'Bobbie' for Brotherhood



Lang syne I penned a mickle rhyme
 That muckle grief brocht to my soul;
For critics said 'twas aye a crime
 Nae Scottish patriot could thole
Whit way I ca'ed their honored bard,
  Wi' kind intention, 'Bobbie' Burns.
Aye, mon, they smote me fine an' hard
  Wi' sic' fierce words as nae yin learns
Save native sons, those braw, stern men
O' mountain crag an' heather glen.

Misdoubtin' whit my critics said,
  An' sair distressed aboot my plight,
A notion cam' intil my head
  To haud a Scottish plebiscite.
Forbye I passed frae Scot to Scot
  Spierin' whit way they named their bard,
An' aye the same reply I got
  Wi'out dispute in sic' regard;
For ilka mon gie'd answer straight
Wi' ne'er a thocht tae heesitate.

A mon frae Glasea first I speired,
  A humble an' unlettered loon,
An' then a scholar, red o' beard,
  That cam' from Edinburgh toon;
A Hielan' chief, a rowan' chiel,
  Men oot o' Leith an' Aberdeen,
Tae ane an' a' I made appeal,
  Tae gowk an' greybeard, wife an' wean,
An' a', wi' unanimity
The selfsame answer gi'ed tae me.

An 'twas na' Robert, Rab or Rob
  They ca'ed yon braw, poetic yin
That wakes in Scottish hearts a throb
  Wi' words that mak' the whole world kin.
They named him 'Bobbie' wi'out shame,
  As Bobbie he will ever be
To sic' as scorn to clothe his name
  Wi' smug respectabeelity.
To humble hearts his songs defend
Beloved Bobbie, brither, friend.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

1:17 min read
59

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCDEE FGFGHCHCXC CIXIBJXJKK LMLMNKNCOO
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,352
Words 250
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 10, 10, 10, 10

Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis

 · 1876 · Auburn
 · 1938 · Melbourne

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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