Page:Backblock Ballads and Later Verses (C.J. Dennis, 1918).djvu/115



He lived in Mundaloo, and Bill McClosky was his name, But folks that knew him well had little knowledge of that same; For he some'ow lost his surname, and he had so much to say— He was called "The Silent Member" in a mild, sarcastic way.

He could talk on any subject—from the weather and the crops To astronomy and Euclid, and he never minded stops; And the lack of a companion didn't lay him on the shelf, For he'd stand before a looking-glass and argue with himself.

He would talk for hours on lit'rature, or calves, or art, or wheat; There was not a bally subject you could say had got him beat; And when strangers brought up topics that they reckoned he would baulk, He'd remark, "I never heard of that." But all the same—he'd talk.

He'd talk at christ'nings by the yard; at weddings by the mile; And he used to pride himself upon his choice of words and style. In a funeral procession his remarks would never end On the qualities and virtues of the dear departed friend.