In Competition No. 2434 you were invited to write a poem in the metre of Hiawatha entitled ‘Breakfast’. Trochaics have rarely been more amusingly used than in Lewis Carroll’s ‘Hiawatha’s Photographing’, in which H. is exasperatedly trying to take portraits of a very tiresome and camera-conscious Victorian family. Mama is
Dressed in jewels and in satin
Far too gorgeous for an empress.
Gracefully she sat down sideways
With a simper scarcely human,
Holding in her hand a nosegay
Rather larger than a cabbage …
See the New Oxford Book of Light Verse, edited by Kingsley Amis.
The large entry was swelled by half a dozen 10-year-old school pupils, who showed plenty of talent even though they all went metrically awry. The prizewinners, printed below, get £25 each and the bonus fiver goes to John Chilver.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in