Death & Dying

Success is counted sweetest

by Emily Dickinson 1830–1886

Death & Dying

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 to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of victory,

As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Break, agonized and clear!

MLA

Dickinson, Emily. “Success is counted sweetest.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/dickinson/0/.

Chicago

Dickinson, Emily. “Success is counted sweetest.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/dickinson/0/.

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