“If you were coming in the Fall”：Desire for and Anxiety over Love

【Abstract】As one of the most original poets in American literature，Emily Dickinson is constantly concerned with the theme of love.This essay attempts to analyze one of her love poems “If you were coming in the Fall”.It expresses her thirst for love and the suffering it brings.

【Key words】love； desire； anxiety

In her love poems，Dickinson dwells on both the beauty of love and her yearning for it，and also the suffering and frustration that loss of love inflicts upon her，revealing her most private feelings.The following will be an analysis of her “If you were coming in the Fall”.

In the first stanza，the speaker professes her eagerness to see the expected person.From the extreme impatience of the speakers anticipation of the person，we can infer that “you” in Line 1 must refer to someone with whom the speaker falls in love.It is still summer now while her lover is hypothesized to come in the fall，and in order to see him，she is willing to drive away the interval as housewives get rid of a fly.The time between summer and fall，as a part of human beings limited life time，is very precious； however，for the sake of meeting him as soon as possible she will not hesitate to give up one season，as if it was not more important than the death of so insignificant a “fly”.Also，when housewives are driving away flies they are very impatient，which implies the speakers urgency.In line 3，the “smile” and the “spurn” indicate the speakers willingness and belittlement of the sacrifice she has to make.

In the second stanza，the time to wait for her lover is prolonged to a year.“Months” in Line 6 as a measure of time is abstract，but the poet concretizes every month by giving it the tangible form of a yarn ball.With regard to the reason why she puts those balls in separate drawers，its because shes afraid of mixing them up，but after every month is cast away she can know exactly the number of months left from the remaining balls，which reveals the speakers conscientiousness in waiting.Like the “fly” in Stanza 1，the “balls” and the “drawers” are also ordinary domestic images familiar to readers and also indicate that the speaker is thinking about her lover all the time even when she is occupied with the housework.

In the third stanza，the waiting time is prolonged to centuries，but as long as there exists the possibility of seeing her lover，shes ready for counting off the lengthy interval day by day.“If only” in Line 9 reflects that even if the speaker realizes that the “delay” of centuries is unbearably interminable，shes still willing to endure the suffering as long as theres a hope of meeting.“Van Diemens land” in Line 12 is a small island to the south of Australia，and here it refers to some far-away place，implying the spatial distance between the lovers except for the time distance.

In the fourth stanza，the sacrifice that the speakers willing to make is huger.Suppose that they are sure to meet each other on the condition of the termination of their lives，she will decisively abandon what is most valued by others as if she were just throwing away a rind.Here again，the “rind” in Line 15 is a domestic image，revealing the speakers profound love by dint of the simile of life compared to a rind.And “eternity” in Line 16 suggests that for the speaker，despite death，with the company of her lover she can enjoy immortality.

The last stanza gives expression to the speakers agony as she does not know when her lover will come.The previous stanzas indicate that regardless of the length of the waiting time，the speaker is perfectly happy to shorten the interval by forsaking time.But now the uncertainty makes her feel like being irritated by a “goblin bee”，which in folklore is a tormenting creature.

This poem delivers the speakers thirst for love and the suffering it brings.On the one hand，she is brave enough to surmount tremendous obstacles to see her lover； while on the other hand，she is tortured by the uncertainty of meeting.Through the employment of trivial domestic images and ingenious metaphors，Dickinson deals with the subject of “love” incisively.

References：

[1]Dickinson，E.（2010）.Selected Poems and Letters of Emily Dickinson （Pu Long，Trans.）.Jiangsu：Yilin Press.150，152.

作者簡介：袁飛，重慶大學外國語學院2014級碩士研究生，研究方向為英美文學。