Success is counted sweetest

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 to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of victory,

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

by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) , no title, from Poems of Emily Dickinson, published 1890

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Alan Leichtling , "Success is counted sweetest", op. 47 no. 3, published 1969 [baritone, violoncello], from 3 Songs by Emily Dickinson, no. 3.

GER German (Walter A. Aue)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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