The Sick Rose

I think this a very simple, straightforward poem to interpret, but it can be either literal or symbolic. The poem is structured with two quatrain stanzas and a rhyme scheme of ABCB DEFE. I think this was intended to keep the poem organized, but retain 2 separate ideas within the poem. The first stanza talks about how the rose is sick and the perpetrator that caused its sickness and then the second stanza is more admirable of the dying rose. This poem, though, seems to be more than literal. With a little help from Google, I figured out that the rose is a symbol for love, and well a worm is symbolic of...you know. I think this poem is sort of showing how love is sick and distorted by such actions done unto it by sexual pleasures that the worm represents in this poem. Specifically when the poet puts in the line Has found out thy bed, there is a play on words and it can play between both themes in the poem-- the rose and the lover's bed. This poem is really cool when you move past the initial picture!

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

I just want to start off by saying that this poem reminds me of both an artist names Bon Iver (who went into the woods and wrote and album) and my own "Innisfree" next to a lake in Idaho. With that out of the way, this poem is three separate quatrains. The rhyme scheme of this poem is ABAB CDCD EFEF, so in other words, pretty orthodox. Also, the first six words in the first and third stanzas are parallel. I think this is to remind the reader with redundancy that he is ready to go, almost like saying goodbye for a second time to the reader, letting he or she know that the Yeats is going to wrap up what he's saying. I thought the name "Innisfree" was just a fictional place made by the poet as a play on words, but I Googled it and it turns out that it is a quaint lake with some sort of resort next to it, so Innisfree is actually a reference to a place in Ireland. This was also said to be inspired by Thoreau's writings about Walden Pond, possibly giving view into Yeats style of writing. This poem is just a great peek into paradise and, when it is read, just makes one think of every descriptive word that the poet uses, such as imaging the "...lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore," is like a little piece of heaven. I think this poem was  sheerly written for enjoyment annd that feeling that is received when it is read. Here is a nice picture of Innisfree and another of Walden Pond: