After spending some time on the net researching this, I am pretty well convinced that Kavanagh did in fact write "pledge " and not "play", although nobody has come forward with irrefutable evidence.

I believe that the rhyming scheme throughout the poem is consistent with him having writen "pledge". If he had written "play" it would be totally at odds with the rest of the poem, and I think he was far too skilled a craftsman for that to have happened.

I suggest that Dick make it a priority to amend the faulty version in the DT forthwith. Admittedly , there are many other erroneous lyrics in the DT, but surely "Raglan Road " above all others merits the courtesy of accurate transcripion.

As an aside, Cluin raises an interesting point above concerning the
"true gods " line.

Firstly let me say that I think Cluin is way off beam with "sound and time".

I have always had difficulty in making a great deal of sense of this particular couplet, until, while researching my original query, I realised that the version in the DT is actually nonsensical.

"I gave her gifts of the mind,
I gave her the secret signs,
That's known to the artists who have known
The true gods of sound and stone.
And her words and tint without stint
I gave her poems to say
With her own name there and her own dark hair
Like clouds over fields of May.

And her words and tint without stint. What's that about?

I believe that what Kavanagh originally wrote was :

"I gave her gifts of the mind,
I gave her the secret signs,
That's known to the artists who have known
The true gods of sound, and stone, and words, and tint.
Without stint, I gave her poems to say
With her own name there and her own dark hair
Like clouds over fields of May.

i.e, "The true gods of sound, and stone, and words, and tint." refers to the Muses of music, sculpture, poetry and painting.

Only with this interpretation does it begin to make sense. Of course, when singing the song, it is practically impossible to convey this emphasis.......

Murray