Wild nights – Wild nights!

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How Long Will the Poet Continue Drinking Alcohol?

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How long will the poet continue drinking the alcohol or nectar from Nature? [NU: 2016, 18]

Or, How does the poet express her enthusiasm for drinking the alcohol of the beauties of Nature? [NU: 2022]

Emily Dickinson’s (1830-1886) poem “I taste a liquor never brewed” (1861) is about the poet’s deep joy in nature. Dickinson imagines that the beauty of the natural world is like a strong liquor (alcohol) that no one has ever made. She becomes drunk on the air, the dew, and the summer sky. She says she will continue drinking the nec

tar from nature long after the bees and butterflies are already tired.

Drinking Long After Bees and Butterflies: The poet says she is

“Inebriate of air…

And Debauchee of Dew –.” 

This means she is drunk on the pure air and the morning dew. The bees or butterflies drink from the flower’s nectar for a short time and then stop. Unlike them, the poet wants to drink forever. Her love for nature has no limit. She says,

“I shall but drink the more!”

She will keep on enjoying the beauty of nature even when the insects are done.

Drinking Till Heaven Watches: The poet imagines that she will continue drinking the liquor of nature until “Seraphs” and “Saints” from heaven come to watch her. She will drink so much that she will lean against the sun. This image shows her endless joy in the beauty of nature.

In short, the poet will never stop drinking the nectar of nature. Unlike the bees or butterflies, her love for the air, dew, flowers, and sunlight has no end. She will drink it forever, until even heaven sees her happiness.

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Emily Dickinson
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