How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need. (1-2)
The word choice of "sorest" is pretty telling here. Dickinson could have gone with "gravest," "deepest," or any number of adjectives. But she went with this word, which prominently features the word "sore." She's insisting that physical suffering—in this case thirst—is required for true understanding.
Quote #2
As he defeated – dying –
On whose forbidden ear (9-10)
The soldier is experiencing some pretty serious suffering here, dying as he is on a battlefield. He's totally shut out from the experience of the victors—and yet he's still exposed to their victory song. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.
Quote #3
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear! (11-12)
Is the music agonized in these lines? It might seem that way, but that's only because it's falling on the tortured ear of this dying solider. The agony and the suffering is all his, but on the bright side he now understands what it victory means. So… um, yay?