I died an untimely death even though natural death was still far away; death itself merely showed me the way to the beloved's lane and turned back.

What a wonderfully dramatic and witty lament! The poet says he died long before his destined time, because Death didn't even need to touch him. When Death arrived, she simply pointed him toward the beloved's lane—knowing full well that the cruelty of love would finish the job—and turned right back. In classic poetic flair, the beloved is shown to be far more lethal than mortality itself.