If you were coming in the fall
If you were coming in the fall,I'd brush the summer byWith half a smile and half a spurn,As housewives do a fly.
If I could see you in a year,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,Subtracting till my fingers droppedInto 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,And taste eternity.
But now, all ignorant of the lengthOf time's uncertain wing,It goads me, like the goblin bee,That will not state its sting.
Words in this poem
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
If you were coming in the fall is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete, Project Gutenberg ebook #12242; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emily Dickinson, If you were coming in the fall, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/if-you-were-coming-in-the-fall.html, id L18897.
Form and metre
If you were coming in the fall is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A fall · byA · spurn · flyA
- 2 -A-A year · ballsA · drawers · befallsA
- 3 -A-A delayed · handA · dropped · landA
- 5 -A-A length · wingA · bee · stingA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| If you were coming in the fall, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I'd brush the summer by | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With half a smile and half a spurn, | 8 | ········ |
| As housewives do a fly. | 6 | ·/···· |
| If I could see you in a year, | 8 | ········ |
| I'd wind the months in balls, | 6 | ······ |
| And put them each in separate drawers, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Until their time befalls. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| If only centuries delayed, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| I'd count them on my hand, | 6 | ······ |
| Subtracting till my fingers dropped | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Into Van Diemen's land. | 6 | ······ |
| If certain, when this life was out, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That yours and mine should be, | 6 | ······ |
| I'd toss it yonder like a rind, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And taste eternity. | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| But now, all ignorant of the length | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Of time's uncertain wing, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| It goads me, like the goblin bee, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That will not state its sting. | 6 | ······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.