<P> The twelve - line poem is divided into three quatrains and is an example of Yeats's earlier lyric poems . Throughout the three short quatrains the poem explores the speaker's longing for the peace and tranquility of Innisfree while residing in an urban setting . The speaker in this poem yearns to return to the island of Innisfree because of the peace and quiet it affords . He can escape the noise of the city and be lulled by the "lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore ." On this small island, he can return to nature by growing beans and having bee hives, by enjoying the "purple glow" of noon, the sounds of birds' wings, and, of course, the bees . He can even build a cabin and stay on the island much as Thoreau, the American Transcendentalist, who lived in this manner on Walden Pond . During Yeats's lifetime it was--to his annoyance--one of his most popular poems and on one occasion was recited (or sung) in his honor by two (or ten--accounts vary) thousand boy scouts . The first quatrain speaks to the needs of the body (food & shelter); the second to the needs of the spirit (peace); the final quatrain is the meeting of the inner life (memory) with the physical world (pavement grey). </P> <P> A musical setting of this poem is featured in DUBLIN 1916, An Irish Oratorio and YEATS SONGS, a song cycle, both composed by Richard B. Evans . (published by Seacastle Music Company, 1995). Muriel Herbert set the poem in 1928 . Seattle, WA band Fleet Foxes mentions the Isles of Innisfree in many other songs including' The Shrine / An Argument',' Isles' and' Bedouin Dress' . American composer Ben Moore has also composed a setting of the poem . Another musical setting is featured in Branduardi canta Yeats (published by Edizioni Musicali Musiza, 1986), composed and played by Angelo Branduardi on translation of Luisa Zappa . Michael McGlynn of the Irish group Anúna arranged this as a choral piece: a "recording" of it is featured on Anúna's album Invocation . Composer and pianist Ola Gjeilo set this text to music in a piece called "The Lake Isle ." Popular settings of the poem have been done by Judy Collins and the Dream Brothers . Australian musician Paul Kelly performs a version on his 2013 album "Conversations with Ghosts". Shusha Guppy recorded an unaccompanied version on her album' This is the Day' (United Artist Records, 1974).' The Lake Isle of Innisfree' is part of the Songcylcle' 5 Songs on Poems by W.B. Yeats' composed by the Dutch composer Carolien Devilee . </P> <Dl> <Dt> Television </Dt> </Dl> <P> In the finale episode of the fourth season of the Fox science - fiction drama television series Fringe entitled Brave New World (Part 2), Dr. William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) narrates the first stanza of the poem, alluding to his plans of collapsing the two universes into a new world where he plays God . </P>

I will arise and go now and go to innisfree poem