Jirawoot Sararit (B.A. English & Linguistics) 1st Class Honors, SWU, Thailand

Success Is Counted Sweetest Success Is Counted Sweetest is a well-known poem written by Emily Dickinson in 1859. It is obviously seen that the message of the poem is that people who do not succeed are those who truly understand success for what it is (Cummings, 2013). In other words, deprivation can lead to greater understanding and appreciation of what people lack. This paper is composed of three points including how the unity of the paradoxical idea of the poem is presented, how the poem can be viewed historically and biographically in feminist aspects, and how the central idea of the poem is responded.

The Unity of the Paradoxical Idea in
It is similar to the feeling of the sport players who always lose to their opponents, the students who fail to study in a college or a university they long for, or those who lack money to sustain their lives. All of them acknowledge the true meaning or importance of what they lack. Like the „defeated, dying‟ soldiers in the poem, they have never obtained the opportunity to taste the victory for which they yearn. It seems to me that this idea can be applied to use in daily life in order to enhance the attempt to succeed everything and to realize the importance of what we have. In conclusion, the poem represents the idea that deprivation can lead to greater understanding and appreciation of what we lack and of the benefits of success. The poem was effectively written in unity by using the paradoxical idea. In addition, the poem can reflect ideas of women‟s movements for equality based on historical and biological background of the poet. The poem is also captivated me as a reader and can be adapted to use for everyday life as well.

Work Cited

Crumbley, Paul. “Emily Dickinson‟s Life.” 19 February 2013. .

Cummings, Micheal. “A Study Guide: Success Is Counted Sweetest.” 7 February 2013.
< http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/Success.html>.

Leiter, Sharon. Critical Companion to Emily Dickinson: A Library Reference to Her Life and Work. New York: Facts on File Inc, 2007.

Do NOT forget