Poetry. It is the language of the soul, a universal voice to universal truth. According to Aristotle, poetry uses words in its “fullest potential”. A poet uses words to create a representation of reality giving meaning to nature. Through the words, patterns, consistency, poetry gives a lasting satisfaction not only to the poet but to the reader giving a level of clarity. As Aristotle puts it, poetry is embellished language.

William Butler Yeats, Irish born, is recognized with his brilliant poetry rich of his nature and visions. “I was full of thought, often very abstract thought, longing all the while to be full of images, because I had gone to the art school instead of a university.”—from Yeat's memoir Four Years (1887-1891) (1921). Poetry to him is the visual representation of his thoughts that incessantly wallow in his mind. As a young lad, his mother introduced him and his siblings to Irish folktale which he came to love and perhaps the nagging drive that brought him to writing. Yeats became an artist like his father, who shifted to the arts while he was taking law. He was highly influenced by his father oftentimes spending his time with his him at the art studio. By 1884, the young Yeats pursued his own inclination of the arts and enrolled in the Metropolitan University School and by 1886, his first work was published though not in a broad scale.

He became an accomplished poet and dramatist and oftentimes considered to be one of the greatest poets of the 20th century hence awarded with the Nobel Prize for literature. Yeats shared great friendships among great writers like George Bernard Shaw, even Oscar Wilde. The gatherings which his family used to organize gave him the opportunity to meet artists and writers and connections which helped him in his development as a great poet.

Yeats works have always been reckoned as the bridge between romantic to modern poetry. What makes him celebrated is his improvement which later on his life reflected on his works. Yeats was influenced by Irish folklore, his poetry were a reflection of mysticism, spiritualism, occultism and even astrology. This interest reverberated in his later work which became subject to criticism. Nonetheless, his works were still praised for his skill to use words to express theosophical beliefs and occult in his poetry.

Yeats has gained respect as being the “century's key English Language poets,” without deviating from the traditional verse. This made him exceptional as compared to other poets who are that time switched to free verse. The influence of modernism in Yeats' poetry have become overt with his abandonment of the conventional poetic diction to a “ more direct approach”.

He became interested in politics which showed maturity in his poetry. The mood has shifted from the Celtic Twilight or mysticism that use to frequent in his earlier works. The 20th century is characterized by the growing industrialization in Europe. With such social and economical changes in the society, increasing unrest was among peasants or common people. Yeats was able to observe these changes, hence using these observations to speak in his poetry.

More than a poet, Yeats has become very involved with politics even becoming a senator himself, the first Irish at that.