Article: Australia's Greatest Rhymer

[Stephen Whiteside]

After the recent discussion about Henry Lawson, I thought I'd post this article. It was written in the lead-up to the C.J. Dennis 'Toolangi Centenary' of 2008.

I don't claim to be an expert. It is just the opinion of somebody who has been reading and attempting to write rhyming verse for several decades.


Australiaʼs Greatest Rhymer

© Stephen Whiteside 26.06.07

Banjo Paterson, Henry Lawson, and C.J. Dennis are Australiaʼs three great rhyming
poets. Of the three, however, Dennis is easily the best rhymer. This is not to say that
he is a better poet but, judged purely in terms or rhyming proficiency, he easily
outstrips the other two.

I grew up on Paterson and Lawson. It was not until my early adult years, however,
that I first encountered Dennis. The mini publishing and recording boom that followed
the centenary of his birth in 1976 ensared me in its web.

Somehow (and I have completely forgotten the circumstances) an LP came into my
hands with the title “More Than a Sentimental Bloke”. It featured actor John Derum
reciting the poems of C.J.Dennis. The album itself was a spin-off from an ABC
Television dramatisation of Dennisʼ life, which had also featured Derum. I had missed
the TV show, though. (“More Than a Sentimental Bloke” had originally been a one-
man stage show performed by Derum. I had missed that, too.)

“Songs of a Sentimental Bloke” was Dennisʼ most successful work. Not only did it
sell in enormous numbers, it also became the subject of two films ( a silent film and a
“talkie”), a play, a radio version, two ballets, and a musical. The musical was also
later adapted to television. The premise of “More Than a Sentimental Bloke” was that
this book had been so successful that it had overshadowed the rest of his work.

I had always loved verse being read out aloud or, better still, recited. I was utterly
captivated by the sound of Derum reciting Dennisʼ poems. It is still my favourite
album. (I nominated it in the ABC poll “My Favourite Album” last year. It didnʼt win.)

I immediately made myself familiar with more of Dennisʼ written work. Fortunately,
this was not difficult, as most of the books had recently been reprinted. Alas, his
work, with the exception of “The Sentimental Bloke” (the title has been abbreviated),
is now out of print once more. (I am pleased to be able to report, though, that the full
text of all his books is available these days on the Internet.)

Now another Dennis centenary looms. 2008 will mark one hundred years since
Dennis moved to Toolangi. Toolangi is a small rural township 65km east of
Melbourne, situated in forested hills. Its principal industries at the time Dennis lived
there were timber production and potato growing. Dennis had grown up in the dry
regions of northern South Australia, and had later spent some time living very hard in
Broken Hill. The cool moist air of Toolangi provided a vivid contrast and a welcome
relief.

Dennis was a burnt-out man when he arrived in Toolangi at the age of 32. He had
worked extremely hard for many years as both a writer and an editor in South
Australia, but had little to show for all his effort in terms of either fame or money.
Toolangi provided him an opportunity to rest and recover, and he certainly made the
most of it. Toolangi was to remain his home for the next thirty years when he died, at
the age of 62, in 1938.

Dennis wrote all the books for which he became famous in or near Toolangi. (He also
spent a good deal of time in the nearby Dandenong ranges as part of the famous
“Sunnyside” circle of artists, under the care of Mr. John Garibaldi Roberts and his
wife.) These include “The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke”, “The Moods of Ginger
Mick”, “Digger Smith”, “Doreen”, “The Glugs of Gosh”, “A Book for Kids” and “The
Singing Garden”.

Let us return, then, to a comparison of the rhyming styles of Paterson, Lawson and
Dennis. Patersonʼs “The Man from Snowy River” seems the natural place to start.
The poem consists of 13 verses, each of eight lines. The pattern of rhyme
throughout is ABAB. The first line consists of four beats, and the second consists of
three. The third line is four beats again, and the fourth line three beats again. These
patterns are maintained strictly, and beautifully, throughout the poem.

“Clancy of the Overflow” consists of eight verses, each of four lines. To give Paterson
due credit, the rhyming pattern is quite sophisticated. Lines 2 and 4 rhyme. Lines 1
and 3 do not. The pattern is therefore ABCB. However, lines 1 and 3 in each verse
also have an internal rhyme, which is much more difficult to achieve. The lines are
equal in length, with four beats to every line.

“The Man from Ironbark” consists of eight verses, each of six lines. Again, the
rhyming is very clever. The pattern is AABBCC. However, it is more complicated than
that. The middle of each line also rhymes with the middle of the following line (with
the very occasional exception). It is almost as though each line is actually two lines
combined. The lines are equal in length, with four beats to every line.

“Mulga Billʼs Bicycle” breaks the trend a little, in that the five verses are not all of the
same length. The first verse has six lines, the second ten, the third six, the fourth
eight, and the fifth eight. The rhyming pattern is also much simpler, with no internal
rhymes, or lines that rhyme in the middle as well as the end. The pattern is
AABBCCDD etc. Again, the lines are all equal in length, with four beats to every line.

“The Geebung Polo Club” again has verses of unequal length. The first two have ten
lines, the third has eight, the fourth has six, and the last has ten again. Again, the
rhyming pattern again is a simple AABBCCDD etc. Again, the lines are all equal in
length, with four beats to every line.

Whoops! I almost forgot “Waltzing Matilda”. Strictly speaking, it is more a song lyric
than a poem. There are four verses, and there is, of course, a chorus. Each of the
verses, and the chorus, have four lines each. The rhyming style for all is a simple
ABCB. Once more, the lines are all equal in length, with four beats to every line
(including the chorus).

Arguably, these are Patersonʼs most famous poems. (They are certainly my
favourites.) The first three are the most sophisticated, from a rhyming perspective.
“Clancy of the “Overflow” and “The Man from Ironbark” both have very clever
rhyming patterns. “The Man From Snowy River” is a simple ABAB, but the use of
alternating line lengths is clever. The other three are much less sophisticated.

Let us now look at Henry Lawson. I must admit I find these a little more difficult to
choose as, to my mind, there are not the obvious stand-outs that there are with
Paterson. My personal favourite, though, is probably “Andyʼs Gone with Cattle”. It
consists of six verses, each of four lines. The rhyming pattern is ABAB. The lines are
all equal in length, with two beats to every line.

Actually, it is a little more complicated than that. In lines 1 and 3 of the first two
verses, the rhyme is actually on the second last rather than the last word of the line.
“Cattle now” rhymes with “battle now”, and “dejection now” rhymes with “selection
now”.

“Faces in the Street” also reads like a song lyric. It is a beautiful poem. There are 13
verses, each of seven lines. The rhyming pattern is AABBCBB. However, the fifth
and sixth lines are short. The first four lines, and the final line, have four beats. The
two shorter lines have two beats each. (It should also be mentioned that the final
word, and rhyme, of the fourth and seventh lines of each verse is “street”.)

It could also be said that Lawson has essentially increased the effectiveness of the
poem by cleverly breaking the fifth line of each verse into two, thereby turning what
would have been six line verses into seven line verses. The rhyming pattern would
then have been AABBBB, with four beats to every line.

“Scots of the Riverina” consists of five verses, with four lines each. The rhyming
pattern is AABB. The lines are all equal in length, with four beats to every line. It is,
of course, a stunning poem.

“Past Carinʼ” consists of five verses, with 12 lines each. It is complicated. The
rhyming pattern for the first two verses is ABABCDCDDDCD. (This is not quite as
difficult as it looks, as “carinʼ” makes up three or four of the five “Dʼs” in every verse.)
Actually, he does not quite pull this off in the first verse, as he rhymes “brown” with
“know”. It doesnʼt look too bad on paper, but doesnʼt work so well when it is recited.

However, in the third verse he changes the rhyming pattern. Lines 5 and 7 no longer
rhyme with each other, but both contain internal rhymes. Line 11 still rhymes with line
7, but of course is now no longer able to also rhyme with line 5. Are you following all
this? I must admit, it isnʼt easy to explain.

The fourth verse sees another change in the rhyming pattern. Lines five and seven
are friends again (they rhyme with each other), but line 11 does not rhyme with
anything.

The final verse sees a return to the original rhyming pattern of the first two verses, so
it can be argued that there is a pattern to affairs after all, and the earlier breaks from
the rhyming pattern were the result of inspiration rather than a lack thereof.

Interestingly also, though, the first line in verses 1, 4 and 5 contains an internal
rhyme. In verses 2 and 3, however, it does not. It is difficult to find any particular
reason why this should be so.

The lines are all equal in length, with two beats to every line.

I was planning to analyse six Lawson poems, to match Paterson. However, after
“Past Carinʼ”, I am almost past carinʼ myself. By saying this, I am not trying to
denigrate it as a poem. It is a beautiful poem. However, when assessed by the
criteria that I am using (sophistication and consistency of rhyme), it does not
measure up so well. This may become clearer after I have completed my Dennis
analysis.

Iʼll have a crack at one more. Iʼm tempted to look for a simpler one, but that would
not be fair. Iʼve always liked “The Lights of Cobb and Co.”, so Iʼll have a look at that.
The poem consists of six verses, each of eight lines. The rhyming pattern is
AABBCCDD. Once more, the lines are all equal in length, with four beats to every
line.

All, right then. Letʼs now take a look at Dennis. The first point to make is that Dennis
wrote a number of verse novels. Examples are “The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke”,
“The Moods of Ginger Mick”, and “The Glugs of Gosh”. Neither Paterson nor Lawson
wrote verse novels. They did both, however, make limited moves in that direction.
For example, Clancy appears in both “The Man from Snowy River” and “Clancy of
the Overflow”. Lawson wrote “Andyʼs Return”, a sequel to “Andyʼs Gone with Cattle”.

Now letʼs have a look at some individual poems. My favourite is “The Growth of Sym”
from “The Glugs of Gosh”, so I will begin with that. It consists of 17 verses, each
containing seven lines of equal length. Seven lines of equal length? Paterson and
Lawson never wrote verses with seven lines of equal length. If they did, I certainly
donʼt remember any of them. (“Faces in the Street” contains seven line verses, as I
said earlier but, as I also said, the fifth and sixth lines are only half the length of the
others.) The rhyming pattern of “The Growth of Sym”, by the way, is AABBCCC.
There are four beats to every line.

My next favourite is “An Old Master”, from “Backblock Ballads”. This consists of 13
verses, of four lines each. The lines are all equal in length, with four beats each. On
superficial inspection, only lines two and four of each verse rhyme, giving us a
simple ABCB pattern. However, in a way that is reminiscent of “Clancy of the
Overflow”, line three contains an internal rhyme.

Of course, even though Dennis was indeed “More than a Sentimental Bloke” we
should still look at the Bloke poems. They did constitute his most popular work after
all. I think my favourite is “The Stoush OʼDay”. This consists of 14 verses, with six
lines each. This pattern, as we will come to see, is classic Dennis. The pattern is
ABABCC. The lines are all equal in length, with three beats to every line. What is
interesting is the way he combines the alternating rhyme (ABAB) with the sequential
rhyme (CC) in the one verse. It is both sophisticated and simple. Again, this is
something that neither Paterson nor Lawson attempt, nor has anybody since, to my
knowledge. I have never attempted it either.

I mentioned earlier that this pattern is classic Dennis. He uses it a great deal. For
example, both “Doreen” and “The Stror ʻAt Coot” (from “Songs of a Sentimental
Bloke”) follow this pattern. In the Blokeʼs sequel, “The Moods of Ginger Mick”, he
also uses it extensively. In fact, the first four chapters (poems) of Ginger Mick all
follow this pattern, strictly and relentlessly. It is an amazing achievement, and gives
us some indication of the iron will that drove Dennisʼ verse.

The other strategy that Dennis often employs is to throw in a single, shorter line. It is
not matched by another shorter line, the way Lawson would do. It stands alone.
Again, this is quite confronting. To my mind, it adds a jaunty feel to the verse, rather
like the canter of a horse. An example of this is “A Spring Song”, the first poem in
“Songs of a Sentimental Bloke”. Each verse contains six lines. Each line has three
beats, with the exception of the fourth, which has only one. (The shortness of the line
does not affect the rhyming pattern, however.)

Thinking back about this article, I wonder if I have made too much of the notion of
changing the rhyming pattern within a poem. (I am thinking particularly of my
comments about Lawsonʼs Past Carinʼ.) It would be wrong of me to say that Dennis
never does this. He does, but he doesnʼt do it often. He really doesnʼt.

So what are the features of Dennisʼ poetry that lead me to say he was a better
rhymer than Paterson and Lawson? The first is the combination of alternating and
sequential rhymes. The second is the use of the unopposed (or unmatched) shorter
line. The third is the other assorted adventurous rhyming techniques, such as seven
equal length line verses. The fourth is the evenness in the length of the verses in a
given poem. Dennis very rarely changes the number of lines per verse within a
poem. The fifth, of course, is that he wrote verse novels.

This analysis is, obviously, far from exhaustive. I have only examined a small sample
of the work of each writer. To do more is beyond my resources at present. Perhaps
some Ph.D student will tackle the task one day. Perhaps it has already been done. If
so, I am not aware of it.

Of course, as I said at the start of this article, none of this is to suggest that Dennis is
a better poet than either Paterson or Lawson, simply a better rhymer. Certainly, he is
my personal favourite poet, though. I canʼt tell you exactly why. I do find his rhyming
structures both thrilling and reassuring. (I am a rather timid soul, who likes to be
reassured.) I also love the childlike quality of much of his work, especially “The Glugs
of Gosh”. It has a beautiful lightness of touch.

The wonderful thing, of course, is that so many C.J. Dennis centenaries now await
us. 2015 will mark the centenary of the publication of “The Songs of a Sentimental
Bloke”, 2016 will mark “The Moods of Ginger Mick”, and so forth. There is just so
much to look forward to!

[Neville Briggs]

There's a poem that has been known and loved by people all over the world for millenia, and it doesn't even rhyme or metre,

it starts off;
"The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want
He makes me to lie down in green pastures"
...and so on.

do you know it ? What is it's enduring power of expression ?

Maybe we should have a go , just for fun....see if we can discuss poetry without using the words rhyme, metre or syllables or free verse.

[Neville Briggs]

Marty, I should have said "without using the words rhyme, metre, syllables OR FREE VERSE"

You miss the point Marty. That long, complex technical discussion of Stephen's led me to think that at some time it might be beneficial to have a discussion about poetry ( not a poetry competition ) that was not focussed on technicalities but on the subjective, emotional, spiritual if you like, aspects of poetry.
And bush poetry includes all those things doesn't it ? My example above was to illustrate the importance of those things.

Please, I beg you.....let's not get bogged down ..yet again ..in a pointless , unprofitable harangue about genre.

p.s. I've amended my former post

[manfredvijars]

G'day Stephen, it's great that you have a passion for the works of CJ.
His street venacular is brilliant (for an observer). And yes, his works are 'clever'.

In terms of rhyming, I find Lawson to be the master of 'soft' (feminine) end-rhymes. "Past Carin" may lack 'sophistication' (to some) but it has Soul, and a deep understanding of the privations of the 'common' folk - and not from mere observation.

A battle to determine who of our beloved (Classical) Poets is the "BEST" is stupid, because we really love them all. Each of our Poets are unique in their style and application of their craft. They've endured because they wrote 'right' and not rough. And we don't need to squabble and pull down one Poet to favour another.

I'll let Henry fight his own battles ...
_______________________________________
The Uncultured Rhymer To His Cultured Critics
1897 Henry Lawson


Fight through ignorance, want, and care —
...Through the griefs that crush the spirit;
Push your way to a fortune fair,
...And the smiles of the world you’ll merit.
Long, as a boy, for the chance to learn —
...For the chance that Fate denies you;
Win degrees where the Life-lights burn,
...And scores will teach and advise you.

My cultured friends! you have come too late
...With your bypath nicely graded;
I’ve fought thus far on my track of Fate,
...And I’ll follow the rest unaided.
Must I be stopped by a college gate
...On the track of Life encroaching?
Be dumb to Love, and be dumb to Hate,
...For the lack of a college coaching?

You grope for Truth in a language dead —
...In the dust ’neath tower and steeple!
What know you of the tracks we tread?
...And what know you of our people?
‘I must read this, and that, and the rest,’
...And write as the cult expects me? —
I’ll read the book that may please me best,
...And write as my heart directs me!

You were quick to pick on a faulty line
...That I strove to put my soul in:
Your eyes were keen for a ‘dash’ of mine
...In the place of a semi-colon —
And blind to the rest. And is it for such
...As you I must brook restriction?
‘I was taught too little?’ I learnt too much
...To care for a pedant’s diction!

Must I turn aside from my destined way
...For a task your Joss would find me?
I come with strength of the living day,
...And with half the world behind me;
I leave you alone in your cultured halls
...To drivel and croak and cavil:
Till your voice goes further than college walls,
...Keep out of the tracks we travel!
---

[Bob Pacey]

Amen !

Manfred

Cheers Bob

[Leonie]

Go Henry! That's tellin' 'em.

[Maureen K Clifford]

WOW Stephen that was a very interesting article thank you.

Manfred I have also never seen that poem so thank you for posting it here..It is excellent.

Marty you might like this one it is a bit better than 'the cat sat on the mat' which is rather cute IMO and very descriptive though very short on words - but this is a beauty.

I like green eggs and ham!
I do!! I like them, Sam-I-am!
And I would eat them in a boat!
And I would eat them with a goat...
And I will eat them in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
They are so good so good you see!

So I will eat them in a box.
And I will eat them with a fox.
And I will eat them in a house.
And I will eat them with a mouse.
And I will eat them here and there.
Say! I will eat them ANYWHERE!

I do so like
green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Sam-I-am

Now them's rhymes

[keats]

Yeah, a bit of a one sided article there, Stephen. Amongst all the poets and poetry fans I know and have met, Denis and O'Brien are probably near the bottom of the list for interest, impact and story telling. I find, personally, that Barcroft Boake was a superior rhymer to all you have mentioned, but wouldn't try to write a long article based on my opinion. Like asking who the best racehorse or footballer in history was. Great choice of Lawson Poem too Manfred. One of my favorites.

[manfredvijars]

The Uncultured Rhymer To His Cultured Critics
by Henry Lawson - 1897

ABAB rhyming scheme
4 - 3 1/2 rythme of mixed metre
(Femine end-rhymes on the "B")

'Proper' punctuation,
Good use of language
No spelling errors
a couple of inversions (appropriate for the time)
but scans pretty well ...

Yep, not a bad piece (IMHO) ...
---

[manfredvijars]

Wait till September Marty me Bhoy, wait till September ...