What is the theme of Yeats' "The Ballad of Father Gilligan"?
I would say that the theme of the poem is the idea that God cares about the least members of his creation. In the Bible it talks about how God knows if even one sparrow dies. This poem's theme is the same as the idea that is in that quote.
In this poem, Father Gilligan is worn out emotionally and physically. So when he tries to pray for the "poor man" who sent for him, he falls asleep.
When he wakes up the next morning very early, he goes to the poor man's house and finds that an angel in his own form had already been there. The angel helped the man die happy.
Gilligan says this shows that God cares even for him and the poor man and that is the theme of the poem.
The two central themes of the poem "The Ballad of...
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Father Gilligan" are the tremendous stresses a priest must face in Ireland during the Great Potato Famine, and the omnipresent help of a loving God.
The reader is told at the very beginning of the poem that Father Gilligan is "old," and "weary night and day." His parishioners, the "flock" of which he is in charge, are dying "in their beds," or dead already, "beneath the sod." When yet another poor soul comes to him seeking solace as a family member is about to pass, Father Gilligan is pushed to the breaking point; he cries out, "I have no rest, nor joy, nor peace," and out of sheer exhaustion, falls asleep in his chair. Father Gilligan wants with all his heart to be there for all of those in his flock in their times of need, but he has reached the limits of his strength. He feels a terrible guilt at not being able to fulfill his overwhelming responsibilities, and asks God to forgive him for his weaknesses.
When Father Gilligan wakes to find that the man whom he was supposed to be comforting during his last moments has died, he rushes over to his house, filled with remorse that he had not been there to ease his passing. To his surprise, the "sick man's wife" tells him that her husband "turned and died as merry as a bird." Father Gilligan kneels with relief and a sense of awe at these words. He knows that God, in his mercy, has covered for him, sending "one of His great angels down" to be with the man as he died. God "has pity on the least of things" - which is what the old priest humbly considers himself; when he is weak, God will be there to help him. Father Gilligan need not do everything by himself, because a merciful, benevolent God will be there to lift him up.
What is the central idea of Yeats' poem "The Ballad Of Father Gilligan"?
I think this excellent poem presents us with a priest who is at the end of his tether and absolutely exhausted. It appears that the cause of his intense spritual and physical weariness is the fact that:
For half his flock were in their beds
Or under green sods lay.
The way in which so many of his flock have died recently or are sick causes him great oppression, and his sadness and feelings of intense desolation are expressed when his "body" speaks and not "his soul" when he says:
"I have no rest, nor joy, nor peace,
For people die and die..."
In exhaustion, Father Gilligan falls asleep and receives rest, but awakes only to find that another one of his flock has died in the interim. He rushes off to the house, and is overwhelmed by grief and sadness once again, thinking that he has betrayed his duty in letting one of his flock die without him. However, as the man's wife relates how the man died "as merry as a bird," Father Gilligan recognises how God has taken pity on him and has helped this man to die whilst Father Gilligan was having a well-needed rest. Note the last stanza of the poem that seems to summarise the central theme:
"He Who is wrapped in purple robes,
With planets in His care,
Had pity on the least of things,
Asleep upon a chair."
God's provision for all of his creatures and how he understands and hears our heart's cry seems to be the main theme. Father Gilligan is made to understand that he is not supposed to take the worries of the world on his shoulders alone. God is there to help him.