The Song of the Ungirt Runners

Portrait of Charles Sorley
Charles Sorley 1895–1915

We swing ungirded hips, And lightened are our eyes, The rain is on our lips, We do not run for prize. We know not whom we trust Nor whitherward we fare, But we run because we must Through the great wide air.

The waters of the seas Are troubled as by storm. The tempest strips the trees And does not leave them warm. Does the tearing tempest pause? Do the tree-tops ask it why? So we run without a cause 'Neath the big bare sky.

The rain is on our lips, We do not run for prize. But the storm the water whips And the wave howls to the skies. The winds arise and strike it And scatter it like sand, And we run because we like it Through the broad bright land.

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Ian Bell28 words
  1. satyapal sehgal India

    Oh it is simply a good poem... about the unsung hero of everyday life... but they construct history man !

  2. Ian Bell United Kingdom

    Why

    For anyone who has run cross-country in the rain and wondered what felt strangely right about it, this poem gets as close to the truth as is possible.

  3. Simon McCarthy United Kingdom

    The Song of the Ungirt Runners

    Fine poem but not by this poet.

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