 Despite the controversy generated by the work, and its critical reception amongst other scholars, "The Golden Bough" inspired much of the creative literature of the period.The poet Robert Graves adapted Frazer's concept of the dying king sacrificed for the good of the kingdom to the romantic idea of the poet's suffering for the sake of his Muse-Goddess, as reflected in his book on poetry, rituals, and myths, "The White Goddess" (1948).William Butler Yeats refers to Frazer's thesis in his poem "Sailing to Byzantium".