Wild nights - Wild nights! by Emily Dickinson: Summary, Analysis, Themes & Symbolism

Table of Contents W ild nights. The phrase alone feels like a pulse. Emily Dickinson wrote this short, intense poem around 1861, and even her early editors hesitated over it. Thomas Wentworth Higginson worried it sounded too passionate for the woman he imagined as a pure recluse. Modern readers see it more clearly. It is one of her most direct expressions of desire, whether earthly, spiritual, or both at once. The Complete Poem Wild nights - Wild nights! Were I with thee Wild nights should be Our luxury! Futile - the winds - To a Heart in port - Done with the Compass - Done with the Chart! Rowing in Eden - Ah - the Sea! Might I but moor - tonight - In thee! Emily Dickinson The poem was first published in 1891 in the Second Series of her poems. Like most of her work, it remained private during her lifetime. The text above follows the widely accepted reading version. Dickinson’s manuscript uses her usual dashes, which give the lines a breathless, interrupted quality that matches the emotion. Sum…