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Scholars say that “Wild Nights” is thematically about sexual passion, though I’ll touch on other interpretations. I’m going to go line by line, then include some critical commentary. Buckle up.
“Wild nights, Wild nights!” - this opening could suggest stormy nights on the sea, or in the context of the show, wild nights of passion. This poem opens the episode right after the love scene between Emily and Sue at the end of 1x02 - their “wild night” together in bed.
“Were I with thee, Wild nights should be our luxury!” - apparently the word “luxury” had its own sexual connotations in the 1850s, so chew on that for a second. With this line, she’s saying that on nights when I’m with you, we’ll have immense shared pleasure together.
I just want to say that I love that there’s no doubt in the show that this poem is for and about Sue. Scholars interpret it differently - maybe it’s about love, maybe it’s about her search for God, blah blah blah. But in Dickinson, it is quite literally “For Sue.” Anyway...
“Futile - the winds - to a heart in port” - something that is “futile” is pointless. She’s saying that her heart is anchored in port (she’s in love with Sue - her heart is permanently hers) and the “winds” won’t change that.
“Done with the compass, done with the chart” - she’s done searching for love, relying on maps and compasses for direction. She’s found what she was looking for - what everyone searches for - in Sue. 
The idea of completion is emphasized by the repetition of the word “done.” (You hear that? That’s sexual fulfillment.)
“Rowing in Eden - ah - the sea” - the ocean that was once stormy and dangerous is now a literal paradise like the Garden of Eden. Being with Sue intimately is heaven. She is Emily’s literal paradise.
“Ah - the sea!” - the exclamation of “Ah” could express pleasure, pain, or both. In the context of the show, it’s clearly about the sexual pleasure she received from Sue.
“Might I but moor tonight in thee” - a “mooring” is any permanent structure to which a vessel may be secured. It’s how a boat/ship is tied to a dock, essentially. So Emily is saying she wants to be permanently secured to Sue, her safe harbor.
The image of ‘mooring’ within her beloved - an image of sexual suggestiveness - and being the one to “enter” the harbor of her loved one - is passionate as hell.
- “She imagines herself as a sailer, searching the harbor for her lover.”
- “She writes of the satisfaction and joy she’ll feel about the fulfillment of intense desires.”
- “She envisions a life in which she has nothing to worry about except how much she loves her beloved.”
- “She writes of the satisfaction and joy she’ll feel about the fulfillment of intense desires.”
- “She envisions a life in which she has nothing to worry about except how much she loves her beloved.”
So yeah...in the context of the show, “Wild Nights” is about how much Emily loves and desires Sue. The fulfillment of that passion and being with Sue intimately is the paradise Emily has been seeking, and she claims to never want anyone else.
*end of thread*
