When Summer’s Gone

The summer’s come an’ gone ag’in

     Jest like a picture show;

We thought along the July days

     Per’aps ‘twould never go.

Now here we be right into fall,

     With frosty nights an’ cold;

The grasses in the medders brown,

     The hillsides red an’ gold.

This is the melancholy time

     Uv year, the poets say;

But that is only jest becuz

     The summer’s passed away.

There is a wail now through the trees,

     Where yesterday was song;

That is becuz the limbs are bare,

     An’ summer’s passed along.

You cannot stop the seasons e’er,

     They must forever roll;

But you kin keep your heart a-warm,

     An’ summer in your soul.

Jest keep the grasses green inside,

     An’ don’t lay down your song,

An’ then ‘twon’t matter very much

     Ef summer’s gone along.

Sept. 4, ‘09