Emily Dickinson poem

It goes like this [brackets contain my comments]:

Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed. [the word is "ne'er" not "never" -- vital to the meter]
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need. [not "THE sorest need"]
Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of victory! [please note Miss Dickenson's line breaks; they are also vital]

As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear! [you left off this line, without which the poem is meaningless]

The next thing you need to do is understand what Miss Dickenson was saying in this sad little poem of hers. I'm not sure you do -- or at least, your choice of fonts and do-dads doesn't convey it to me. Your curious mixture of mid-Victorian flourish in the beginning, followed by Civil War-era advertising excess, seem not so much to give life to the work as to bury it beneath a heap of conspicuous "old timey" styles more appropriate for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

This poet, and especially this of her poems, is an odd choice for the assignment, isn't she? I don't envy you the task! Miss Dickenson abhorred style for style's sake -- except, of course, for the relentless UN-stylishness of her own writing style, which was very stylish indeed, if you get my drift. Do you? Hmm. Maybe I hope not! :-)

Mara, thank you so much for taking the time to give me such an in-depth critique.
I read and will read again even more carefully what you wrote.
I definitely need to spend the time to do a lot more research to complete this assignment in decent quality.
Your feedback will be of tremendous help.
Thank you!

Miss Dickenson was a self-isolated and very odd woman, always pining away for something vivid just beyond her reach, but unwilling (or afraid) to give up the spiritless safety of her home to go after it. She exhausted the patience of her few acquaintances with this behavior her whole life; today, she might be diagnosed as agoraphobic, at the very least. It's important to note this about her when considering this poem. She may be writing about a fallen Civil War solider on the losing side of a battle, but (as is almost always the case with her poems) it's really about herself. Does that suggest different typography?

Your teacher sure did hit you all with a whammy assignment there. It's creative writing and design all tied up into one - and honestly, not every visual art student chooses to do in-depth study of poets (famous or otherwise) on the side.

So, in that sense, I personally think you did do a good job in your honest first attempt at trying to understand the poem, even though you might have missed the mark.

What was your design teacher's true motive with the assignment? Did he/she want you to sit and try to thoroughly read the poem, then study who Miss Dickenson was, what kind of person she was, what the world's impression of what they felt Miss Dickenson was like?

I think this is a good assignment, though - it shows that you need to really understand the PRODUCT before you can really design something for it.

This was one where you really needed to understand the poem (which is the "product") and design appropriately for it.

But, if you're not a big poetry buff, this could be hard for you to accomplish without seeking outside assistance.

Wow - oh-so-tricky! I love that! Makes me want to do an "assignment" like that for the artists here at my work as a creativity-enhancing project.

That creativity-enhancing project isn't a bad idea, Kelly! I like what you said about needing to understand the "product." I think that's the issue behind a lot of work we see here that draws comments about the concept being off. It's getting harder and harder to manage this "softer side of art" today, given the cultural diversity of the marketplace -- the many levels and angles people bring to their understanding of what the product means, piled on top of what the client wants them to think it means.

Here's how ego-centric I am: it's only just occurred to me that cissabrandeo is in Brazil, where I wouldn't expect someone to be thoroughly versed in all the refinements of typography and design styles of the American Civil War, let alone the literary quirks of certain New England spinster poets. So yeah, this assignment was pretty enlightened. Or sadistic. I haven't made up my mind on that yet ;-)