18 pages 36 minutes read

Emily Dickinson

Wild Nights Wild Nights

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1891

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.

Poem Analysis

Analysis: “Wild Nights Wild Nights!”

The poem has many genres. It’s an epistolary poem––it addresses a particular person. Though the speaker doesn’t name the addressee in the poem, the unnamed person or figure is the audience: The poem is for them. As with many epistolary poems, the genre creates an intimate tone, leaving the reader feeling like they’re reading someone’s private correspondence. Due to the intimate tone and suggestive language, the poem works as an erotic poem. Erotic is the proper term because it’s sexual, but it’s not merely sexual: The speaker expresses desire that transcends physical attraction. Since the poem is short and conveys the speaker’s emotions, it qualifies as a lyric.

The speaker doesn’t have a name or identifying characteristics, and neither does the addressee. What defines the speaker is their exclamatory desire for the addressee. The poem features five exclamation marks, so the speaker isn’t shy about sharing their effusive feelings for the person.

The authorial context specifies the speaker and the addressee. In one reading, the speaker becomes Emily Dickinson, the person turns into Susan Huntington Dickinson, and the poem becomes an emblem of Emily’s erotic love for Susan.

Related Titles

By Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

A Bird, came down the Walk

Emily Dickinson

A Bird, came down the Walk

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

A Clock stopped—

Emily Dickinson

A Clock stopped—

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

After great pain, a formal feeling comes

Emily Dickinson

After great pain, a formal feeling comes

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)

Emily Dickinson

A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

"Faith" is a fine invention

Emily Dickinson

"Faith" is a fine invention

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)

Emily Dickinson

Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

Hope is a strange invention

Emily Dickinson

Hope is a strange invention

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers

Emily Dickinson

"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

I Can Wade Grief

Emily Dickinson

I Can Wade Grief

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind

Emily Dickinson

I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain

Emily Dickinson

I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking

Emily Dickinson

If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

If I should die

Emily Dickinson

If I should die

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

I heard a Fly buzz — when I died

Emily Dickinson

I heard a Fly buzz — when I died

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

I'm Nobody! Who Are You?

Emily Dickinson

I'm Nobody! Who Are You?

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

Much Madness is divinest Sense—

Emily Dickinson

Much Madness is divinest Sense—

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

Success Is Counted Sweetest

Emily Dickinson

Success Is Counted Sweetest

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

Tell all the truth but tell it slant

Emily Dickinson

Tell all the truth but tell it slant

Emily Dickinson