A Mind’s Eye Stroll to Innisfree

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 honey-bee,
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 lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

I go to my Lake of Innisfree “when the world is too much with me” (Wordsworth).

With the wonder of words, my mind’s eye paints me into peace. With each stroke, my breath is easier, softer, slower.

“The Lake of Innisfree” is an early lyric poem (1888) by Yeats, a mind’s eye stroll to a favorite lake of his childhood.

Innisfree Lake is still uninhabited; it invites imagining a Thoreau lifestyle. Yeats admitted the imitation–building a cabin, planting a garden, and sharing “a glade” with the bees. Idyllic, peaceful, perfect.

Amazingly, the peace of Innisfree is always available. But it does require us to stop and still, for peace “comes dropping slow.”

We must close the door on the outside world if we wish to see “midnights all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow.” It is a specialty of our mind’s eye to offer us a different perspective on the life swirling around us.

As we listen to lake waters lapping the shore, we settle “deep” into our “heart’s core,” sitting on the shore of our own Lake of Innisfree.

Peace may come dropping slow but it does come.

The #DailyDose thanks Caroline Johnson for “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” reminder. 🙂

Aim for Even posts offer equanimity in daily doses. No day or dose is ever the same, even if the aim is. You may read about the origins of Aim for Even here or on this site’s About page.