The paper examines the formative influence that the German composer Richard Wagner had on Yeats's early vision of poetic drama. In demarcating the sphere of Wagnerian influence on Yeats, it focuses on the difference between Wagner and Nietzsche on the cause of the downfall of Attic tragedy and the nature of cultural revival. The paper goes on finding Yeats's affinity with Wagner in their dramatic vision by looking at examples of his Wagnerian themed plays.