Lucy Vickery

‘This Be The Prequel’ (and other poetic prequels)

[Photo: Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images] 
issue 21 November 2020

In Competition No. 3175 you were invited to submit a prequel to a well-known poem.

C. Paul Evans’s opening to a prequel to the nation’s favourite poem caught my eye:

My publishers had telephoned to askFor something inspirational and spiffy:I told them I would think about the task,But mentioned I was feeling somewhat iffy…

As did Bill Greenwell’s Stevie Smith:

Nobody saw him, the dry man, But there he lay frowning: Life was much much harder than he thought, Not-bathing but browning.

Other standout performers, in a stellar entry, were Jayne Osborn, Iain Morley, Chris Ray, Nick MacKinnon, Max Gutmann, Robin Helweg-Larsen, G.N. Crockford and M.F. Shardlow. The winners, led by Alex Steelsmith’s ‘This Be The Prequel’, net £25.

They bring you up, your mum and dad,      To honour them, no matter what.

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.

Already a subscriber? Log in