Dennis, C. J. (1876-1938), called the Laureate of the Larrikin, was considered one of the most humorous and witty of Australian poets. He was mainly popular for ballads written with great vigor and humor in the larrikin (young hoodlum) language. The most popular of these ballads were The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke (1915) and The Moods of Ginger Mick (1916). The ballad sequence The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke tells the story of a young man’s life. The Moods of Ginger Mick is in the same humorous poetic style, and relates the adventures of the young man’s friend Ginger as an Australian soldier. Dennis wrote a sequel, Rose of Spadgers (1924). His other collections of verse tales include Backblock Ballads and Later Verses (1918), Digger Smith (1918), and Jim of the Hills (1919).
Dennis has been accused of sloppy sentimentality and of caricaturing the characters of the larrikins and diggers (Australian soldiers) in his verses so that he perpetuated a popular belief that the real Australian of the period acted, thought, and spoke like his characters. But Dennis was a skilled writer of verses. His descriptions are hilarious, his backgrounds are convincing, and his characters, with their racy speech, are endearing. Above all, Dennis had a clever command and control of both the real and his invented Australian slang.
Dennis also wrote poems for children in A Book for Kids (1921). He wrote serious verse, which is lyrical and pleasing. The most popular is The Singing Garden (1935), a collection of prose and poetry on nature themes. He also wrote satire in his journalistic writings while working for The Herald in Melbourne from 1922 to 1937. The Glugs of Gosh (1917) is a burlesque of middle-class society. But Dennis’s literary importance lies in his unique larrikin verse. The Sentimental Bloke has been the subject of a musical comedy and two films.
Clarence Michael James Dennis was born on Sept. 7, 1876, in Auburn, South Australia. He died on June 22, 1938.
