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Velvet melody

Jaspistos

IN COMPETITION NO. 1956 you were invited to write a rhymed poem featuring a list of words that especially please you, or of words that especially displease you.

In the 1980 Sunday Times poll of read- ers' favourite words, velvet and melody were followed in joint third place by gos- samer and crystal. Motivated by the occa- sion, John Kitching wrote a 'phorioaesthet- ic' poem which contained the particularly haunting line, 'Bewildered, claret, akimbo, fur'. Apropos, someone once remarked that a romantic poem about London Underground stations would be more like- ly to include Pimlico and Colindale than Wapping and Goodge Street. Noel Petty supplies an interesting footnote: Dylan Thomas, once asked what his favourite word was, said 'aerodrome'. The ugliest word in the language? Sauerkraut? Zeugma? Or, as a friend suggests, 'from'?

The prizewinners, printed below, get £20 each, and the bonus bottle of Isle of Jura Single Malt Scotch whisky goes to Noel Petty.

Pure mathematics once held me in thrall, Drunk on the magical sound of it all: Cardiod, conchoid, scalene, acute, Asymptote, osculate, rhomboid and root. Envelope, cusp, polynomials, surds These were a few of my favourite words.

While literate chaps studied Hamlet or Emma, I was alive to the music of lemma, Icosahedron, orthogonal lines, Conics, quartemions, tangents and sines. Involutes, evolutes, pedal curves, bounds These were just some of my favourite

sounds. (Noel Petty)

Syllabub, salsify, marmalade, milk; Moygashel, calico, corduroy, silk.

Porphyry, amethyst, aquamarine: Clerestory, oriel, balcony, screen. Sassafras, sycamore, lavender, lime, Jasmine, euonymus, dittany, thyme, Galleon, hurricane, mariner, swirl, Drift, archipelago, argosy, furl.

Dulcimer, oboe d'amore, bassoon, Harp, oratorio, lute, rigadoon.

Seraphim, harmony, galaxy, gleam; Shadow, serenity, lullaby, dream.

(Godfrey Bullard) I don't like faze or hype or brill, Unwaged, teenager, fave or chill, Stonldng, grotty, zonked and dosh, Mega, macho, ace and nosh.

I'm not too fond of pulchritude, Beautician, toy-boy, wimp or dude, Spin-doctor, whizz-kid, luvvie, fuzz, Stressed out or knackered, crap or buzz.

Uncool, dishy, hip and fab, Beer-gut, boozer, boobs and flab, Wally, whammy, willy, gob, All these I hate — and slurp and slob.

(0. Smith) Scree, wormy, asphodel, electroplate Semantically apart, they still evoke A sensual pleasure, like a favourite joke Or some fond savour rising from a plate.

Dog, rubric, chariot, psychology -

Somehow they're dull, they just say what they mean Like phrases from a speak-your-weight machine.

They do the job, but have no plangency.

The more we understand the less we feel, So words from other languages incline To raise the little hairs along the spine.

Mariana, amour-propre, glockenspiel.

(Basil Ransome-Davies) On-programme, we deliver A modular degree, Or implement — don't shiver! A class activity.

Proactive, we disaggregate A basic client base, So outreach centres operate By building interface. The excellence of centres!

We access them each week — We're quality presenters, Or 'teachers', so to speak.

(Bill Greenwell) Though lisp of leaves and ripple of rain may thrill, the euphony is triple in dollar bill.

I hear a velvet tone, sweet melody, in lira, zloty, krona, rand and rupee.

My love of drachma, guilder, deutschmark and franc compounds my yen to build a rich verbal bank, (Ray Kelley)

No. 1959: Bouts rimes

You are, invited to write a poem with the following: rhyme-scheme: stop, chop, curly, hurry, charges, barges, date, late, shut, cut, joy, coy, stay, away. Entries to 'Competi- tion No. 1959' by 14 November.