Analysis of Fust Mate Joe

Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)



'E's a tough ole salt,
With a 'ide well tanned,
An' it ain't 'is fault
If the craft is manned
With a motley sort er crew.
Ya-hoo!
An' it is a mixed-up crew.
But 'e's sailed, 'as 'e, on many a sea,
An' e's journeyed nigh an' fur;
'E's a tough ole, rough ole - not to mention gruff ole,
Bluff ole mar-i-ner

Fer 'e sailed among
The Labor Seas
When 'e wus young;
An' since that 'e's
Been on all sorts o' craft
 Abaft
And 'fore the mast 'o craft.
Fer ther ain't no boat that's bin afloat
As 'e don't know ev'ry spar;
This sly ole, fly ole, mind-yer-weather-eye ole,
Spry ole deep-sea tar.

Once in the ship
Re-pub-li-can
'E took a trip
As a 'fore-mast man,
An' e transhipped in mid-sea,
Did 'e
Went overside at sea.
Frum a Freetrade raft to a 'Tection craft
'E knows 'em stem to starn.
'E's ratin' as a great un at the art of navigatin',
An' 'e ain't got much to larn.
To watch 'im skip,
 On 's nimble feet,
Frum ship to ship
Is a 'igh ole treat.
Fer 'e don't stop long on none.
'E's done
A fair, long cruise on none.
But 'e's larned a lot from the points 'e got
Since 'is cruisin' fust began,
This saine old smarty, sail-with-any-party,
Hearty aailor-man.

Now 'e's signed fust mate
Fer another trip,
Fer to naviprate
The Fusion ship;
An' a crazy craft she is.
 Gee-whizz!
An' a frail ole tub she is.
With a crew o' sorts from all the ports,
An' a chance o' mutinee.
But 'e'll see the vessel thro' it, if there's any man kin do it,
Fer a hard ole salt is 'e.

Fer the best o' mates
 Is 'im thet's got
 Cer-tif-i-cates
 From the 'ole darn lot,
When the stormy winds do blow.
Yo-ho!
When the windy storms do blow.
On a Tory tramp 'is callin' damp
'E 'as managed to pursoo.
Now 'e 'as to larn twin-screw ways - with 'er nose a-pointin' two ways,
An' a fair ole rorty crew.

But 'is eye's glued tight
On the compass face,
An' 'e'll make a fight
Fer the anch'rin' place,
Fer the Harbor o' Recess.
O, yes,
There's a harbor at Recess.
An' 'e'll do it yet, with luck, you bet,
Fer 'e' allus bin at sea.
An' there ain't no glummer salt, lightly-go-an'-comer salt,  
Rummer sort o'somer-salt than 'e.


Scheme ABABCCCDXEC FGFGHAHXIEI JKJKDDDHXKKJLJLMMMNKDK XJAJODOXKXD PNPNQQQXDXC RSRSTTTXDAD
Poetic Form
Metre 10111 10111 11111 10111 1010101 11 1110111 1111111001 1110111 101111111011 11111 11101 0101 1111 1111 111111 1 010111 111111101 111111 11111111011 11111 1001 1111 1101 10111 111011 11 1111 10111011 111111 11101110111 1111111 1111 11101 1111 10111 1111111 11 011111 1110110111 111101 11110111010 1011 11111 10101 111 0101 1010111 11 1011111 101111101 10111 1110101111101111 1011111 10111 1111 1111 10111 1010111 11 1010111 10101111 111011 111111111010111 101111 11111 10101 11101 1011 1010101 11 1010101 111111111 111111 11111011011101 11110111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 2,017
Words 409
Sentences 27
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 11, 11, 22, 11, 11, 11
Lines Amount 77
Letters per line (avg) 19
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 246
Words per stanza (avg) 68
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:10 min read
129

Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis

Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis, better known as C. J. Dennis, was an Australian poet known for his humorous poems, especially "The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke", published in the early 20th century. Though Dennis's work is less well known today, his 1915 publication of The Sentimental Bloke sold 65,000 copies in its first year, and by 1917 he was the most prosperous poet in Australian history. Together with Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson, both of whom he had collaborated with, he is often considered among Australia's three most famous poets. While attributed to Lawson by 1911, Dennis later claimed he himself was the 'laureate of the larrikin'. When he died at the age of 61, the Prime Minister of Australia Joseph Lyons suggested he was destined to be remembered as the 'Australian Robert Burns'. more…

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