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!