Summary
In the opening of the poem, the speaker describes a liquor not brewed. She implies that it is not made by human hands. She then further shows the unusual circumstances that led to the creation of this beverage. In the following stanzas, she reveals her state of intoxication to be rooted in nature. She focuses on various details of the world around her with elated language.
Analysis
The poem's main thematic thread is about a state of euphoria found in the sphere of nature. Dickinson uses a vocabulary drawn from the culture of drinking alcohol to explore this idea (and to poke gentle fun at the contemporary temperance movement). It is a text overflowing with imagery, written in a tone of joyful ebullience.
In the first stanza, the speaker opens with the image of "a liquor never brewed." She then categorizes this strange drink, stating: "From Tankards scooped in Pearl – / Not all the Frankfort Berries / Yield such an Alcohol!" The second line further expands the liquor's uncanniness, describing the "tankards" where alcohol is commonly brewed but making it fantastical with the description of its being "scooped in Pearl." The final two lines of the stanza withhold details while still making the liquor sound otherwordly. The reference to the "Frankfort Berries" (i.e., grapes for German wine) being unable to "yield such an Alcohol" demonstrates clearly that Dickinson is describing something outside the realm of tavern ale. These dramatic depictions also make this liquor seem superior to its manmade counterpart. The inadequacy of the "berries" and the beauty of the strange "tankards" serve to elevate this liquor. Dickinson does not say what exactly this beverage is in the first stanza. However, she indicates where she is heading. She is creating the expectation that the feelings and images surrounding drinking will be explored, but the literal thing may not be shown. This also establishes a level of mystery. The reader is left to wonder what this liquor and the effect it will have on the speaker. The exclamation point at the end of the fourth line firmly situates the poem's high-spirited tone. The speaker is clearly thrilled to be sharing more details about this mystical drink.
The next stanza resolves this conundrum. The speaker says she is an "inebriate of air," a "debauchee of dew." She is intoxicated by the "liquor" of nature. She finds herself "reeling" through "endless summer days," surrounded by "inns of molten Blue." The speaker plays with the language around intoxication ("inebriate," "debauchee") to explain her state of elation in the world of nature. The vividness of the imagery ("molten blue") further supports this idea, showing the heightened drama of the speaker's perception. These stylistic choices also effectively characterize her. The speaker's wonder makes her feel something only comparable to inebriated giddiness, depicting her as whimsical and tuned in to the world around her. She feels loose and uninhibited, fully drawn into every detail of this world. At the same time, she makes plain a subtle preference for this kind of intoxication. The lightness of this stanza rests on the fact that there is an innocence to the speaker. While she is making a comparison to drinking and drunkenness, she herself is only appreciating the splendor of her countryside. She is not experiencing any of the issues or problems that real liquor presents. The speaker is presented as moving freely in this scene, but she causes no harm to herself or others. The poem continues in this manner, further exploring the rise of the speaker's internality.
As always, Dickinson makes careful use of her stylistic idiosyncrasies. The exclamation point that ends the first stanza ("Yield such an Alcohol!") gives the piece a hurtling momentum. The speaker is clearly filled to the brim with excitement about the magical liquor she is about to describe. Likewise, the dashes used throughout both stanzas serve the urgency of each line. They solidify the impression that the speaker is barely able to contain each image. Finally, the use of ballad meter (alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and trimeter) gives the poem an overall singsong, musical quality. This perfectly fits the whimsical feeling of the speaker's descriptions and the poem's central idea around nature's intoxicating properties. These choices in style also effectively portray the speaker and her experience with the natural world. By generating this playful excitement in the rhythm and tone of the poem, Dickinson is more effectively able to conjure an image of the world the speaker is inhabiting. Grounding her emotions in the style of the poem shows how strongly the images have impressed themselves upon her. The speaker's focus on individual details about the air, sky, and dew shows the degree to which she has been pulled into this other space.
