How to Triumph Like a Girl

Horses have a long history of usage in literature and mythology. In America they connote multiple ideas, including their significance as “beasts of burden” or “work horses,” but in Limón’s poem they represent freedom, grace, beauty, and power. They are both powerful enough to win races, to attract attention and admiration, and yet they are also aware of their place in a social hierarchy. The fact that the “lady horses” (Line 1) use such overtly, almost comically “proper” diction, suggests that though they are animals at our service—and powerful animals at that—they are still “civilized” and occupy a place at the top of some hierarchy. They demonstrate their place at the top of the metaphorical food chain.

There is a formality to the setting of this poem. A “race” is a symbol of prestige. Its purpose is for horses to show off strength, accomplishment, and to determine who is at the top of a hierarchy. The Kentucky Derby is emblematic of this desire to impress society by winning or having a winning horse. The Oaks, which is the race in which the fillies race amongst themselves is less scrutinized. Using the race as the setting and main event of the poem, the speaker explores what it means to be a “lady” not in the wild, but in the