“I will arise and go now, 
and go to Innisfree”

Hey everyone!

Today I thought I’d share a bit about “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” which happens to be one of my favorite pieces we’re singing on this concert cycle. The music of this song, composed by Eleanor Daley, is beautiful of course, but what really hits home for me is the poem by William Butler Yeats. I’ve posted the poem here:

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.

This poem paints a picture of such pastoral beauty! To enhance our appreciation of how beautiful that really is, I thought I’d take a minute to define a few words and give a few examples. Wattles, for example, are wooden strips woven together to make a fence or wall which is then, in this case, filled in with clay. Linnets, also, are obviously birds, but here’s a picture of one for clarity’s sake! 



And here’s a picture of the lake isle itself.




For me, what’s most moving about this poem isn’t just the pastoral picture. It’s the fact that, no matter where you are or what you’re doing, that place will always be a part of you, “in the deep heart’s core.” I don’t know about you, but I certainly have a place that always feels like this to me: Tanglewood, the summer home of the BSO, located in Lennox Massachusetts. I spent two summers at Tanglewood as a student in the Young Artists Vocal Program, a six week overnight music camp marathon! Those two summers were really influential for me, and I treasure them beyond many things. The very ground of Tanglewood seems full of magic that seeps through my skin the minute I get there, and I hope to go visit for at least a day every year, just to get some of that “Tangle-magic” that changed my life so much. 
I’d be really interested to hear if you guys have your very own “Like Isle of Innisfree” too. Have a favorite place you’d go for family vacations? A nature preserve that’s a second home? A place that gave you memories you’ll carry forever? Please feel free to comment about your own Innisfree below! 

Thanks for listening, ladies! Feel free to comment or talk to me with comments, questions, corrections, etc. 

Thoughtfully,

Hailey