If poets hoping to be Laureate had been required to apply in verse for the position we would now have an interesting archive of poems. You are invited to provide examples of the poetic pitches that might have been made since the role was created in 1668.
How about John Milton or Alexander Pope, deliberately passed over by the government of the day because of their questionable politics, or Byron, ruled out on account of his scandalous private life?
Please email entries of 16 lines maximum to lucy@spectator.co.uk by midday on 28 August and mark them Competition 2813.
Here are the results of this week’s competition, in which competitors were asked to submit a light-hearted poem on a serious subject.
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