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Success Is Counted Sweetest

~

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



- Emily Dickinson

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Original Text: Poems (1890-1896) by Emily Dickinson: A Facsimile Reproduction of the Original Volumes Issued in 1890, 1891, and 1896, with an Introduction by George Monteiro (Gainesville, Florida: Scholars' Facsimiles).

  • First Publication Date: 1890.
  • Representative Poetry On-line: Editor, I. Lancashire; Publisher, Web Development Group, Inf. Tech. Services, Univ. of Toronto Lib.

    • Edition: RPO 1997. © I. Lancashire, Dept. of English (Univ. of Toronto), and Univ. of Toronto Press 1997.

     

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    (Emily Dickinson’s Poetry)