Spectator competition winners: in praise of the sonnet

In Competition No. 3344 you were invited to submit a poem expressing feelings – positive or negative – about a poetic form. The standard was impressively high, with near-misses for Max Ross, Sylvia Fairley and David Silverman, whose entry ended by rendering Paradise Lost in a single haiku (‘Angel turns nasty/ Temptation in the garden/ A big mistake. Huge’). All below win a well-deserved £25.

The way its rigid pattern goes,

The triolet repeats a lot.

A canny reader quickly knows

The way its rigid pattern goes.

It’s an enchanting form to those

Whose memory’s completely shot.

The way its rigid pattern goes,

The triolet repeats. A lot.

You get to hear this first line thrice.

And this one is repeated, too.

In triolets, that’s not a vice.

You get to hear this first line thrice!

Familiarity feels nice,

Providing comfort. Lucky you!

You get to hear this first line thrice.

And this one is repeated, too.

Max Gutmann

Yes, it brought me fame and fortune,

But it’s horribly pervasive,

And I wish I’d never nicked it

From that wretched Kalevala!

Trouble is, trochaic rhythm

Never seems to want to leave you,

Till you cannot form a sentence,

Even talking to the milkman:

‘Leave an extra pint tomorrow

And I’ll settle up on Friday.