A long time ago on an island far, far away...

Might George Lucas' "galaxy far, far away" actually be closer than we think? Consider this excerpt from William Shakespeare's poem "Venus and Adonis", stanza 192 (emphasis is mine):

It shall be cause of war and dire events,
And set dissension 'twixt the son and sire;
Subject and servile to all discontents,
As dry combustious matter is to fire:
Sith in his prime Death doth my love destroy,
They that love best their loves shall not enjoy.

Indeed. Apparently, the Sith were a known band of evildoers around 1600. Who knew?