Saturday, March 09, 2013

Raglan Road - A Poem




Lyrics:
On Raglan Road of 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 and I passed
Along the enchanted way
And 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 a 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 signs
Known to the artists who have known 
The true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint I did not stint
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'll lose his wings at the dawn of day

The poem "On Raglan Road" was written in 1946, by the great Irish poet, Patrick Kavanagh, of Inniskeen In County Monaghan. Kavanagh's poem was set to music using the traditional air "Fáinne Geal an Lae" composed by Thomas Connellan in the 17th century. Patrick Kavanagh died almost penniless in Dublin, Ireland.  

1 comment:

  1. wonderful soft music concentrated on the lyrics! thanks for your comment at
    http://flickrcomments.wordpress.com/2013/03/14/i-wish-i-were-a-single-girl-again/

    ReplyDelete

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