ICSE English Solved Contextual Question: The Ballad of Father Gilligan

Post for ICSE Class IX Students - Poem

ICSE English Solved Contextual Question: The Ballad of Father Gilligan

W.B. Yeats


“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.