Poem by Louisa Stuart Costello

Lines (Why look'd I on that fatal line?)

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

1. The Return to Paraclete
2. Song (I will not ask one glance from thee)
3. November Fifth
4. Song (When others saw thee gay and vain)
5. Lines (I cannot sleep—my nights glide on)

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