Irish poet and playwright William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) was born in Sandymount near Dublin. Son of a painter, Yeats was a dreamer with fire in his pen and mysticism in his soul. His first poem was published at just 20 years old.

“A pity beyond all telling is hid in the heart of love,” he reflected—one of many lines that endure in the hearts of readers across generations.

A leader of the Irish literary revival, Yeats wrote with passionate reverence for the legends, simplicity, and spirit of his Celtic homeland. He helped found the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and served as a senator in the newly formed Irish Free State.

“The only business of the head in the world is to bow a ceaseless obeisance to the heart,” he believed—a philosophy that shaped both his life and his luminous work.

In 1923, Yeats received the Nobel Prize in Literature for poetry that danced between joy and sorrow, life and death, fire and dew.

Of death, he wrote: “I balanced all, brought all to mind… the years to come seemed waste of breath… in balance with this life, this death.”

✨William Butler Yeats strung words together with his soul. He is honored among the Top 100 Writers of the 20th Century. Click to discover the rest.💫