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The Lake Isle of Innisfree – Class 9 CBSE English Poem Notes

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

Class 9 CBSE English Poem Notes, Summary & Q&A

📑 Table of Contents

✍️ About the Poet

William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, and one of the most influential figures of 20th-century literature. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923. Yeats’s poetry often blends romantic imagery, Irish folklore, mysticism, and symbolism. “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” is one of his most celebrated poems, expressing his deep yearning for peace and harmony in nature.

📖 Summary

“The Lake Isle of Innisfree” reflects the poet’s longing to escape the busy, noisy city life and return to the peace of nature. The poet dreams of building a small cabin on Innisfree with simple materials like clay and wattles. He imagines living a self-sufficient life, growing beans and keeping bees in the “bee-loud glade.”


The poet emphasizes the slow, gentle rhythm of life in Innisfree. He describes peaceful mornings, shimmering midnights, glowing afternoons, and evenings filled with the wings of linnets (small birds). This calm and natural beauty stands in sharp contrast to the dull, artificial life in the city where he currently lives.


Even when he is far from Innisfree, standing on the “pavements grey,” the memory of the lake and the sound of its waters remain alive in his “heart’s core.” The poem shows the poet’s deep spiritual connection with nature and his belief that true peace lies in simplicity and harmony with the natural world.

🌟 Themes

  • Longing for Peace and Tranquility
  • Contrast between Urban Life and Nature
  • Spiritual Fulfillment through Simplicity
  • Connection with Childhood Memories

🎯 Moral / Message

The poem conveys that inner peace and true happiness can be found in simplicity and closeness to nature. It reminds us that materialistic urban life may be full of activity, but it cannot match the spiritual calmness and joy that nature provides.

📌 Important Question-Answers

Q1. What are the three things the poet wants to do in Innisfree?
👉 He wants to build a small cabin, grow nine rows of beans, and keep a beehive.

Q2. What does the poet hear and see in Innisfree?
👉 He hears the buzzing of bees, the song of crickets, and the lapping of lake water. He sees glimmering midnights, glowing afternoons, and evenings filled with linnets.

Q3. What does the poet hear in his “heart’s core” even when he is far away?
👉 He hears the soothing sound of the lake water lapping against the shore, which stays with him wherever he goes.

Q4. How does the poet contrast Innisfree with his present surroundings?
👉 Innisfree represents peace, beauty, and nature, while his current place has dull “grey pavements” of city life.

Q5. Is Innisfree only a real place or also a state of mind?
👉 It is both. Innisfree is a real childhood place of Yeats, but it also symbolizes his inner longing for peace and harmony with nature.

✨ Quick Revision Points

  • Poet: W.B. Yeats
  • Type: Lyric Poem
  • Main Idea: Longing for peace and nature at Innisfree
  • Key Images: Bee-loud glade, linnet’s wings, lake water lapping
  • Message: Peace lies in simplicity and nature
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