Herculean sonnets

In Competition No. 3150 you were invited to submit a sonnet describing one of the labours of Hercules.

This challenge seemed to strike a chord, attracting an entry of modest size but rich in wit and invention. There were some clever topical touches as well as echoes of master sonneteers from times past: Milton, Donne and Shelley.

Honourable mentions go to Chris O’Carroll, Katie Mallett, Simon May, Hamish Wilson and Rob Stuart. The prizewinners, printed below, are rewarded with £20 each.

Lerna in lockdown faced a sombre fate;the many-headed Hydra grew two headsfor every one lopped off — the beast’s R-ratekept fearful locals cowering in their beds.How do you kill a multi-headed brute?Co-operation’s key, so Herculesbrought Iolaus (young and resolute)to bring the grisly creature to its knees.Hercules chopped the heads, his nephew snatcheda firebrand and cauterised each stump.With no heads left the serpent was dispatched;the beast of terror just a rotting lump. Its blood made poison arrows and this gory detail killed Hercules (another story).D.A. Prince

That Hera, wicked stepmother or what?She handed him a multitasking list:Mission impossible, that was the gist,But Hercules would give it his best shot.Take labour number nine. It was his lot To fetch a magic girdle Hera missed.Hippolyta agreed, then — nasty twist —Hera, by her badmouthing, stirred the pot.She might have aimed to only raise a laugh,Except the fallout from it was no joke.Refusal roused our hero’s vengeful pride.He snuffed the Queen and several of her staff.He was a workaholic sort of blokeWhose superpower, it seems, was homicide.Basil Ransome-Davies

Once Hercules has stabilised the stablesHe’s chasing birds who view him as a snack;Declining invites to their dinner tables,He’s ready for an avian attack.With beaks of bronze they strike in airborne raidsAnd slice with metal feathers, meanwhile shittingTheir poisoned ammunition — he evadesWith skill the toxic faeces they’re emitting.He