Success is counted sweetest

"Success is counted sweetest" is a lyric poem by Emily Dickinson written in 1859 and published anonymously in 1864.

The poem uses the images of a victorious army and one dying warrior to suggest that only one who has suffered defeat can understand success.

It was republished in the anthology A Masque of Poets (1878) as part of a series of books published without writers' names.

"[5] Jackson published a review noting that "Success" was "undoubtedly one of the strongest and finest wrought things in the book", but offered that speculation on its authorship would be a wasted effort.

Stanzas two and three introduce military images (a captured flag, a victorious army, a dying warrior) and are dependent upon one another for complete understanding.

From a Christian perspective, Bloom explains, the sounds bursting on the dying warrior's ear may be heavenly music as he passes to his eternal rest.