“I taste a liquor never brewed” Introduction

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“I taste a liquor never brewed” Summary

“I taste a liquor never brewed” Themes

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  Appreciating the Glory of Nature

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “I taste a liquor never brewed”

• Lines 1-4

  I taste a liquor never brewed –
  From Tankards scooped in Pearl –
  Not all the Frankfort Berries
  Yield such an Alcohol!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-6

  Inebriate of air – am I –
  And Debauchee of Dew –

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 7-8

  Reeling – thro' endless summer days –
  From inns of molten Blue –

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  When "Landlords" turn the drunken Bee
  Out of the Foxglove's door –
  When Butterflies – renounce their "drams" –
  I shall but drink the more!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-14

  Till Seraphs swing their snowy Hats –
  And Saints – to windows run –

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 15-16

  To see the little Tippler
  Leaning against the – Sun!

  

  

  

  

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“I taste a liquor never brewed” Symbols

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  Alcohol and Drunkenness

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• 

  Flowers

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• 

  The Sun and the Sky

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“I taste a liquor never brewed” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Personification

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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“I taste a liquor never brewed” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Liquor
• Tankards
• Pearl
• Frankfort Berries
• Inebriate
• Debauchee
• Reeling
• Thro'
• Inns
• Molten
• Landlords
• Foxglove
• Drams
• Seraphs
• Tippler

• • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “I taste a liquor never brewed”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“I taste a liquor never brewed” Speaker

“I taste a liquor never brewed” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “I taste a liquor never brewed”

More “I taste a liquor never brewed” Resources

• External Resources

  • Drunken Bees — Though Dickinson isn't being literal in this poem, bees can, in fact, get a little tipsy when drinking nectar that has fermented. Check out this article to learn more!

  • Dickinson's Handwriting — See the original manuscript of the poem.

  • A reading of the poem — A reader with a slight Irish accent performs the poem—in a different version. Spot the differences!

  • Dickinson's Life — Additional biographical information on Dickinson, plus links to more of her poems, from the Poetry Foundation.

  • The Emily Dickinson Museum — Take a look at the museum housed in Dickinson's former home in Amherst, Massachusetts.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Emily Dickinson

  • A Bird, came down the Walk

  • After great pain, a formal feeling comes –

  • A Light exists in Spring

  • A Murmur in the Trees—to note—

  • A narrow Fellow in the Grass

  • An awful Tempest mashed the air—

  • As imperceptibly as grief

  • A still—Volcano—Life—

  • A Word dropped careless on a Page

  • Because I could not stop for Death —

  • Before I got my eye put out

  • Fame is a fickle food

  • Hope is the thing with feathers

  • I cannot live with You –

  • I cautious, scanned my little life

  • I could bring You Jewels—had I a mind to—

  • I did not reach Thee

  • I died for Beauty—but was scarce

  • I dreaded that first Robin, so

  • I dwell in Possibility –

  • I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

  • If I can stop one heart from breaking

  • I had been hungry, all the Years

  • I have a Bird in spring

  • I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -

  • I like a look of Agony

  • I like to see it lap the Miles

  • I measure every Grief I meet

  • I’m Nobody! Who are you?

  • I started Early — Took my Dog —

  • It was not Death, for I stood up

  • I—Years—had been—from Home—

  • Like Rain it sounded till it curved

  • Much Madness is divinest Sense -

  • My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun

  • Nature is what we see

  • One need not be a Chamber — to be Haunted

  • Publication — is the Auction

  • Safe in their Alabaster Chambers

  • Shipwreck

  • Success is counted sweetest

  • Tell all the truth but tell it slant —

  • The Brain—is wider than the Sky—

  • The Bustle in a House

  • The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants

  • There came a Wind like a Bugle

  • There is no Frigate like a Book

  • There's a certain Slant of light

  • There's been a Death, in the Opposite House

  • The saddest noise, the sweetest noise

  • The Sky is low — the Clouds are mean

  • The Soul has bandaged moments

  • The Soul selects her own Society

  • The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –

  • They shut me up in Prose –

  • This is my letter to the world

  • This World is not Conclusion

  • 'Twas the old—road—through pain—

  • We grow accustomed to the Dark

  • What mystery pervades a well!

  • Whose cheek is this?

  • Wild nights - Wild nights!