WHAT SAY THE REEDS AT RUNNYMEAD?
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- At Runnymede, at Runnymede,
- What say the reeds at Runnymede?
- The lissom reeds that give and take,
- That bend so far, but never break.
- They keep the sleepy Thames awake
- With tales of John at Runnymede.
- At Runnymede, at Runnymede,
- Oh, hear the reeds at Runnymede: -
- "You mustn't sell, delay, deny,
- A freeman's right or liberty.
- It wakes the stubborn Englishry,
- We saw 'em roused at Runnymede!
- When through our ranks the Barons came,
- With little thought of praise or blame,
- But resolute to play the game,
- They lumbered up to Runnymede,
- And there they launched in solid line
- The first attack on Right Divine -
- The curt, uncompromising 'Sign'
- That settled John at Runnymede.
- At Runnymede, at Runnymede,
- Your rights were won at Runnymede!
- No freeman shall be fined or bound,
- Or dispossessed of freehold ground,
- Except by lawful judgment found
- And passed upon him by his peers
- Forget not, after all these years,
- The Charter signed at Runnymede."
- And still when Mob or Monarch lays
- Too rude a hand on English ways,
- The whisper wakes, the shudder plays,
- Across the reeds at Runnymede.
- And Thames, that knows the moods of kings,
- And the crowds and priests and suchlike things,
- Rolls deep and dreadful as he brings
- Their warning down from Runnymede!
Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)
