The Reeds of
Runnymede
Rudyard Kipling
(Magna
Charta. June 15, 1215)
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 Rights 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 judgement 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 mood of kings,
And
crowds, and priests and suchlike things,
Rolls
deep and dreadful as he brings
Their
warning down from Runnymede!