The Good are Always the Merry

The final stanzas of “The Fiddler of Dooney” by Yeats are as follows:


When we come at the end of time,
To Peter sitting in state,
He will smile on the three old spirits,
But call me first through the gate;

For the good are always the merry,
Save by an evil chance,
And the merry love the fiddle
And the merry love to dance:

And when the folk there spy me,
They will all come up to me,
With ‘Here is the fiddler of Dooney!’
And dance like a wave of the sea.

During the welcoming ceremony on Saturday we had another lovely reception which was followed by some terrific traditional Irish music and dance and traditional Irish fare. All 3 were enjoyed greatly by all. One of our own students got into the spirit and danced, in her UGG boots of all things. (Her mother had told me at the airport that we should ask her to show her dancing skills.) She did not disappoint.

I’ve always wondered about the lines “the good are always the merry.” It certainly isn’t a puritanical sensibility. Or at least it doesn’t seem that way. I do tend to agree with it, or believe it must be true, and natural, and good to be merry. And like that dancers, it allows us to mimic the natural in nature in the very least. Dancing like the waves of the sea….