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The Sentimental Bloke #1
The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke
But, 'struth, the wimmin! 'Ow they love this frill! Fer Auntie Liz, an' Mar, o' course, wus there; An' Mar's two uncles' wives, an' Cousin Lil, An' 'arf a dozen more to grin and stare. I couldn't make me 'ands fit anywhere! I felt like I wus up afore the Beak! But my Doreen she never turns a 'air, Nor misses once when it's 'er turn to speak.
114 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1915
About the author
C.J. Dennis
128 books7 followersClarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis, better known as C. J. Dennis, (7 September 1876 – 22 June 1938) 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 1916 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 collaborated with, he is often considered among Australia's three most famous poets.
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".
Together with Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson, both of whom he collaborated with, he is often considered among Australia's three most famous poets.
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".
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 27, 2017
"[Y]eh mauls King's English when yeh yaps, an 'angs flash frills on ev'rythink yeh say. I ain't no grammarist meself, per'aps, but langwidge is a 'elp, I owns," sez Unk, "when things is goin crook." An' 'ere 'e wunk.
This book is in the top three most obscenely Australian things I've ever read.
This verse novel follows the life of 'The Kid' of Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. Written at a time when the Australian vernacular really came into its own, this originally serialised collection of verse showcases the rough-edged beauty of the now-faded and globalised Australian language.
The chapter 'The Play' is reason enough to track this down. In all his colloquial glory, The Kid retells Shakespeare's ' Romeo and Juliet' as seen through his rough-and-ready eyes.
The Australian way of speaking is too readily dismissed as just an accent, or a few idiosyncratic turns of phrase, but this work showcases the breadth and beauty of which it is more than capable. And while it is certainly heavy on the sentiment, as the title may suggest, the language alone breathes new life into the trope of love won, lost, and won again.
This book is in the top three most obscenely Australian things I've ever read.
This verse novel follows the life of 'The Kid' of Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. Written at a time when the Australian vernacular really came into its own, this originally serialised collection of verse showcases the rough-edged beauty of the now-faded and globalised Australian language.
The chapter 'The Play' is reason enough to track this down. In all his colloquial glory, The Kid retells Shakespeare's ' Romeo and Juliet' as seen through his rough-and-ready eyes.
"Wot's in a name?" she sez...An' then she sighs,/An' clasps her little 'ands, an' rolls 'er eyes./"A rose," she sez, "be any other name/Would smell the same./Oh, w'erefore art you Romeo, young sir?/Chuck yer ole pot, an' change yer moniker!"
The Australian way of speaking is too readily dismissed as just an accent, or a few idiosyncratic turns of phrase, but this work showcases the breadth and beauty of which it is more than capable. And while it is certainly heavy on the sentiment, as the title may suggest, the language alone breathes new life into the trope of love won, lost, and won again.
January 5, 2019
This is a collection of poems by C.J. Dennis dated around the 1910's. It can be difficult to read because it uses a lot of slang from that time period but overall it was an enjoyable collection. People interested in Australian History would enjoy it as it centres on an Australian way of life from over 100 years ago. What really impressed me thought was that the majority of the works are very clever, with excellent rhyming and a real sense of sentimentality.
May 16, 2018
I've read 'Songs of the Sentimental Bloke' many a time now, and I love this wonderful work of Australian poetry because Dennis wrote in the Australian vernacular with such artfulness on a subject that is universal and democratic. The Bloke (the poem's persona) is a simple working-class man living in early 20th Century Melbourne, yet the matters that serve as the focus of this long-form poem are the same that matter to all. The meaning of life, love, finding a purpose in life, family, friendship; these are the themes that Dennis explores with a wit and a kindness that takes him into the forefront of Australian literature.
Of course the poetic language is somewhat obtuse thanks to Dennis' use of street argot and slang, and in many academics' eyes this would be seen as a lessening of the poet's achievements. Technique and form are hardly classical, and there are some segments of the book that are underscored with conservative sentimentalism. This is not the same kind of poetry that one may find in Virgil, Petrarch, Donne, Wordsworth or any one of a dozen or more classically great poets.
However 'The Bloke' speaks to the reader who is willing to wrap his mind (and tongue, for it's a joy to read out loud) around the slang and go beneath the doggerel verse. For example, 'The Stoush of Day', even with its dated and racist language is as good as any metaphorical poetry about day and night as one can hope to read. Dennis writes the most uproariously funny description of experiencing Shakespeare that one could read, with a few sly digs at the elitism that is often used to exclude the bard's work form the working classes. His musings about life and love are brought to a sweetly meaningful conclusion in the final 'song', when the Bloke talks about how 'life mooches on', in a setting that wouldn't look out of place in a Greek or Roman bucolic pastoral.
Perhaps I wax a bit too rhapsodic about 'Songs of the Sentimental Bloke', and I'm guilty of 'putting on dawg' as the Bloke might say. Whatever; I am an unashamed lover of this book and will always champion its value as one of this country's greatest ever books.
As an afterthought, this edition (which I expect is long out of print) is exceptional, thanks to its loving reproduction of the original Hal Gye illustrations. To read 'The Bloke' with Gye's art burnishes the brilliance of Dennis' poetry.
Of course the poetic language is somewhat obtuse thanks to Dennis' use of street argot and slang, and in many academics' eyes this would be seen as a lessening of the poet's achievements. Technique and form are hardly classical, and there are some segments of the book that are underscored with conservative sentimentalism. This is not the same kind of poetry that one may find in Virgil, Petrarch, Donne, Wordsworth or any one of a dozen or more classically great poets.
However 'The Bloke' speaks to the reader who is willing to wrap his mind (and tongue, for it's a joy to read out loud) around the slang and go beneath the doggerel verse. For example, 'The Stoush of Day', even with its dated and racist language is as good as any metaphorical poetry about day and night as one can hope to read. Dennis writes the most uproariously funny description of experiencing Shakespeare that one could read, with a few sly digs at the elitism that is often used to exclude the bard's work form the working classes. His musings about life and love are brought to a sweetly meaningful conclusion in the final 'song', when the Bloke talks about how 'life mooches on', in a setting that wouldn't look out of place in a Greek or Roman bucolic pastoral.
Perhaps I wax a bit too rhapsodic about 'Songs of the Sentimental Bloke', and I'm guilty of 'putting on dawg' as the Bloke might say. Whatever; I am an unashamed lover of this book and will always champion its value as one of this country's greatest ever books.
As an afterthought, this edition (which I expect is long out of print) is exceptional, thanks to its loving reproduction of the original Hal Gye illustrations. To read 'The Bloke' with Gye's art burnishes the brilliance of Dennis' poetry.
November 21, 2020
Larrikin Aussie humour of an earlier generation. I first came across C J Dennis's books through my father, who would read from them out loud. It didn't matter how often we'd heard the verses before - we'd still crack up with laughter. The books are totally out of fashion nowadays, but I hold on to my copy of the Bloke tenaciously, and dip into it when I feel the need for a bit of corny humour. It never fails to cheer me up.
March 24, 2013
CJ Dennis is my favourite Australian writer. I love the way he manages to get the sound of his character's speech into the written word. It can be a challenge to read but once mastered his stories are a delight to read.
April 3, 2019
Well, here's the good first: it's a great slice of Australiana and weaves Aussie slang with larrikinism quite beautifully. It's amusing, silly, irreverent poetry for a young and just-federated country naturally self conscious with its sense of national identity. A favourite poem - the one which brought me to the book, actually - is The Play, an Aussie retelling and commentary on Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare (and I quoth, "Billo is just as good as Romeo.")
Here's the bad: oh dear, some of this has NOT aged well. The n-word is referenced quite a few times. It's an unfortunate snapshot of our racist past and really jars with the jocular nature of most of the poem - it brings a sort of sobering ugliness to silly poems poking fun at our own culture.
Secondly, the use of the Australian drawl which has been transcribed in these poems phonetically trips up the reader constantly. It's not like Burgess' nadsat or Welsh's Scottish - you never quite get used to it, because the rules for how it is portrayed morphs from poem to poem (even though they were written as a complete book of poems, curious...)
If you have a particular interest in a historicocultural snapshot of Aussie literature, in particular poetry, give this a go! But I wouldn't exactly be shocked if you gave it a miss. Just do yourself a favour and read the best one, The Play, online: https://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poet...
Here's the bad: oh dear, some of this has NOT aged well. The n-word is referenced quite a few times. It's an unfortunate snapshot of our racist past and really jars with the jocular nature of most of the poem - it brings a sort of sobering ugliness to silly poems poking fun at our own culture.
Secondly, the use of the Australian drawl which has been transcribed in these poems phonetically trips up the reader constantly. It's not like Burgess' nadsat or Welsh's Scottish - you never quite get used to it, because the rules for how it is portrayed morphs from poem to poem (even though they were written as a complete book of poems, curious...)
If you have a particular interest in a historicocultural snapshot of Aussie literature, in particular poetry, give this a go! But I wouldn't exactly be shocked if you gave it a miss. Just do yourself a favour and read the best one, The Play, online: https://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poet...
January 5, 2022
Tale uv a coot who 'eaves 'imself out of 'is lowly groove 'cors uv the luv of his bonzer tart.
An absolute delight. The Australian dream, narrated by a right bogan in my native 'Strayan.
"Jist let me tell yeh 'ow it come about.
The things that I've been thro' 'ud fill a book.
Right frum me birf Fate played to knock me out;
The 'and that I 'ad dealt to me was crook!
Then comes Doreen an' patches up me parst;
Now Forchin's come to bunk wiv me at larst."
An absolute delight. The Australian dream, narrated by a right bogan in my native 'Strayan.
"Jist let me tell yeh 'ow it come about.
The things that I've been thro' 'ud fill a book.
Right frum me birf Fate played to knock me out;
The 'and that I 'ad dealt to me was crook!
Then comes Doreen an' patches up me parst;
Now Forchin's come to bunk wiv me at larst."
Currently Reading
October 11, 2020Just been watching Romeo and Juliet from the Globe - in proper English.
As an Aussie i loved CJ Dennis's treatment,"put in the boot i sez, put in the boot - ush sez Doreen..." pure Aussie slang and hilarious....Will would be impressed.
As an Aussie i loved CJ Dennis's treatment,"put in the boot i sez, put in the boot - ush sez Doreen..." pure Aussie slang and hilarious....Will would be impressed.
February 17, 2022
Absolutely brilliant words of a loveable you-beaut Aussie larrikin in love!
Read
August 11, 2011Interesting sentimental fabian world view, complete with a very english sense of class-structures and race. But I can see why it was one of my grandmother's favourite books. And there are even some passages which I still found really worked.
"She never magged; she never said no word;
But sat an' looked at me an' never stirred.
I could 'a' bluffed it out if she 'ad been
Fair narked, an' let me 'ave it wiv' 'er tongue;
But silence told me 'ow 'er 'eart wus wrung.
Poor 'urt Doreen!
Gawstruth! I'd sonner fight wiv fifty men
Than git one look like that frum 'er agen!"
"She never magged; she never said no word;
But sat an' looked at me an' never stirred.
I could 'a' bluffed it out if she 'ad been
Fair narked, an' let me 'ave it wiv' 'er tongue;
But silence told me 'ow 'er 'eart wus wrung.
Poor 'urt Doreen!
Gawstruth! I'd sonner fight wiv fifty men
Than git one look like that frum 'er agen!"
May 2, 2013
The ancestor of the typical Aussie humour that we all know today. A pretty simple plot is dressed up by Dennis' masterful usage of Australian slang and idioms, this verse novella paints a three-dimensional portrait (or perhaps an affectionate caricature) of A typical Aussie bloke. The influence of "The Kid" to Australian comedy cannot be overestimated.
Read
August 14, 2025A charming prose poem. A hit at the time (1915) and one can see why. A celebration of Australian distinctiveness whilst also totally universal in its sentiments and concerns. It has a sweetness that can't help but shine through. Really lovely and highly recommended..
January 29, 2015
A true Australian classic
An excellent book, read for Librivox in an interesting way. Often Bill is read as a yokel or a rustic, and he is neither. Algy does an interesting take on his voice ; not rural, but not modern. Highly recommended.
An excellent book, read for Librivox in an interesting way. Often Bill is read as a yokel or a rustic, and he is neither. Algy does an interesting take on his voice ; not rural, but not modern. Highly recommended.
March 30, 2016
Hi. I. Love. Poems. And. Songs. All. Day. Long. Where. Is. The. Poems. Where. Is. The. Songs. Iam. Only. Seeing. The. Book. Without. The. Poems. The. Missing. Poems. The. Missing. Songs.
February 21, 2014
A rather simple yet fun Australian poem... its loaded with Aussie slang and such so be sure to refer to the glossary...
June 19, 2014
Written all in 'slang' poetry.
Sure a nice story!!!
Sure a nice story!!!
March 28, 2017
Like most Aussies of a certain age I'm sure, I had heard of The Sentimental Bloke by C J Dennis but didnt know too much more than that. I now know it was a verse novel published in 1915 which sold 60,000 copies in its first year. It was later made into a silent movie and in the 60's was produced as a musical. Aside from those dry facts I've now discovered first hand that it provided a snippet of Australian history, it told of "The Blokes" life in the bush, his mateship with Ginger Mick, his courtship and marriage to his beloved Doreen, then later of the birth of his son Bill.
This volume contains a selection of verses written by CJ Dennis. In the introduction Alec H Chisholm wrote that "Diggers will recapture some of the joys of yesteryear; and in addition it may be supposed that a newer generation will be blithely impressed by the humour, the sentiment, the extra-ordinary command of "slanguage", and the remarkable rhyming skill revealed by the former bush boy who became Australia's Laureate of the Larrikin".
Well the last of our WW1 Diggers have now passed but I for one loved the insights into the joys of yesteryear, I was entertained by the "slanguage", moved by the sentiment and even squeezed in some reminiscing. When my daughter was quite young I acquired a copy of CJ Dennis's brightly illustrated Book For Kids. It was a hardback volume of Aussie poetry/rhyming verse for children (published in 1921) and I have precious memories of the many hours we spent reading and re-reading that book together. I was delighted to discover a selection of the verses from that book incorporated into this volume.
I am so thrilled I finally found reason to read (devour) this book of verse. I dont consider myself a poetry lover as it generally tends to frustrate me. I dont enjoy having to work hard to uncover hidden meanings. Fortunately for me that was not the case in this book of rhyming verse (although I was grateful for the inclusion of a glossary). This is quite possibly the only book of poetry I'm likely to add to my list, and almost certainly is the one I'll derive the most joy from. this was for me a wonderfully surprising 4 star read.
This volume contains a selection of verses written by CJ Dennis. In the introduction Alec H Chisholm wrote that "Diggers will recapture some of the joys of yesteryear; and in addition it may be supposed that a newer generation will be blithely impressed by the humour, the sentiment, the extra-ordinary command of "slanguage", and the remarkable rhyming skill revealed by the former bush boy who became Australia's Laureate of the Larrikin".
Well the last of our WW1 Diggers have now passed but I for one loved the insights into the joys of yesteryear, I was entertained by the "slanguage", moved by the sentiment and even squeezed in some reminiscing. When my daughter was quite young I acquired a copy of CJ Dennis's brightly illustrated Book For Kids. It was a hardback volume of Aussie poetry/rhyming verse for children (published in 1921) and I have precious memories of the many hours we spent reading and re-reading that book together. I was delighted to discover a selection of the verses from that book incorporated into this volume.
I am so thrilled I finally found reason to read (devour) this book of verse. I dont consider myself a poetry lover as it generally tends to frustrate me. I dont enjoy having to work hard to uncover hidden meanings. Fortunately for me that was not the case in this book of rhyming verse (although I was grateful for the inclusion of a glossary). This is quite possibly the only book of poetry I'm likely to add to my list, and almost certainly is the one I'll derive the most joy from. this was for me a wonderfully surprising 4 star read.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews