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C J Dennis - An Apt Pupil
Work rating: Low

Knockin` about (said Benny, the Tough)
   By the Rocks an` Woolloomooloo,
Oh, I was a low-brow, right enough,
   And a bit of a bounder, too.
Kickin` about with me larrikin band,
   I was always gittin` in bad;
Till the kindly cops took me in hand,
   An`, lissen, I`ve been glad.

I was a tough when life begun,
   An` me ideels was not high --
Doin` the things that "are not done,"
   Disgracin` me old school tie.
Me feet was set on the downward road,
   A crook I was, an` a cad,
Till the genteel cops taught me a Code --
   An`, lissen, I was glad.

Doin` sich things as I never had ort,
   Soilin` the family name,
With never a notion of good, clean sport
   Or the pride of playin` the game.
The dirtiest fighter in all the Rocks,
   That`s the sort of name I had,
Till the manly cops taught me to box;
   An`, lissen, I was glad.

Playin` the game with a good straight bat,
   Scornin` the bottle an` boot;
Turnin` meself from a wharfside rat
   To a reel nice-livin` coot.
Learnin` to battle without `arf-bricks
   Or with pickets, as once I had --
For the good cops taught me their rastlin` tricks --
   An`, lissen, I was glad.

But flesh is weak; an` I fell from grace,
   An` I goes an` I drifts right back,
An` burgled a bit of a jeweller`s place;
   An` a cop gets on me track,
But I meets his rush with a good straight right,
   An` I reckon he got reel mad
To think that the cops taught me to fight.
   But, lissen, I was glad.

Then a crowd of his pals come off their beats;
   But I takes to me heels an` clears,
An` I leads `em a marathon thro` the streets
   While they lumbers and puffs in the rear.
Then I loses `em all when I`d had me fun,
   An` I sprints like a race-course prad.
For me cobbers the cops taught me to run,
   An`, lissen, was I glad?
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