SSLC English-U(III)-Ch(3) - The Ballad of Father Gilligan

Appreciation by Jisha K.

A ballad is a form of verse often a

narrative set to music originally
written to accompany dances and so
were composed in couplets with
refrains in alternative stanzas. W. B.
Yeats' poem "The Ballad of Father
Gilligan" tells the moving story of
Father Peter Gilligan and God
Almighty's timely intervention in his
life. The poem is written in the form of
a ballad with a self contained story,
which depends more on imagery than
description. It was said that Yeats
himself was too much interested in
collecting legends and traditional
songs of Ireland in his mature days
that he ended up writing ballads. The
great Providence and his everlasting
benevolence is the theme of this
beautiful poem. Father Peter Gilligan
was at the end of his tether and was
exhausted beyond measure running
day and night performing his priestly
obligations.
The parishioners of Father Gilligan
had contacted a deadly epidemic and
hence were dying. Half of them were in
sick beds waiting for their deaths. He
had to give the deceased the funeral
rites and the dying the last
communion. It was imperative for the
Catholics to receive the rites of
extreme unction so that their souls are
salvaged and the doors of heaven
would be opened for them. He was too
physically exhausted that he started
mumbling himself and lamented, on a
whim that he had neither rest, joy nor
sleep. In the meantime a poor man has
sent for him which he nodded. The next
moment, he realized that his desperate
outburst was nothing short of a grave sin
and he endeavours to rationalize his
errant words by pegging on to the claim
that it was not his wilful soul which was
dying to help his people that expressed
such a grievance but his exhausted body.
Seeking forgiveness, the father knelt
leaning on the chair and becomes fast
asleep. Father Gilligan wakes up next
morning as if jolted by a kick, a shudder
going deep down his spine, an intense
feeling of guilt enveloped him as he was
not able to give the poor man his service.
He rides recklessly to the spot on a horse
back keeping his life at stake. On
reaching the house, he was too startled
to find that the man had already died. The
lady who opened the door exclaims that it
was his second visit. He cries in alarm as
he realized that God had sent one of his
angels to minister his duties to save him
from eternal damnation and also to give
salvation to the poor man. Father Gilligan
praises the glory of God. He compares
Him to a priest whose parish is the whole
universe. He proclaims that for all the
labours we have taken God has unfailing
sympathy and care stored for us. The
poem is a homage to the traditional Irish
poetry and legends. He presents rural
Ireland with the poverty of people and
their extreme religiosity. The poem is a
literary ballad written according to the
tenets of ballad form. It has a narrative,
couplets,with refrains, common regional dialect and adventure, dramatic and
folksy.