War

War—what is it good for? In this poem, anyway, it's a handy source of imagery to emphasize Dickinson's argument. Success is important to a lot of people, for a lot of reasons, but, for a soldier in the middle of a war, success can mean life or death. The victors of war might win land or money, but first and foremost they get to keep living. The losers? They often lose a whole lot more than just an armed conflict.

• Lines 5-6: The "Host" is given two distinctions: a) it's capitalized and b) it's purple. The capitalization is typical of Dickinson, who used the technique to lend words an extra punch. The color purple also represents a kind of royalty or superiority, since purple was historically a color reserved for kings and queens. In these lines, the victors have captured the "Flag," a symbolic act that marks them as the winners of this particular battle. Good for them.
• Lines 9-10: The loser of this conflict is paying the ultimate price: dude is dying. What's worse, his ear is "forbidden" to hear the victory song that the purple Host is now getting down to. There will be no celebrating for him.
• Lines 11-12: The music is far-off for our poor, dying loser, but it's still intense for him. "Burst" is a powerful choice of verb, one that emphasizes how well this dying soldier at last understands the importance of winning (and staying alive). It also recalls the violence of the war that he's just fought—and lost. Hey, at least he gets to find out what victory really means, right?