Queen of Hearts/I not making hay + their class differences. See the post that gives the synopsis on Kavanaugh's life from the biography by Antoinette Quinn in the previous thread.Also, I think we Irish-oriented folk decided that the cultural context argues for the interpretation of the August/June sort of age difference between the two. Kavanaugh was 35 when he came to Dublin, the lady who is the subject of the poem was a student at Trinity, hence just getting her start in life.
I'm with Dick Gaughan's interpretation for August, not autumn on the age issue. Yet, I also disagree with him, as I think the seasonal metaphor works beautifully for the "poetry of place" in the poem, which is the area around Trinity College, St Stephen's Green, and the Grand Canal, of which Kavanaugh was so fond. In autumn when the leaves have changed and begin to fall, I don't think there is a more romantic place on earth.
As to the end of the song--let me say this with an Irish sensibility. It is a much better song than it is a poem then, isn't it?