The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson/Success is counted sweetest
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For other versions of this work, see Success is counted sweetest.
I
SUCCESS is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
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,
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.
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Break, agonized and clear.
II
OUR share of night to bear,
Our share of morning,
Our blank in bliss to fill,
Our blank in scorning.
Our share of morning,
Our blank in bliss to fill,
Our blank in scorning.
Here a star, and there a star,
Some lose their way.
Here a mist, and there a mist,
Afterwards—day!
Some lose their way.
Here a mist, and there a mist,
Afterwards—day!