American Literature / Unit 10 AML 0922 short lesson, about 20 seconds
"Success is counted sweetest" and the Paradox Poems
Captions available
The idea
Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed, and the dying man on the field hears the distant triumph better than the victors do. Dickinson's habitual move is this reversal: the one who lacks a thing understands it best, and the poem proves it with a single scene.
In practice
The defeated hear the victory best.
Where people slip
The reversal is her recurring structure.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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