(Marshall, 4)

Sarah Marshall

Mrs. Whitley

02 May 2019

H. English IV, 03

Senior Anthology: Poem Analysis, “The Will To Win” by Berton Braley

“The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it’s

possible to achieve.” Tommy Hilfiger. Success is only a possibility if one is truly passionate

about it and willing to devoted a mass amount of time towards it. “The Will To Win” by Berton

Braley is a poem which teaches the audience how devotion and determination results in

successful outcomes. Berton Braley was an American Poet from Madison, Wisconsin, who died

in 1966 at the age of 84. His work was first published at the age of 11, from then on he was

featured in multiple magazines such as Forbes Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, and The Saturday

Evening Post. ("Berton Braley: The Greenwich Village Bookshop Door." N.p). In Brenton

Braley’s poem “The Will To Win”, the overall message he tries to convey is the idea devotion

and perseverance will lead one to achieve goals and reach success. Throughout Berton Braley’s

poem “Success: The Will To Win”, multiple literary devices are used to help teach the theme,

devotion leads to success, to the audience; the devices include, persuasive reasoning, rhyme,

tone, stanza division, mood, alliteration, and second person point of view.

By using persuasive reasonings, such as, pathos, Braley appeals to his audience’s

negative emotions, “If neither cold poverty...nor sickness nor pain of the body or brain, can turn

you away from the goal one seeks to reach. If dogged and grim you besiege it and beset it, you’ll

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get it” (Braley 21-26), since many poor or sick people cannot work towards bigger and better
goals than just everyday needs, the reader will feel sympathy for those who are struggling with

poverty or sickness and will be inspired to devote a mass amount of time and energy towards the

goal of success.

Braley uses rhyme, “To go out and fight for it, work day and night for it” (Braley 2-3), to

get across the point that devotion to an idea can have great results. Braley uses rhyme once

again, “If gladly you’ll sweat for it, fret for it” (Braley 13-14) , to highlight the overall theme and

help the readers comprehension of it. Essentially, rhyme helps the reader better comprehend the

theme of the writing. Repetition also uses the same effect. Braley uses the word “it” over and

over again to get across the theme, for example, “If only desire for it makes you quite mad

enough, never to tire of it.” (Braley 7-8); “it” meaning one’s will power to work towards one’s

goal i.e. success.

The tone of the author is stern and forward “If dodged and grim you besiege and beset it,

you’ll get it” (Braley 25-26) initially, the tone helps the audience be reinforced with the main

idea of the poem. Tone is also shown when Braley states “If you’ll simply go after that thing that

you want” (Braley 16), the tone is demanding which helps the reader become more willing to

work towards their own success. The tone can also be seen as ethos; by using dynamism -

forcefulness and enthusiasm, Braley helps reinforce his theme.

Braley uses stanza division to shift to different statements and ideas, this helps to get the

full message of the theme across. He also uses changes in the lines and stanzas, to get the theme

across too. Ultimately, Braley proves his theme of, devotion leads to success through the poem’s

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entirety.

Braley uses alliteration, “Strength and sagacity” (Braley 19), to help get across the theme

of devotion. Alliteration helps emphasize words so the reader better understands the point being
made. Another example of alliteration is “besiege and beset it” (Braley 24), the quoted

alliteration allows the reader to better understand the theme of the poem due to the emphasis on

the phrase. The ultimate effect is the creation of willingness in the reader to work towards their

dream.

Throughout the poem a reader will feel empowered and inspired to devote time to

achieve success. The feeling comes from the mood Braley incorporates in the poem, the mood is

shown through the author’s tone and attitude throughout the poem; “If gladly you’ll sweat for,

fret for it, plan for it” (Braley 14-15), this line depicts the the author's passionate tone which

empowers the reader to take charge. The mood is also created when Braley states, “Give up your

time and your peace and your sleep for it” (Braley 4-5), the forwardness of Braley’s tone

produces the reader’s mood to feel vulnerable to new ideas, which ultimately allows the reader to

come to the conclusion that they must work hard towards their dream.

The point of view throughout the poem is second person, “If life seems all empty and

useless without it and all that you scheme and you dream is about it” (Braley 12-13), by using

the word “you” the author implies he is telling a story to the audience, this point of view will

ultimately make the reader feel more connected to the writing and receive the message of

devotion leads to success, more clearly.

Berton Braley’s poem “Success: The Will To Win” coverys the idea, devotion leads to

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success, by using literary terms such as repetition and rhyme or persuasive reasonings like ethos

and pathos or shifts, or alliteration. Braley helps the audience to better understand and remember

the theme of the poem. The significance of the poem is to motivate the reader to devote time in

what they want to achieve, like success. In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Guy

Montag was very devoted in saving books, despite his effort was not successful. Another
example is Atticus finch in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Atticus showed devotion by

dedicating a majority of his time to prove Tom Robinson not guilty for the raping of Mayella

Ewell. Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, shows a lot of devotion. Gatsby

tries extremely hard to win over daisy’s heart. Eventually he achieves his goal but then loses her

once again. Despite the lose, Gatsby achieve his goal through the power of devotion. In

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Frederick Douglass shows

devotion when he tries to escape slavery. Douglass never gives up on his journey towards

freedom and with time he achieved his goal. Night by Elie Wiesel is another example of devotion

leads to success, in other words, devotion leads to your dream. Wiesel is a Jewish boy who was

forced into a concentration camp and forced to do and see things beyond imaginable. With

devotion Wiesel was able to reach his goal of survival and makes it of the concentration camp.

One last example took place in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Huck

shows an abundance of devotion while trying to escape his father’s abuse; he fakes his own death

which obviously shows devotion. Along with these novels, the poem’s ultimate message is to

never give up, continue to work towards a dream, and be patient when waiting success. The

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reader must never forget, the determination and time put forth, you will be rewarded. Successes

possibility of becoming a reality is determined by the amount of time put forth.