Analysis of The Triantiwontigongolope

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



There's a very funny insect that you do not often spy,
And it isn't quite a spider, and it isn't quite a fly;
It is something like a beetle, and a little like a bee,
But nothing like a wooly grub that climbs upon a tree.
Its name is quite a hard one, but you'll learn it soon, I hope.
So try:
  Tri-
     Tri-anti-wonti-
        Triantiwontigongolope.

It lives on weeds and wattle-gum, and has a funny face;
Its appetite is hearty, and its manners a disgrace.
When first you come upon it, it will give you quite a scare,
But when you look for it again, you find it isn't there.
And unless you call it softly it will stay away and mope.
So try:
  Tri-
     Tri-anti-wonti-
        Triantiwontigongolope.

It trembles if you tickle it or tread upon its toes;
It is not an early riser, but it has a snubbish nose.
If you snear at it, or scold it, it will scuttle off in shame,
But it purrs and purrs quite proudly if you call it by its name,
And offer it some sandwiches of sealing-wax and soap.
So try:
  Tri-
     Tri-anti-wonti-
        Triantiwontigongolope .

But of course you haven't seen it; and I truthfully confess
That I haven't seen it either, and I don't know its address.
For there isn't such an insect, though there really might have been
If the trees and grass were purple, and the sky was bottle green.
It's just a little joke of mine, which you'll forgive, I hope.
Oh, try!
  Tri-
     Tri-anti-wonti-
        Triantiwontigongolope.


Scheme aabbcAADA eeffcAADA gghhcAADA iixxcaADA
Poetic Form
Metre 10101011111101 011010100110101 111010100010101 11010101110101 11110111111111 11 1 1101 1 11110101010101 1101100110001 11110111111101 11111101111101 001111101110101 11 1 1101 1 1111101110111 11111010111011 111111111110101 111011101111111 01011100110101 11 1 1101 1 111110110110001 11101110011111 11101111110111 101010100011101 11010111110111 11 1 1101 1
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,418
Words 259
Sentences 16
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 9, 9, 9, 9
Lines Amount 36
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 264
Words per stanza (avg) 65
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 18, 2023

1:21 min read
89

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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