I taste a liquor never brewed
By: Emily Dickinson

When I first read this poem, I honestly had no idea what Dickinson was talking about.  The best I could come up with was that the poem was and extended metaphor that compares being drunk to a summer day.  However, I didn't realize the narrator wasn't literally referring to being drunk.  It turns out that she is talking about being drunk on nature.  She compares this feeling to drunkenness because she feels like she is in a different state of mind.  The poem first presents the metaphor by talking about how this "liquor" is unique.  The narrator starts the second stanza by saying that she was "inebriate of air" (Dickinson).  I think she was saying that the beauty of nature was breathtaking.  The metaphor continues throughout the poem, and the end talks about how others wanted to watch the narrator indulge in the enjoyment of nature.  "And the saints-to windows run-to see the little Tippler leaning against the-Sun-" (Dickinson).  After I finally understood the meaning of this poem, I really liked it.  I can relate to how the narrator felt.  I went on Summer Field Studies this past year, and I had never experienced nature in that way before.  I still can't explain how I felt when I first saw the Grand Canyon and stared in shock at how huge it was.  I enjoyed reading this poem because of the extended metaphor that attempts to explain this feeling in such a unique way.