Poem Analysis - If You Were Coming In The Fall

A Yearning for Certainty

Emily Dickinson's "If You Were Coming in the Fall" explores the agonizing uncertainty of waiting for a loved one. The poem begins with hopeful, almost playful, scenarios of shortened time, but gradually descends into frustration and a feeling of torment. The tone shifts from anticipation to despair, reflecting the speaker's struggle with the unknown duration of separation. It's a poem about the mind's attempt to control and conquer time when faced with the pain of absence.

Love, Time, and Eternal Waiting

Three primary themes intertwine throughout the poem: love, time, and the speaker’s attempt to conquer or at least manage the waiting period. Love is the driving force, the reason for the speaker’s willingness to manipulate time. The poem's hypothetical situations all revolve around the impending arrival of the beloved. Time is personified as an enemy, something to be "brushed," "wound," and "subtracted" from. The poem's core is about the speaker’s active effort to diminish the impact of time on their anticipation and anxiety. Finally, the speaker's desire isn't just for reunion, but for a certain, unwavering future – even contemplating tossing away this life for guaranteed togetherness in eternity.

Domesticity and Distant Lands

Dickinson employs vivid imagery, drawing from both domestic and exotic realms. The early stanzas use household metaphors: "brush[ing] the summer by" and "wind[ing] the months in balls" evoke a sense of domestic control, as if the speaker could tidy up time like a housewife tidies her home. These actions suggest a desire to bring order and manageability to the chaotic feeling of waiting. Conversely, the mention of "Van Diemen’s land" (now Tasmania, Australia) adds a touch of the vast and unknown, underscoring the seemingly endless stretch of time. This juxtaposition highlights the speaker's inner turmoil between the wish for familiar control and the daunting reality of uncontrollable distance and time.

The Tormenting Bee: A Symbol of Uncertainty

The final stanza introduces a crucial symbol: the "goblin bee" whose sting is unknown. This bee, which "will not state its sting," embodies the agony of uncertain waiting. The sting represents the pain of separation, but because its timing is unknown, it's all the more tormenting. This image suggests that the speaker isn't just suffering from the absence of their loved one, but also from the constant anxiety of not knowing when that absence will end. Is the "goblin bee" a metaphor for the speaker's own mind, constantly buzzing with anxious thoughts about the future? The ambiguity of the sting amplifies the poem's feeling of helpless frustration.

A Lasting Sting

"If You Were Coming in the Fall" captures the emotional turbulence of waiting for a loved one, showcasing how the uncertainty of time can be more painful than the separation itself. Dickinson uses striking images and shifting tones to convey the speaker's longing and despair. Ultimately, the poem leaves us with a profound sense of the power of anticipation and the agonizing weight of the unknown, symbolized by the unstated sting of the "goblin bee". The poem suggests that the real torture lies not in the absence, but in the relentless, unanswered question of when it will end.