William Butler Yeats (; 13 June 1865 – 28 January 1939) was an Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, and together with Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn founded the Abbey Theatre, and served as its chief during its early years. A pillar of the Irish literary establishment, in his later years Yeats was an Irish Senator for two terms. In 1923, he was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature for what the Nobel Committee described as "inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation".The Nobel Prize in Literature 1923. Nobelprize.org. Retrieved on 3 June, 2007. Yeats is generally considered one of the few writers whose greatest works were completed after being awarded the Nobel Prize;Frenz, Horst (Edit.). The Nobel Prize in Literature 1923. "Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901–1967", 1969. Retrieved on 23 May, 2007. such works include The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1929)..