LITERATURE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17158, 10 November 1917, Page 2

LITERATURE.

AN AUSTRALIAN SATIRIST.* MB. C. J, DENNIS AND "THE GLUGS OF GOSH." By Constant Reader. "It needs some violent discrepancy in the life oi a community to produce a satirise," says iVlr (jiiDcit Cannon in his essay on "batiro." 'iiuili violent discrepancies exist to-day in the iiio oi tnu peopio or tno Ayatraiian Commonwealth few will bo found to deny. Whether any ol those discrepancies accounts for tue appearance in tlio role of satirist of Mr C. J. Dennis is, of course, quite another question. Tho evidence ot Bucti an appearance aud in such a role is the publication of "Tne GJugs of Gosh,"

Mr Dennis is widely known and universally popular as tho author of "Xho Sentimentai Bloke," but in tho London Bookman for September there is an urticlo on the poet and his poetry, containing the following interesting particulars, which, however, need amending in one important detail— viz., that Mr Dennis was married a month or two ago;.

Clarence James Dennis is still young and a bachelor. Ono of u, family of boys, he was born at Auburn, South Australia, in 1876. His father was a retired sea captain, who had taken to hotel-keeping. His mother, Katherino Tobin—much younger than- her husband —was born in Australia, shortly after her people migrated from the old Catholic town of Kilkiloe. They removed to Laura hi tho great horse country, and tho child grew up a devouror of books and a worshipper of racers. At six ho wrote his iirst verses; at eight the dream of his life was to bo a jockey. His dream has come true, but his mount has wings. He was educated chiefly at the Christian Brothers' Collego, Adelaide, where his literary gifts were encouraged, and Hood became his favourite author. In these years he lost his mother, but tho old eea captain lived on to bo 85.

In 1894 ho obtained a junior clerkship with a leading firm ,of woolibrokers and stock agents. Ho bought "David Copperfield" and another book by Diokens out of his first week's pay; but, as the manager and ho differed about the value of "King Solomon's Mines," as a standard work for office hours, they parted, and Clarence went to help his father at Laura. At 21 he read Kipling's poems, and snatched up his pen with hopes of a now El Dorado. His verses were welcomed and paid for by tho Adelaide Critic; better still, tho editor, Alfred M'Kain, grew interested, and in 1898 Dennis joined the paper. A year later tho spirit of adventure took him to the Broken Hill silver region, New South Wales. Hβ arrived with less than tho lucky half-crown in his pooket, worked as a miner, carpenter, railway navvy, photographer's canvasser, insurance agent, and saw life with those slategrey eyes very wide open. It was a hard life, and hunger and thirst nearly brought it to an untimely end. Ho and a comrade were picked up by a Good Samaritan in the saffc bush, on the way to Poolainacca, and brought back to Broken Hill. Ho returned to tho Critic, succeeded his old friend as editor, and when tho paper changed hands started the Gadfly, an illustrated threcuenny weekly, with a brilliant staff of contributors. That sparkling insect flitted to Japan, the Cape, Great Britain, but it was too giddy for the austerity of Adelaide. Tho venture had been made on £150 of oapital, and from the second issue tho Gadfly was in straits; but, oh, the comedy, the hilarious spirits, the good stories of those impecunious days! . . -.«■ « An attempt to remove it to Melbourne failed. From Melbourne Dennis visited Toolangi, was enchanted with the place, bought a derelict sawmill hut, made himself a ban-jo, and settled down to work. That banjo, fashioned of blackwood, galvanised iron, the skin of a cat, and the sinews of a wallaby, had in its tone the very soul\ of the bush made vocal. It prehided tho musio of the Australian colloquial. . , The bulk of Dennis's output at first ■was colloquial verse, which brought him a charming interview with the Prime Minister. Then the " Dorecn" poems appeared in the Bulletin, and knitted a close friendship between .him and Mr J G Roberts, the Victorian bibliophile. At Mr Roberts's country house in the Dandenong range "The Sentimental Bioko" was completed, and about this time appeared the " Back-block Ballads, a volume of collected verso. A lHtle before "Tho Bloke" was published Dennis received an appointment m tho Navy Office, Melbourne. He was transferred, as a confidential secretary, to tho Federal Attorney-general s department- but official claims had to give way to tho call of the bush and the pressure of his proper work, and he resigned. " M ; ck " was finished in a private hospital in Melbourne during his recovery from a serious tram accident. The censor struck out one section of the book; but some day that poem may yet take its place in the series.

These details are essential to an -understanding of the v : ewpoint of the poet when ho wrote "The Glugs of Gosh." According to an explanation on the paper-wrapper— which might with advantage have been included in the book itself, ' a Glug may he defined as 'Ourselves as others see us, and Gosh might be any of the communities which make up that Empire on which the stm never eets." While pch a generalisation is good as far as it goes the full flavour of Mr Denn : s's social and political sat're is better brought out by assuming " Gosh" to represent the Australian commonwealth, and by accepting "Glug" as typical of the avewge inhabitant of that progressive democracy. Englishmen, whose memories will carry them as far back as the eighteen seventies, may remember the popularity attained by that clever parodv of Tennyson's 'Idylls of-the King' called "The Coming _ K.," which was followed by a number of similar satires. "The Siliad," "The Fijiad." " Fa'ist and Phisto," " Jon Duan," and "Edward VII," all aimed at demonstrating that the conduct of the then Prince of Wales was unfitting him for succession to the throne. Scurrilous and insolent as wero those satires, they gained currency as reflecting the anti-monarchical wave of feeling then sweeping through Great Britain as the result of the Republican triumph in Franco. That host'litv to the British monarchy was very temporary, it soon passed! It is interesting after the lapse of •years, to observe in "The Glugs of Gosh" a clever satirical attack on democratic bureaucracy a-s existent in Australia at the present time.

Now here is a tale of tho Gluge of Gosh, And a wonderful tale I ween, Of the Ghigs of Gosh aid their great Kkbsr Splosh, And Tush, his virtuous Queen. And here is a tale of the crafty Ogs, In tho neighbouring land of Podge; Of their sayings and doings and plottinge and brewings And something about Sir Stodge. Wise to profundity Stout to rotundity. That was the Knight, Wir Stodge.

Mr Dennis has an almost fatal facility in the mating of catchy rhymes—a gift in which he goes far to emulate W. S. Gilbert, of comic opera fame. He has also a keen sense of the ridiculous, and a vein of quiet and incisive humour. Thus, his satire has considerable point. As to the exact meaning of the poem, there is likely to be some difference of opinion. Probably every reader "will make liis own interpretation, and thero may be a multitude who will see no meaning in it at all. Readers able to appreciate George Meredith's subtleties in "Tho Shaving of Shagpat," the irony of Anatole France in L'lle des Pingouins," or the shafts of satire levelled by Samuel Butler in " Erewhon" against convention and civilisation: —arc stire to take pleasure in "The Glugs of Gosh." 1 The poem does not invite quotation. It must bo read as a whole to be enjoyed and understood. Concerning its cleverness there can be no two opinions; but in all likelihood it will only appeal to a limited circle. Mr Dennis, in his opening number, "The Glug Quest," puts his admirers to the test fairly and squarely. If they pass this first hurdle, they will probably persevere to the end. The nature of tho quest is thus stated:

How to encounter a Glug, and where The country of Gosh, famed Gosh, may be,

t" Grapes oJ Wroth." By Boyd Cable. London: John JCunray. Dnnedin: It. J. Stark and Co. (55.) •1. "The Glngs of Gosh." By C. J. Dennis; with illustrations by Hal Gye. Sydney: Angus iind llobertson. (Ordinary Edition, 4s; Pocket IMition for tho Trenohes, 4s; Blue Wren Edition, with six additional full-page plates in oolom 7s 6d.) 2. *' Doreen" t A Christmas Story in Verse." By C, J. Dennis; with ooloared and other illustrations bv Hal Gye. Sydney: Angaa and Eobcrfcscti. (in esntioDO ready Jar posting, 13.)

Tho end of tho quest is worth quoting for tho moral it contains: Sit you at ero when the Shepherd in Blue Calls from the West to his eluetering eheep. . They pray for the moods that old mariners woo, For the thought of young mothers who watch their babes sleep Pray for tho heart of an innocent child, For tho tolerant scorn of a weary old man, For tho petulant grief of a prophet reviled, ■ For tho wisdom yon lost when your whiskers began. Pray for the pleasures that he who was you Found in the mud of a shower-fed pool, For tho fears that ho felt and the joys that ho knew When tho little green lizard crept into the school. Pray as they pray who are maddened by wine: For distraction from self and a spirit at rest. Now, dcer> in tho heart of you search for a siftn If there be naught of it, vain is your quest. Lay down the book, far to follow the tale Were to trade in false blame, as all mortals who fn.il, And may tho gods salve you on life's droary round; 3?or 'tis whispered: "Who finds not 'tis he shall bo found." This satiric poem enforces a moral to which Australian democracy will do well to give heed. Mr Dennis learnt tho lessonwhen the call of the bash, -with abandonment of present material gain, proved stronger than the visible means of support. His evident desire in publishing "The Gliitrs of Gosh " is to place the things that matter in their true jgerspeetive and to overthrow the gods which present-day democracy is too prone to worship. Mention must also be made of the four addit : onal " Doreen" poems, done up in a dainty Christmas booklet with illustrations in colour by Hal Gyo. The first throe of these ipoerns —"Washing Dav," "Logic and Spotted Dog," and "Vflcts"— are as good as anything that Mr Dennis has ever written, and they show wonderful insight into the workings of a woman's mind and hoart. The fourth po"m, " Possum " is inferior both in subject and in treatment, but the booklet as a whole is rert.vnly well done. Mr Dennis describes in his inimitable Australian din'^ot. vorsp the married life of Dorr-en and The Bloke in their country residence, and what happoned to young Bill, their son and heir. FROM PROSE TO POETRY, t Among the contributors to tho Bibliophicle, a magazine and review which ran a brief course in the years IS-37 and 1908 was Mr F. C. Owlett, whose contributions included an article on "The Cat in Literature," and a rather remarkable centenary sketch of Edgar Allan Poo. Since Owlett has written articles, mainly on literary topics, for the Spectator and other perod : crt!s, and he was quite content to express himself in prose " until tho Great War stirred in him "thoughts and emotions that eeemed to find their natural outlet in verse." Tho outcome of such stirring s seen in the issue of a little book bearing the significant title "Kultur and Anarchy," for which Mr A. St. John Adcock, editor of the London Bookman, his written a brief introduction.

According to Mr Adcock. Mr Owlett, when onlv a email boy, not only learnt Keat's "Ode to Autumn" off by heart, but moved an atiprec'ative schoolmaster to reward him with sixpence for writing a prose dissertation on " War." When war actually broke out Mr Owlett's first experiment in verse took the form of the following two stanzas, which originally appeared in the New Age :— Aemagedcon. Right gaily doth old Charon ply his- oar What time tho guns boom low across the ValleyPlies without let, for when his ancient galley Disbarks its burden on the further shore, He puts about and—with j. ghastly l C er Oil's withered chaps, at thought of all the slaughter Of man by man—speeds o'er the Stygian water, Nor compass needs by which his course to steer. Mr Owlett is still a poet in the making, and tho poems in this book are but his prentice work. "Not the least of their interest lies," writes Mr Adcock, "in tho intimation they hold of what may bo expected of him when he has wholly emerged into and won the freedom of his new element." The poems here printed are remarkable for their versatility and for their fierce denunciation of tho spirit in which Gormanv entered upon the war and which is responsible for the long list of subsequent atrocitirs. This is especially notable in "Buccaneers, O, Buccaneers" (German Btyle—Twentieth Century), and in "The Zeppelin " —both pieces being remarkable in their dramatic realism. '"The Song of the Aeronhne" strike? a fine stirring note, but Mr Owlett is at his best in his and more emotional moments. " Gone Wp=t," written in memory of Private Arthur Kinff. who dKT of wounds reeeiv-d nt tho Somme in October, 1916. when only 19 years of age. is surely riest'ned to comfort many a sorrowing heart:— Thv rest is won! God's Peace be thine, God cause His Countenance 'to shine TJnnn thce, sleeping where the rnll Of bittlo comes not nt'sli thv soul. While yet thy feet hnvo soiree the shrine Of manhood gained thy lidf- the wine Of Life scarce touched, Death passed tho sign— And thou attained th" final Goal. Thy rest is won! Fito unpTopitious did assicn Thv youth s-onnt iov till all benign She turned and smiled, and sweet peace V stole About theo, and a rormdpd whole Thy flays wore! . . . Shall we then repine? Thy rest is won! " Invicta" is another of Mr Owlett's poems that will live. It was written in memory of Private Harvey Slnde, of the Bth Royal Fusiliers, also killed on the Somme at the age of 19. "At his birth it was said of him that he could not live, but the doctors reckoned without tho mothrr. Again the doctors said it was not possible that ho could live—beyond his fourteenth year. For 16 years the mother Waged uncensing war with Denth, and lo! a miracle! Death wearier! of the fight, the boy rose and went, into the ways of men." His officer said: "He was one of the finest and bravest in his bnttnlion, and died at his post like a British soldier end a gentleman." Mr Owlett's lines will be cherished at this season of sorrow by many a New Zealand mother, bereaved by tho War of her son :

Mother of him rejoice! That, bearing him, you bore a worthy son To England, in whose righteous cause he won The Passing of his choice. Beyond the bourne of years He has eternal being, whore tho stars Make music, and whence all the frets and jars And strife of Earth tho fears. Of various failure, ago And dusky " Death," appear a troubled dream Ho has awakened ! Let this truth supreme Your etricken heart assuage. Valiant in high empriso He passed, and for a season dwells apart; Here :s tic, cause for tears (though tears will start), Here is no cause for sighs. Cause lather for calm joy T*oo deep for outward seeming, and denied The lip's light utterance—mingled with a pride Joe't and without alloy. Be sure in ringing voice He answered to his name on Heaven's Roll. At last, as ever, Captain of his Soul! Mother of-him, rejoice 1

t " Kultnr and Anarchy." By P. 0. Owlet*; with an introduction by A. St. John Adcrck and a frontispiece by Edmnnd J. SulliTan. London: Elkin Matthews. (2sGd net.)