"Lost: The Summer" by R.M. Alden

From Farm Life Readers, Book Four (Silver, Burdett & Company, Boston, New York and Chicago, 1913), page 82:

Lost: The Summer

Where has the summer gone?
She was here just a minute ago,
With roses and daisies
To whisper her praises-
And every one loved her so!

Has anyone seen her about?
She must have gone off in the night!
And she took the best flowers
And the happiest hours,
And asked no one's leave for her flight.

Have you noticed her steps in the grass?
The garden looks red where she went;
By the side of the hedge
There's a goldenrod edge,
And the rose vines are withered and bent.

Do you think she will ever come back?
I shall watch every day at the gate
For the robins and clover,
Saying over and over:
"I know she will come, if I wait!"

--R.M. Alden

Just a gentle reminder that summer, for good and bad, doesn't last very long.