Paddy Reilly - 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 may one day rue.

I saw the danger, and I passed
Along the enchanted way
And I said let grief be a falling leaf
At the dawning of the day.

On Grafton Street in November,
We tripped lightly along the ledge
Of a deep ravine where can be seen
The work of passions pledged.

The Queen of Hearts still making tarts
And I not making hay,
Oh I loved too much; and by such and 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 threw Gods of Sound and Stone.

And word and tint I did not stint.
For I gave her reams of poems to say
With her own Name There
And her own dark hair and her own name there
Like the 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 have loved not as I should

A creature made of clay.
When the angel woos the clay, he'll lose
His wings at the dawn of the day.