Inn of the Wandering Dragon

I just finished a book called A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. The poem just posted features quite prominently throughout the book and several characters quote various passages. I remember reading the poem in one of my literature classes in university years ago, I also remember wholeheartedly disagreeing with the girl behind me who felt it was the most romantic poem in the whole world. I still disagree. The poem is sad, yes. But I do wonder what would the story be like if she did not know she was cursed, or for that matter if she chose to live anyway.