Wild nights don’t symbolize typical wild nights. There’s no alcohol, drugs, parties, or explicit sex—instead, wild nights symbolize possibility. The speaker states, “Were I with thee / Wild nights should be / Our luxury!” (Lines 2-4). The declaration centers on the modal verb “were.” The speaker and the addressee aren’t together, so the wild nights represent what might happen when they meet in the physical world. The possibilities are intense and continue to subvert the conventional notion of a wild night. A wild night isn’t a night but an adventure at sea. Thus, “wild” has a literal meaning. The speaker and the addressee defy containment. They elude easy categorization and become something else. The wildness allows the speaker to be a ship or ship’s captain, and it lets the addressee symbolize the sea and the Garden of Eden.

The wild nights also symbolize union. What makes the night wild is the bond between the speaker and the addressee. They’re in an item––together, they create wild nights. The naval metaphor bolsters the symbolism, as boats exist only to traverse water and have no other purpose. The speaker joins themself to the addressee and implies that they exist to be together.