Ella Wheeler Wilcox

THE snowdrops and the crocuses
   Bloomed in the olden way ;
The stately tulips followed on--
   The pansies had their day ;
The roses came--and yet the year
   Brought neither June nor May.

And now the tiger lilies lift
   Their freckled faces high ;
And now the sun is blazing down
   From out a cloudless sky.
And yet it is not Summer time,
   Though Summer days drag by.
His dog looks up the lonely lane--
   He knows the reason why.