"I taste a liquor never brewed" by Emily Dickinson

In her poem "I taste a liquor never brewed," Emily Dickinson makes quite an interesting and unusual comparison. Within her poem, she describes her infatuation and love for nature in relation to drinking and alcohol. While it is quite obviously stated in the title of her poem that the speaker is not referring to real alcohol, as she tastes "a liquor never brewed," she, in so many words, becomes drunk off of nature. The poem is full of alcohol and drunkenness related words, including "inebriate," "tankards," and "vats." Yet Dickinson portrays her love of nature by attaching natural plants and features to those words. Furthermore, she is so amazed by nature that she even states she will never stop drinking it all in. Dickinson writes, " When Butterflies - renounce their "drams" - I shall but drink the more!" (Dickinson, 797). Through this statement, the speaker addresses that, even if the nature around her stops drinking, she will never stop taking it all in. Furthermore, this idea of drinking in nature leads to a paradox. Dickinson mentions angels and saints being interested in her drunken behavior, which would not be expected of such holy characters. However, because she is drunk due to the nature around her, a beautiful creation of God's, they see nothing wrong with her behavior.