In the first verse he refers to 'walking along the enchanted way' despite 'seeing the danger'. This is about walking down raglan road, a street in Dublin (now quite posh), and having bumped into a dangerous girl, prostitutes used to hand out there. He thought to himself 'let grief be a fallen leaf At the dawning of the day'. There are lots of oak trees on Raglan road and this migth be his way of saying that at this time, he had no regard for anything.

***Excerpt1: On Grafton Street in November We tripped lightly along the ledge Of the deep ravine Where can be seen The worth of passion's pledge

Here he simply talks about himself and others walking swiftly along Grafton Street and seeing the windows displaying lots of riches, eg. Jewelery, which represent 'The worth of passion's pledge'. At that time grafton street was a window shoppers paradise.

***Excerpt2: 'The Queen of Hearts still making tarts And I not making hay Oh I loved too much And by such and such Is hapiness thrown away'

Here he states that this prostitute was still turning tricks i.e. 'still making tarts' while he was making very little money 'I not making hay'. This may be about unfullfilled ambition etc. and excellently describes the absolute loss at having anything to do with such a women, 'Oh I loved too much, And by such and such, Is hapiness thrown away'. Here he describes that too much love can take away your ability to achieve happiness. His love was so strong that he met with this women.

***Excerpt3: 'I gave her gifts of the mind I gave her the secret sign That's known to the artists Who have known the true gods of sound and stone And word and tint, I did not stint, I gave her poems to say. With her own name there and her own dark hair Like clouds over fields of May.'

He then goes on to describe the amount that he gave this woman as being greater than simple objects, he gave her poems to say, so in a way he has no pity for her. She now has a rich set of experiences, 'poems to say'.

***Excerpt4: On a quiet street where old ghosts meet I see her walking now Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow That I had wooed not as I should A creature made of clay -

Here he says how he sees this lady of the nigth on streets where 'old ghosts meet'. Dublin was a very small place in Kavanaghs time and he may well have bumped into her on occasion. He then restates his mistake of having wooed not as he should and how she would run away quickly as if 'made of clay'.

***Excerpt5:

'When the angel woos the clay he'd lose His wings at the dawning of the day.' And finally he states the personal cost of this love i.e. 'lose His wings' and earlier in the poem 'Is hapiness thrown away'.

Having once been an angel, he had messed with a person 'made of clay'. This was very wrong to him, and he was so full of guilt that he felt he had compromised his very ability to achieve happiness and was without wings. A Catholic up-bringing in Ireland meant that you were virtually sinless as a youngster moving to Dublin, so delicate that a sin made guilt inevitable, especially when you Use one 'made of clay'. Maybe this is part of the reason Paddy drank so much. Maybe he thougth of himself as being bad, for a small mistake he had made. His mistake seems to have been the thougth 'let grief be a fallen leaf, At the dawning of the day'.