” The Lake Isle of Innisfree speaks about the modern man’s plight. ” Do you agree ?
The Lake Isle of Innisfree by W. B. Yeats is a beautiful nature poem. It describes the beauty of a small isle called Innisfree. Here , the poet is in a city but his mind is with Innisfree. This poem shows how the poet wants to go to Innisfree and live there. But he can’t do it. So I can agree with the statement that The Lake Isle of Innisfree speaks about the modern man’s plight.
Innisfree is a beautiful , peaceful island. The poet is in a busy , noisy city. So he wants to go to Innisfree and live there peacefully. He imagines how he is going to live there. He is struggling between reality and ideal. He is going to build a small cabin with clay and wattle there. Maybe he is having a big house with many rooms. But he wants to live in a small cabin with the peaceful nature. It shows modern man’s plight. It shows that man can’t live without nature.
” And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made ”
And he wants to grow beans and eat build a hive for bees. He likes to get simple food like beans and honey other than having artificial food what he is getting now. He can’t grow and eat such foods in a city because the city is industrialized. So he yearns to go to Innisfree. This also shows modern man’s plight.
” Nine bean – rows I will have there , a hive for the honey bee ”
And he wants to live alone. But he can’t escape the society because he is living in a city. So he wants to go to Innisfree. But it is some what odd because modern man is used to live with the society since their childhood. But the poet may be tired from it. His urgency to go to Innisfree is highlighted by the line ,
” I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree ”
Repetition of the above line shows how his mind struggles to go to Innisfree. This also shows modern man’s plight.
And the poet describes the peaceful and beautiful nature of the Innisfree. It also shows modern man’s plight because he doesn’t get those soothing things or environment in the city.
The poet can have a peaceful life in Innisfree as it has not industrialized. There are no people in Innisfree and poet can live a calm and quiet life. He is describing a quite different nature from where he is living now.
” And I shall have some peace there , for peace comes dropping slow ”
His heart is yearning for a peaceful environment. And the colourful nature of Innisfree is also motivating him to go there. Innisfree is filled with violet colour flowers which bloom in the day time. So the day time Innisfree is filled with violet colour. But the city is full of grey colour. Violet colour soothes our mind. So it is not a surprise that the poet is struggling to go to Innisfree. And the night in Innisfree is also colourful with glimmering stars. Though we can see stars even in a city it is not clear or glimmering like in a country side because the environment , atmosphere is polluted. So the poet is struggling to go to Innisfree.
” There midnight’s all a glimmer , and noon a purple glow”
This also shows modern man’s plight.
And the poet yearns for the sounds that soothes his mind. In a city, we can only hear the noisy sound of vehicles and machines. We can’t even hear a song af a bird. Because the city is industrialized and naturality has destroyed. But in Innisfree poet can hear the songs of the birds and lapping sound of the lake. So he tries to go there.
” I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore ”
Though modern man tries to go to Innisfree , he can’t. Because the industrialized society has bounded him with responsibilities. Though modern man yearns for nature , he couldn’t reach to it. This shows modern man’s plight.
” I hear it in the deep heart’s core ”
Modern man who destroyed nature and built an artificial world is yearning for natural environment again. But he can’t go back to nature which he destroyed. He is so much sad about himself. He is not happy with the artificial environment. So he goes to Innisfree in his mind as it pleases him though he is not there. The poet has creatively described the natural beauty of Innisfree and modern man’s yearning to go there. It shows modern man’s plight as he is not able to go there.
So inability to have a peaceful , natural environment like Innisfree shows plight of modern man. So I can agree with the statement that The Lake Isle of Innisfree speaks about the modern man’s plight.