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Success is Counted Sweetest By Emily Dickinson


Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er 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!
1 
Success is counted sweetest 
By those who ne'er succeed. 
To comprehend a nectar 
Requires sorest need.
Comments, Stanza 1
This stanza establishes the theme: that the person who best understands the meaning of success is the person who fails. This quatrain can stand alone as a completed observation. 
nectar: In Greek mythology, nectar was the drink of the gods, conferring on them immortality. In common usage, a nectar is any delectable drink or, figuratively, any uplifting experience. 

2 
Not one of all the purple Host 
Who took the Flag today 
Can tell the definition  
So clear of Victory
Comments, Stanza 2
This stanza introduces military imagery: purple Host (army) and took the Flag (captured the flag, signifying victory), but it cannot stand alone as a completed observation. Rather, it requires the third stanza to complete its meaning. 
purple: (1) Bloodstained; (2) purple attire, emblematic of high rank

3 
As he defeated—dying— 
On whose forbidden ear 
The distant strain of triumph 
Burst agonized and clear.
Comments, Stanza 3
The third stanza completes the second, saying that a defeated soldier, dying, fully comprehends the meaning of victory when he hears the enemy celebrating. 
 

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