As regards the comments above re "Making hay while the sun shines", my de Bhaldraithe dictionary translates this (into Irish) as "Buail an t-iarann nuair atá sé te", which literally means "strike while the iron is hot". I think he was ruefully admitting to himself that he wasn't getting anywhere with Hilda. I read some details of this hapless affair in a biography of Kavanagh, probably the one written by his brother Peter.

Don