Ireland, a land of immemorial sorrows; of wild gaiety and somber melancholy; of exuberant humor and strained superstitions; of heroic enthusiasm and sorrowing submission; of utterly loyal women and wild, wandering men; is unique among all peoples of the earth. Possessed of tradition and an ancient culture equal in fascination to that of Arthur and the Round Table; early Christianized and repeatedly torn by invasion; conquered and long dominated by a more materialistic race; Ireland has ever been warmed by a fire of devotion, flaming in every Irish heart. 

This is the story of William Butler Yeats, an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and politician. One of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature, he was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish literary establishment who helped to found the Abbey Theatre.