by
Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)
Success is counted sweetest
Language: English
Available translation(s): GER
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.
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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 53
Erfolg ‑ geschätzt am meisten
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English
Erfolg - geschätzt am meisten
von dem, der ihn nie hat.
Nur der weiß ihn zu preisen,
der nie ward von ihm satt.
Nicht einer von der kühnen Schar,
die heut zog in den Krieg,
könnt’ deutlicher es stellen dar,
was man bestimmt als Sieg,
denn jener, dem in Todesqual
ans Ohr - verboten - dringt,
ein Jubel, fern, der triumphal
aus Siegerkehlen klingt.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2019-03-31
Line count: 12
Word count: 64