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LAUREATE of the LARRIKIN
Biography of the
Sentimental Bloke
By C.L.
The revelation that C. J, Dennis, author, of The Sentimental Bloke and creator' of his
"cobber" Ginger Mick/; those famous characters of vernacular Australian balladry,
, wasv brought up as a Little Lord Fauntleroy by maiden aunts will surprise readers of
Alec. H. Chisholm's admirable biography The Making of a Sentimental Bloke (Geor-
- -. gian nouse, /vteiDournei .
'A A R' CHISHOLM : OFFERS
/V/V an explanation for the. ln-
/ j %congruity of ; Dennis's lite-,
- rary 'fatherhood that car
ries conviction. The lad, who be
came In manhood the creator of
slangy he-men, whose pastimes.. were
" 'eadin' browns," "stoushin' Johns"
and f'chuckln!, off . chiack", in
Melbourne's back lanes, did so partly
by way of reaction — reaction from
his first name of Clarence, and from
till the coddling he received from a
group of maiden aunts lii his ; boy
hood years.
'There is Indeed nothing to suggest
in. the thin, - austere features and
the prominent nose of Dennis, sur
mounted by the horn-rimmed glasses
which look out from the -portrait in
the frontispiece, the man who ro
manticised the larrikin and glorified
Australian slang into ballad poetry
that attained at the height of Its
popularity in the twenties and pre
ceding years of World War 1 the
proportions of a national classic.
Romantic Subject
Mr. Ohisholm does full justice to
« truly romantic subject In this very
comprehensive sketch of the life of
the poet from his boyhood days In
Bouth Australia to his death In 1938
' In his 62nd year. His salty, whole-
tome humor; and the pure human
comedy of typical Australian charac
ters and Incidents pervade the ver
nacular verse which was his richest
Vein,, but- he, was also,.. .as Mr. Obls-
holih emphasises, a satirist of no
mpan :order, a nature lover - and a
patriotic prophet.
, The', origins of The Bloke are the
subject of' interesting speculation.
Dennis himself once , wrote that as
a small boy he cherished "a devout
and urgent desire to become a larri
kin,.'.' It seemed' to his childish mind
that, "the- thlmble-neeled. bell-bot
tomed, slouch-hatted, expectorating
blades who infested the streets in
those days possessed, all the manly
virtues worth having, and every
attribute of chivalry, romance and
high, adventure."
There is a suggestion that Dennis
may have drawn some of his Inspira
tion from Louis Stone's Jonah,
which was published in 1911, two
years before The Bloke made his ap
pearance. ' Stone certainly thought
the .similarity between some portions
of his prose and Dennis's verse was
more .than accidental, but. assuming
that "Den" owed something to
Stone, he did no more than Shake
speare and more eminent writers be
fore him who adapted and trans
muted prose Into poetry, and Im
proved on the original.
A Just Assessment
. Mr,. Ohisholm gives a Just assess
ment when he says that In his con- 1
structlve moments Dennis was In some
degree, both a Touchstone and a
Jaques, with a strong flavor of the
nimble wit of the one and an ele
ment of the mordant philosophy of
the -other. Dennis's genius for the
humorous climax Is demonstrated
delightfully in The Bloke's descrip
tion of Romeo's sudden end In the
Shakespearian play.- In outlining
what he had written Dennis re
peated to R. H, Croll the 'last verseV
Then Juli-et wakes, up an' sees 7m
there,
Tunis on the waterworks an" tears 'er
'air: - . -
Dear love," she sez, "I cannot Uvo
alone I"
An . wlv a moan,
She grabs 7s pocketknlfe an' ends 'er
cares '
"Ah," said Croll, as "Den" paused,
you've got yourself in a Jam, my
lad. You've -reached a ' climax there,
and can't go either backward or for
ward."
"Can't I 1" said the poet. "What
about this 7" And he chanted
softly: —
She grabs ls pocketknlfe an' ends er
cares . . .
Peanuts or lollies I" sez n boy up
stairs.
Many thousands of Australians of
a past generation who - rejoiced In
the robust larrikins of Dennis's ' crea
tive fancy will "dip their lids" to
his memory, and welcome with plea
sure this valuable and competently,
written biography. _
The Late Mr. C. J. DENNIS Help
The Late Mr. C. J. DENNIS
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