Read the following poem and write an appreciation :
Success is counted sweetest
By those who never succeed
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need
. Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of victory
As he defeated dying –
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear
- Emily Dickinson
Answers
Explanation:
"Success is Counted Sweetest" is an early poem written by the American poet Emily Dickinson in 1859. It makes the bold claim that success is best understood by those who fail, and illustrates this claim by contrasting a victorious army with a fallen soldier from the other side. The poem has the rare honor of publication during Dickinson's lifetime (in 1864), though it was published anonymously; of her approximately 1800 poems, only a handful were published during her life.
“Success is counted sweetest” Summary
People who always fail are the ones who appreciate success the most. To truly value something sweet like success, you have to really, really need it.
Not a single soldier in the army that won the battle today has as clear an understanding of the meaning of victory as does a dying soldier from the opposing army.
To this dying soldier's ears, the distant sounds of celebration ring out painfully clear.
Everything you need for every book you read.
"Success is Counted Sweetest" is an early poem written by the American poet Emily Dickinson in 1859. It makes the bold claim that success is best understood by those who fail, and illustrates this claim by contrasting a victorious army with a fallen soldier from the other side. The poem has the rare honor of publication during Dickinson's lifetime (in 1864), though it was published anonymously; of her approximately 1800 poems, only a handful were published during her life.
Read the full text of “Success is counted sweetest”
“Success is counted sweetest” Summary
People who always fail are the ones who appreciate success the most. To truly value something sweet like success, you have to really, really need it.
Not a single soldier in the army that won the battle today has as clear an understanding of the meaning of victory as does a dying soldier from the opposing army.
To this dying soldier's ears, the distant sounds of celebration ring out painfully clear.
“Success is counted sweetest” Themes
Theme Success, Lack, and Desire
Success, Lack, and Desire
Emily Dickinson’s “Success is counted sweetest” argues that “success” is valued most by those who have it least. In this sense, success is a kind of a paradox: the more successful you are, the less you appreciate that success, and vice versa. The desire for success is thus strongest in those who need it most—like the dying soldier who can hear the celebrations of his enemies. Desire, then, is defined by a sense of lack—of not having something.
It follows that the less likely success is to come to someone, the more intensely they will desire it. The use of “sweetest” and "nectar" in the first stanza further draw a link between success and desire, as though “success” is something deliciously luxurious to those who don't have it. Indeed, the metaphor in the second half of the first stanza suggests that this paradoxical relationship between success and valuing success is engrained in nature itself. A honey bee, for example, desires “nectar” more and more the hungrier it gets. Likewise, those whose longing for success is met only with failure feel increasingly hungry for success (according to this poem anyway).
The poem develops this idea further with a metaphor about military conflict. In this scenario, a soldier lies “dying” on the ground, hearing the “distant” sounds of “triumph” made by the victorious army (the “purple Host”). It is this dying soldier, not the victors themselves, who best understands what success actually means. He senses the vast distance between his “failure”—the fact that his side has lost the battle and he is now dying—and the goal of the battle in the first place: victory. In other words, the position he finds himself in is as far away as it possibly could be from the position he desired to be in.
The poem's central idea doesn’t seem limited to the specific examples given. Its message could equally apply to the “agony” of unrequited love or a sportsperson failing to win the tournament they’ve always dreamed of winning. People who don't have something want it all the more strongly. Yet the more that thing becomes a part of daily reality—be it success in terms of battle, love, career, or anything else—the less it actually means.
Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Success is counted sweetest”
Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
In other words, success is most valued and best appreciated by those who have it. This is a paradox typical of Dickinson's poetry, with "success" meaning more the less that people enjoy it—and implying that having success makes it seem less significant.
The poem is deliberately general both here and throughout, allowing for the power of its main idea to feel like it can apply to almost any situation that involves success . For example, the opening two lines would seem apt if applied to situations as different as unrequited love or a soccer player's failure to win a long hoped-for trophy.