I taste a liquor never brewed Essay Questions

Why does Dickinson compare being in nature to intoxication?

Dickinson hinges this poem on a comparison between drunkenness and feeling overwhelmed by nature's beauty. The effect of this framing highlights the power of this wonder, while playfully alluding to the growing social disapproval surrounding alcohol consumption. This choice is a powerful one because it shows the speaker experiencing nature in an intense and vivid manner. Similar to inebriation, this new state she finds herself in is potent and total.

How does the religious imagery in the fourth stanza serve the poem as a whole?

The images of "seraphs" and "saints" place the poem in an entirely new context. Where before the speaker was describing herself as joyfully giddy, these images show her elevation into a kind of religious ecstasy. These images serve to reveal that the speaker is experiencing nature on a new level of intensity. It also marks a transition in tone from bubbly and humorous to respectfully awestruck.