Why look'd I on that fatal line? <br /> Why did I pray that page to see? <br />Too well I knew no word of thine <br /> Was fraught with aught but pain to me. <br />I should have known, I should have thought <br /> The fleeting hope would soon decay! <br />So oft the gleam of joy it brought <br /> Has only shone to pass away. <br />Thy hand had traced the words I read; <br /> And in that dream I wandered on— <br />Forgot their cherish'd spell was fled, <br /> Thy vows no more—thy fondness gone. <br />I lived whole years of joy again <br /> I dwelt on each recorded vow; <br />Oh! tender was their meaning then— <br /> Alas! they have no meaning now!<br /><br />Louisa Stuart Costello<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/lines-why-look-d-i-on-that-fatal-line/
