Analysis of Bones, A.B. is Reminded

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



Men of the sea (said Bones, A.B.)
Is touchy coves and curious,
They stands a lot, till some dark plot
Gets 'em all hot an' furious.
Tricks with their food brings on a mood
That's apt to be real shirty.
That's how come we once struck at sea
In days when ways was dirty
Them blastin', blazin', hazin' days
When ships an' seas was dirty.

We was 'Frisco bound in a ship ill-found
An' scarce a sound plank in 'er,
Wheh cook speaks free, an' he says, says he:
'There's no plum-duff for dinner!'
'Wot?  No plum-duff?' we answers gruff
 An' snarky like, an' surly.
'Avast!' says we. 'We'll strike at sea
Till we gets it, late or early
Down marlinspikes! The whole crew strikes!
 For we likes duff late an' early.'

The old man, he don't seem to be
No ways put out about it.
'Plum-duff?' he purrs.  'Why, sure, good sirs,
You'll get some, never doubt it.'
An', cold an' hot, 'twas duff we got
An' nothin' else thereafter.
'Wot?  Had enough?  You swabs, you stuff!'
The skipper roars wi' laughter.
Nought else will come.  Eat some, you scum!
 Wot? Sick? Excuse my laughter!'

Men of the sea (said Bones, A.B.)
Is proud an' supercilious.
But that don't do, not when a crew
Grows pasty-faced an' bilious.
Whe we bore down on 'Frisco town
A sick crew 'twas wot landed
An' skipper says: 'Now, go yer ways,
An' say I ain't free-'anded!
You strikin', bluffin', puddin'-stuffin' sweeps,
Say I'm mean-'anded!
You loafin', leerin', mutineerin' mutts,
I 'opes yer stranded!'


Scheme Abcbxcdded xfdfgdddxd dhbhcfgfxf Abxbxiecxcxi
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111 11010100 11011111 11111100 11111101 111111 11111111 0111110 11111 1111110 1110100111 1101100 111111111 1111110 11111101 111110 1111111 11111110 110111 11111110 01111111 1111011 11111111 1111011 11111111 1101010 11011111 0101110 11111111 1101110 1101111 1110100 11111101 1111100 11111101 0111110 11011111 111111 111111 1111 11111 11110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,420
Words 276
Sentences 36
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 10, 10, 10, 12
Lines Amount 42
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 261
Words per stanza (avg) 67
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:23 min read
123

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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