Class 9 Beehive Poem Chapter 4 Question Answers - The Lake Isle of Innisfree

Q1: Describe the Lake Isle of Innisfree as seen through the eyes of the poet.
Ans: The Lake Isle of Innisfree appears to the poet as a small, unspoilt island of calm and natural beauty. He sees it as a place alive with bird song, bees, and gentle insect sounds, where light and mist change the scene through the day. To him it is a peaceful, restorative refuge far removed from human disturbance.
Q2: Why does the poet want to go to Innisfree?
Ans: The poet wants to go to Innisfree to escape the noise, rush and monotony of city life. He longs for a quiet, self-sufficient life close to nature, where he can build a small cabin, grow beans and keep bees, finding rest and inner peace away from urban cares.
Q3: How is the city life different from the life at the Lake of Innisfree?
Ans: City life, as the poet presents it, is routine, grey and tiring, full of noise and concrete pavements. Life at Innisfree, by contrast, is simple, colourful and soothing, filled with natural sounds like water lapping, bee-buzz and bird-song, and offers freedom from urban strain.
Q4: What kind of life does the poet William Butler Yeats imagine in his poem "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"?
Ans: Yeats imagines a simple, rural life on Innisfree: living in a small cabin made of clay and wattles, tending nine rows of beans and a hive of bees, and living chiefly from his own labour. It is a life of solitude, harmony with nature and inward calm.
Q5: Write three things that the poet would like to do when he goes back to Innisfree.
Ans: The poet would build a small cabin of clay and wattles, plant and tend nine rows of beans, and keep a hive of honeybees to harvest honey and enjoy the sounds of the glade.
Q6: How will the poet live on the island of Innisfree?
Ans: The poet will live simply and self-sufficiently in a handmade cabin at Innisfree, growing his own food (beans) and keeping bees for honey, while spending his days close to the lake and the surrounding natural world.
Q7: Why does the speaker in the poem "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" desire to spend his time alone in his cabin?
Ans: The speaker seeks solitude to escape the clatter and hurry of urban life and to find inner peace. In the cabin he expects to be immersed in soothing natural sounds and rhythms, which will help him recover calm and clarity.
Q8: 'And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow." Where will the poet have some peace? How?
Ans: The poet will have peace on the Lake Isle of Innisfree. Peace will come to him gradually through the gentle routine of island life-the quiet mornings, the soft light at noon, the evening sounds of birds and insects-and the steady, restorative presence of nature.
Q9: How does the poet describe the lake's waves?
Ans: The poet describes the lake's waves as making a soft, restful sound as they lap the shore. This gentle music is comforting to him and remains alive in his memory even when he is away from the island.
Q10: How is the 'roadway in London' different from the Lake Isle of Innisfree?
Ans: The roadway in London is shown as grey, busy and oppressive, lacking natural beauty. In contrast, Innisfree is vivid, tranquil and full of natural sounds and colours, offering relief from the dullness and noise of the city.
Q11: What does the poet hear in his 'heart's core' even when he is far away from Innisfree?
Ans: Even when he is far from the island, the poet hears in his heart the gentle sound of lake water lapping the shore. This inner echo keeps his longing and sense of calm alive despite his physical distance.
Q12: What words does the poet use to describe how calmness and tranquillity will come to him at Innisfree?
Ans: The poet says that "peace comes dropping slow" to him at Innisfree, suggesting tranquillity will arrive gently and progressively. He also evokes images of misty mornings, glowing noon, and evening bird-song to show how quietness and calm will be woven through daily life on the island.
Q13: How does the poet describe midnight, noon, and evening?
Ans: The poet describes morning mists veiling the lake, noon as a time when purple heath glows under the sun, evenings filled with bird-wing flutter and cricket-song, and nights bright with stars. Each period of day brings its own gentle beauty and sound to Innisfree.
Q14: Innisfree is a simple, natural place, full of beauty and peace. How does the poet contrast it with where he now stands?
Ans: The poet contrasts the tranquil, sensory richness of Innisfree-bee-loud glades, lapping water and bird-song-with the drabness and clatter of his present urban setting. Where he now stands the pavements are grey and life is hurried; Innisfree offers stillness and rejuvenation.
Q15: Where is the speaker when he hears lake water lapping?
Ans: The speaker is standing on a city roadway or on grey pavements-implied to be London-when he hears the remembered sound of lake water lapping in his mind.
Q16: In "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," what does the poet feel while standing on the pavement?
Ans: While standing on the pavement, the poet feels restless and out of place; he longs for the calm and fulfilment he associates with Innisfree. The memory of nature makes him yearn to leave urban life for the quiet island.
Q17: What does Innisfree symbolize for the poet? Does the poet actually miss the place of his boyhood days?
Ans: Innisfree symbolises an ideal retreat-peace, simplicity and a return to natural rhythms. It represents a longing for a simpler life rather than necessarily being a literal childhood home; the poet's feeling is one of yearning for refuge and renewal rather than a specific boyhood place.
Q18: What is the tone of the poem?
Ans: The tone of the poem is reflective, wistful and longing. The poet speaks with gentle hopefulness about leaving the city and finding quiet contentment on the island.
Q19: What sound is the poet looking forward to hearing in Innisfree?
Ans: The poet looks forward to the soft lapping of lake water on the shore, the buzzing of bees in the glade, and the chirping and wing-sounds of birds and insects-sounds that together create a restful natural music.
Q20: Briefly describe the major theme of the poem 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree', Nature vs City life.
Ans: The major theme is the contrast between the restorative power of nature and the stressful monotony of city life. The poem presents nature as a place of inner healing and simplicity, and the city as a setting of noise and alienation from the self.
Q21: How does Yeats create the atmosphere of the island and its sights and sounds in "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"? Refer closely to the use of language in the first two stanzas.
Ans: Yeats uses vivid sensory details to create atmosphere. In the first stanza he names the cabin materials ("clay and wattles made") and the rows of beans to give tactile and visual clarity; in the second stanza he relies on strong auditory images-bee-buzz, linnet wings and cricket song-to make the island's sounds and peaceful mood immediate and convincing.
Q22: In W.B. Yeats's poem, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," what indications does the speaker give of his present environment?
Ans: The speaker indicates his present environment by referring to "the roadway" and "pavements grey," images of a dull, urban setting. These references underline his dissatisfaction with city life and strengthen his longing for the natural scene of Innisfree.
Q23: Explain the contrast between the last four lines of "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" and the rest of the poem.
Ans: The rest of the poem is a quiet, dream-like imagining of island life, full of pastoral detail and longing. The last four lines return to the speaker's present reality on a grey pavement, creating a sharp contrast between his inner vision of peace and the outer world he actually inhabits, which intensifies the poem's sense of yearning.
Q24: Why does the poet want to go to Innisfree?
Ans: The poet wants to go to Innisfree to find rest, simplicity and a deeper connection with nature. He hopes the island life will free him from urban worries and bring lasting peace.
Q25: In the poem "The Lake Isle of Innisfree", what does the poet find so attractive about 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree'?
Ans: The poet finds Innisfree attractive because it promises tranquillity, self-reliance and a close relationship with natural life-its sounds, colours and rhythms-which stand in contrast to the city's noise and monotony.
Q26: Does the poet wish to escape reality in "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"?
Ans: The poet expresses a desire to escape the immediate realities of urban life by imagining a peaceful alternative at Innisfree. This is a form of escapism, but it also reflects a genuine longing for renewal, simplicity and inner peace rather than mere avoidance of problems.