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.