Greek and Latin (Motif)
Throughout the play, Jimmy and Hugh, the older characters in the play, maintain a special interest in ancient Latin and Greek, both languages that are no longer spoken in the modern world. They come back to the language throughout, whether exploring the linguistic roots of contemporary words or translating classical poetry. The motif of these dead languages represents their connection to the past and their sense of history. By connecting with languages that are no longer used, they are connecting to those who came before them. Indeed, this represents not only their relationship to the past, but their relationship to their own Gaelic language, and the fact that it is being sent the way of Greek and Latin.
My Name is Sarah (Motif)
In the first scene of the play, Manus teaches the stuttering and anxious Sarah how to say her name aloud. It is a huge victory that leads her to become more confident with words. Then later, before he leaves Baile Beag for Mayo after Yolland's disappearance, he asks her to say her name, only this time he has a much less cheery demeanor, and demands she say her name with a serious sense of urgency. This motif shows that Manus is loyal and remains invested in Sarah's growth, but that he himself has undergone a profound personal transformation, and no longer feels safe and happy at the hedge-school.
Poteen (Symbol)
Throughout the play the characters drink something called poteen, which is a liquor made from potatoes. While for some characters, the poteen is a symbol of friendship and togetherness, it represents different things in different hands. For instance, when Hugh drinks poteen, he often drinks it to excess, and the presence of a bottle in his hands represents the ways he is trying to escape mentally from the weight of the world, to create some confusion and disarray so that he is distracted from the sadness of life.
Roland (Motif)
Yolland and Lancey, the English soldiers in the play, call Owen "Roland" by mistake throughout much of the beginning of the play. While he shrugs off this mistake as just a simple misunderstanding, the other Irish characters see it as symbolic of the fact that the English do not care much about him. The fact that Yolland and Lancey are not careful enough to have learned Owen's real name represents their disrespect for him, in the eyes of the other characters. Indeed, it is symbolic of the English soldiers' irreverence towards Irish culture more broadly.
Aeneid (Allegory)
At the end of the play, Hugh recites some of the opening lines of the Aeneid, a famous poem by Virgil. The lines concern the inevitability of conquest and imperialism, and can be interpreted as an allegory for the colonial invasion of Ireland by the English. Thus, the ancient poem is an allegory for the events that are taking place in Baile Beag, and the difficulties of foreign incursion.
