Success is counted sweetest
by Emily Dickinson
1 Success is counted sweetest
2 By those who ne’er succeed.
3 To comprehend a nectar
4 Requires sorest need.
5 Not one of all the purple Host
6 Who took the Flag today
7 Can tell the definition
8 So clear of Victory
9 As he defeated—dying
10 On whose forbidden ear
11 The distant strains of triumph
12 Burst agonized and clear!
Use the poem to answer the question.
Which is the best paraphrase of the poem?
A. Success is very sweet. People who win a war feel the sweetness of victory and success. The people on the losing side wish they could experience it, but they never can.
B. People who don’t experience success understand its sweetness the most. The people who are victorious in a battle cannot appreciate victory as much as the dying soldier who suffers the loss.
C. To be successful, you really have to want and need it. Soldiers who experience defeat in a war did not want the victory badly enough. If they had, they would have won.
D. Success is as sweet as the nectar of a ripe fruit. Soldiers in battle strive for victory and capture it from the losing side. The soldiers on the losing side are agonized by the winners’ success.
1 answer