The Bulldog Breed

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



'It's dogged as does it.'  They've made it a saying,
A motto to hold in that tight little isle
To hold in their fighting and toiling and playing
And stick to the job with a tight little smile.
As fortune seems bleakest they cut out complaining
They cut out the cackle and dig in their toes
As, inch upon inch, the lost ground they're regaining,
And just how they manage it nobody knows.

'It's dogged as does it.'  There's something heroic,
 Unseen and unsung in this desperate drive;
With mien of the meek and the mind of a stoic,
They win their chief goal when they seem least alive.
The nations behold, yet can scarcely believe it
As Britain wins thro' to a triumph again;
And, wondering, ask how those dullards achieve it
In that darkest hour when all effort seems vain.

'Its dogged as does it.'  No pause for regretting,
For sighing or sobbing she seeks in the fray;
But silently, steadily, all else forgetting,
Stays on the job till the clouds clear away.
Then, rubbing its eyes in incredulous wander,
The world scarce believes such a miracle true
As, snatchin' for victory, e'en from a blunder,
The tight little island again muddles thro'.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:03 min read
96

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABACAC DEDEFXFX AGAGHXHG
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,135
Words 210
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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