Wild Nights Meaning

Memories not Forgotten Have you ever had a night that is so unforgettable and wondrous that you often look back on it and wish for such a time to return? This is the case for the speaker in Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Wild Nights – Wild Nights!” The person who wrote this obviously longs to get back with the person with whom they spent these wild nights. The poem cannot be read in a literal sense, the reader must look past the literal meaning into a more figurative and symbolic meaning. In this poem that deeper meaning is of a sexual fantasy.
One idea in which this poem can be interpreted as a sexual fantasy is the first 2 stanzas, “Wild Nights – Wild Nights/ Were I with thee/ Wild Nights should be/ Our luxury!” (Lines 1-4). The wild nights mentioned make one think of intimate encounters. Also, since they say, “Were I with thee”, it seems as if they have previously shared one such night. In the work, “A Brief Analysis of the Concept of Love in the Poems of Emily Dickinson”, the authors KE Jian-hua and GE Su make a valid point by saying, “‘Wild Nights should be Our Luxury’ implies that the treasure nights were let freely for the purpose to fulfill each other’s desire (“Luxury”
It seems, after analyzing the poem, as if the speaker is a woman because of the last stanza, “Rowing in Eden! / Ah! The Sea! / Might I but moor/ To-night in Thee!” (Lines 9 -12). As said before by Jian-hua and Su, the sea can be symbolic for a male. This is significant because saying, “Ah! The Sea!”, given that the sea is representative of a male, it seems as if it is a woman pining for her companion. Also, it is important to know that Mooring is the act of securing a boat in place. This has a deeper meaning than actually tying the boat to the dock; it can also be taken in a sexual