Ballad of Lieges

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



Son of our King: When yoemen sailed
From Britain to expand her sway,
The coward from High venture quailed,
The weakling sank beside the way.
None save the strong in that far day,
The brave, stood clear-eyed at the prow
To plan such parts as venturers play.
Here be their kin who greet you now.

Britain had failed if these had failed -
Stout pioneers whose sterner clay,
Reckless of that the task entailed,
Faced the unknown with no dismay.
Out to vast wildernesses they
Blazed pain-strewn paths, for axe plough
To earn this fruitful century's pay.
Here be their kin who greet you now.

When o'er an Empire bugles wailed
To summon liegemen to the fray,
In sons the olden urge prevailed;
Nor life, nor love might bid them stay.
Unblooded, in red war's array
They proved the breed, they kept the vow,
They paid the price as liegemen may.
Here be their kin who greet you now.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

49 sec read
65

Quick analysis:

Scheme ababbcbC ababbcbC ababbcbC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 855
Words 161
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8

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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