Analysis of 'Ave a 'eart!



''Ere!  'Ave a 'eart!' 'e sez.  'Why, love a duck!
 A 'uman bein' ain't a choppin' block!
There ain't no call fer you to go an' chuck
 A man about when 'e 'as took the knock.
Gaw!  Do yeh want to bust 'im all apart!
 'Ere!  'Ave a 'eart!

'Aw, 'ave a 'eart!' 'e weeps.  'A fight's a fight;
But, strike me bandy, this is bloody war!
It's murder!  An' you got no blasted right
To arst a 'uman man to come fer more.
'E 'ad no chance with you right frum the start.
Aw, 'ave a 'eart!

'Yeh've pulped 'is dile,' 'e whines; 'yeh've pinched 'is gun;
 Yeh've bunged 'is eye 'an bashed in 'arf 'is teeth.
'Struth!  Ain't yeh satisfied with wot yeh've done?
Or are you out to fit 'im fer a wreath?
The man's 'arf dead a'ready!  Wot's yer dart?
 Say, 'ave a 'eart!'

I never did 'ear sich a bloke to squeal
About a trifle.  This 'ere pal uv Spike's
Don't seem to 'ave the stummick fer a deal
Uv solid stoush: rough work don't soot 'is likes.
'E ain't done much but blather frum the start,
''Ere 'ave a 'eart!'

A rat-face coot 'e is, with rat-like nerves
That's got all jangled with ixceedin' fright,
While I am 'andin' Spike wot 'e deserves.
But twice 'e tried to trip me in the fight,
The little skunk, now sobbin' like a tart,
 'Aw, 'ave a 'eart!'

This 'ere's the pretty pitcher in Ah Foo's
Back privit room: Spite Wegg, well on the floor,
Is bleedin' pretty, with a bonzer bruise
Paintin' one eye, an' 'arf 'is clobber tore.
While me, the conq'rin' 'ero, stan's above
'Owlin' me love.

The rat-face mutt is dancin' up an' down;
Ah Foo is singin' jazz in raw Chinee;
The parson's starin' at me with a frown,
As if 'e thort sich things could never be;
An' I'm some bloke 'e's but 'arf rekernised
'E's 'ipnertised.

Foo's furniture is scattered any'ow,
Artisic like, in bits about the floor.
An' 'arf a dozen blokes, drawn by the row,
Nosey but nervis, 'overs near the door.
I ain't no pitcher orf no chocklit box.
  I've took some knocks.

I ain't no pitcher.  But - 0 Glory! - But
Ther's dicky-birds awarblin' in me soul!
To think that I ain't lost that upper-cut!
An' my left-'ook's still with me, good an' whole.
I feared me punch was dead; but I was wrong.
Me 'eart's all song!

Then, as Spike makes a move, I raised me mits
Fearin' a foul; an' Rat-face does 'is block.
'E loosens up a string uv epi-tits
That seem to jolt the parson with a shock.
Filthy an' free they was, make no mistakes.
Then Snowy wakes.

All through the fight 'e 'ad seemed kind uv dazed,
Ubsorbin' it like some saint in a dream.
But now 'e straightened up, 'is ole eyes blazed
An', as the filth flowed in a red-'ot stream,
'Is voice blew in like cool winds frum the south:
 'Shut that foul mouth!'

'Shut your vile mouth, or, by the Lord! - ''Is 'and
Went up, an' there was anger on 'is face.
But Rat-face ducked.  'E weren't the man to stand
Agin that figger uv avengin' grace.
Ducked, or 'e might uv stopped one 'oly smite
Frum Snowy's right.

'Young friend,' 'E turns to me.  An' then I 'ear
A yell: 'The cops!  The cops is in the Lane!
'Parson,' I sez, 'we are de tropp, I fear.
Mid 'appier scenes I'll vencher to ixplain.
'Ang to me 'and, an' wave no fond farewell;
But run like 'ell!'

Some say wrong livin' reaps no good reward.
Well, I dunno.  If I 'ad not cut loose
In Spadgers, in them days long, long deplored,
'Ow could I knowed the run uv Foo's caboose?
That back-way entrance, used fer Chiner's friends'
 Un'oly ends.

Out by a green door; down a flight uv stairs;
Along a passige; up another flight;
Through 'arf a dozen rooms, broadcastin' scares
To twenty yellow men, pea-green with fright;
Me an' the parson, through that 'eathen land,
Trips 'and in 'and.

Out uv dark corners, voices 'ere an' there
Break sudden with a jabberin' sing-song,
Like magpies flutin' on the mornin' air.
We pays no 'eed to them, but plug along,
Twistin' an' turnin' through them secret ways,
 Like in a maze.

I bust a bolted door.  The parson gasps:
The air inside is 'eavy with the drug.
A fat Chow goggles at the broken hasps;
Another dreams un'eedin' on a rug.
Out by the other door-past piles uv fruit
'Ow we did scoot!

Red lanterns - lacquer-work - brass pots - strange smells
Silk curtains - slippers - baskets - ginger jars
A squealin' Chinee fiddle-tinklin' bells
Queer works uv art - filth - fowls - ducks - iron bars
To winders - All pass by us in a stream,
 Like 'twuz a dream.

Down to a


Scheme ababcc dedecC fgfgcc hihicc ididcC ieiejj kfkxcc leleii mnmnoo ibibii pqpqrr siticd xxxfuu viviii ididts wowoii ixixyy iiiiqq x
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111101 0111011 1111111111 0101111101 1111111101 1101 1101110101 1111011101 1101111101 110111111 1111111101 1101 111111111111 11111110111 1111011111 1111111101 0111010111 1101 1101110111 0101011111 111101101 1101111111 1111110101 1101 0111111111 11110111 111111101 1111111001 010111101 1101 1101010011 111111101 11101011 111111101 11011101 111 011111111 11111011 011011101 1111111101 11111111 11 1100110101 11010101 1101011101 11110101 111101111 1111 111101101 11011011 1111111101 1111111111 1111111111 1111 1111011111 101111111 110101111 1111010101 1011111101 1101 1101111111 11111001 1111011111 1101100111 1110111101 1111 1111110110 1111110111 11111100111 0111111 111111111 111 1111111111 0101011001 1011111111 1111111 111011111 1111 111111101 1101111111 010111101 1111011101 111101111 11 1101110111 010110101 11010111 1101011111 110101111 1000 1111010111 11010111 1111011 1111111101 11111101 1001 1101010101 010111101 0111010101 01011101 1101011111 1111 1101011111 1101010101 0111011 1111111101 1101111001 1101 110
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 4,244
Words 836
Sentences 73
Stanzas 19
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 1
Lines Amount 109
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 164
Words per stanza (avg) 44
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

4:20 min read
112

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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