THE
FOURTH COMPETITION
THE EDITOR OFFERS A PRIZE OF £5 FOR A NEW NURSERY RHYME,
Two more warnings must be issued while there is still time. First, a parody of an old nursery rhyme cannot properly be called a new nursery rhyme ; we should as soon call a parody of The Christian Hero a new devotional tract. Secondly, nursery rhymes are not the same as " poems addressed to children." All of the oldest nursery rhymes, we believe, were addressed to grown-ups, and it is a happy accident- of birth that has made them fit for children to delight in. The very rhythm of such lines as :-
"There were three little girls, with their three little dolls, And Pussy had joined them for tea "-
marks them inevitably as nothing like nursery rhymes. One competitor, sending in a poem excellent of its kind, writes
I am aware that this is not the best and purest form of nursery rhyme, but I fear that the making of Jenny Wrens and Mother GOoseries is a lost art now, and perhaps, since H.L.S., whom, though we may not approve, we must needs love, the above type has come to be permissible as nursery rhyme." We shall not bind ourselves not to award the priZe to a " poem for children," but we shall be much happier if we have evidence that the writing of nursery rhymes is still possible.
RULES FOR COMPETITORS
1. All entries must be received on or before Friday, May 1st.
2. Competitors may send in as many entries as they wish, but each entry must be accompanied by.one of the coupons to be found on page 702 of this issue.
3. The name and address (or the pseudonym), of every com- petitor must be written clearly at the foot of his manuscript. 4. The Editor cannot return any manuscript -submitted for the competition, nor can he enter into correspondence with competitors. 5. The Editor reserves the right of printing any manuscript submitted.
6. Envelopes must be addressed : Competition, the Spectator, 13 York Street, Covent Garden. London, W.C. 2.
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