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IF YOU WERE COMING IN THE FALL, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
Last Line: That will not state—its sting
Subject(s): Absence; Longing; Autumn


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.




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