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!