Emily Dickinson

Victory Comes Late

poem 690

Victory Comes Late - meaning Summary

Victory Withheld, Crumbs Offered

This poem depicts spiritual and material deprivation contrasted with the distant abundance of God. The speaker describes victory arriving too late and chilled, so that reward cannot be enjoyed. Providence appears stingy: a table set too high, crumbs for small mouths, cherries for robins, while eagles suffocate on golden breakfast. The voice pleads that God honor his promise to the humble sparrows, who understand hunger and need more than grand displays.

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Victory comes late And is held low to freezing lips Too rapt with frost To take it How sweet it would have tasted Just a Drop Was God so economical? His Table’s spread too high for Us Unless We dine on tiptoe Crumbs fit such little mouths Cherries suit Robbins The Eagle’s Golden Breakfast strangles Them God keep His Oath to Sparrows Who of little Love know how to starve

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