Discuss the effectiveness of Yeats' use of imagery in "The Lake Isle of Innisfree."

Let us remember that imagery is defined as the creation of
pictures through the use of words. The best imagery is created through the incorporation
of as many of the five sense as possible into the poem, so that we not only see what the
speaker is trying to describe, but can hear, smell, taste and feel it too. Note how we
can see this in operation in the idyllic vision of the countryside given to us by the
speaker:

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.

The spectacular sight
of morning, midnight and noon is described and at the same time we can "hear" the sound
of the "linnet's wings" against this incredible backdrop. Such details help us to
imagine the scene that is being described to us more vividly, and also link into the
theme of the poem, which is the call that the speaker feels on his life to move to
Innisfree and live in harmony with the nature. This is a call that, even in the greyest
of city environments, he can hear.