The poem's speaker starts with a message for us: it's the folks who never succeed that really crave success the most. In order to understand a "nectar," you have to be seriously in need. Then she describes an army of sorts, saying that the victorious side ("the purple Host/ Who took the Flag") can't define victory better than the poor, defeated, dying soldier who will never know what it's like to have won the battle (5-6)—too bad. At least he's got that going for him, though.