Following literary devices have been used in the poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree:

1. Metaphor: A metaphor shows direct comparison between two things which the use of as or like. e.g. “veils of the morning “, “deep heart’s core”. Here night is referred to as veils of morning. Similarly poet’s desires are referred to as deep heart’s core.
2. Alliteration: It is the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. e.g. “a hive for the honey-bee”, “live alone in the bee-loud glade”, “a glimmer, and noon a purple glow”, “lake water lapping with low sounds”.
3. Anaphora: It is the repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses. e.g. “I will”, “go”.
4. Personification: It is the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human. e.g. “cricket sings”. Singing is the characteristic of humans and has been attributed to cricket (an insect).
5. Images: Images are representation of something which draw on the five senses. e.g. Visual Images (midnight’s all a glimmer, noon a purple glow), Auditory Images (the bee-loud glade, the cricket sings, I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore) etc.

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In the beginning of the poem, the poet is imagining the peaceful environment of the Innisfree. However at the end of the poem, the poet is saddened by the fact that he is in the city life. The roadway and the pavements grey refer to the ugly face of the urban world. Note that the poet describes pavements as grey (which is of course ugly).

Hence, the poet is comparing the paradise-like environment of Innisfree with the hell-like place (the city).

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The message of the poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree is that city life is full of misery, restlessness, pollution and ugliness. In the poem, the poet desires to escape from city life to the peaceful environment of Innisfree.

According to the poet, the city is full of materialism (when he says that he will build a small cabin with mud and twigs). It is full of pollution and lack greenery (when he says that he wants to grow beans there). It is full of noise (when he desires to hear the buzzing of bees).

The poet believes that peace can be achieved only in nature because nature is slow and patient unlike the city life. And in the final lines, the poet portrays the picture of city life and also depicts the reason why he wants to escape. According to him, he stands near the grey pavement (which is of course ugly) and dreams of Innisfree.

The the message of the poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree is escape from hectic city life to peaceful nature.

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The cabin, in the poem, means a hut. However it is symbolic as it represents a simple life which is far away from fancy decorations and materialistic things. Desire for materialistic things make a person greedy and this greed makes us hate each other. The poet does not want this kind of life. Instead, he desires to live a life which is simple and free from the worldly worries.

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