"The Austra-laise" is a poem by Australian writer
C.J. Dennis that was first published in ''
The Bulletin'' magazine on 12 November 1908 as an entry in a National Song Competition which drew 74 entries. The entry was entitled "A Real Australian Austra--laise", and won its author a special prize.
[''The Making of a Sentimental Bloke'' by Alec H. Chisholm, 1946, pp 33-34]
The poem is also known by the titles "The Austrabloodyaise" and " A Real Australian Austra-laise". It can be sung to the tune of "
Onward Christian Soldiers
"Onward, Christian Soldiers" is a 19th-century English hymn. The words were written by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1865, and the music was composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1871. Sullivan named the tune "St Gertrude," after the wife of his friend Erne ...
".
Originally published as a set of four verses in 1908, with blanks instead of dashes and under the byline "A. J. Dennis",
[''The Bulletin'', 12 November 1908, Red Page] the poem was expanded later to its now-familiar 7 stanzas.
It was later included in the author's poetry collections ''Backblock Ballads and Other Verses'' (1913) and ''Backblock Ballads and Later Verses'' (1918). It was subsequently reprinted in various newspaper and magazines, as well as in the poetry anthologies: ''Complete Book of Australian Folklore'' edited by
Bill Scott (1976); ''An Illustrated Treasury of Australian Verse'' edited by
Beatrice Davis
Beatrice Deloitte Davis (28 January 1909 – 24 May 1992) was Australia's first full-time book editor, appointed by Angus & Robertson in 1937. She nurtured a generation of writers and "helped shape Australian literature for half a century".
...
(1984); and ''The Penguin Book of Australian Humorous Verse'' edited by Bill Scott (1984).
Dennis was rather staggered by the success of the poem, writing to
William Moore, the art critic, "Without any guff it really surprised me to see the Australaise so popular. It was written originally as a joke on the editor of the Red Page
f The Bulletinand was not intended for publication. Since then, comments upon it have turned up from all sorts of unlikely places - the centre of Africa, Fiji, and now London."
Footnote to 1915 edition: "Where a dash (——) replaces a missing word, the adjective "blessed" may be interpolated. In cases demanding great emphasis, the use of the word "blooming" is permissible. However, any other word may be used that suggests itself as suitable." Earlier editions also included this footnote: "(With some acknowledgements to
W. T. Goodge
William Thomas Goodge (28 September 1862 – 28 November 1909) was an English writer and journalist, who arrived in Australia in 1882, after jumping ship in Sydney. He worked in various jobs in New South Wales, including as a coal-miner, until ...
.)".
All mention of Goodge had disappeared by 1918.
[''Backblock Ballads and Later Verses'' (1918)]
Dennis's acknowledgement to W.T. Goodge refers to that author's poem "
The Great Australian Adjective" published in
The Bulletin on 11 December 1897. Goodge's poem begins:
The sunburnt ---- stockman stood
And, in a dismal ---- mood,
Apostrophized his ---- cuddy;
"The ---- nag's no ---- good,
He couldn't earn his ---- food -
A regular ---- brumby,
----!"
See also
*
1908 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).
Events
*March – Ezra Pound leaves America for Europe. In April, he moves to Venice, where in July he self-publishes h ...
*
1908 in Australian literature
*
Australian literature
Australian literature is the written or literary work produced in the area or by the people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding colonies. During its early Western history, Australia was a collection of British colonies; as such, ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australaise
Australian poems
1908 poems
Works originally published in The Bulletin (Australian periodical)
Poetry by C. J. Dennis