Wild Nights! Wild Nights! Analysis

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

To-night in Thee!

.: :.

This is obviously about a wild passionate night full of sexual pleasures,and she wants moor.

| Posted on 2009-06-22 | by a guest

.: :.

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| Posted on 2008-09-24 | by a guest

.: Simplicity! :.

This is poetry peeps. i.e. -Art. 1st and foremost in art? Eye of the beholder. Unless you ARE the artist...you take from it what you see. And you can only see what your eyes let you. No 'expert', no 'scholar'..etc NOBODY knows exactly what...or who..was on her mind. They are only seeing what they are inclined to see...loosen up.
....and if you don't get the general jest of this poem...change subjects.

| Posted on 2008-04-09 | by a guest

.: Question? :.

mrs. sheely is making us do an analysis of this boring poem. i have no clue what it is about. it is probably the stupidest thing i have ever read.

| Posted on 2008-01-28 | by a guest

.: Question? :.

mrs. sheely is making us do an analysis of this boring poem. i have no clue what it is about. it is probably the stupidest thing i have ever read.

| Posted on 2008-01-28 | by a guest

.: Question? :.

mrs. sheely is making us do an analysis of this boring poem. i have no clue what it is about. it is probably the stupidest thing i have ever read.

| Posted on 2008-01-28 | by a guest

.: Pure Desire :.

I see this poem, as a very ardent and full of wild desires.
"Were I with Thee" meaning that those wild night that she was with him, the speaker is remembering the past pleasure out of control nights.
"Wild nights should be our luxury!"
I see as if the pleasure nights were let freely for the purpose to fulfill each others desire.
"Futile the Winds
To a heart in port"
Useless are the "winds" the obstacles to a "heart in port" meaning that whatever the obstacles in life are for theses lovers, they are meanness because their hearts are in port, are parked one to another. The words "Compass" and "chart" are instruments of control for a shipman, it to me brings the idea that the speaker is done with the moral controls, and she does not care about none else.
"Rowing in Eden!"
Brings the idea the pursuit of each other in the paradise. "Ah! The Sea!" I see it as a metaphor to the fluid that explodes from one in the action of love.
"Might I but moor
To-night in thee!"
The speaker finishes up by emphasizing that the "Wild Night!" One is being fasten in another. That's is all her wish, to do nothing but "moor in thee."
Therefore, I think in this poem the speaker is invoking past pleasure.


| Posted on 2007-10-23 | by a guest

.: Pure Desire :.

I see this poem, as a very ardent and full of wild desires.
"Were I with Thee" meaning that those wild night that she was with him, the speaker is remembering the past pleasure out of control nights.
"Wild nights should be our luxury!"
I see as if the pleasure nights were let freely for the purpose to fulfill each others desire.
"Futile the Winds
To a heart in port"
Useless are the "winds" the obstacles to a "heart in port" meaning that whatever the obstacles in life are for theses lovers, they are meanness because their hearts are in port, are parked one to another. The words "Compass" and "chart" are instruments of control for a shipman, it to me brings the idea that the speaker is done with the moral controls, and she does not care about none else.
"Rowing in Eden!"
Brings the idea the pursuit of each other in the paradise. "Ah! The Sea!" I see it as a metaphor to the fluid that explodes from one in the action of love.
"Might I but moor
To-night in thee!"
The speaker finishes up by emphasizing that the "Wild Night!" One is being fasten in another. That's is all her wish, to do nothing but "moor in thee."
Therefore, I think in this poem the speaker is invoking past pleasure.
ts!" is the action of


| Posted on 2007-10-23 | by a guest

.: him? :.

What makes you think the lover is a male? I think this poem is about one of her female lovers (or wanna be lovers). Luxury does refer to lust. In this case, sinful lust. I believe "the winds" refer to a religious belief that her feelings are wrong. They are futile, because she has already decided what she wants. She does not need to hear that side anymore; she needs no "Compass" or "Chart." (These words could be capitalized because they refer to God.) The "Heart" is, again, referring to God; the "port" is the sanctuary, also a path (one she is not following). "Rowing in Eden-/Ah-the Sea!/Might I but moor-tonight-/In thee!" Despite her feelings towards religion, and her strong relationship with God, tonight she does not want to take part in the "Sea" (again capitalized to stand for the idea of religion); she would much rather "moor." The word "moor" also has a couple meanings. One, meaning to dock a ship...It also refers to a wasteland or swamp, and could possibly come from the base "mer," meaning to die...this goes back to her lusts being against the ideas and beliefs of her religion. She is not fully giving up on her religion, though, for she says "tonight" leading us to believe that it could either be a phase or just a temporary stray in her beliefs.

(the same could be said for a male lover, assuming the sinful act was pre-marital...but it is much more interesting to think of it as a female, and Dickinson's sexuality has been quite a topic before)

| Posted on 2007-10-02 | by a guest

.: "luxury" :.

You may need to do more background reading? "luxury" was a word she found in her 1844 dictionary and the definition in use back then was 'lust, voluptuousness in the gratification of and appetite'. Perhaps your reading is more modern. It's good to know what she meant all the same.

| Posted on 2007-08-26 | by a guest

.: :.

well.. this poem is definetly about LOVE but I think this is more of a fantasy. the "wild nights" in the first stanza tell of her desire to be with her lover because they would have nights of pure passion the way it is when people first fall in love. In the second stanza she talks of how useless the winds are because love cannot be swayed. She also expresses a sense of direction because she know what she wants and what she no longer needs " the compass" or "the map" to guide her. Eden in biblical terms is a garden of paradise with a sinless Adam and Eve.Her refrence to this shows her deep relationship with God and her Religion. In the end though she says "Might I but moor in thee tonight" maybe meaning that she would dream of their love tonight or that she might actually see him tonight. I like the idea of her dreaming about him because it is more romantical and shows a nice contrast from Dickinson's other peoms about death and the desparation of humanity.
~crystal

| Posted on 2006-01-17 | by Approved Guest

.: :.

'Wild Nights! Wild Nights!/Were I with thee,/Wild Nights should be/Our luxury!' She doesn't see the wild nights at all, because she is bound in the first stages of a relationship. She wishes to be a wife ... not a matronly figure, but a young, adventurous, loving wife who could drown in her husband's affections. Her love, as she, is an adventurous type .. the sea is symbolic of thier tempestuous love. They are absorbed in each other .. swelling and rising with thier passion. If only I could skip the formalities and be with him now! she laments. The comfort .. shady days of wandering and searching for love are over. No more loneliness and isolation ... no more going out to the lonely sea, separated from the land to which she belongs ... she's found her home ... There is no more need for travel .. she has all the wild adventure she could possible need in him. It's lovely! She longs for the comfort ... and adventure of commitment. Emily Dickinson was such a cool woman. I would soo have like to have live back then so I could meet her! She was soo unconventional and reminds me of myself. Yes, that sounds like arrogance, she's such an amazing woman. Anyway .. this poem speaks to the adventure that is love ... We so often get lost to the stereotypes today .. people say that after marraige, the sex dies, passion wanes. No! Emily Dickinson cries. She lusts for the sure-ity ... so that she can fully unleash her tempestuous passions in an environment of complete acceptance and adventure! Lovely, lovely, lovely. This is how we should view marraige ... a ship at port ... no longer in danger of the tempestuous seas ... BUT ... on shore, the 'wild nights' can be had in SAFETY!

| Posted on 2004-10-26 | by molested

.: Wild Nights :.

I think her Wild Nights are all about passion and they're a luxury because she doesn't see him often. She will go anywhere her heart desires, whereever the winds blow. She has found paradise and wants to spend the night with him. No, the winds are futile, they can't take her where she wants to go. Maybe, the winds are futile and can't keep her from getting to her port, to be with her love. She is on a ship trying to get to him and hopes to be there that night.

| Posted on 2004-10-11 | by larrysgirl5548

.: :.

I dont know what kind of analysis Im supposed to give. Perhaps one on what the meaning might be. Or how I see it.
I would love to know what she meant when she wrote it. Shes brilliant.
Anyways. Heres what I think.
These "wild nights" of hers dont come often. So when they do, she is estactic.
The winds are nothing compared to wherever her heart may take her. With no direction she travels to the perfect place, Eden being a symbolic thing.
Yah. Easy poem to interpret.
But the hard ones, I just cant grasp.

| Posted on 2004-09-28 | by andrya