How to Triumph Like a Girl

The title “How to Triumph Like a Girl” sets up the piece as a kind of advice-giving poem. The speaker suggests that she will reveal a secret or trick to help the reader learn how to succeed, specifically the way that a “girl” succeeds. It immediately introduces themes of feminism, success, and self-confidence.

The speaker addresses the reader directly, as though talking to a friend. Her tone is direct and conspiratorial, as though she is admitting a secret about herself, much the way women might talk to one another about their personal feelings. The simple declaration, “I like the lady horses best” (Line 1) seems like an innocuous comment. The speaker is having fun personifying the lady horses as proper ladies, intoning “Ears up, girls, ears up!” (Line 6). Midway there is a shift, and the poem becomes about something more personal and serious. By saying “But mainly, let’s be honest” (Line 7) the speaker continues the conceit that she is confiding frankly with a friend and signals that the poem is both candid and meaningful. She continues “I like / that they’re ladies” (Lines 7-8). She imagines the lady horses are like her or that she is like them, confiding that they set an example for her to follow.