The Runner
On a flat road runs the well-train’d runner,He is lean and sinewy with muscular legs,He is thinly clothed, he leans forward as he runs,With lightly closed fists and arms partially rais’d.
Of obedience, faith, adhesiveness;As I stand aloof and look there is to me something profoundlyaffecting in large masses of men following the lead of those whodo not believe in men.
A mask, a perpetual natural disguiser of herself,Concealing her face, concealing her form,Changes and transformations every hour, every moment,Falling upon her even when she sleeps.
Of justice--as If could be any thing but the same ample law,expounded by natural judges and saviors,As if it might be this thing or that thing, according to decisions.
Gliding o’er all, through all,Through Nature, Time, and Space,As a ship on the waters advancing,The voyage of the soul--not life alone,Death, many deaths I’ll sing.
Words in this poem
- adhesiveness n.
- The quality of sticking or adhering; stickiness; tenacity of union.
- profoundly adv.
- In a profound manner.
- disguiser n.
- One who, or that which, disguises.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Runner is in the public domain. This text is taken from Leaves of Grass, Project Gutenberg ebook #1322; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walt Whitman, The Runner, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/the-runner.html, id L03932.
Form and metre
The Runner is 20 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 77% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.5 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 5 --A-A all · space · advancingA · alone · singA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| On a flat road runs the well-train’d runner, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| He is lean and sinewy with muscular legs, | 12 | ····/˘˘·/˘˘· |
| He is thinly clothed, he leans forward as he runs, | 12 | ··/˘···/˘··· |
| With lightly closed fists and arms partially rais’d. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘· |
| Of obedience, faith, adhesiveness; | 10 | ·˘/˘˘·˘/˘˘ |
| As I stand aloof and look there is to me something profoundly | 16 | ···˘/······/˘˘/˘ |
| affecting in large masses of men following the lead of those who | 17 | ˘/˘··/˘··/˘˘····· |
| do not believe in men. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| A mask, a perpetual natural disguiser of herself, | 16 | ···˘/˘˘/˘˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| Concealing her face, concealing her form, | 10 | ˘/˘··˘/˘·· |
| Changes and transformations every hour, every moment, | 17 | /˘··˘/˘/˘˘/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Falling upon her even when she sleeps. | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Of justice--as If could be any thing but the same ample law, | 16 | ·/˘····/˘····/˘· |
| expounded by natural judges and saviors, | 12 | ˘/˘·/˘˘/˘·/˘ |
| As if it might be this thing or that thing, according to decisions. | 17 | ··········˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Gliding o’er all, through all, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Through Nature, Time, and Space, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| As a ship on the waters advancing, | 10 | ·····/˘˘/˘ |
| The voyage of the soul--not life alone, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Death, many deaths I’ll sing. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.