The poem 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' is one of the most enduring poems of W.B. Yeats.It has got a hypnotic echo.The speaker of the poem is torn between the reality in which he lives and the lurking desire he has to escape that reality which is maddening. He resolves to pursue his heart's calling , yet he couldn't till the end of the poem. The beginning of the poem is about an abrupt announcement by the speaker that he will arise and go to the Innisfree which is a small island.Then he paints a picture of that island in some concrete images and also outlines his plans of living all alone there.He says he will go to that island and build a small room of clay and wattle- a kind of cabin.He further adds that he will grow nine bean-rows and enjoy the loud buzzings of bees over there.He is very imaginative and suggests that the bee loud glade will be all peaceful as peace keeps trickling all through the night and day.He seems to be fond of music and he will enjoy the music of crickets and linnets.The whole range of imagery is suggestive of an idyllic life as if this is not a poem but a painting straight from Gauguin's Still Life. After all these descriptions the speaker comes to his senses as he finds himself on pavement in a city and not on the said island. He says he is constantly feeling the sound of the lakewater of that island.In fact he says he hears this sound deep in his heart.So he again resolves that he will arise and will move to Innisfree and spend his life in peace and meditation. The speaker appears to be fed up with the city life and wants to go to the world of nature and live a primitive life.Nature heals and he wants to be healed.Sadly, the last section is a cruel awakening of the reality which he so desperately wishes to escape.The poem thus is a contradictory, but then, human life is all about such contradictions - the gulf between reality and desire is always overpowering. Can we maintain the voice of our conscience? This is the most profound question put forth in this poem.
MRITYUNJAY JHA
SAMASTIPUR
BIHAR
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