The Ballad of Father Gilligan
by William Butler Yeats
An exhausted priest feels guilty because he cannot attend to a dying parishioner. Divine grace helps him reach the man, and the poem celebrates compassion, faith and spiritual support.
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- Father Gilligan is exhausted because many people in his parish are ill.
- He feels guilty when another sick man needs his help.
- He falls asleep while praying.
- He wakes and reaches the sick man’s home.
- The man believes an angel came to him.
- Father Gilligan later realises the divine help he received.
- The poem presents God as compassionate toward a tired servant.
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Father Gilligan has been working tirelessly because many people in his parish are sick. When another poor man calls for him, the priest feels exhausted and wishes he could rest.
He sits down and prays, but sleep overcomes him. He wakes with a sense of urgency and goes to the sick man’s house, where the man is surprised because he believes an angel had visited him.
The poem suggests that divine grace understands human weakness. Father Gilligan’s exhaustion is not treated as a moral failure; instead, spiritual help reaches the suffering man.