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C J Dennis - The Hoary Precedent
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   Mr. Pericles, M.P.,
   In four-sixty-nine B.C.,
Outed Cimon at a general election;
   Premier Cimon, thuswise ex-ed,
   Was quite naturally vexed,
And he made an angry speech in this connection;
He remarked, in peroration, as he grabbed his coat and hat,
"You`re a Socialist, you rotter!  You`d no precedent for that!"


   Mr. Pericles is dead -
   Thoroughly, I`ve heard it said -
And his words and acts may now be safely quoted
   By our statesmen eminent,
   Who on mouldy precedent
(If it`s old enough and dead enough) have doted.
For precedent, I`d have you note, is most peculiar stuff;
It`s absolutely useless if it isn`t dead enough.


   In my youth I ever held
   Grave respect for all the eld,
And I found in history a strong attraction.
   So, whene`er a scheme I planned,
   Eagerly the tomes I scanned
That I might find precedent for ev`ry action.
Yet, despite my zealous labour, and the piles of books I read,
In the things that truly mattered I seemed not to forge ahead.


   As I nursed my bulging brow,
   Said I, "This is wrong somehow.
Precedent, as we all know, is something holy -
   Something we should not neglect
   To regard with great respect,
And I feel I`m safe in following it solely.
But had we done it from the start - I grasp, at least, this much -
We would still be munching apples that we didn`t oughter touch.


   "Well, this problem is immense!"
   In my experience
I reflected.  "How have we progressed, I wonder?"
   Then the obvious reply
   Hit me squarely in the eye:
It is by ignoring precedent, by thunder!
`Tis men who fix the precedents that lead the nations on
And not the folk who pin their faith to leaders dead and gone.


   Mr. Pericles, M.P.,
   You`re the sort of man for me
(Though I understand you are a Dago alien);
   `Spite your moral character,
   O`er the Styx I greet you, sir,
You`re the sort we need to-day in things Australian.
For we`re moved to ask the question of our statesmen now and then:
"Does this job of fixing precedents belong to ancient men?"


   Mr. Pericles, deceased,
   `Spite his deadness, has increased
My respect for all the world`s originators.
   If we must have precedents,
   My ideal he represents,
For I`m done with copyists and imitators.
And, after this, my reference is Pericles, M.P.,
He acted without precedent; that`s precedent for me.
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