Emily Dickinson's If You Were Coming In The Fall

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In “If you were coming in the Fall” by Emily Dickinson, she states that she will wait any extent of time as long as she will be with her lover again. This poem demonstrates how the separation from a loved one can consume you. No matter the amount of time, she still constantly thinks about being with her lover again. To establish the meaning of the poem, Dickinson uses poetic devices. The three poetic devices I found that were most prevalent in the poem were repetition, simile, and tone. All of these devices help contribute to the idea that she is willing to wait to be reunited with her lover.

The first poetic device in the poem that I noticed was repetition. There is five stanzas in this poem, and of them, 4 started with the word “If”. The first one reads, “If you were coming in the Fall” (“Fall”, 1). The other lines follow the same structure. The other examples are, “If I could see you in a year” (“Fall”, 5), “If only Centuries, delayed,” (“Fall”, 9), and “If certain, when …show more content…

The first one is in the first stanza, “I'd brush the Summer by/ With half a smile, and half a spurn/ As Housewives do, a Fly.” (“Fall” 2-4). This simile is comparing the length of summer and brushing a fly away. She is saying the passing the summer will be easy, and she will think nothing of it. This is compared to brushing a fly because often times we brush away a fly without even thinking about it. The next simile comes in the last stanza, “It goads me, like the Goblin Bee---/ That will not state--- its sting.” (“Fall” 19-20). This simile is comparing the length of time to the sting of a bee. You never know when a bee might sting you, it is often a surprise. The amount of time before she reunites with her lover is unknown and will be a surprise to her. Using similes in this poem was a good idea because they help navigate back to the overall meaning of the poem. The last poetic device I thought most heavily influenced