I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed

Poetry | Emily Dickinson

I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed Key Info

  • Author: Emily Dickinson
  • Written: 1861
  • Published: First published in the Springfield Daily Republican (May 4, 1861)
  • Poem Type: Lyric poem
  • Themes: Joy in nature, intoxication with life, transcendence
  • Form: Four quatrains (four-line stanzas, 16 lines total)
  • Rhyme Scheme: Irregular/slant rhyme, loosely ABCB pattern
  • Meter: Common meter (iambic tetrameter/trimeter) with variations
  • Tone: Joyful, celebratory, whimsical, playful 
  • Imagery: Nature described through metaphors of drinking and revelry
Symbolism: “Liquor” symbolizes nature’s beauty and life’s intoxicating richness.
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