William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was a central figure of the Irish Literary Revival. His poetry moved from early myth and romantic imagery toward harder, more modern symbols and prophecy.

Yeats took a lasting part in Irish literary and theatrical life, closely tied to the Abbey Theatre. Ireland in his work is both homeland and a continually reimagined spiritual landscape.

In 1923 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature for poetry that expressed “the spirit of a whole nation” in highly artistic form. From the tenderness of “When You Are Old” to the metaphysical reach of “Sailing to Byzantium,” his poems remain widely read and debated.