On Raglan Road

Words by Patrick Kavanagh,
set to the traditional Irish tune "The Dawning of the Day"


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 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 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.
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From "Collected Poems" by Patrick Kavanagh

Patrick Kavanagh is the original author of "On Raglan Road", contained in
his The Complete Poems.  His brother Peter footnotes the ballad thus:

Raglan Road:  A street off Pembroke Road, Dublin.  This ballad originally
published in The Irish Press under the title "Dark Haired Miriam Ran Away".
It was written about Patrick's girlfriend Hilda but to avoid embarrassment
he used the name of my girl-friend in the title.