The Runner
The Runner - meaning Summary
A Swift Physical Portrait
The poem offers a concentrated, vivid observation of a single athlete in motion. Whitman focuses on physical detail—lean, sinewy limbs, forward lean, partially raised arms—to convey energy, discipline, and grace. The short portrait emphasizes bodily competence and the immediacy of movement rather than inner thought. It reads as an admiration of muscular skill and the aesthetic of human motion, turning a moment of running into a brief moral and physical exemplar.
Read Complete AnalysesON 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.
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