胡涣
爱是永不止息
Success Is Counted Sweetest
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 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.
Comment 1:
If we ever appreciate and have success, the first stanza seems to say, it will be because something nearly impossible has happened. How does one"comprehend a nectar?" Nectar was what the Olympians drank. Certainly those gods had mastery of the world - mastery of Reason - even if they acted like spoiled children. But did they "comprehend" what they had? No - they just drank the nectar, that's all. We mere mortals have "sorest need," and thus have an ability, perhaps, to appreciate the power the gods have. But if we ever get such power, we will not appreciate it, it seems.
The orange color of the nectar is the one image of the first stanza. It is replaced in the second with that of "purple host." I would assume"purple host" is there to make us think of an army of angels,marching to victory against the legions of Hell, empowered all the more by Christ's sacrifice. Not even those angels, though, understand success. After all, they have it.
The orange and purple colors given to us invoke a day/night metaphor. Neither the light of the sun nor the distance of the stars nor the whole of Time is adequate for defining success. And Greek gods and Christian angels cannot tell the definition exactly either: they may have a part of it, but that means those who will have & appreciate success will give the clearest definition.
Man, in contrast to the gods and angels spoken of above, is perpetually defeated by Death. To be anything other than mortal would disqualify one from being human. It is this fundamental lack of success that allows him to hear what he is not a part of: agonized but clear sounds of success. Man can appreciate success, but he does not do it through Reason or a trust in the end of Time. He does so through knowing he is going to die, and knowing that there are battles between gods and angels he is powerless to affect.
If we go back to the first two lines now, we realize what the poet is up to: We appreciate success because we, as mortals, define what success is. In a larger sense, we are unsuccessful - we have to die. In the largest sense, we are the only ones who could ever be successful.
Comment 2:
I think
For how can one truly understand happiness without the accompaniment ofsadness? Or love without hate?
In the beginning of her poem, she talks about how success cannot be realizedwithout at first knowing the desperation that comes along with losing. Thissupports the rest of the argument in her poem.
And as most people should know, the color purple has always been affiliatedwith royalty. Isn't it possible that this poem is about a soldier fighting forhis kingdom/country? In this case, it is a soldier realizing success (think:line one) by the agonizing price of losing his life. Perhaps this poem doeshave a bitter tone to it, but it has more of a sadness and a truth beingbrought into the picture, as well. And that, to me, is the beauty of this poem.
Comment 3:
I honestly disagree. This work was published two years after the Civil War.Therefore, I beseach you, is what she is trying to say. She knows that sheloves both men and women and is trying to decide which she loves more in thepoem. She cannot, and chooses to love both. This is why she is unmarried andher hairstyles are the way they are. One can only assume this is so. Her poemhas a bitter tone to it. Very depressing, but common for her works. Well doneEmily! Once again, your work puts me to sleep.
Comment 4:
I think that Emily Dickinson is talking about a love affair with her manymale/female lovers. Success is referring to marriage. She never got married, soshe failed. "Defeated, dying." It is clear that it is about herromantic life, which was dead.
Comment 5:
I think that what she is trying to say here is that you have to be removed fromthe situation, the protagonist dies, as he hears triumph and so it is clear.
Losing eliminates hope, a factor that influences the way you perceive somethingso in a way it purifies your vision.
On the other hand, the concept which Emily does not address is that notsucceeding can lead to idealization.
I think that it is better that the person failed because then at least they canidealize what they missed and there is still something good in the world. Evenif they don't have it.
In some ways the victory itself is a construct of the protagonists mind, andthat only by not having it can he construct it.
The best things are not to be touched.
Comment 6:
I Think many people don't realize that this poem is about Jesus though emilywas not very acceptant to the christian religion, or rather we know she had a"war with God" and we dont know whether she became a christian or notthis poem is defintely about Jesus Christ. The First quatrain is one, anIntelligent saying about life, two a reference that Jesus's Sucess was countedsweetest because only he could make it a success The Purple Host are the othertwo parts of the Godhead and she’s saying neither of them can tell victory likeJesus.... Now the Evidence that it refers to Jesus only becomes known in thefinal quatrain
As He Defeated Dying
On whos forbidden ear/ Jesus Defeated Dying, on whos FORBIDDEN EAR, the distantstrains of triumph, break AGONIZED and Clear This is most certainly what she isreferring to when she says As He Defeated Dying On whos forbidden Ear
Comment 7:
In this poem, Emily’s tone seems to be generally bitter. She says essentiallythis: Only the losers and the less fortunate truly understand what it means tobe fortunate. This knowledge is a very precious thing to have which not eventhe significantly blessed portion of the population, “the purple host”, but inthe process of acquiring this, she discovers, the loser actually has to be...aloser, which seems to be even worse than ignorance. In short, even though thewinner is less aware than the loser, both suffer some form of punishment inplaying their role.
