17 SEPTEMBER 1983, Page 31

Competition

No. 1287: Rats!

Set by Jaspistos: Boswell tells us that James Grainger (1721?-66) in the first draft of his poem Sugar-Cane began a paragraph,

'Now, Muse, let's sing of rats ' (it was orginally 'mice', but had been altered for extra dignity). You are invited, using that opening, to continue, in rhymed couplets or blank verse, in the style of a bad and boring poet of the 18th century (maximum 16 lines). Entries to 'Competition No. 1287' by 30 September.