Success is counted sweetest -By Emily Dickinson

Success is counted sweetest

-By Emily Dickinson

Success is counted sweetest

By those who ne’er succeed.

To comprehend a nectar

Requires sorest need.

Not one of all the purple Host

Who took the Flag today

Can tell the definition

So clear of victory

As he defeated – dying –

On whose forbidden ear

The distant strains of triumph

Burst agonized and clear!

 

Bengali Translation:

সফলতা মিষ্টি হিসেবে গণ্য করা হয়

– এমিলি ডিকিনসন

 

সফলতা মিষ্টি হিসেবে গণ্য করা হয়

যারা সফল হয় না তাদের দ্বারা।

একটি অমৃত বোঝার জন্য

যন্ত্রণাদায়ক প্রয়োজন প্রয়োজন.

সব বেগুনি হোস্ট এক না

যিনি আজ পতাকা তুলেছেন

সংজ্ঞা বলতে পারবে

জয় তাই পরিষ্কার

যেমন সে পরাজিত – মরছে –

যার নিষিদ্ধ কানে

বিজয়ের দূরবর্তী টান

বিস্ফোরিত যন্ত্রণাদায়ক এবং পরিষ্কার

a) Answer the following questions.         

i. Who are those who know what success is?

ii. How can anyone understand the taste of nectar?

iii. Who are the purple Host?

iv. Why does the poet say ‘forbidden ear’?

v. Who is the narrator in the poem?

vi. The distant stains of triumph. What do you think are these ‘distant strains of triumph’?

Answer:

(i) Those who do not succeed are the ones who know what success is.

(ii) One should be starving or be in real need of food to understand the taste of nectar.

(iii) The purple host refers to the victorious army who have won the battle and are carrying the flag of victory.

(iv) The poet says “forbidden ear’ because the sounds of victory cannot reach the ears of dying soldier.

(v)The narrator is the third person who has observed the battlefields and the soldiers.

(vi) The distant strains of triumph refer to the sounds of celebration of victory which only a dying solider can hear. So, these were Success is Counted Sweetest Questions & answers.

Extra:

Question: Explain the paradox in these lines.

(a) To comprehend a nectar

      Required sorest need.

Answer: To know the real taste of nectar one should be really saving as only then would one know the taste of nectar.

(b) This is the beginning of the end.

Answer: The beginning of the end means that it is the starting which is going to end.

(c) They must go to war to make peace.

Answer: Only when one goes to war can understand how important the peace is.

(d) Ignorance is strength.

Answer: To be ignorant is being blissful about many aspect of life.

Theme

“Success is Counted Sweetest” is an early poem written by the American poet Emily Dickinson in 1859. It makes the bold claim that success is best understood by those who fail, and illustrates this claim by contrasting a victorious army with a fallen soldier from the other side.

Or

Emily Dickinson’s “Success is counted sweetest” argues that “success” is valued most by those who have it least. In this sense, success is a kind of a paradox: the more successful you are, the less you appreciate that success, and vice versa.

Summary

The theme of the poem, “Success is Counted Sweetest,” revolves around the idea that those who have never succeeded can appreciate success the most. It also suggests that only those who must have a strong desire or need for it can understand and appreciate something valuable, like nectar. In contrast, the triumphant individuals may not have a profound understanding of a defeated person who, while dying, hears the distant sounds of triumph, can understand the victory. This juxtaposition of success and failure indicates the idea that true appreciation of success often comes from the perspective of those who have suffered defeat. Thus, the poem highlights the idea that those who have experienced failure and have not yet succeeded can perceive the true essence of success more intensely.