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 today
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of Victory!
As he, defeated — dying —
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!
(c. 1859)
– Emily Dickinson –