Berton Braley
Berton Braley Poems
With doubt and dismay you are smitten
You think there's no chance for you, son?
Why, the best books haven't been written
...
If you want a thing bad enough
To go out and fight for it,
Work day and night for it,
...
Start where you stand and never mind the past,
The past won't help you in beginning new,
If you have left it all behind at last
...
If you want a thing bad enough
To go out and fight for it,
Work day and night for it,
...
TWENTY years of the army, of drawing a sergeant's pay
And helping the West Point shavetails, fresh from the training school
To handle a bunch of soldiers and drill 'em the proper way
...
Berton Braley Biography
Berton Braley (29 January 1882 – 23 January 1966) was an American poet. Braley was born in Madison, Wisconsin. His father, Arthur B. Braley, was a judge; he died when Berton Braley was seven years old. At 16, Braley quit high school and got a job working as a factory hand at a plow plant. After a few years, Braley went back to school and received his high school diploma. Shortly thereafter he discovered Tom Hood's poetry instructional book The Rhymester. Braley was first published at the age of 11 when a small publication printed a fairy tale he wrote. He was a prolific writer, with verses in many magazines, including Coal Age, American Machinist, Nation's Business, Forbes magazine, Harper's Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, and the Saturday Evening Post. His work appeared in numerous pulp magazines, including Adventure, Breezy Stories, Complete Stories, The Popular Magazine, Short Stories and Snappy Stories. He published twenty books, about half of them being poetry collections. In 1917, John Philip Sousa composed a marching song for the University of Wisconsin, titled Wisconsin Forward Forever with lyrics by Berton Braley. In 1934, Braley published the autobiographical Pegasus Pulls a Hack: Memoirs of a Modern Minstrel.)
The Best Poem Of Berton Braley
Opportunity
With doubt and dismay you are smitten
You think there's no chance for you, son?
Why, the best books haven't been written
The best race hasn't been run,
The best score hasn't been made yet,
The best song hasn't been sung,
The best tune hasn't been played yet,
Cheer up, for the world is young!
No chance? Why the world is just eager
For things that you ought to create
Its store of true wealth is still meagre
Its needs are incessant and great,
It yearns for more power and beauty
More laughter and love and romance,
More loyalty, labor and duty,
No chance- why there's nothing but chance!
For the best verse hasn't been rhymed yet,
The best house hasn't been planned,
The highest peak hasn't been climbed yet,
The mightiest rivers aren't spanned,
Don't worry and fret, faint hearted,
The chances have just begun,
For the Best jobs haven't been started,
The Best work hasn't been done.
Berton Braley Comments
Another poem by Mr. Braley is An Unsung Hero about train dispatchers, appeared in Santa Fe Magazine, June 1913
Berton Braley Popularity
Berton Braley Popularity
Delivering Poems Around The World
Poems are the property of their respective owners. All information has been reproduced here for educational and informational purposes to benefit site visitors, and is provided at no charge...
4/23/2024 10:36:02 AM # 1.0.0.1119
Trying to find the poem of his that begins: When folks ask how are you, for heaven's sake don't tell ‘em