BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 15, 12 October 1918, Page 11

BOOKS OF THE DAY

More Dennis Verse. In "Bnckblock Ballads and Later Versus" (Angus and Bobortson; per Whitcombo and Tombs), Mr. G. J. Dennis, whose "Sentimental Bloke," "Ginger Mick," and other books of verso havo attained such a ividcspre.ad popularity, lias collected a number of poems contributed by him to tho columns of: tho Sydney "Bulletin" and other Australian journals. Somo belong to Mr. Dennis's earlier period; others aro of quite recent composition. All of them display that quaint humourj that homely philosophy and command of effective rhymo which have contributed not a little to their author's success. Several of them deal with ■ tho. hard lifo of tho Australian "bacliblocks" farmer, others with city life. In "When, the Sun's Behind the Hill," I find tho following little picture of rural life. Then it's sitting down and yarning • When wc'yo had our bite and sup, And the mother takes up her darning While our Mary tidies up; And Bess tolls how the balds' cow got tangled in the wire; And Kaiie keeps tho baby boy from tumbling in the fire; And tho baccy smoke goes' curling as I suck my soothing briar, When, the sun's behind the hill. Then we talk about the season, And of how it's turning out; And we try to guess tho reason For tho lons-£pntlnued drought-. Oh, a farmor's lite ain't roses, and hia work is never done; And a job's 110 sooner over than anotheris begun, For he's toiling late and early from tlio rising of the sun. Till he sinks behind tho hill. But it grows, that peaceful feeling, While I'n sitting smoking there, And tho ltiddie3 all are kneeling To repeat'their evening prayer; For it scorns, somehow to lighten all the care that must be bore When tho things of life arc worrying an_d times are troubling sore, And I pray that God will keep them when my own long day is o'er. , And the sun's behind tho hill.' The sordid side of the. dairying industry is set forth in other verses headed "Cow."

Aw, so aid, write your tinklintr jingle, an' your pretty phrases mingle,. For-the namby-pamby girl'all fluffy frill .-■ an' shinin' silk. • '" That's the sort, to brine you trouble when, you tries 'cm in the-double; Blow your beauty! Wot's the matter with the maiden 'oo can milk? Thorn there rhymers of the wattle an' tho bardlet of the bottle— 'Inras-Bings of sparkling wine, an' does a perish for the beer; An' your slap-dash horsey poet,! why if yon blokes only know it, You 'ave missed tho only subject fit to rhyme about down 'ere. An' though I ain't a poet with the bays upon mo brow, I consider that, it's up to me to sing about tho Cow. Oow, Oow— (Though it ain't a. pretty row, It's a word that Mpnotises me; I couldn t tell jtou how)— ■ Though I ain't a gifted rhymer, Nor a blamed Parnassus climber, I'm inspired to sin*, a tune or two about the Blessed Cow* And he forthwith proceeds to describe the daily life of a small settler's family in a district where Queen Cow is enshrined as goddess. 'TJstle, or you'll get a taste cr-Wot? No cheek, you llamin' waster! This is wot-1 gets for paying AEF A QUID. A- WEEK-AND KEEP! "' Talk about yer Unions, will you? Eighto, my covey, wait until you Come 'ere crawlin'-WHKRK'S THAT SAKAH? Ain't she finished niilkin' Spot? Is this wot I brought you up for; roared and gave you bite and sup for? 'Struth! A man's own kids '11 next bo talking Tfnion, like as not! Garn, I ain't got time to listen to your silly sniy'lin' now; Undorstan' me, you was born and bred to THINK AN' I/IVE FOB COW! Cow, Oow— I'm a capitalist now; Though I once was poor an' lonely, an a waster, I'll allow, Now I've 'ands that I can hector, I'm an Upper 'Ouso elector; An' the Sanit'ry Inspector is an intcrferin' cow. .. Cow, Oow— Bow your-:'oads, you blighters, bow! Come an' be initiated. Come an' take the milky vow; Put your wife an' fam'ly in it. Work 'em every wakeful mini.l; Fetch your sordid soul, an' pin it, signed, and sealed an' sold to COW. In the verses entitled "Work or lieflection," Mr. Dennis waxes mildly satirical over the theorists as opposed to thoso- who. actually accomplish things in life:. , Wo have read about the lives, in ancient history, Of tho Doers back in every age aiid clime; And their method of reforming Was reflecting—and performing! More especially tho latter, every time: But thn man who sat recognised the principles, And calmly left the accomplishment to Fate, May have won a reputation, Ar'o. saviour of'the nations, But his name baß been suppressed, at any rate. This has clearly been the rule, since, far antiquity! " ' ; Before a thing iB done n, man must act, And all progress lay in knowing What .to do and straightway going, . And . just "working" till reform becamo a fact. But to stand on distant nodding terms with principle Tins been a most unprofitable trick. Ton can scan historic pages. And right down throughout the ages Mere reflection never laid a single brick. For it'n (i raft !-Toil-Work, It's performance that is needed in the land: Becognition by the student Of the yrinciplo iB prudent. But it never yet has shifted any sand. And Hell is full of futile folk who scorned the verb to do, Who "recognised the principle" but failed to see it through. Jlr. Hall Gyo contributes a delightful drawing—in colours—as a frontispiece, and a clever, "end paper" design.

"The Billy Book." The N:S.AV. Bookstall Company, Sydney, forward a copy of "The Billy Boole—Hughes Abroad," a vohimo of cartoons, by tho ex-New Zealander Low, which have appeared in the "Bulletin." Mr. Low is a horn caricaturist. Tndeecl, I doubt whether the famous Sydney weekly has ever had a finer black . nixl white, artist on tho stall'. But the constant belittleinent .'Kid abuse—pictorial and literary—of the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth :'n which the "Bulletin" indulges, is sadly overdone. According In the "Bulletin" writers and artists, Mr. Hughes is a. combination of fool and knave. 'Were lie either ho could never have attained to his present position.- The everlasting siwer with which tho "Bulletin" pursues Australia's leading men has become very tiresome.