How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed. (1-2)
These lines make us feel a lot better about not getting elected class president any of the six years we ran. All the same, we wonder if people regret being successful. Does success have to mean a loss of appreciation? Does failure always mean enlightenment?
Quote #2
Not one of all the purple Host
Who took the Flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of victory (5-8)
The victory won by the ambitious purple host comes at a cost in the speaker's eyes: a lack of understanding. Still, the losing, dying soldier was also ambitious. He fought the same battle, after all. By that measure, this poem is less about the evils of ambition, and more about the perils of success—and the comforts of the epic fail.