"If You Were Coming in the Fall"

IF you were coming in the fall,
I ’d brush the summer by
With half a smile and half a spurn,
As housewives do a fly.
If I could see you in a year,	5
I ’d wind the months in balls,
And put them each in separate drawers,
Until their time befalls.
If only centuries delayed,
I ’d count them on my hand,	10
Subtracting till my fingers dropped
Into Van Diemen’s land.
If certain, when this life was out,
That yours and mine should be,
I ’d toss it yonder like a rind,	15
And taste eternity.
But now, all ignorant of the length
Of time’s uncertain wing,
It goads me, like the goblin bee,
That will not state its sting.	20

Emily Dickinson’s poem, “If you were coming in the fall,” suggests that she would do anything for anybody to love her even if it meant dying. “If you were coming in the fall, I’d brush the summer by,” is part of one of the first three stanzas that shows Dickinson would rush her life in order for her to meet the person that would love her. The fourth stanza conveys the idea that Dickinson would give up life in order to experience love from someone. The final stanza of this poem conveys the idea that Dickinson is left with the sad realization that she must wait forever for love and it may never happen which will gnaw at her heart forever. The goblin bee in the final stanza represents the continuous pain Dickinson feels that stings her heart because of her longing for love. Personification is displayed throughout the poem. Two examples of personification in this poem are “taste eternity” and “brush the summer by.” I feel that Dickinson wrote this poem to express her unhappiness and to show how badly she wanted to be loved. In my opinion, Dickinson would do anything for love, possibly even commit suicide.