"I taste a liquor never brewed" is a poem by Emily Dickinson written in 1860 and first published in 1861. It appeared, anonymously and with major alterations, in the Springfield Republican and was one of the few poems published in Dickinson's lifetime. Almost the entirety of Dickinson's poetry was published after her death, following the discovery of a cache of her work. Her writing was known for its focus on spirituality, nature, and death. “I taste a liquor never brewed” celebrates nature and its beauty using the metaphorical language of intoxication or drunkenness.
The poem presents an image of a liquor that was never brewed by human hands, implying that it is natural. The speaker finds herself in a state of drunkenness, full of wonder at the natural world that surrounds her. She describes, in detail, the many natural entities (bees, butterflies, foxgloves) that draw her attention on a summer day. The final stanza brings elements of spirituality into the mix with mentions of divine figures, including seraphs and saints. The poem's tone is one of exuberance, evident in its use of multiple exclamation points. The speaker is actively caught up in the scenery, overwhelmed by its beauty. The poem is written in ballad meter with some use of slant rhyme, dashes, and idiosyncratic capitalization—all elements common to Dickinson's work. The loose rhythm of these formal conceits gives the poem a free-wheeling atmosphere, as befits its topic of intoxication with nature.
