Showing results by author "C. J. Dennis" in All Categories

Ginger Mick has fallen amongst the ANZACS of Gallipoli - but not before entreating his mate Bill to take care of his sweetheart, Rose. Bill sets out with a local minister to 'rescue' Rose from a life of moral and material poverty, unbeknownst to his wife Doreen (or so he thinks!). The adventure unfolds with the humour, larrikinism, Aussie colloquialisms and pathos characteristic of C.J. Dennis.

The 36 poems, many of which are written in Aussie vernacular, highlight the extraordinary, the comic, and the tragic of daily life in Australia. Quirks of culture, geography, and language are simultaneously caricatured and celebrated, while the challenges and ironies of human experience are touched upon with humor and pathos. Many of these poems first appeared in Australian periodicals during the early 20th century. As a collection, Backblock Ballads and Later Verses was first published in 1918 and includes the notorious mock anthem, "The Austra-laise".

Jim of the Hills is a verse novel written by celebrated Australian poet, C.J. Dennis (1876-1938). It is narrated by shy, hard-working Jim, who works for a sawmill in the Australian bush. With characteristic pathos and wit, the story unfolds in twists and turns as Jim encounters Ben Murray, the Widow, Old Bob Blair, and the angel with the sunlit hair. This Australian classic, originally published in 1919, is a true delight.  

Digger Smith is an Australian soldier who has fought at Gallipoli. An old mate of Ginger Mick's (The Moods of Ginger Mick), he returns from the war to visit the family of a fellow solder, Jim Flood. Narrated by Bill (the protagonist of The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke and a neighbour of the Floods), the story is woven together with sobering reflections and emotive dynamics expressed within a community of neighbours - friends and families of Australia's soldiers.     

This is is the second of the verse novels by C.J. Dennis and was published in 1916. It describes the adventures of Ginger Mick, a rough and ready associate of Bill, the major character of The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke. After starting life on the criminal fringes of the dubious neighbourhood of Spadger's Lane, Mick signs up for service in the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign, where he dies a hero's death.

Doreen is a verse-novel by renowned Australian poet, C.J. Dennis (1876-1938). As one of the sequels to the 1915 verse-novel, The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, it continues to follow the family capers of Bill and Doreen along with their young son. Originally published in 1917, Doreen is a classic work of Australian poetry. 

The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke is a classic Australian work of poetry composed by renowned poet, C.J. Dennis (1876-1938). This verse-novel chronicles Bill's coming-of-age through romance, love, and fatherhood. From rambunctious street-strolling youth to settled, responsible father, Bill's story unfolds with keen Aussie larrikinism and humour. This work is narrated as a duet by Denis Daly (Bill) and Sarah Bacaller (Doreen).

C. J. Dennis dedicated his work A Book for Kids to 'good children over four and under 84'. First published in 1921, this is a marvellous collection of verse and stories full of vitality and fun told by well-known actor Colin Friels.

A Book for Kids, first published in 1921, may be regarded as the Australian equivalent of Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses. The collection contains 55 short poems on a wide variety of subjects, and two stories, "The Little Red House" and "The Boy Who Rode into the Sunset".

Unlike the other verse novels of C. J. Dennis, this collection of 13 poems is focused on political satire. The action is set in the society of an arboreal race, known as Glugs, and described by the author "stupid race of docile folk". Among the targets of Dennis's mocking scrutiny are free trade, social conformity, and extravagant bureaucracy.   

Between 1915 and 1921, C. J. Dennis published seven verse novels and two collections of poetry. The first of these was The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, which features Dennis' characteristic use of a distinctive Australian argot and which became an immediate bestseller.

 The Glugs of Gosh is a book of satirical verse written by Australian author C. J. Dennis, published by Angus & Robertson in 1917. The book's 13 poems are vignettes of life in a fictional kingdom called Gosh, inhabited by an arboreal race (that is to say, climbers) known as Glugs. Dennis describes the Glugs as a "stupid race of docile folk". 

 The Sentimental Bloke tells the story of Bill, a member of a larrikin push (or gang) in Melbourne's Little Lonsdale red-light district, who encounters Doreen, a young woman "of some social aspiration", in a local market. Narrated by Bill, the poems chronicle their courtship and marriage, detailing his transformation from a violence-prone gang member to a contented husband and father.