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.
--Emily Dikinson
One must first taste nectar to thirst for it; first be victorious to crave its company. Whether now or from another life, we all have felt success.
Eventually, we all will find reason to feel like the dying solder on the abandoned battlefield of a meaningless war. But this Easter we celebrate because we all will be victorious. We all will wear purple, fly our flag, and march in the parade.