W.B. Yeats

William Butler Yeats (June 13, 1865 – January 28, 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, mystic and civil servant. Yeats was one of the driving forces behind the Irish Literary Revival and was co-founder of the Abbey Theatre.

His early work tended towards romantic lushness best described by the title of his 1893 collection The Celtic Twilight, but in his 40s, inspired by his relationships with modernist poets such as Ezra Pound and his involvement in Irish nationalist politics, he moved towards a harder, more modern style. Yeats also served as an Irish Senator.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1923 for what the Nobel Committee described as "his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation".

More Events from January 28

• January 28, 1610
  The crown and the Irish Society of London, a consortium of city companies, agree to carry out the plantation of Derry (hence Londonderry), Coleraine and part of Tyrone
• January 28, 1635
  The City of London and the Irish Society of London are found guilty of mismanagement and neglect of Derry/Londonderry plantation; they are sentenced to a fine of £70,000 and forfeiture of Derry/Londonderry property
• January 28, 1742
  Clotworthy Skeffington, 2nd Earl of Massereene, is born in Co. Antrim
• January 28, 1786
  By charter, the Irish Academy becomes the Royal Irish Academy
• January 28, 1807
  Birth in Co. Wexford of Sir Robert McClure, polar explorer and discoverer of the North-West Passage
• January 28, 1818
  The Iberno-Celtic Society is founded to preserve and publish the best ancient Irish literature
• January 28, 1829
  William Burke, murderer and body snatcher of "Burke and Hare" fame, executed.
• January 28, 1852
  Louis Brennan, inventor, is born in Castlebar, Co. Mayo
• January 28, 1873
  Patrick Malley is killed by his son William Malley at Calla, a remote district of Errismore Co. Galway. J.M. Synge based his story The Playboy Of The Western World on the tragedy
• January 28, 1877
  George Fitzmaurice, Irish Renaissance playwright, is born
• January 28, 1892
  Birth in Limerick of David Mary Tidmarsh , WWI Ace
• January, 28 1908
  Jimmy Shand, Scottish country dance band leader, born.
• January 28, 1939
  Death of William Butler Yeats
• January 28, 1941
  The Emergency Powers Act provides for the censorship of press messages to places outside the Free State