The Ballad Of Father Gilligan
1. Read the lines from ‘The Ballad of Father Gilligan’ and answer the questions.
The
old priest Peter Gilligan
Was weary night and day
For half his flock were in their beds
Or under green sods lay.
Once, while he
nodded in a chair
At the moth-hour of the eve
Another poor man sent for him,
And he began to grieve.
1. Who was weary night and day? Why was he weary?
2.
Who are referred to here as ‘flock’?
3.
Why
could be half of his flock in their beds or under green sods?
4.
Why
the evening is referred to as the ‘moth-hour of the eve’?
5. What is the Rhyme Scheme of the poem?
6. What did the priest do at the moth-hour of the eve?
Answers:
1. The old priest Peter Gilligan was weary because he had been serving his parishioners day and night without rest.
2. The parishioners of priest Peter Gilligan are referred to as ‘flock’.
3. Because of an epidemic half of the parishioners are either in sickbed or already dead.
4. There was presence of moths in the evening.
5. ABCB is the Rhyme Scheme of the poem.
6. The priest nodded in sleep sitting in a chair.
2. Read the lines from ‘The Ballad of Father Gilligan’ and answer the questions.
'I have no rest, nor joy, nor peace,
For people die and die;
And after cried he, 'God forgive!
My body spake not I!‘
He knelt, and leaning
on the chair
He prayed and fell asleep;
And the moth-hour went from the fields,
And stars began to peep.
1.
Why
did the priest pray to God for forgiveness?
2.
How
did the priest justify his mistake?
3.
When
did the priest fall asleep?
4. Pick out examples of Alliterations.
5. Identify a figure speech applied in the line ‘And stars began to peep’.
Answers:
1.
The
priest said he had no rest, no joy and no peace as if in a complaining voice.
Soon he felt regret and prayed to God for forgiveness.
2.
The
priest justified his mistake by saying that his tired body said the errand
words, not his sober mind.
3.
The
priest fell asleep while he was praying.
4. 'I have no rest, nor joy, nor peace,
For people die and die;
…………. from the fields
5. Personification.
3. Read the lines from ‘The Ballad of Father Gilligan’ and answer the questions.
They
slowly into millions grew,
And leaves shook in the wind
And God covered the world with shade
And whispered to mankind.
Upon the time of
sparrow chirp
When the moths came once more,
The old priest Peter Gilligan
Stood upright on the floor.
1.
What
grew into millions?
2.
What
time is referred to by ‘upon the time of sparrow chirp’?
3.
What
poetic device can you identify in the first of these two stanzas?
4. What is the significance of the expression ‘the moths came once more’?
Answers:
1. The stars grew into millions.
2. The time of dawn or daybreak .
3. The repetition of a word or a phrase at the beginning of successive lines is known as
‘Anaphora’. In the first of these two stanzas the word ‘And’ is repeated three times.
It is an example of the poetic device Anaphora.
4. The moths came two times – at sunset and sunrise. The priest was sleeping all the
time in between.
3. Read the lines from ‘The Ballad of Father Gilligan’ and answer the questions.
'Mavrone,
mavrone! The man has died
While I slept in the chair.'
He roused his horse out of its sleep
And rode with little care.
He rode now as
he never rode,
By rocky lane and fen;
The sick man's wife opened the door,
'Father! you come again!'
1.
Why
did the priest cry calling ‘mavrone, mavrone!?
2.
Why
did the priest rode his horse with little care?
3.
How
dangerous was the way by which the priest rode his horse?
4.
Why
was the sick man’s wife surprised to see the priest?
5. Pick out various images from these lines.
6. Pick out examples of Alliteration.
Answers:
1.
The
priest felt guilty that he failed to attend the last moments of a dying man.
2.
The
priest wanted to reach the sick man’s house as fast as possible.
3.
The
way was very dangerous. He had to ride along rocky lane and slippery fen.
4.
God
had sent an angel in the form of priest Gilligan, which she did not know. She
thought the priest came again for the second time.
5. Priest’s riding his horse with little care is a beautiful visual image. Priest’s cry of repentance calling ‘mavrone, mavrone!’ is an auditory image.
6. 'Mavrone, mavrone! The man has died
He rode now as he never rode
4. Read the lines from ‘The Ballad of Father Gilligan’ and answer the questions.
'And is the poor man dead?' he cried
'He 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.
1.
Why did the priest
swayed to and fro in grief?
2.
How and when did
the poor man die?
3.
Why did the
priest kneel himself when he heard that the man died as merry as a bird?
4. ‘He turned and died, as merry as a bird’. What is the poetic device applied?
Answers:
1. The priest thought that the poor man died without getting the last prayers because of
him. So, he felt very sad.
2. The poor man died an hour ago as merry as a bird.
3. When the priest heard that the poor man died as merry as a bird, he realized that God had blessed him. So the priest knelt in prayer to praise the God.
4. ‘...he died as merry as a bird’ is an example of Simile.
5. Read the lines from ‘The Ballad of Father Gilligan’ and answer the questions.
'He
Who hath made the night of stars
For souls who tire and bleed,
Sent one of this great angels down,
To help me in my need.
'He Who is wrapped in purple robes,
With planets in His care
Had pity on the least of things
Asleep upon a chair.'
1.Who
has made the night of stars?
2.What is the significance of the expression ‘night of
stars’.
3.Who are the souls who tire and bleed?
4.How was the priest helped in his need?
5.What do the expressions‘wrapped in purple robe’and
‘planets in His care’ indicate?
6.The
priest considers himself ‘the least of things’ . What do you understand about
his
character?
Answers:
1. God has made the night of stars.
2. The beautiful starry sky and the peaceful night are God’s creations to console the
suffering people.
3. The suffering people in death and diseases.
4. God sent an angel in the form of the priest to attend the dying man’s last moments.
5. These expressions show God’s high power and position.
6. The priest considers himself to be the silliest of God’s creations. It shows the humbleness and godliness of the priest.
Note Of Appreciation
|
The Ballad of Father Gilligan - Appreciation Note The poem ‘The Ballad of Father Gilligan’ by the renowned Irish poet William Butler Yeats, is a typical ballad. Composed in quatrains with the rhyme scheme of ABCB, the poem narrates the tragic story of priest Peter Gilligan. The poem deals with the themes of the pity and piety of the old priest, the death and miseries of his parishioners and the limitless love and mercy of God. The priest is very tired and upset because half of his parishioners are either dead or in sick-bed due to an epidemic. He is in service of them day and night. Being very tired and upset, one evening he muttered he had no rest, no joy and no peace. Soon he realized his mistake and prayed to God for forgiveness, and in the prayer he fell asleep leaning over a chair. He could not attend the last moments of a dying man. He woke up only in the following morning at the time of sparrow chirp. He realized his failure of duty and soon he roused his horse and rode to the sick man’s house with little care. When he reached the house, the sick man’s wife asked the priest in surprise why he came again. She also told that the man had died an hour earlier as merry as a bird. From the wife’s words, the priest understood that God had sent an angel to do his duties in his absence. He
knelt in prayer and praised God saying that the most powerful God with planets
in His care showed mercy upon him, the silliest of God’s creations. *************************************The opening line “The old priest Peter Gilligan” is repeated four times, which can be taken as an example of Refrain. There are many examples of Alliteration in the poem such as ‘priest Peter, ‘die and die’, ‘Mavrone mavrone the man”, ‘no rest, nor joy, nor peace’,etc. The word ‘And’ is repeated at the beginning of several successive lines, which is an examples of Anaphora. The priest’s riding horse, dawn and dusk with the presence of moths are examples of Visual Images. The chirp of sparrows, the priest’s cry of ‘mavrone, mavrone can be taken as Auditory Images. ‘Stars began to peep’ is an example of Personification. ‘He died as merry as a bird’ is a ‘Simile’. These are some of the figures of speech used in the poem. |
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