Question

In Emily Dickinson's poem, "If you were coming in the fall," why does she not use direct rhyme in the second stanza?

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 Diemen's Land*.

If certain, when this life was out—
That your's 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.

Answer 1

It happens in stanza 5, too. It's called slant- or half-rhyme.

Read about slant-rhyme in these sites:
http://literarydevices.net/half-rhyme/

http://study.com/academy/lesson/slant-rhyme-in-poetry-definition-examples-quiz.html

http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-kind-rhyme-used-emiy-dickinson-her-poems-70585

http://www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/formsofverse/furtherreading/page2.html

Answer 2

How does the poet organize ideas in this poem?
The poet organizes ideas in paired lines of three syllables each.
The poet organizes ideas in stanzas of four lines each.
The poet organizes ideas by gradually decreasing the number of beats in each line throughout the poem.

Answer 3

The poet organizes ideas in stanzas of four lines each.