The Alternative - 1927

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



Betty Yack, of Mittyack, charming was and young;
But Betty Yack of Mittyack, had a bitter tongue.
And she married her one Otto who henceforth seemed doomed for life,
To submit to the upbraiding of his bonny, bitter wife.

Betty Yack of Mittyack, joined, while still quite charming,
That association having aims for better farming.
'So far, so good, my bitter Bet,' remarked her husband, Otto.
'If you join associations you must then adopt the motto.'

Betty read the articles and pondered quite a while,
Then nodded to her husband with a soft but gentle smile.
And the happy little couple are at last released from strife.
For Betty Yack, of Mittyack, stays dumb for all her life.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
52

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABB CCDD EEBB
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 675
Words 122
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

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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