Interpretation of songs in play "The rising of the moon" by Lady Gregory

 

The rising of the moon by Lady Gregory 1907

Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory was born on March 15, 1852, in Galway Ireland, and died on May 22, 1932. She was an Irish dramatist and Irish folklorist. She founded the Irish literary theatre and Abbey Theatre through the help of William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, and she wrote many works for the national theatre.

The play ‘The Rising of the moon’ is written by Lady Gregory and published on March 5, 1907. The title of the play The Rising of the Moon is symbolic because it indicates the rising of political awakening and perhaps of an awakening of political independence. Here the ‘The Moon’ is a symbol and represents Ireland itself and the rising of the moon means the rising of the moon of Irish freedom. Granuaile is also a symbol and represents the mother of Ireland.

The play deals with the relation between England and Ireland. We find that the people of Ireland were trying to free themselves from the English rule and they wanted a separate homeland free from the tyranny of British rule. In the play, we find that characters have torn between duty and patriotism and they are united together as Irish mass through the Irish folklore, myths, and the songs which they share as a nation.

There are many national and traditional Irish ballads that are shared by the Ragged Man and the Sergeant in the play that draws attention explicitly to one such song, where Granuaile, the old and suffering Irish woman in the ballad is a symbol of Ireland itself. The Ragged Man forgot the last line of this song, which the Sergeant corrects the verse by saying: "The gown she wore was stained with gore."

This refers to Irish martyrs and those who had shed blood as a result of resisting English rule certainly led to the authorities believing this was a subversive work. In the play, the sergeant has subverted his Irish national identity to enforce British rule but the ragged man reminds him of his lost identity by singing an Irish national ballad Granuaile.

The ragged also sings a johnny Hart song. This is also a national song of Ireland. There was a rich farmer's daughter who lived near the town of Ross; She courted a Highland Soldier, his name was Johnny Hart; summary the song is that there was a former’s daughter who wanted to marry young Johnny Hart, the private soldier but the parents of the daughter did not agree to the marriage. At the end of the story, with the consent of the colonel, they got married. This shows the passion of the Irish people for the separate homeland.

The ballads sang by the ragged man were of huge importance. It had motivated the sergeant who was Irish Nationalist by identity. The songs encouraged them to get a separate homeland free from British tyranny.