Just my own interpretation of something, here:

"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"

When I come across those words I think of putting someone on a pedestal and idolizing her, and then finding that she had feet of clay, and of course, the narrator finds this in himself, too. I don't think it's some kind of poet's conceit.

teresa