National University of Modern Languages Karachi: "Success Is Counted Sweetest"

National University of Modern Languages Karachi
Submitted to: Shehla Anwar
Subject: American Literature
Submitted by: Warisha Hanif
Course: (BS English) 7th Semester
“Success is counted sweetest”
(EMILY DICKSON)
 Full Name: Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

 Known For: American poet
 Born: December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts
 Died: May 15, 1886 in Amherst, Massachusetts
 Parents: Edward Dickinson and Emily Norcross Dickinson
 Education: Amherst Academy, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary
 Published Works: Poems (1890), Poems: Second Series (1891), Poems: Third
Series (1896)
 Notable Quote: "If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever
warm me, I know that is poetry."
About the Poem;

The poem “success is counted sweetest” was written in 1859 and published in 1864. The
significance of the success is discussed in the poem. According to this poetry, someone who has
experienced failure in the past understands the value of success. By using an illustration of a
battlefield, it explains its concept. In contrast to the second and third stanzas, which rely on one
another to communicate meaning, the poem's opening stanza can stand alone and express its
meaning independently.
STANZA WISE EXPLANATION
1st
According to the first stanza, you must fail in order to comprehend the significance and sensation
of accomplishment. You won't understand the worth or value of something unless we are lacking
it. The value of achievement is also another topic that the speaker touches on. This suggests that
those who have never achieved anything in their life value success more highly. Failure in life
has taught some people the genuine value and joy of success. The situation is described in the
final two lines using nectar. It should be noted “Nectar” was associated with Greek and Roman
deities (In Ancient Greek Mythology. The nectar of the gods was a drink with magical
properties.) Those who succeed in obtaining the nectar (Success) after making an effort may be
able to understand its true flavour better than those who are used to it.
2nd
In the second stanza, “Purple host” means a symbol of victory. In this stanza, the poet speaks
about a victorious army on a battlefield. Those who have won the battle and won the flag of
victory are the ones who cannot even define the meaning of success. The value of success cannot
be defined by one who has never experienced failure. They cannot understand the significance
and sweetness of victory. In another context, “Purple Host” means “The king”. Historically,
“purple” was a word connected to rich and royal. The king usually orders his armies to fight. So
the true winner is the army, not the king. As a result, the king got his fame. He cannot describe
the true essence of earning success in the battle.
3rd
In the last stanza of the poem, the author uses a picture to convey the idea that only a soldier who
has lost a war and is in the final moments of his life can explain what success means. The dying
soldier who has been defeated by the victor recognizes the actual value of victory since he is
going through that pain and realizes how valuable and significant success is and also the true
significance of life. The key takeaway is that a failure understands the value of success more
than a winner because he has felt the agony of failure.
Themes:
” and “true worth of success”.

1. Failure is a motivation for success;
The main point in the poem is about positivity related to the failure. It motivates a failed person
to achieve and appreciate success. A person who fails knows the true value of success. When a
person achieves success after experiencing failure, he feels the true happiness of achieving it.
This is the positivity related to failure, it makes you appreciate your blessings.
2. True Worth Of Success
The poem says that the true worth of success is known to those who fail. Achieving success
without experiencing failure is shallow success. The true happiness and joy of achieving success
can only be understood when one goes through all the pain in the process of achieving success.
The sweetness of success can only be tasted when a person has already been through the
bitterness of failure.
3. Need
The poem also highlights the theme of need or lack. It says that when someone needs
something, he has a great desire to get it and he knows the sweetness of getting it. The intensity
of appreciation depends on the passion and want of that particular thing. The person who does
not have that thing and wants it knows the true happiness of achieving that thing. To taste the
sweetness of achieving something, there should be an aching need for it. It all depends on how
hard a person wants something.
Symbols:
1 Nectar: Dickinson utilizes the example of "nectar." Bees travel in quest of nectar in
order to produce honey, and Dickinson asserts that those who are most in need of the
sweet substance are best able to understand it. In other words, we can truly
understand the worth of something only when we are without it. Nectar is ‘a divine
drink’ that represents ‘success’.
1. Purple host: The poem's fifth stanza uses the phrase "Purple Host" to represent the
winning army. On the field of battle, one army loses and the other succeeds. After
winning the conflict, the winning army receives the victory flag. Despite winning the war
and celebrating it, the narrator claims that they do not truly comprehend what it means to
win.
Rhyming Scheme:
The rhyming scheme of this poem is ABCB.
Figurative Devices:
1. Metaphor; There is a metaphor in lines 3-4 where she compares people who appreciate
success the most to someone who appreciates nectar because they are starving. The
metaphor used in the poem is “nectar”.
2. Paradox: (when a writer brings together contrasting and contradictory elements that
reveal a deeper truth.) In this sense, success is a kind of paradox: the more successful you
are, the less you appreciate that success, and vice versa.
3. Imagery: The poet has used imagery in the poem and an image of the battlefield is created
in the mind of the reader. The reader can imagine a victorious army in the battlefield, who
has won the battle, having the flag of victory and a dying soldier on the defeated side.

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National University of Modern Languages Karachi

Submitted to: Shehla Anwar

Subject: American Literature

Submitted by: Warisha Hanif

Course: (BS English) 7th Semester

“Success is counted sweetest”

 Full Name: Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

About the Poem;

STANZA WISE EXPLANATION

” and “true worth of success”.

2. True Worth Of Success

The rhyming scheme of this poem is ABCB.

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