Lyric Poem · Love
Wild Nights — Wild Nights!
by Emily Dickinson · 1891
Wild nights! Wild nights!
Were I with thee,
Wild nights should be
Our luxury!
Futile the winds
To a heart in port,—
Done with the compass,
Done with the chart.
Rowing in Eden!
Ah! the sea!
Might I but moor
To-night in thee!
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Wild Nights — Wild Nights!” by Emily Dickinson — quilloak.com/poems/wild-nights
Quick facts
- Poem
- Wild Nights — Wild Nights!
- Poet
- Emily Dickinson
- Published
- 1891
- Length
- 12 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem, Short Poems
- Themes
- Love, Short
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 12 lines · 3 quatrains
- Line length
- Lines run 4-5 syllables (median 4), consistent with dimeter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Emily Dickinson1830–1886
- Source record
- WikisourceWild Nights — Wild Nights! by emily-dickinson, Wikisource transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1891
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 581b2fccaccf57ca…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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