Patrick Kavanagh's On Raglan Road Recitation

Thejus Pillai
English 150
Wednesday 4 December 2013, 6 p.m. section

Background

Patrick Kavanagh was born in 1904 in Inniskeen, County Monaghan
He quit school at a young age to work on his family's farm and become an apprentice shoemaker to his father
He did not enjoy the farm life and decided to move to Dublin to pursue a writing career where his passion for poetry would be appreciated
On Raglan Road is about Kavanagh's affair with a 22-year-old student named Hilda Moriarty when he was 40 years old
One of the reasons the relationship failed was because of the large age difference
The poem was first set to music by Luke Kelly of the Dubliners
The song has been covered by many Irish singers and was featured in the 2008 film, In Bruges

Style: four stanzas; sixteen lines that have rhyming pairs with two rhyming lines per stanza; a mix of colloquial and poetic language

Dark hair that I might one day rue
Sees this beautiful woman and is aware of the danger she presents, but still decides to cast away his rational thoughts for matters of the heart
He is fully aware that he is being reckless but he cannot help himself

The initial stages of the romance are exciting and pleasant as the couple tripped lightly on Grafton street
However Kavanagh senses that his first instincts may be right and that the relationship might be coming to an end as they approach a deep ravine
The reference to Queen of Hearts reveals that there is a lack of reciprocation of affection from the girl; he cares more about the relationship than she does

He discusses how he passed on his knowledge and wrote poems for her, utilizing the symbols of other poets and sculptors
There is a sense of imminent doom as he brings up her dark hair, but this time to describe the clouds over fields of May, representative of the dark times ahead

It is implied that the relationship is over at this point, when he mentions old ghosts, and his former lover now avoids him
He comes to the realization that the woman was made of clay and that she was simply human — not something to idolize and waste his efforts on
Comparing himself to an angel that has lost his wings, Kavanagh feels that he has lost his ability to write poetry and was distracted from his true passion

What does this poem say about the dangers of love?
How does love affect his overall happiness?
What does Kavanagh have to say about the importance of poetry, and how it separates him from people who don't have a literary background?
How does this poem connect to some of Yeats poems regarding unrequited love, such When You are Old or Who Goes with Fergus?