Competition: Jubilee lines 

In Competition No. 2749 you were invited to submit a poem, written by a poet laureate from the past, to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Thirteen out of the 19 former laureates featured in the entry. Unsurprisingly, the most popular were Betjeman and Tennyson, with Wordsworth and Hughes coming a close second. Alfred Austin and Colley Cibber, poorly rated and oft-mocked, spawned a handful of strong submissions. I liked George Simmers’s twist on Southey’s ‘After Blenheim’; equally impressive were Ann Alexander, Brian Murdoch and W.J. Webster, all of whom captured well the voice of Ted Hughes.

The winners, printed below, get £25 each. The bonus fiver goes to Mary Holtby as John Dryden, the only holder of the office of laureate to be sacked.

In Ancient Times, when Shakespeare stalked the
Stage,
The First Elizabeth defin’d the Age
And History, unfolding Scene by Scene,
Reflects the glory of the Virgin Queen;
Alike in Warfare and the Liberal Arts,
She reign’d supreme, and rul’d her People’s Hearts.
From Heav’n with what Delight — I dare to claim
—
She views the Heiress of her Noble Name.
‘Auspicious day that brought thee to the Throne!’
She cries, ‘With Gifts as various as mine own;
As brightly Jewell’d for th’assembled Lords
— So far as Modern Penury affords —
As bravely Hors’d, with Eloquence as rare,
Not dissipated, but preserv’d on Air.
Live long, more blest than I with double Grace,
Of Children first, then Mother of thy Race.’
Mary Holtby/John Dryden

Oh wondrous Elizabeth, heir of George Rex,
Who lightened and brightened Britannia’s decks
Now sadly abandoned and moored in despair
On the banks of the Clyde at the bidding of Blair.

Oh wondrous Elizabeth, heir of George Rex,
Whose forbear, Queen Bess, would have severed
our necks,
We laud and applaud thee for Aldershot sun
That continues to burnish Miss J.