Success is counted sweetest (Emily Dickinson): Critical Appreciation
Emily Dickinson is considered as one of the most acclaimed 19th century American poets. She explored her own spirituality through poignant verses and personal poetry. Dickinson’s interest lied on philosophy, Geology, Latin and Botany apart from poetry.
Success is Counted Sweetest is a philosophical poem, whose main theme is conjured in the following line: Success if only hard-earned actually matters in life! She supports the thought, never judge a person’s success by how high he rises in life; rather judge it by the difficulties he overcame!
The actual importance of success can be felt and understood whose who have failed in the attempt to pursue the same! Those who have attained success through less effort can never understand the “perception of being successful”. If you’re to truly feel the essence of success you need to pass through a phase of sustained failure, ultimately reaching the level of true success.
No one from the victorious side can actually define how it feels like to be successful in a battle. Victory or success often accompanies sheer luck and the person thus successful misses the real less of success. Success itself is expressed through the loss. Only the defeated can understand the true value of success.
Defeated in the battle, the soldiers are on the verge of death. During the battle he might have given his hundred percent and subsequently changed his warfare strategy a number of times only to attain success. However, his hope could not be realized. His ear could vaguely interpret the sound of triumph of his opponent. This very inner feeling of pain and emptiness at the eve of death further clarifies his perception of success. Finally he dies in pain.
The poem is considered as a definition poem. Through the poem Emily defines way of living life. Indirectly she takes of life of depressed, defeated, and dying man.
The poem's three unemotional quatrains are written in iambic trimeter with only line 5 in iambic tetrameter. The rhyme scheme is abcb. The poem's "success" theme is treated paradoxically: only those who know defeat can truly appreciate success. Alliteration enhances the poem's lyricism. The first stanza is a complete observation and can stand alone. Stanzas two and three introduce military images and are dependent upon one another for complete understanding. Harold Bloom points out that the popularity of "Success" can be attributed to the fact that the poem's "message can be applied to any situation where there are winners and losers." (414)
Success is Counted Sweetest is a philosophical poem, whose main theme is conjured in the following line: Success if only hard-earned actually matters in life! She supports the thought, never judge a person’s success by how high he rises in life; rather judge it by the difficulties he overcame!
The actual importance of success can be felt and understood whose who have failed in the attempt to pursue the same! Those who have attained success through less effort can never understand the “perception of being successful”. If you’re to truly feel the essence of success you need to pass through a phase of sustained failure, ultimately reaching the level of true success.
No one from the victorious side can actually define how it feels like to be successful in a battle. Victory or success often accompanies sheer luck and the person thus successful misses the real less of success. Success itself is expressed through the loss. Only the defeated can understand the true value of success.
Defeated in the battle, the soldiers are on the verge of death. During the battle he might have given his hundred percent and subsequently changed his warfare strategy a number of times only to attain success. However, his hope could not be realized. His ear could vaguely interpret the sound of triumph of his opponent. This very inner feeling of pain and emptiness at the eve of death further clarifies his perception of success. Finally he dies in pain.
The poem is considered as a definition poem. Through the poem Emily defines way of living life. Indirectly she takes of life of depressed, defeated, and dying man.
The poem's three unemotional quatrains are written in iambic trimeter with only line 5 in iambic tetrameter. The rhyme scheme is abcb. The poem's "success" theme is treated paradoxically: only those who know defeat can truly appreciate success. Alliteration enhances the poem's lyricism. The first stanza is a complete observation and can stand alone. Stanzas two and three introduce military images and are dependent upon one another for complete understanding. Harold Bloom points out that the popularity of "Success" can be attributed to the fact that the poem's "message can be applied to any situation where there are winners and losers." (414)
Really useful one, compact yet packed with important points.Thank You very much for the effort to make the hard one looks so simple. Further, you can access this site to read Dickinson’s Attitude Towards Life and Love
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