The Indian Myna

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



Gimme the town an' its clamour an' clutter;
 I ain't very fond of the bush;
For my cobbers are coves of the gardens and gutter-
 A tough metropolitan push.
I ain't never too keen on the countryfield life;
It's the hustle an' bustle for me an' me wife.

So I swagger an' strut an' I cuss an' I swagger;
 I'm wise to the city's hard way.
A bit of a bloke an' a bit of a bragger;
 I've always got plenty to say.
Learned thro' knockin' about since my people came out
From the land at the back of Bombay.

When out in the bush I am never a ranger;
 There never ain't nothin' to see.
Besides, them bush birds got no time for a stranger;
 So town an' the traffic for me.
I sleep in the gardens an' loaf in the street,
An' sling off all day at the fellers I meet.

An' I swagger an' scold an' strut an' I swagger,
 An' pick up me fun where I can,
Or tell off me wife, who's a bit of a nagger,
 Or scrap with the sparrers for scran.
A bonzer at bluffin', I give you my word,
For, between you an' me, I'm a pretty tough bird.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:05 min read
101

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCC ADADXD AEAEFF AGAGHH
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 997
Words 210
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6

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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