The Ballad of Father Gilligan - W.B. Yeats

Summary 
This is a narrative poem written by W.B. Yeats. As most of his flock
is dying, an old and devout priest gets to be weary and melancholy.
Though he is sent for by a dying man, he falls asleep in his chair and
fails to answer the call while the stars multiply and God keeps on
talking to mankind as ever.
The morning witnesses Father Gilligan awaking with a start and he
repents at not having his duty. On riding to the sick man’s hut, he
learns from the wife of the man of the death of the person. “Mavrone!”
– cries out the priest in horror but is surprised when the woman
thanks him for coming the night before. Falling to his knees, Father
Gilligan expresses his gratitude to God for sending an angel to do his
work when his weariness prevented him from doing his duty.
Analysis
The poem takes the form of a ballad which was traditionally sung with
short and regular stanzas telling a short but profoundly meaningful
story. Yeats’s poems are not usually overtly religious, but this poem
is one. Though Yeats was a protestant who later turned to theosophy
and mysticism, this poem is Catholic in tone. Also contrary to his
practice, Yeats uses an Irish word in the poem – ‘mavrone’ which in
Irish is ‘mobhron’, a cry of grief.
Not only does the poem address the poverty of rural Ireland in the
poem but also the extreme religiosity of the village people of
Ireland. That Father Gilligan could not make it to the bedside of the
dying man before he died and that no priest performed the rites of
extreme unction i.e. that the man did not die in a state of grace,
would close the door of heaven to him. The element of Catholic
tradition is obvious here and the divine intercession to make it
otherwise is an assertion of a loving, kind God.
This particular ballad of Yeats seems to be a homage to the
traditional poetry and legend of his country. It is said that the poet
was attracted by the immediate, naïve beauty of similar Irish stories
and songs that he went on collecting through out his mature years
gaining fresh insights as he passionately studied them. There is no
doubt that this dramatic narrative poem draws upon the character and
the form of the traditional Irish ballad. 

“And is the poor man dead? He cried.
“died an hour ago’,
The old priest Peter Gilligan
In grief swayed to and fro. 

“When you were gone, he turned and died
As merry as a bird”.
The old priest Peter Gilligan
He knelt him at that word. 

I) **The priest had earlier said: ‘Mavrone, mavrone!  The man has
died’. Why does he then say here: ‘And is the poor man dead?’ 

        The priest says so to reaffirm if the poor man is really dead because
otherwise he will say grace before he dies. This would help him to put
his conscience to rest as he fell asleep when the call to the dying
man’s home came the night before. 

II) *One of the reasons why the priest was in grief was that he had
lost one of his flocks. What was the other reason for his grief? 

        The other reason for the priest’s grief was that having fallen
asleep, he could not perform his duty to the dying man. 

III) *What does the expression ‘he turned and died / As merry as a
bird’ show? 

        The expression conveys the idea that the poor man died as peacefully
as possible as he was blessed by an Angel prior to his dying. Since
Father Gilligan was a devout follower of God, He sent an Angel to act
on behalf of the priest. 

IV) What did the old priest kneel as soon as he heard about the death
of the man? What does his action show about his character? 

        The old priest Father Gilligan knelt as soon as he heard about the
death of the man to thank God for having helped him (Father Gilligan)
and for saving his honour when utter weariness had prevented him to
perform his duty. 

             The priest’s action shows his complete faith and devotion
to God for showing His mercy to him (the priest) when his old age and
weariness due to overwork prevented him from shouldering his
responsibilities. 

V)  *Explain the misunderstanding created regarding the visit of the
old priest to the sick man’s house. 

        The misunderstanding is that as to who came to say grace to the dying
man when Father Gilligan was sleeping. There was no other priest in
the locality. Father Gilligan alone knew the answer to the riddle. It
was God who sent his Angel to act on behalf of the priest because the
Almighty knew how devout Father Gilligan was to Him. 

        In other words, the old priest could have been located
simultaneously at two places, one in sleep and the other in the dying
man’s home. This is called ‘bilocation’, a gift claimed by the Church
for some of its saints. 

VI) ***What moral does the poet want to illustrate in the story of
Father Gilligan? 

        W.B. Yeats wants to illustrate in the ballad that God is merciful to
all his creatures such as a person who is shouldering his
responsibilities to the best of his abilities as well as the person
who is dying and so is in need of receiving Gis grace. According to
the Catholic tradition, a man who does not die in a state of grace,
can not go to heaven.