Success
Success is counted sweetestBy those who ne'er succeed.To comprehend a nectarRequires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple hostWho took the flag to-dayCan tell the definition,So clear, of victory,
As he, defeated, dying,On whose forbidden earThe distant strains of triumphBreak, agonized and clear!
About this text
Success is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete, Project Gutenberg ebook #12242; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emily Dickinson, Success, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/success.html, id L18882.
Form and metre
Success is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.6 syllables. 357 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A sweetest · succeedA · nectar · needA
- 3 -A-A dying · earA · triumph · clearA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Success is counted sweetest | 7 | ˘/·/˘/˘ |
| By those who ne'er succeed. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| To comprehend a nectar | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| Requires sorest need. | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Not one of all the purple host | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who took the flag to-day | 6 | ······ |
| Can tell the definition, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| So clear, of victory, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| As he, defeated, dying, | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| On whose forbidden ear | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| The distant strains of triumph | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Break, agonized and clear! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.