Success is counted sweetest

I.

SUCCESS.

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.

poem by Emily Dickinson from Poems (1890)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Our share of night to bear —

II.

OUR share of night to bear,
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!

poem by Emily Dickinson from Poems (1890)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!