Berton Braley
Encyclopedia
Berton Braley was an American poet. He 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. 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.
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
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
, Atlantic Monthly, and the Saturday Evening Post. He published twenty books, about half of them being poetry collections.
In 1917, John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
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.
Poetry collections
- Abrams, Linda Tania (editor). Virtues in Verse: The Best of Berton Braley. California, The Atlantean Press. 1993. ISBN 0-9626854-3-7.