C.J. Dennis published Backblock Ballads and Other Verses in 1913, but it did not sell very well.
However, twenty-one of the poems from the 1913 book were included in his later book, Backblock Ballads and Later Verses, along with an additional sixteen poems. His new book, published in 1918, achieved great success.
Four of the poems from Backblock Ballads and Other Verses (1918) were included in his book The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke (1915), the latter book being the basis of the poet’s rise to fame.
To demonstrate the republication of poems from his first book (1913), a list of the poems from each of the two Backblock Ballads books has been given below, with the 21 shared poems highlighted with a bold red font and marked with an asterisk*:
Contents:
*’Urry!
Roamin’ Free
*Langwidge
Doch-an-doris
*An Old Master
Wanderers Lost
The Looting of Jim
*Hopeful Hawkins
Mutton
*The Homeward Track
*Cow
Barley Grass
Snakes
Mornin’ Magpies
Up ’Long the Billabong
*When the Sun’s Behind the Hill
*Wheat
The Cruise of the “Nightmare”
The Ballad of Juno Sue
Me an’ Bates
Cleanin’
The Bleating
Comin’ ’Ome frum Shearin’
*The Silent Member
On the Land
Toolangi
OTHER VERSES.
The Sentimental Bloke —
I. A Spring Song
II. The Intro
III. The Stoush o’ Day
IV. Doreen
Brothers o’ Mine
*The Joy Ride
The Tory
*A Real Australian Austra—laise
*My Poor Relation
The Martyred Democrat
The Idolators
*The Lovers
The Nearing Drums
The Royal Hat
Under the Party Plan
Yarra Flats
The First Elective Ministry
It was Never Contemplated
Weighed In
*The March
A Ballad of Elderly Kids
Moonshine
The Eternal Circle
*The Chase of Ages
*The Bridge Across the Crick
*Son of a Fool
Suburbia — A Yearn
*The High Priest
* “Paw”
*Weary
Brown’s Tram
*The Bore
Overweight
Glossary
Contents:
*An Old Master
“Paw”
The Builders
*Wheat
*The Lovers
“Got-a-Fag”
*The Chase of Ages
A Guide for Poits
Grimbles and the Gnad
*Langwidge
*The Joy Ride
*The Homeward Track
Sore Throat
*When the Sun’s Behind the Hill
*’Urry
*Hopeful Hawkins
Timberland
*Weary
Hymn of Futility
A Song of Rain
*The Bore
The Cultured Constable
*My Poor Relation
The Boon of Discontent
*Son of a Fool
*The Silent Member
*Cow
*The High Priest
The Philistine
Work or Reflection
*The March
The Little Homes
*The Bridge Across the Crick
K’shoo
Vulgar Fractions
The Minglers
*The Austra-laise
Leave a Reply