Success is counted sweetest

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From the Genesis story to Freudian ego defense mechanisms, themes of resentment and the curiosity that glorifies the unknown has been the oomph of the stories we tell. This oomph oozes out of a culture where material success is the measure of a man. Emily dissolves the same oomph into her verses. This is a subtle reminder that failure is not just the stepping stone, but also the foundation of success. Emily reminds us how regret and resentment are stronger than appreciation and gratitude.

But under the bleak despair of the melancholic poem, lies the fruit of hope. It is implied in these words as to how deficiency creates necessity, complementing the essence of the saying:

Necessity is the mother of invention.

English Proverb

Alongside giving a subtle nod to Hull’s drive reduction theory, that suggests how motivation stems from a necessity to reduce the drive, powered by a need, the poem ventures to assert how pain ferments into poetry by hinting at the expressiveness gifted by grief and loss.