<i>The Scribe's Lament</i> by C.J. Dennis

I slave long hours in solitude,

And scribble in my inky den;

From fat M.P. to actor-dude,

I've made folk famous by my pen.

Pork butchers I've immortalized,

Praised drapers for posterity,

Discovered virtues, faults disguised,

But -- no one ever writes of me.

I've puffed important nobodies,

I've flattered flats in anecdote;

With puff par. and biographies

I've buttered folks of little note;

I've interviewed fat aldermen,

And covered pugs with flattery,

Made reputation with my pen;

But -- no one ever writes of me.

L'Envoi

Yet when I view the quaint array

I've marshalled for the world to see,

I am not filled with blank dismay

That no one ever writes of me.

First published in The Gadfly, 26 September 1906

Author reference sites: C.J. Dennis, Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library

The Scribe's Lament by C.J. Dennis