Raglan Road

On Raglan Road on an autumn day

I saw her first and knew

That her dark hair would weave a snare

That I might one day rue

I saw the danger, yet I passed

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

Oh, 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 without 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 loved 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