The Lake Isle of Innisfree

by William Butler Yeats

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Discussion Topic

Descriptions of the times of day in "The Lake Isle of Innisfree."

Summary:

In "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," the poem describes different times of day to evoke a sense of tranquility and natural beauty. Morning is depicted with "a small cabin," "nine bean-rows," and "a hive for the honeybee." Evening is portrayed with a peaceful "purple glow." Midnight has a "glimmer," and noon is filled with "a purple glow," emphasizing the serene and timeless nature of the island.

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How does the poet describe noon, evening, and night at Innisfree?

I assume you are asking about William Butler Yeats's poem "The Lake Isle of Innisfree."

This is a very evocative poem: the speaker is expressing his yearning to return to this place where he has so enjoyed losing himself in the sights and sounds of nature. He imagines himself...

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building a cabin for himself, and keeping bees, living by himself but in a glade which is "bee-loud," reminding him that he is actually surrounded by nature, even in his solitude. This noise does not constitute a disturbance to him: instead, he imagines that he will have "peace" in Innisfree.

He describes the different times of day in terms of their color and appearance. At noon, he says there will be a "purple glow," while midnight is "all a glimmer" and, in the evening, the place is "full of the linnet's wings." These are brief details, but help us to picture the place in our mind, populated by linnets and glimmering in the moonlight.

The speaker notes that at all times, "night and day," he is thinking about the sound of water lapping against the shores at Innisfree, a sound he hears deep in his heart.

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What kind of midnight, noon, and evening does the speaker anticipate in "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"?

In this poem by W.B. Yeats, the speaker declares his intention to go to Innisfree and build for himself a "small cabin" from natural materials, "clay and wattles." It is clear that the speaker anticipates a solitary existence where he "shall have some peace."

In describing the days he anticipates during his time at Innisfree, "peace" is the word around which the speaker's thoughts revolve. Peace will come to him "dropping from the veils of the morning" down to where the cricket is singing in the grass. Midnight in this serene place will be "all a glimmer," noon "a purple glow" and evening "full of the linnet's wings." A linnet is a type of bird, part of the finch family and now sadly endangered; linnets are plentiful only in the most remote and peaceful of places, so the reference to this bird highlights the fact that the speaker expresses solitude both day and night in Innisfree. The "purple glow" and the glimmer at midnight suggest the reflection of the moon and stars in the lake's surface, again something that is visible only in the wildest depths of the country, where there is no light pollution to inhibit the glow of every star in the sky.

The sound of the lake water, the speaker says, haunts him "night and day," pulling him towards this future he anticipates.

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