I taste a liquor never brewed

"I taste a liquor never brewed" is a lyrical poem written by Emily Dickinson first published in the Springfield Daily Republican on May 4, 1861, from a now lost copy.

The poem celebrates Dickinson's intoxication with life in an ironic and transformative manner, drawing on themes of popular temperance reform of the time.

Inebriate of air - am I - And Debauchee of Dew - Reeling - thro' endless summer days - From inns of molten Blue -

Till Seraphs swing their snowy Hats - And Saints - to windows run - To see the little Tippler Leaning against the - Sun!

[6] The poem begins with a paradox (a liquor never brewed) and finishes with a striking image (a tippler supported by the sun rather than the traditional lamppost), both common devices in Dickinson's poetry.

For example, the third verse brings to mind Timothy Shay Arthur's Ten Nights in a Bar Room.