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, 

I'd wind the months in balls - 

And put them each in separate Drawers, 

For fear the numbers fuse - 

 

If only Centuries, delayed, 

I'd count them on my Hand, 

Subtracting, till my fingers dropped 

Into Van Dieman's Land. 

 

If certain, when this life was out - 

That yours and mine, should be 

I'd toss it yonder, like a Rind, 

And take Eternity - 

 

But, now, uncertain of the length 

Of this, that is between, 

It goads me, like the Goblin Bee - 

That will not state - its sting. 

 

There is both hope and sorrow in this poem all towards this mystery person. If she knew that person were coming in the fall, she would have disregarded her lonely summer the way as how housewives treat a fly. Why with half scorn and half joy? She despises the fact that she has to be away from that person for the whole summer, which also reminds her that as soon as the summer ends, she will be able to see the person she is waiting for. 

 

The second stanza continues to show her longing to find the distant person. She reduces a year to twelve balls of yarn to be stored separately from tangling together. Then she minimizes a delayed century-long wait by modifying "century" with “only” and counts the meeting time backwards in a form of finger play. Van Dieman's Land is the original name for Tasmania, an island off Australia. It is on the underside of the globe from where Emily lived. Her declining fingers, falling into that far far away island, represent the time that has passed. 

 

The fourth stanza indicates that if their souls were assured to meet in the afterlife, she would willingly die. Her mortal body, containing a spirit or essence which would continue after her death, is metaphorically linked with a rind, the natural outer covering of food, . 

 

The final stanza abruptly introduces a new train of thought, hinted by the first word "but". Emily feels the haunting pain caused by that person's absence, and is uncertain about when it will cease. Her sense of longing and agitation is nearly perceptible, just like the Goblin Bee. A goblin is a small grotesque supernatural creature that makes trouble for human beings and a bee is a tiny insect that stings. By putting the two together Emily illustrates the possibility of not having a reunion and gives time a malefic image.