Spectator competition: When Ogden Nash met Johnny Cash (plus: brunch with Byron?)

The latest brief was to submit irregular quatrains that bring together two people from the world of the arts and finish on a couplet describing the consequences. Popular couplings included Wendy Cope and Alexander Pope; Salvador Dalì and Bob Marley; Horace and William Morris; and Mel Gibson and Henrik Ibsen. Two competitors paired Tolkien and Graham Greene, with not dissimilar results. Here’s D.A. Prince:

If J.R.R. Tolkien met Graham Greene would a hobbit’s story become The Power and The Glory?

And take two from Virginia Price Evans:

Had J.R.R. Tolkien Met Graham Greene, The Hobbit’s lair Might have been the end of the affair.

This one drew the crowds and the volume of witty and imaginative entries made judging extremely difficult. The winners below take £8 per quatrain.

Robert Schechter If Charlotte Brontë had played Beatrice to Dante might the fruit of their epic affair have been Dante’s literary Eyre?

If Ogden Nash had written songs for Johnny Cash the lyrics might have turned out stronger but the line Johnny walked would have been a whole lot longer.

W.J.