William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet who lived in the 19th and 20th centuries. A Nobel Prize winner and well-known/often-cited literary figure, he was inspired by Irish myth and folklore as well as the writings of William Blake.

This guy is responsible for a lot of the Stock Quotes floating around in pop culture. His poem "The Second Coming" is the source of many Literary Allusion Titles and is his most famous and most referenced work. If you hear a Fauxlosophic Narration, read a snippet of poetry preceding a bunch of prose or even see a character trying to sound deep and meaningful, there is a reasonably good chance that William Butler Yeats is being quoted.

He also had, like most great poets, something of a dirty streak, although nowhere near as wide that of Shakespeare or his contemporary James Joyce.

The entirety of his work can be found here.