Raglan Road
On Raglan Road on an autumn day I met her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue;
I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way,
And I said, let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day.
On Grafton Street in November we tripped lightly along the ledge
Of the deep ravine where can be seen the worth of passion’s pledge,
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts and I not making hay
O I loved too much and by such by such is happiness thrown away.
I gave her gifts of the mind I gave her the secret sign that’s known
To the artists who have known the true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint. I did not stint for I gave her poems to say,
With her own name there and her own dark hair like clouds over fields of May.
On a quiet street where old ghosts meet I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow
That I had wooed not as I should a creature made of clay –
When the angel woos the clay he’d lose his wings at the dawn of day.
~~
Patrick Kavanagh (1904-1967)
from The Irish Times, October 1946
[Poem is in the public domain in Canada]
Patrick Kavanagh biography
From the website Ireland Calling:
ReplyDelete"The poem was published under the title, 'Dark Haired Miriam Ran Away.' Kavanagh later set the poem to an old Irish folk tune called Dawning of the Day. He offered the song to Luke Kelly of The Dubliners folk group who recorded and made it popular across the world under the title, Raglan Road."
https://ireland-calling.com/raglan-road/