William Butler Yeats, one of the greatest Irish poets and dramatists, was born on this day in 1865. In 1923, Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. See info or watch programs that have aired on PBS in the past:

Poetry Everywhere– William Butler Yeats: Watch Wynton Marsalis read Yeats.

NewsHour: Favorite Poem Project

Changing Stages: Ireland
These biographies introduce Irish writers in exile, who took a sharp scalpel to society and influenced the work of dramatists for the rest of the century. Against the background of rising political tensions and revolution, the great Irish poet William Butler Yeats conceived a national theater for Ireland.