The poem
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 on a chair, At the moth-hour of eve, Another poor man sent for him, And he began to grieve.
'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.
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.
'Mavrone, mavrone! the man has died While I slept on 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!'
'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.
'He Who hath made the night of stars For souls who tire and bleed, Sent one of His 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.'
we all know that service to humanity is service to divinity, and in this poem w.b.yeats has proved that God is the creater of the entire universe, and He recognises those who work hard and serves the humanity, and helps them in the need of their hour. this makes yeats a good philosophical poet
It is my pleasure to thank the poet for writing such a beutiful poems for children like me.I have learnt that we should not stop trusting god even during hard circumstances.God is watching everyone and will definately help those who will help themselves.
Just writing to say that when doing my leaving Certificate in 1984 in De La Salle College, Waterford this poem was on the Leaving cert.
It is a great poem by W.B.Yeates and it shows how the unforuntately people of irealnd had to live through the great famine of 1884.
Excellent poem by W.B. Yeats and all his poetry is great.
He was a great ambassodor to ireland.
Thank you W.B.Yeats.
all know that service to humanity is service to divinity, and in this poem w.b.yeats has proved that God is the creater of the entire universe, and He recognises those who work hard and serves the humanity, and helps them in the need of their hour. this makes yeats a good philosophical poet
I remember this poem from my chilhood in Bagenalstown Ireland .I had the good fortune to be taught by a forward thinking nun Mother Carmel ,from the Presentation order (even though I had reservations in that direction then.)I was taught this poem as an 11-12yr. old child, now as an old woman of near 60 yrs. and a nurse, the words of this poem enter my head on many an occasion, I have developed a great affinity with…
Read the whole commentI remember this poem from my chilhood in Bagenalstown Ireland .I had the good fortune to be taught by a forward thinking nun Mother Carmel ,from the Presentation order (even though I had reservations in that direction then.)I was taught this poem as an 11-12yr. old child, now as an old woman of near 60 yrs. and a nurse, the words of this poem enter my head on many an occasion, I have developed a great affinity with it ,especially the words "I have no rest no joy or peace, for people cry and cry and, after cried he God forgive my body speak not I" How little I knew then, I could never envisage the poem being of any use to me ,I now realise with experience and hindsight the joy and depth of this poem.
I had read this poem in my school 25 yers back.This is one of the few poems I still remember.I recall this poem,especially the following lines,
"I have no rest, nor joy, nor peace,
For people die and die';
And after cried he, 'God forgive!
My body spake, not I!"
whenever I am tired and try to shirk my responsibility, it gives inspiration.
This poem is a great strength giver.
This poem is the best of all poems I have read.W.B.Yeats has done a great job.Tommorow Ihave to recite this poem in my school for the Elocution Competition.Ihope I win because this poem is a nie choice of mine......
We were taught this poem (now alomost 40 years back), by our English teacher-the inimitable Mrs.Sinha, and the words are still humming in my memory; now having read this poem on this portal, brings those fond memories back....Y.B.Yeats is simply magical...those simple yet soul stirring lines from the poem are haunting
'He Who hath made the night of stars
For souls who tire and bleed,
Sent one of His 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.'
Praise be to the Almighty, and to Mr.Y.B.Yates, thanks a million for penning such a soul stirring poem.
This ballad simply teaches us to do our duty ceaselessly and tirelessly and after that The One Above would always rescue us from any situations.
Nayan
life
mystry of life is only realised after the deed of life if we keep open our sense that is the poem about
The Ballad of Father Gilligan
We were taught this poem in school in the late '50's, and it's profound beauty and meaning, and a few lines, sunk deep into my psyche. Unfortunately, I forgot the name of the poet and that of the kind priest. I'm 65 years old and for the past few decades I've been trawling every search engine to track the poem (Finnigan, Gallaghan, nothing worked). Finally, I received the poem today as part of a 'forward' of a letter written by a priest. I can't express how happy I am that my quest has finally ended.
ballad
god comes like an angel in disguisetaking over the responsibility of the priest.This poem reaffirms our faith in god.