I taste a liquor never brewed

I taste a liquor never brewed,
From tankards scooped in pearl;
Not all the vats upon the Rhine
Yield such an alcohol!

Inebriate of air am I,
And debauchee of dew,
Reeling, through endless summer days,
From inns of molten blue.

When landlords turn the drunken bee
Out of the foxglove's door,
When butterflies renounce their drams,
I shall but drink the more!

Till seraphs swing their snowy hats,
And saints to windows run,
To see the little tippler
Learning against the sun!

by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) , no title, from Poems of Emily Dickinson, published 1890

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Clarence Dickinson (1873-1969) , "I taste a liquor never brewed", published 1897 [voice, piano], from Six Songs
by John Woods Duke (1899-1984) , "I taste a liquor never brewed" [soprano, piano], from Four Poems by Emily Dickinson
by Rudolf Escher (1912-1980) , "I taste a liquor never brewed", 1955, published 1956 [choral, 7-10 mixed voices], from Songs of Love and Eternity
by Arthur Farwell (1872-1952) , "The little tippler", op. 105 no. 6.
by William Dabney Gettel (1913-) , "I taste a liquor never brewed" [SATB, a cappella]
by Nick Peros , "I taste a liquor never brewed"
by Betty Roe (1930-) , "I taste a liquor", published 1999 [duet for soprano and baritone with piano], from Delight, no. 3.
by William Sydeman (1928-) , "I taste a liquor never brewed", published 1970 [soprano or tenor and violoncello], from Three Songs after Emily Dickinson, no. ?
by Robert E. Ward (1917-) , "Intoxication", published 1966 [soprano and orchestra or piano], from Sacred Songs for Pantheists, no. 3.
by Adolf Weiss (1891-1971) , "I taste a liquor", 1928, published c1930 [soprano and string quartet], from Seven Songs for Soprano and String Quartet, no. 7.

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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