisfree.

19. Why does the poet repeat “I will arise and go now”?

Answer: The repetition of “I will arise and go now” emphasizes that the poet is keen to abandon the city and head out for the quiet, idyllic environment of the Lake Isle. The usage of ‘arise’ and ‘go’ shows his desire to escape the restlessness and chaos of the cities and seek the peace and serenity of the natural world on the Innisfree island.

CLASS IX ENGLISH SOLUTION