The speaker of Dickinson’s poem begins with what seems like an unarguable truth: that success is “sweetest” (Line 1) to the unsuccessful. The use of the third person makes the speaker sound removed from the issue at hand, as though they are simply relating factual information to the reader of the poem. However, the significance of this matter-of-fact tone deepens in the second line as the speaker asserts that those who appreciate success the most are individuals “who ne’er succeed” (Line 2). The predictable association assumes that those who succeed are most appreciative of success; yet, the second line contradicts this idea, claiming that those who never taste success are the ones who can appreciate it the most.

The second half of the first stanza illustrates this point further with the use of a metaphor. The speaker parallels success with “nectar” (Line 3). Nectar is a sweet substance, one that only the gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus can enjoy; like nectar, success is accessible only to a select few. The inaccessibility of the metaphorical nectar of the poem is linked with the emotional sweetness of success, a feeling that only those who have “sorest need” (Line 4) can “comprehend” (Line 3).