'I Dips me Lid'



'Young sir,' 'E sez . . . Like that . . .  It made me feel
Romantic like, as if me dream was reel.
 'Is dress was fancy, an' 'is style was grave.
An' me ? I 'ope I know 'ow to be'ave
In 'igh-toned company, for ain't I been
Instructed careful by me wife, Doreen ?
' Sing small,' she sez.  An' that's iist wot I did.
I sounds me haitches, an' I dips me lid.

'Young sir,' 'e sez . . .  O' course you understand
'Twus jist a dream.  But, on the other 'and,
E seemed so reel as 'e sat spoutin' there
Beside me on ole Dame Macquarie's Chair,
Lookin' across the 'arbor while 'e talked-
Seemed sumpthink more that jist a ghost 'oo walked
Out o' the past . . . 'Phillip by name,' 'e said.
A queer ole cock, wif lace, an' wig on 'ead.

It 'appened this way: I 'ad jist come down,
After long years, to look at Sydney town.
An' 'struth! Was I knocked endways? Fair su'prised?
I never dreamed! That arch that cut the skies
The Bridge! I never thort there could 'a' been-
I never knoo, nor guessed - I never seen . . .      .
Well, Sydney's 'ad some knocks since I been gone,
But strike! This shows she keeps on keepin' on.

I'd strolled about the town for 'arf a day
Then dragged me carcass round the 'arbor way
To view the Bridge from Dame Macquarrie's Chair
Then parks me frame, an' gits to thinkin' there-
Thinkin' of older days; an' I suppose
I must 'ave nodded orf into a doze.
Nex' thing I knoo, ole Phillip come an' sat
Beside me, friendly like, an' starts to chat.

'Young sir,' 'e sez.  'You, too, in sheer amaze
Look upon this, and hark to other days,
An' dream of this fair city's early start.
In which ('e bows) I played my 'umble part-
My 'umble part - a flagpole an' a tent.'
'Come orf!' sez I. 'You was a fine ole gent.
Reel nob.  I've read about the things you did.
You picked some site.' ('E bows. I dips me lid).

'Young sir,' 'e sez.  'I've dwelt in spirit 'ere
To watch this city waxin' year by year:
But yesterday, from a mere staff, a tent,
Wonder on wonder as the swift years went-
A thrivin' village, then a busy town,
Then, as a stride, a city of renown.
Oh! what a wondrous miracle of growth
Think you not so?' 'Too right,' I sez.  'My oath!'

'I've watched, young sir,' 'e sez.  'An' I 'ave feared
Sometimes; feared greatly when ill days appeared.
Yet still they fought and wrought.  I had small need
To doubt the great heart of this sturdy breed.
Black war has come.  Yet, over half a world,
Their sons into that bloody fray they hurled
And still they triumphed.  Still their lodestar shone.'
'Sure thing,' sez I. ' They kep' on keepin' on.'

'Young sir,' 'e sez.  'The tears well in my eyes
When I behold von arch that cleaves the skies -
That mighty span, triumphant, where we view
My old friend Darwin's vision now made true:
'There the proud arch, Colossus-like, bestride
Yon glittering stream and bound the chafing tide!
'Twas so he dreamed a few short years agone.
Spoke truly, sir; they keep on keeping on.'

So Phillip spoke 'is piece, fair puffed wif pride.
An' 'im an' me dreamed by the 'arbor-side
I, of the scene before, of years to be,
An' of the marvels that men yet might see
'Im, of a lantern gleamin' thro' the fog
To light a tent, an' two men, an' a dog . . . .
Then both of us, like some queer instinct bids,
Stands up, serloots the Bridge, an' dips our lids.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

3:10 min read
138

Quick analysis:

Scheme AAXBCDEE XXFFGGXE HHEICDXJ BBFFKKLL MMNNOOEE FXOOHHPP QQRRSSXJ IITTEUCJ UUVVXXWW
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 3,223
Words 638
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 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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