Summary
In the first stanza, the speaker expresses their desire to share "wild nights" with their love interest, the presumable addressee of the poem. This feeling is reiterated with the idea that this sharing would be a kind of "luxury." The second stanza depicts a scene of rough seas. The speaker imagines their pursuit of their beloved as traversing dangerous waters, without the aid of a map or compass. They envision this struggle as the search for a port for their heart (feelings of affection). They also describe the intensity of their emotions overcoming any of these navigational challenges.
Analysis
The first stanza kicks off with the repetition of the phrase "wild nights," separated by a dash and ending in an exclamation. The speaker goes on to explain this outburst in the lines that follow. They imagine themselves together with their love interest ("Were I with thee"). Then they depict how these "wild nights" would be shared in the lines "Wild nights should be / Our luxury!" The possessive "our" in this line joins the "I" and "thee" from the second line. The use of the word "should" makes it clear that this is a reverie, a hopeful dream. But perhaps the most significant word in this section (save for the opening) is "luxury." The ending exclamation of this fourth line mirrors the poem's opening, while also giving these "wild nights" some specific emotional connotation. At the poem's beginning, the reader is given less context for reading that first line. Those "nights" could be seen in a positive or negative light. However, with this closing declaration (and the shift in possessive pronoun) it becomes clear that the speaker is painting these "wild nights" as something to treasure and enjoy. "Luxury" is such a precisely chosen word on Dickinson's part because it properly conveys how the nights are expected to be experienced. At the same time, "luxury" also frames the poem's central paradox. While the word implies comfort, the speaker still expresses a desire for these nights to be "wild," implying that this love will not turn mundane. They imagine comfort but not calm.
In the second stanza, new images and themes are introduced. Dickinson introduces a lexicon surrounding seafaring and the ocean. She also makes more extensive use of dashes. In the first half, the speaker imagines their "heart" as braving "the winds" to search for the "port" of their beloved. They see their passion as so strong, in fact, that these "winds" are downplayed as "futile" in the face of their romantic determination. They are determined to reach their destination. They continue in this vein, writing that they are "done" with both "compass" and "chart." This second portion seems to be a doubling down on that earlier sentiment. The "compass" and "chart" are dismissed because the speaker's strength of feeling (in this maritime metaphor) will weather the storm. They see themselves as unimpeded by these challenges of nature. The only navigational assistance they require is the force of passion. The section also reiterates the earlier stanza's concerns surrounding wildness. Where the initial lines describe "wild nights," these lines show the reader unruly seas. The speaker appears to be subtly suggesting that this intensity and instability are inherent to the relationship that they are describing. They believe this turbulence will not dissipate when the "port" is reached.
On the whole, the poem makes use of its brevity. In the space of these few short lines, the speaker has conjured the complex emotional terrain of their romantic relationship.
