Poem Three

Poem Three
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Poem Three
Part I
The poem “Success” by Emily Dickinson has both sad and ambitious tone. The poem talks about soldiers who were at war which left some of them dead. People get sad after the death of a loved one or a colleague at work. After death, the impacts that a soldier made when he was alive would now be absent, and his colleagues would always miss him. The aggressive tone comes from how the author uses her word in the poem. She compares success to something sweet. When the army is in the war, they require encouragement for them to win against their enemies. The sweetness that comes with success is meant to make them do whatever it takes for them to be victorious. The author puts some emphasis on that using sweet things in nature such as nectar.
There are various types of figurative language used in the poem. The figure of speech that is prevalent all through the text is symbolism. The line “as he defeated, dying, …” (Dickinson, & Creeley, 2004, p. 2) symbolizes a soldier and the poem revolves around him. The author also uses the color purple to signify royalty and nectar to illustrate victory and the joy that it brings after going through a difficulty and emerging winners. Another figure of language is the alliteration seen from the line “defeated, dying” (Dickinson, & Creeley, 2004, p. 2). The author uses metaphor to compare the pleasure that comes from success with a taste of nectar. The imagery appears from the beginning of the text all through to the end.

Through imagery, a reader understands that the poem is talking about war. From the line “To comprehend a nectar…” (Dickinson, & Creeley, 2004 p. 2), the taste of nectar illustrates success. People are always interested in the taste of food that they are eating. Thus the author used it to demonstrate the hunger that the soldiers had for success and victory in the war (Dickinson, & Creeley, 2004).
Part II
“Success” by Emily Dickinson
A medal always looks good
To the person who walked away with nothing
Recognizing the difference,
Requires you to understand the sacrifice
All those who won the medals
Do not recognize those who lost
As hardworking and then finishing last
Feels like a discredit
With all the sacrifice lost
In unsuccessful challenges
The dream of winning
Is long forgotten
Reference
Dickinson, E., & Creeley, R. (2004). ‘Success is Counted Sweetest.’ ProQuest LLC.