I taste a liquor never brewed, From tankards scooped in pearl; Not…

I taste a liquor never brewed, From tankards scooped in pearl; Not all the vats upon the Rhine Yield such an alcohol! Inebriate of air am I, And debauchee of dew, Reeling, through endless summer days, From inns of molten blue. When landlords turn the drunken bee Out of the foxglove's door, When butterflies renounce their drams, I shall but drink the more! Till seraphs swing their snowy hats, And saints to windows run, To see the little tippler Leaning against the sun!

Emily Dickinson1830–1886 · poet · 1800s USAEmily Dickinson wrote nearly 1,800 poems in Amherst, Massachusetts, in short lines full of dashes that made ordinary words feel startling and new.47 quotes

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How sure this is: 95% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up: I taste a liquor never brewed, Poems: First Series (1890); Exact wording and attribution checked. Wording follows the early edited Poems editions (1890–1891), which differ from modern manuscript editions. Complete poem; intoxication is a metaphor for delight in air, dew, summer and flowers.
Work: I taste a liquor never brewed, Poems: First Series (1890)
Sources checked: gutenberg.orgChecked using manual, 21 October 2026I taste a liquor never brewed, Poems: First Series (1890); Exact wording and attribution checked. Wording follows the early edited Poems editions (1890–1891), which differ from modern manuscript editions. Complete poem; intoxication is a metaphor for delight in air, dew, summer and flowers.