5 JANUARY 1985, Page 31

Competition

No. 1353: Atalantics

Set by Jaspistos: The metre and rhyme- scheme of a passage from Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon were once adapted by E. C. Bentley thus:

Let the milk that was poured Be the draught of the cat, For from under the board, From the seat where he sat, The feet of his boots are departed; he has widowed the hall of his hat.

You are invited to write a light-hearted love poem in three such stanzas. Entries to `Competition No. 1353' by 18 January.