The First World War is much remembered and debated.
Charles Hamilton Sorley (1895-1915) was one of its countless casualties. Best known for his nihilist sonnet from the Trenches ("When you see millions of the mouthless dead"), he left behind less bleak compositions, such as this paean to cross-country running.
THE SONG OF THE
UNGIRT RUNNERS
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 witherward 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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