Rhyme Scheme. A rhyme scheme is a pattern of end rhymes, or rhymes at the ends of lines of verse. The rhyme scheme of a poem is designated by letters, with matching letters signifying matching sounds. Before reading the poem, figure out its rhyme scheme.
Image. An image is language that creates a concrete representation of an object or an experience.
Allusion. An allusion is a rhetorical technique in which reference is made to a person, event, object, or work from history or literature.
Symbol. A symbol is a thing that stands for or represents both itself and something else.
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“The Lake Isle of Innisfree” is one of Yeats’s most well-known and well-loved poems. Technically a pastoral verse, it deals with a modern speaker’s desire to escape from city life to a life of peace in the countryside.
“Adam’s Curse” is an autobiographical poem telling of one small event in the history of Yeats’s relationship with Maude Gonne. The poem reveals Yeats’s belief that nothing wonderful—poetry, beauty, or love—comes without hard work and sacrifice.
“The Second Coming,” published in 1921, shows his mastery of visionary symbolism and of a terse, strong, modern style quite different from that of his dreamy early verse. Written shortly after World War I and the Russian Revolution, the poem prophesies the beginning of a new and frightening cycle of history.
As you read “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” make a cluster chart listing the images in the poem. One example has been done for you.
As you read “Adam’s Curse,” make a cluster chart listing biblical and literary allusions.
As you read “The Second Coming,” make a chart listing the symbols in the poem and what they represent. One example has been done for you.
In what location do you feel relaxed and peaceful? Freewrite about this place.
Write about one of your goals and what you are willing to do to achieve it.
Explain why you think life is better or worse now than in former times. Are you hopeful or pessimistic about the future?
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