Rudyard Kipling and CJ Dennis
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:01 am
Last Sunday I attended my first Melbourne ARVOs meeting for a while. (See general report under 'Events'.)
Following the recent establishment of the CJ Dennis Society, I have been reading and thinking more than ever about Dennis. I remembered that his first book, 'Back Block Ballads and Other Verses' was a nod to Rudyard Kipling's 'Barrack Room Ballads and Other Verses', published in 1892. I read a few of these poems a long time ago, and thought they were fantastic. In fact, these two books inspired the title of the cassetted album I recorded in 1983, 'Back Block Ballads'. (At the time, I was feeling frustrated with Australians' preoccupation with American stories. To quote myself at the time (roughly), 'There's a whole world of wonder outside our own back door!')
Anyway, to return to Kipling. The introduction to my volume told me that for about forty years after its publication, it was the most popular book of rhyming verse in the world. It also stated that, between Shakespeare and Kipling, almost nothing was written about the common soldier in English literature. The national hero was the sailor, not the infantryman. I also learnt that Kipling was the first to give the Cockney accent legitimacy in literature. This reminded me very much of what Dennis did with the slang of Little Lonsdale Street in Melbourne. No wonder Dennis was so inspired by Kipling!
At the ARVOs meeting I read a Kipling poem in the first round, and a Dennis poem in the second. The Kipling poem was 'Danny Deever', a very moving piece about capital punishment within the ranks. The Dennis poem was 'The Boon of Discontent', a truly hilarious piece which I had read many years ago, but completely forgotten. Dennis is so incredibly creative with his rhyming patterns, as I have remarked before. What is amazing about this poem is that the last line of every verse does not rhyme with anything. It creates a very interesting effect.
I have been very mindful in recent years of the influence that English poet laureate John Masefield had on CJ Dennis. I had completely forgotten about the influence of Kipling, but it was very real, and I now have a better understanding of why.
Following the recent establishment of the CJ Dennis Society, I have been reading and thinking more than ever about Dennis. I remembered that his first book, 'Back Block Ballads and Other Verses' was a nod to Rudyard Kipling's 'Barrack Room Ballads and Other Verses', published in 1892. I read a few of these poems a long time ago, and thought they were fantastic. In fact, these two books inspired the title of the cassetted album I recorded in 1983, 'Back Block Ballads'. (At the time, I was feeling frustrated with Australians' preoccupation with American stories. To quote myself at the time (roughly), 'There's a whole world of wonder outside our own back door!')
Anyway, to return to Kipling. The introduction to my volume told me that for about forty years after its publication, it was the most popular book of rhyming verse in the world. It also stated that, between Shakespeare and Kipling, almost nothing was written about the common soldier in English literature. The national hero was the sailor, not the infantryman. I also learnt that Kipling was the first to give the Cockney accent legitimacy in literature. This reminded me very much of what Dennis did with the slang of Little Lonsdale Street in Melbourne. No wonder Dennis was so inspired by Kipling!
At the ARVOs meeting I read a Kipling poem in the first round, and a Dennis poem in the second. The Kipling poem was 'Danny Deever', a very moving piece about capital punishment within the ranks. The Dennis poem was 'The Boon of Discontent', a truly hilarious piece which I had read many years ago, but completely forgotten. Dennis is so incredibly creative with his rhyming patterns, as I have remarked before. What is amazing about this poem is that the last line of every verse does not rhyme with anything. It creates a very interesting effect.
I have been very mindful in recent years of the influence that English poet laureate John Masefield had on CJ Dennis. I had completely forgotten about the influence of Kipling, but it was very real, and I now have a better understanding of why.