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Emily DickinsonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The speaker in “Success is counted sweetest” parallels “nectar” (Line 3) with the experience of success. The two definitions of “nectar” offer insight into the role of the symbol in the poem. One definition of nectar describes it as the juice of flowers and plants that bees collect and use to make honey. Nectar, in this case, necessary to life. Dickinson writes that to “comprehend” (Line 3), or to understand and appreciate, nectar “[r]equires sorest need” (Line 4). One must be without the nectar and wanting for it in order to truly and fully acknowledge its significance and importance. Just as nectar is necessary for life, the drive toward success is powerfully motivating for individuals.
The other definition of nectar traces back to Greek and Roman mythology, where nectar was considered to be the drink of the gods. Nectar “had the magical property to confer immortality on any mortal who had the luck to drink it…It was a grave offense to steal either nectar or ambrosia” (“Nectar.” Greek Mythology.com). Since the speaker in “Success is counted sweetest” parallels nectar with success, this reading of the symbol suggests that success is exclusive, rare, and unattainable by mere mortals.
By Emily Dickinson
A Bird, came down the Walk
A Bird, came down the Walk
Emily Dickinson
A Clock stopped—
A Clock stopped—
Emily Dickinson
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
Emily Dickinson
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Emily Dickinson
"Faith" is a fine invention
"Faith" is a fine invention
Emily Dickinson
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Emily Dickinson
Hope is a strange invention
Hope is a strange invention
Emily Dickinson
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
Emily Dickinson
I Can Wade Grief
I Can Wade Grief
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
Emily Dickinson
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
Emily Dickinson
If I should die
If I should die
Emily Dickinson
If you were coming in the fall
If you were coming in the fall
Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
Emily Dickinson
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Emily Dickinson
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Emily Dickinson
The Only News I Know
The Only News I Know
Emily Dickinson
There is no Frigate like a Book
There is no Frigate like a Book
Emily Dickinson