Analysis of Another Fusion

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



There's been fierce argument of late
In my vicinitee,
Between the Commonwealth and State,
For I fell out with me.

I am a sturdy Federalist,
A staunch Australian;
And I have waved an angry fist
At me, the States' Rights man.

The argument began like this:
I to myself one night
Remarked: 'There's something sore amiss
That cries to be put right.

'This argument 'twixt Commonwealth
And State must cease, 'tis plain.
'Tis interfering with my health
And rending me in twain.'

'Then, as a free,' myself replied,
'Elector of the State,
I hold my Rights can't be denied,
And I've been wronged of late.

'The Commonwealth's extravagance'
'Hold on,' I said, 'hold on!
A fool could tell you at a glance
Where all the money's gone.

'Of late the States' expenditure
Has risen high and higher.'
'What rot,' me thought. 'That's pretty pure!'
Then shouted, 'I'm a liar!'

I rose to smite the Fed'ralist
And - what do you suppose?
I found, with my avenging fist,
The States' Rights person's nose.

And yet, it did seem strange, because
Though, truly, as I've said,
I hit the State elector, 'twas
The Federal nose that bled.

'See here,' I said, 'this game won't do.
We'll have to stop and think.
There's something wrong with me and you.
Let's go and have a drink.'

We entered, without further hitch,
A pub across the way,
And had a single drink, for which
We both appeared to pay.

'Enough of this!' the States' man brayed.
'You asked me over here
To have a drink, and when I've paid,
You drink the bloomin' beer!'

'Nay,' quoth the Fed'ralist, 'I think
You err. To me 'tis clear
I paid the money for the drink,
And you consumed the beer.

'I don't know what you are to me,
A foe, or friend, or brother.
To settle it I think I - we
YOU better have another.'

We had another.  Then we sat
Awhile, morose and mute;
Then drifted into friendly chat
About our late dispute.

'I think I see a point we've missed,
And that suggests a plan.'
At length said I, the Fed'ralist,
To Me, the States' Rights man.

'It may seem strange to you at first;
We both wear one same hat,
We have one coat, one shirt, one thirst;
Why should we stop at that?

'To buy two drinks to quench one thirst
Is utterly absurd;
Unless, of course, you're on a burst
Or jag (excuse the word).

'But, since, we're one in thirst and dress
Why not be one in view?
I can't see why we don't possess
But one opinion too.

'For I begin to think 'tis true,
Whatever else we be,
That while I'm virtually you
You're practically me.

'We're both one man.  It's all a fake!
You're me, and I am you;
Though politicians try to make
Us think that we are two.

'And if a thing suits one it should,
Quite clearly, suit the two.
And if this Federation's good
For me, it's good for you.

''Tis folly that we two should fight,
And wrangle, and abuse;
So, seeing things in this new light,
It's up to us to fuse.'

We fose forthwith, I'm pleased to say,
  We're now a single man.
And that man is, from now, alway,
  A good Austral-i-an.


Scheme AAAB CXCD EFEF GHGH IAIA XXXX JJXJ AKCK XLXL MNMN OPOP AXXQ NQNQ BJBJ RSRS CDAD TRTR TUTU VMVM MBMB WMWM XMXM FXFX PDPD
Poetic Form Quatrain  (75%)
Metre 11110011 011 0101001 111111 110101000 01010 01111101 110111 01000111 11111 01110101 111111 1100110 011111 1010111 010101 1101101 1101 11111101 011111 0100100 111111 01111101 110101 11010100 1101010 11111101 1101010 111101 011101 11110101 011101 01111101 110111 110111 0100111 11111111 111101 11011101 110101 11001101 010101 01010111 110111 01110111 111101 11010111 11011 110111 111111 11010101 010101 11111111 0111110 11011111 1101010 11010111 010101 11001101 0110101 11110111 010101 111101 110111 11111111 111111 11111111 111111 11111111 110001 01111101 110101 11110101 111101 11111101 110101 11011111 10111 11110001 11001 11111101 110111 1010111 111111 01011111 110101 0110101 111111 11011111 010001 11010111 111111 11111111 110101 0111111 011011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 2,861
Words 570
Sentences 45
Stanzas 24
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 96
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 91
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:56 min read
79

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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