Success is counted sweetest (112)

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!

 

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via Success is counted sweetest (112) by Emily Dickinson | The Poetry Foundation.

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