Emily Dickinson's 'Wild Nights'

The sensuous nature of Emily Dickinson ( 1891) “ Wild Nights – Wild Nights! “ was seen to be controversial due to Dickinson’s religious background and reclusive lifestyle. In the poem she conjures up intense emotions of lust and desire to convey one’s longing for the presence of an imagined lover, thus why first person was used, to create more intimacy. She achieved this both by using the wildness of nature to represent her desire, and to contrast it to the triumph of her union with a lover.

The poem was divided into three stages: longing, frustration and satisfaction, carrying its erotic overtone until the end. Each stanza has irregularities; different emotions, tone, rhythm and pace. These differences disrupts and dislocates the flow of

In the first stanza, she described her nights with her imagined lover to be “wild nights”, similar to a storm or turbulence connoting their passion together. This contrasted to the word “ luxury” which may be referred to as how there is a barrier between her and ‘thee’ that prevented them from being together, thus why she couldn’t afford the wild nights anymore, or it may also stick to the old reference where luxury meant lust. She then started her second stanza with a negative phrase “ futile - the winds - / to a heart in port “ suggesting that the winds and storms were useless now as as her ‘Heart’ was safe in a ‘port’. The port in this phrase connotes a safe haven where no obstacles can tear the lovers affection, not even

In the second stanza she capitalize the word “Heart” implying that ‘thee’ hold a special place in her life, that his importance in her life was compared to the importance of a heart to a body. Showing how she cannot live without him. The poem continued with Dickinson “rowing in eden”, this phrase contrasted the calm like sea with the stormy sea on the first stanza. Along with the word ‘eden’ that has the denotation of innocence in paradise which juxtaposed to the the sexual tone of the poem. The “Ah” followed after, can be viewed as a face expression when one sigh, a content feeling. The word “ sea” may also be used as a metaphor of their love, how it carries a boat, Dickinson and thee, to the highs and the lows but still remained grounded to the depth and true meaning of their love. Moreover the long drawn out vowels in the phrase created a dreammier effect compared to the exclamations before. The dashes besides “tonight” creates pauses where it builds the atmosphere of anticipation towards the ending.The poem ends with with an alliteration of ‘m’ which holds a calm but strong message showing a growth in characteristic. The word ”Moor” denotes an anchoring of a boat to the bottom of the sea, implying how it is her dream to settle down with her “imagined” lover, having the security forever so that t those “wild nights” will never be taken away from them