Explain the significance of the term "moth-hour" in W.B.Yeats' poem "The Ballad of Father Gilligan."

W.B.Yeats' "The "Ballad of Father Gilligan" is a moving
story of how God comes to the rescue of a sincere priest whose only concern is the
salvation of the souls of his
impoverished parishioners.

Father Gilligan who was
exhausted in fulfilling his priestly duties day and night during an epidemic in the
Irish countryside,  either  in giving the last communion to his poor parishioners who
were dying in large numbers or conducting funeral services for them,  was at home one
evening taking a well deserved rest
and had dozed off in his chair.

Yeats very poetically
refers to the approaching twilight that evening as,

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At the moth-hour of the
eve

in
order to emphasize the rural background of his ballad. The traditional ballads belonged
to the illiterate  rural folk and were passed on from one generation to the next by word
of mouth. The poor illiterate villagers never possessed a clock or a watch and they
always told time by the changes which took place from time to time in
Nature.

In the Irish countryside,
both at dusk and at dawn the countryside would swarm with moths. The villagers would
ascertain that it was either dusk or dawn by the presence of the
moths.

Just as Father Gilligan
had dozed he was disturbed from his sleep by the urgent call of another dying
parishioner. Wearily, Father Gilligan began to grumble and murmur about his lack of
rest:

'I have
no rest, nor joy, nor peace,
For people die and
die;

But the very next
instant he checks himself seeks God's forgiveness and kneels down by the side of his
chair and begins to pray. However, shortly Father Gilligan is completely overwhelmed by
sleep. Soon, it is night and once the stars appear in the sky the moths
disappear,

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And the moth-hour went
from the
fields.

The
tired Father Gilligan slept the entire night kneeling down by the side of his chair.
Early in the morning, at dawn he woke up to the cheerful sound of the chirping sparrows
and once again the moths which appeared in the twilight reappeared at
dawn:

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Upon the time of sparrow
chirp
When the moths came once
more,

Poor
Father Gilligan realized his mistake and rushed off to the house of the dying
parishioner, only to be greeted by the dead man's widow with the news that he had
actually come earlier on and had ministered the last communion to the dying man and by
doing so had ensured the salvation of his soul:

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The sick man's wife opened the
door,
'Father! you come
again!'

It is then that he
realizes that God the Creator had taken pity on him who had worn himself out completely
in His service, had sent an angel to minister the last communion to the dying
man:

'He Who
is wrapped in purple robes,
With planets in His care
Had pity on the
least of things
Asleep upon a
chair.'