Ambivalence: Space in Emily Dickinson’s “Wild Nights-Wild Nights!”

Abstract

In Emily Dickinson’s “Wild Nights-Wild Nights!” the metaphorical space includes “Eden”, “port” and “sea.” By examining the meaning of “thee” and the perspective of the speaker, it can be inferred that the speaker is in an actual space – a house. Combined with the boat-sea metaphor the poem is built on, the house is the boat. While the speaker desires for the outside world – the “sea”, thon also shows an attachment to the house/boat by choosing to stay in the “port,” hence the speaker expresses the ambivalence toward the house/boat and the outside world/sea. Meanwhile, in terms of Dickinson herself, house, a home for soul and writing, is always a significant element to her, which can be referred to a safe and loving space, while the outside world the patriarchal society, the industrial city or the love passion against which the speaker has made her own choice.