THE VERSE COMPETITION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 72, 26 March 1930, Page 20

THE VERSE COMPETITION.

BUDGET STAFF TURN POETS. BUT COMPETITION RESULTS APPEAR NEVERTHELESS. Dear Boy* and Girls, —- 4 Once I remember having read of a play about pirates where every one of the crew was enchanted in such a way as to make him speak always in rhyme, and to-day I feared that our office had been similarly bewitched, for the correcting of the "Complete the Verse" Competition seemed to affect everyone, and all were unwittingly exchanging rhymes. A draughty window had been Ae cause of much discomfort.to members of the Budget staff, and Wendy, quite unconscious of her poetical talent, said: ■ Shut the -window, will you please; . : If you. don't, I think I'll sneeze. . With a mind full of the work in hand, I scarcely looked up from the entries I was correcting, but stifled a cough with 'the back of my hand, and addressed the Crocodile, saying: Close the window tight,'old. Groc., Otherwise I'll have to cough. The rhymes of both Wendy and myself were admittedly very primitive, but the Crocodile, whilst not attempting original verse, replied by quoting Ella Wheeler Wijcox's "I Am" in a somewhat modified form. His reply wa •: " \ 1 know not whence I came, I know not whither I go; But the fact stands clear that I am here, . To shut that draughty window. ' In due course the offending window was closed, and, thanks to Tinker Hall's suggestion of hot lemon drinks, sweetened with honey, Wendy and 1 warded off our colds, and the results of the verse competition duly appeared. The work on the whole was very good, and most of the entries rhymed quite nicely. There were, however, no entries of outstanding merit, and it was quite a° difficult task to award the prizes and certificates. After considering many minor points, however, the awards were eventually made. Under the heading of "Pals," Lloyd Needham's verses were given the first prize. "My Irish Friend" wai the title of the second prize-winning entry, which was contributed by Lola Liversidge. '■ Margaret Paterson, Lilian Fielding and G. Heatley came third, fourth and fifth respectively. An interesting competition has been arranged for this week, .. and all Budget readers should f 1 spend a happy half-hour construct- //) / ing graduating sentences. For full particulars, ' see $ "Our Competition Corner/' 0