The Will To Win
Berton Braley
About The Author
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. He spent some time after 1905 living in Butte, Montana, working as a staff journalist on the Butte Evening News (published 1905–1911).
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.
His poem "Do It Now" became widely reprinted after 1915. The poem begins.
If with pleasure you are viewing any work a man is doing, If you like him or you love him, tell him now.
The poem was also set as a hymn in Presbyterian hymnbooks and sung by glee clubs.
His other popular poems include "Start where you stand"
About The Poem
The poem is full of wonderful and inspirational words from start to end. The poem is about a fervent desire in which the poet in his beautiful and simple style exhorts the reader that if you have a strong desire to achieve anything, you will definitely achieve it.
The poet states that if you want a thing sufficiently awful and go out and battle for it, constantly work hard day and night for it and surrender your precious time and your tranquillity and your comfort for it.
If the desire just makes you distraught and if you never feel worn out on it and if for you all other things become tawdry and cheap for it.
If your life appears unfilled and futile without it and if you plan and dream about it. If you are gleefully ready to sweat for it, to worry for it, if you remove every fear of God and man for it.
In the event that you’ll simply pursue that thing you desperately desire with all your ability, quality, and intelligence, confidence, expectation, and certainty, determination, pertinacity and if neither chilly cold, nor poverty nor ailment nor the suffering of body and mind dismisses you and the desire you want and above all, if you are determined and stern for it you will definitely get it.
The WIll To Win
by: Berton Braley
If you want a thing bad enough
To go out and fight for it,
Work day and night for it,
Give up your time and your peace and
your sleep for it
If only desire of it
Makes you quite mad enough
Never to tire of it,
Makes you hold all other things tawdry
and cheap for it
If life seems all empty and useless without it
And all that you scheme and you dream is about it,
If gladly you'll sweat for it,
Fret for it, Plan for it,
Lose all your terror of God or man for it,
If you'll simply go after that thing that you want.
With all your capacity,
Strength and sagacity,
Faith, hope and confidence, stern pertinacity,
If neither cold poverty, famished and gaunt,
Nor sickness nor pain
Of body or brain
Can turn you away from the thing that you want,
If dogged and grim you besiege and beset it,
You'll get it!
जीतने की चाह
Transcreated by
'Ambar' Kharbanda
कुछ पाने की ख़्वाहिश है अगर
और जान लड़ा दो तुम अपनी
छोडो सुकून की तुम चिंता
और नींद भुला दो तुम अपनी
हाँ रात और दिन तुम एक करो
हर चाह भुला दो तुम अपनी
और उस को पाने की इच्छा
तुम को पागल कर देती हो
बाक़ी सब छोटा लगता हो
न थकन दिखाई देती हो
जब उसके बिन जीवन सारा
तुमको बेमतलब लगता हो
जब हरदम उसको पाने का
सपना सीने में जगता हो
जब ख़ुश होकर तुम उसके लिए
जी जान से ख़ुद को जोड़ सको
इंसान हो या ख़ुदा का हो
हर डर को जब तुम छोड़ सको
जब अपनी पूरी हिम्मत से
पूरे जूनून और ताक़त से
तुम उसके पीछे पड़ जाओ
पूरे विश्वास और शिद्दत से
कितने भी हों हालात बुरे
कितनी भी मुश्किल भारी हो
तुमको कोई भटका न सके
चाहे कुछ भी लाचारी हो
तुम इतना तो निश्चित जानो
हर मुश्किल तब हट जाएगी
जिसको तुमने पाना चाहा
वो चीज़!
वो चीज़ तुम्हें, मिल जाएगी...