Film—Animated
- Song of the Sea opens with Bronagh reciting from Yeats' poem "The Stolen Child", which is about a group of fairies trying to lure a child to their world while under the impression that they're sparing the child from suffering. This foreshadows how Macha the Owl Witch steals emotions from fairies and human children alike and turns them to stone, but she does so because she believes she's taking away their suffering.
Film—Live-Action:
- In Deep Cover, Jeff Goldblum's character quotes a line of Yeats, "In dreams begin responsibilities."note
- IO. Sam Walden develops a fascination with the poem Leda and the Swan, taking the risk of going to a derelict art museum in the toxic zone just to see a painting on the subject.
- Memphis Belle. Poet wannabe Danny Daly tries to pass off lines from An Irish Airman Foresees His Death as his own work. Later after he's seriously wounded, Danny blurts out that he could never write something like that.
- The Bridges of Madison County: In both the novel and film, Robert Kincaid mentions how much he likes Yeats.
- Delmore Schwartz's most famous story is called "In Dreams Being Responsibilities".
- The Cranberries' 1994 song "Yeats' Grave" note is not just about Yeats, but also quotes his poem No Second Troy.
- Yellow Magic Orchestra's 1979 song "Behind the Mask" bases its lyrics in part on Yeats' poem "The Mask".
- Hark! A Vagrant: In one of her "Books by their Edward Gorey Cover" strips
Kate Beaton included an edition of Yeats' autobiography. She interprets the cover, depicting a bird sitting on a branch, as meaning Yeats was literally a bird.
