Elabovate the central idea of the poem ' success is counted sweetest'.
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Answer:
The tile of the poem conveys how somebody can truly feel success. Normally when somebody is considered an underdog, their success is greater and more powerful to experience, because they really know how it feels to be on the losing side.
The first stanza conveys that in order to achieve success, people need to understand how it feels to not succeed. The second stanza talks about soldiers who have won a war, yet still do not understand what success is. The third stanza describes a dying warrior on the losing side who can hear the winning soldiers celebrating.
In the first stanza, the speaker expresses that in order to fully and truly understand victory, one must know how it feels to fail. It will create humility and appreciation for the success that is earned. The second stanza explains that in spite of technically having the victory, the winning soldiers do not understand the meaning of success because they have not experienced failure. Finally, in the third stanza, the speaker uses the dying soldier as an example of somebody who has failed, yet understands what it truly feels like to win. Dickinson emphasizes on how the fallen soldier understands and appreciates the value of success more than the victorious soldiers, because he has been defeated. He hears them celebrating their victory and it makes him want it more.
The theme of the poem is that success is valued most by those who have failed. The speaker uses the dying soldier as someone who longed for success but could not grasp it. When people truly desire something and cannot retrieve it, their desire for it becomes greater. Dickinson communicates the idea that failure is a motivation to succeed.