Fool that I was to dream I loved before! <br />But now a sweeter worship lets me know <br />What ghosts I followed in the long ago. <br />What weeds my heart's neglected garden bore. <br />Where now one rose is splendid evermore, <br />And where I wander ministrant and slow, <br />As those incomparable petals glow. <br />And give my soul their beauty o'er and o'er. <br /> <br />Craig, ever thus I wander and repent, <br />Slave of a thousand ecstasies and fears. <br />Too humble to be sure, too glad to flee. <br />And all too glad in love's one punishment— <br />The heart's slow scorn, augmenting with the years. <br />For all that had not birth and life in thee.<br /><br />George Sterling<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-burden-of-the-past/
