If you were coming in the Fall, 1
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, 5
I'd wind the months in balls－
And put them each in separate Drawers,
For fear the numbers fuse－
If only Centuries, delayed, 9
I'd count them on my Hand,
Subtracting, till my fingers dropped
Into Van Dieman's Land.
If certain, when this life was out－; 13
That yours and mine, should be
I'd toss it yonder, like a Rind,
And take Eternity－
But, now, uncertain of the length 17
Of this, that is between,
It goads me, like the Goblin Bee－
That will not state－its sting.
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, 5
I'd wind the months in balls－
And put them each in separate Drawers,
For fear the numbers fuse－
If only Centuries, delayed, 9
I'd count them on my Hand,
Subtracting, till my fingers dropped
Into Van Dieman's Land.
If certain, when this life was out－; 13
That yours and mine, should be
I'd toss it yonder, like a Rind,
And take Eternity－
But, now, uncertain of the length 17
Of this, that is between,
It goads me, like the Goblin Bee－
That will not state－its sting.
(F.356/J.511)
[1] the fall:: the calendar's hanging method, wall-mounting.
[2] Summer:: a beam, timber placed horizontally in a building.
[4] Fly:: a piece of cloth.
[5, 6] year, months:: a twelve-month calendar.
[9] Centuries:: a very long delay of a new calendar.
[11, 12] fingers, Land:: fingers to a fist, though still cannot count the date.
[12] Van Dieman's Land:: bottom of the Earth.
[13] life was out:: the calendar was out of date.
[16] take Eternity:: without counting date.
[17, 18] uncertain, between:: the old and new calendar.
VAN DIEMAN'S LAND, OR TASMANIA. This is a pleasant little island, much smaller than Britain, yet very much like it in climate, for it is cool, and sometimes cold. It is, however, warmer than England. ─ Far off By Favell Lee Mortimer (1860)