tags: The Lake Isle of Innisfree, William Butler Yeats, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day, every day, this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). Today's poem was suggested by a reader and friend.
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
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 honeybee,
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 midnight's all a-glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear the 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 heart's core.
-- William Butler Yeats, Yeats's Poetry, Drama, and Prose (Norton Critical Editions) (W. W. Norton; 2000).
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Ah, so that's the original. I was only aware of this version:
I will arise and go now, and go to Finsbury,
And a small ticket office build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine self-service machines will I have there,
And a snack bar for the hungry,
And live alone and ply the commuter trade!
- Straphanger
Yay! I don't read much poetry, but I looked up Yeats after a reference popped up in a show I watch, and I recognized Innisfree. :)
Didn't Judy Collins make a song out of this?
Ford Madox Ford's parody is my favourite
At Innisfree there is a public-house;
They board you well for ten and six a week.
The mutton is not good, but you can eat
Their honey. I am going there to take
A week or so of holiday to-morrow.
I think this is the most parodied poem, next to Sea Fever, that is.