Liquor (Symbol)
Liquor is the primary symbol of the poem. It represents the speaker's feelings of inebriated wonder in nature. It also serves to frames almost all of the poem's language, setting up multiple comparisons in which the speaker experiences nature in a manner similar to a bar-goer enjoying a drink. Liquor becomes representative not of literal alcohol consumption, but instead an overwhelming appreciation for the natural world. The strength of the symbol lies in its ability to encapsulate a feeling of looseness, without using its literal presence in the text. Dickinson is also able to reveal this "natural" liquor's superiority to the manufactured sort by presenting its lack of drawbacks. While the real-world consequences of alcohol consumption are subtly presented in the fourth stanza, Dickinson focuses on this other liquor's potential to allow its consumer to achieve spiritual transcendence.
Bees and Butterflies (Symbol)
While these are technically two separate images, they serve the poem in the same way. They set up two small scenes in the third stanza that draw parallels between enjoying nature and drinking. The speaker imagines the bee being escorted out of a foxglove, like an unruly tavern patron. Likewise, she pictures the butterfly turning down another "dram." These two symbols, taken together, further set up a concept of nature as an intoxicant. They also present real alcohol's potential to cause harm. These two scenes are realistic issues presented by the consumption of alcohol. However, the comedic tone is maintained because of the incongruity of bees and butterflies engaging in such obviously human follies.
Intoxication (Motif)
The poem's central theme is the experience of a state of euphoria in nature. To further this, the main motif it uses is recurring references to intoxication. This idea allows the speaker to explore feelings experienced in nature from an unusual viewpoint. It connects the two concepts by showing the speaker in the throes of an overwhelming feeling much like the one experienced by inebriated individuals. The speaker is, figuratively, drunk on nature. This idea crops up again and again because it neatly parallels a state of mind without depicting the actual feeling of alcoholic intoxication. Dickinson uses these feelings as a jumping-off point to build an idea of a different sort of intoxication, found only in nature.
