"Inebriate of Air -- am I -- / And Debauchee of Dew -- / Reeling -- thro endless summer days -- / From inns of Molten Blue --" ("I taste a liquor never brewed," 5-8).
The second question in the book makes it explicit that this poem is an extended metaphor -- a conceit, if you will. I'm pretty cool with accepting that because the speaker is obviously not just talking about drinking alcohol; there is a deeper meaning.
Literally in the poem, the speaker begins to "taste a liquor" (1). She is an "Inebriate" (5) and a "Debauchee" (6), and by the end of the poem, she is a leaning "Tippler" (15). However, certain phrases suggest a figurative meaning.
Firstly, the alcohol is "never brewed" (1), so I know it can't be real alcohol. The things which she is figuratively drinking are listed in the second stanza -- "Air," "dew," and "inns of Molten Blue." All of those things are beautiful components of nature. Air is fresh and crisp, dew settles in drops on plants in the morning, and "Molten Blue" seems like a sky (but I could also see it as water). The speaker is not drinking liquor but is appreciating the world to such an extent that she can compare it to intoxication.
Sometimes I'm kind of delirious when I'm extremely happy. I'm not sure if I can compare it to alcohol or not; from what I know about alcohol, it makes people less in touch with their consciousness and inhibitions. People do crazy things when they're drunk, so I guess they can do crazy things when they're admiring the world around them! I blame my title on being tired.
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