Finding devices within poems

Success is counted Sweetest
By Emily Dickenson


SUCCESS is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.

Not one of all the purple host 5
Who took the flag to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of victory,

As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear 10
The distant strains of triumph
Break, agonized and clear.

"http://www.bartleby.com/113/1001.html"

I chose this poem because it really stood out to me. The words seemed put together better then most other poems I have seen-in particular, the last two lines of the poem "The distant stress of triumph
Break agonized and clear" really made this poem unique to me-the "strains of triumph" can arguably refer to the strain of the battle itself, and hence, refer in turn to the death cry of another, who was probably also straining for the same triumph. This particular irony was, to me, quite well done.


The title of the poem, "Success is considered sweetest" is self explanatory. It relates the strugges of a person (probably a soldier, from the tone of the rest of the poem) who doesn't know success. It goes on to detail that
"Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of victory"

One can take this to mean simply that even though someone may have achieved a victory, it may not feel like a victory-indeed, how could it? If you take the poem at face value, it appears that while one side is celebrating its victory, the other is lamenting its defeat with death cries. This is probably why the strains of victory break "so agonized and clear."


To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.


Here is a prime example of a metaphor. Prior to these lines, she speaks of people who never succeed. Hence, here she is saying that to really appreciate something, like success (nectar), you have to need it really badly (sorest need). This firmly establishes what the poem will be about, as well as what mood the reader can expect.



As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Break, agonized and clear.

This is the most powerful stanza in the poem, in my opinion, and a good example of imagery. The mental image of defeated, broken soldiers, lying forlornly on the ground is powerful enough, but to imagine such broken people being forced to hear the cries of victory from those who may have kill them, that is truly powerful.


The tone becomes quickly appearent as something very sombre and dark. It already gives a sense of foreboding when one begins reading, but it quickly turns to a dark thing when you reach the second stanza, and the subject of the poem becomes apparent. She creates the mood through use of powerful imagery, painting a vivid picture of fearful things in the mind of the reader.