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 honeybee,
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 the water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart s core.
「茵湖島」(The Lake Isle of Innisfree) 是葉慈(Yeats)早年的名作。
童年時期,詩人常到Sligo附近一個名叫Innisfree的小湖畔遊玩,湖水清澈,群山環繞,湖光山色,漪豔超絕。及長,赴倫敦,生活在五光十色,車馬喧囂的繁華世界。某日佇足街頭,但見林蔭道上,人來人往,熙熙攘攘,舉目茫茫,突覺凡塵庸碌,人世繁瑣,心中無限孤獨蒼涼,乃興起重回童年那片寧靜湖畔,過一段悠閒與世無爭日子的念頭。詩人返回寓所,有感而發,旋即揮筆完成這首名詩。