The Autobiography of William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats (13 June 1865 28 January 1939) was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and, along with Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn, and others, founded the Abbey Theatre, where he served as its chief during its early years. In 1923 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature as the first Irishman so honoured for what the Nobel Committee described as inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation. Yeats is generally considered one of the few writers who completed their greatest works after being awarded the Nobel Prize; such works include The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1929).[2] Yeats was a very good friend of Indian Bengali poet Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.