Analysis of The Martyr of Bovinia

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



She milked the cow; and all the morn was hushed
(It was a beast that never kicked or rushed)
The startled dicky-birds of early Spring
Sat up amazed to mark this splendid thing,
Nigh fainting with delight upon the bough . . . .
 She milked the cow.

She milked the cow; nor all the glory rare
Of that October morning could compare
With that sweet sylvan scene; the grace, the charm
The rhythmic movement of her dimpled arm,
Would make a poor bloke feel just anyhow . . . .
 She milked the cow.

She milked the cow.  'Twas at South Sassafras
(Which is a cruel word to rhyme,alas)
And all who gazed thereon decalred, with force,
It was sublime - except the cow, of course
Who wore a patient frown upn her brow . . . .
She milked the cow.

She milked the cow - at least, she said she did.
There was the milk in proof; and God forbid
That I should doubt the statement in the least,
(I sympathised in private with the beast
Who said - but still, what does it matter now?)
She milked the cow.


Scheme aabbcC ddeecC ffggcC hhiicC
Poetic Form
Metre 1101010111 1101110111 0101011101 1101111101 1101010101 1101 1101110101 1101010101 1111010101 0101010101 110111110 1101 110111110 11010111 011101111 1101010111 110101101 1101 1101111111 1101010101 1111010001 11010101 1111111101 1101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 970
Words 185
Sentences 20
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 186
Words per stanza (avg) 49
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

55 sec read
84

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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