RESULTS OF THE SOCIETY'S SEPTEMBER POETRY COMPETITION

JUDGE'S REPORT

Oddly, the open theme produced poems on fewer subjects than the previously set themed ones, this time’s being mostly on death or love – lost or unrequited. A few were on nature and places. Admired grandmothers also featured. All were a pleasure and a privilege to read.

Of the 348 poems entered into this open-themed competition, I judged Crow as the first prize winner and Honey and Lemon as the runner-up. Both are by Jeff Gallagher.

Crow

A hole in the sky, a presence,
a shrivelled silhouette
marooned on a high dry clump
of driftwood hung from clouds,
shrouded in the hunched cloak.A dark core brooding silent
upon the stunted oak,
the parched bough cleft by
his clean jet lines and folds,
rippled by the insolent breeze.A call, dry, dispassionate,
tears a sliver of cold air,
the swift foot, the urgent heart
held in repetitive song,
the fine, wry note.

An eye, fixed yet rotating
within the still shadow,
falls, embalmed in a blur
of darkness neatly scooped
and swept into the trees.

Crow begins with a hole, a dark core, a call and an eye to give an impression of the bird being a mysterious object but personification is used to bring the crow to life: brooding and insolent. In contrast to the bare boughs, the crow has clean jet lines. There are no long trailing sentences here, just splashes of description or a noun thrown here and there – a stark description. The poem does not utilise rhyme. It would be an inappropriate distraction. Nor does the poet employ a regular metre for the crow does not subscribe to order. There is nonetheless an overall beauty in the bird. Individual parts of the crow are picked out. The call is mentioned, then the feet and finally the eye alone. This poem is beautifully constructed and paints a perfect picture of a crow.

Honey and Lemon

Nana’s cure-all, sweet soothing the sour,
the sharp checking the sweet’s excess,
has raised another Lazarus - an amber
communion of saints that scourge and bless.There was no milk in her promised land,
only dry acceptance, a need to provide -
the mother’s pain in the man’s embrace,
the slow building of a grudging pride.Photos recall what was sweet, forgetting
the illness, the hunger, the gnawing fear -
no need the sour days’ resurrection
for congregations gathered here.

But in better times, her memory of
empty larders, and her last few pence
spent on surviving, made her grateful
for the bread and wine of affluence.

The sweet and the sour, blessed union
of grief and bliss, of joy and loss:
now the cure for the pain of her living,
her daily stations of the Cross.

This poem is a delight of opposites: sweet and sour, joy and pain, grief and bliss. The art in the poem is in its marrying of the ordinary with concepts in religion. Communion of saints, resurrections and wine fit into the narrative of the healing merits of honey and lemon. The poem finishes fittingly with the routine of her administering cures likened to the regularity of the stations of the Cross. The mix of medicine and miracle works well. The pairs of rhymes echo this.

Dorothy Pope, Judge

The Queen’s English Society changes its name

At its Annual General Meeting on 24 September 2024, The Queen’s English Society voted on a Resolution to change the Society’s name to The King’s English Society.

The Resolution was carried by 75 votes to 7.

Over the next few days, this change will become apparent in the changing contents of this website, as each section is modified to take account of the implications of the Resolution. The website address will become: runyourownwebsite.uk/queens

Why the change? Four years ago, the Society began to consider the course it should take following the inevitable death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Sentiment at that time steered the members towards wanting to keep the name unchanged indefinitely. Since the Queen’s death in September 2022, the Society has noticed a marked downturn in applications for membership.

“It’s simple,” says Chairman Adrian Williams. “Most of our new members find us via the Society’s website. Before now, they have found the website by searching ‘Queen’s English’. Now they’re searching ‘King’s English’ – and not finding us. We need new members, to keep the Society active and growing in its mission to promote worldwide appreciation of the English language. Respect and affection for our late Queen are understandable; but now we have a King, and members of the public are becoming accustomed to a new era.”

The current programme

Thursday 17 October, 7.00 pm, finishing by 9.00 pm

Excellent English

This will be in person at the Medical Society of London and by Zoom, with readings by members of excellent English prose or poetry which others might enjoy. It is not necessary to read.

The Medical Society of London, 11 Chandos Street, Cavendish Square, London W1G 9EB, is about seven minutes’ walk from Oxford Circus tube station. All are welcome to attend, including guests. Tea, coffee and biscuits are provided.

Tuesday 19 November, 7.00 pm, finishing by 9.00 pm

Adrian Williams. Short Stories

Their germ and development. How does a short story begin its life? How does it develop? Adrian Williams reads several of his own stories to illustrate the process of development that he describes as working best for him.

Zoom only.

Zoom meetings are open to members and non-members alike. If you want to join any of the meetings, notify Bernard Lamb at bernardlamb@btinternet.com who will send you the joining details.

Offers to give talks or suggestions of topics will be most welcome. Please contact Bernard Lamb at bernardlamb@btinternet.com; further details inside the front cover of Quest.

He will also be happy to receive nominations for the King’s English Society Prize for Excellent English. They must be of prose published in the particular year, with long items such as books represented by a short extract. Closing date for items published in 2024 is 31^st May 2025.

Bernard Lamb, Head of the talks and readings subcommittee

Peter Tompkins

Vice-Chairman

Peter Tompkins was born in Liverpool in 1959 but has lived in the South-East since 1982, these days splitting his time between London and Cambridge and occasional trips to the Lake District.

Peter is a consulting actuary with Callund Consulting and spends his time consulting to overseas governments and international agencies on pension plans and their reform. Prior to that, he was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and before that a partner at Lane Clark & Peacock.

His other interests include beekeeping, sundials, chamber music, rowing and hill walking. He is a trustee of the City Music Foundation and of the New Music Players and he is a Court Member of two liveries, the Wax Chandlers (of which he is a Past Master) and the Actuaries.

Facebook launch

In 2022, the Queen’s English Society celebrated its 50th anniversary and half a century of promoting clear and elegant expression of the English language. As we enter our sixth decade, we are delighted to have launched our updated Facebook page on which we will issue regular bulletins relating to the society’s activities.

One of those activities will be a regular poetry competition open to all with a cash prize for the winning entry – please follow this link to our page and select 'Like' - our posts and further news of the competition should then come up on your timeline.

https://www.facebook.com/QueensEnglishSociety

We are also very excited to have launched our new Facebook group. This is an interactive forum in which members will be able to post, subject to group rules, on matters relating to the origins and use of the English language as it is written and spoken around the Unilted Kingdom and the world, articles, poems, sections of prose, anecdotes, or quotations – anything that will provide interest and stimulate discussion.

Please follow this link to request membership:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/497220742553565

We look forward to your contributions in the group, whether they be posts, comments, or reactions, and to many fascinating, informative, and entertaining debates.

Debbie le May

Editor of Quest

Debbie has been a freelance journalist for nearly twenty years and has edited Quest, the journal of the Queen’s English Society, for more than twelve years. Despite having an interest in politics, she does her best to ensure that Quest is apolitical in line with the Queen’s English Society’s charitable status, although contentious issues surrounding the English language are sometimes included in the journal. She welcomes communication from Society members, and indeed from anyone in the world at large, on any aspect of the English language.

Susan (Kitt) McKenna

Committee member

Susan McKenna has a background in teaching English and French, sales, marketing, business development and management. She was Sales & Marketing Director with prestigious companies supplying consumer goods to retail in the UK and abroad from 2001 to 2016, then owner of her own consulting company.

Language has always been of paramount importance and delectation to her, both personally and professionally, not only in its rigour but also in its flexibility and infinite variety.

Susan describes herself as 'a purist-iconoclast'.

Michael Gorman

Secretary

After a degree in physics Michael made a career on the technical side of the computer industry. Within that career he had to write many documents, and to advise junior engineers on their documents.

Mathematics is traditionally divided into pure maths and applied maths. Michael’s writing has been a case of applied English. He is interested in language, and in the attempts by computers to handle human languages.

He assisted in the production of the QES books Shakin' The Ketchup Bot'le and the QES Golden Jubilee Book. He has been a QES member since 1989.

The Society's name: The King's English Society

'The King’s English’ or ‘The Queen’s English’ is a colloquial term that, in common parlance, denotes ‘standard’ or ‘correct’ English; its use is metaphorical, not signifying any literal proprietorship by the monarch. Indeed, the English actually used by the monarch in speech has been commonly heard over our airwaves for less than a century.

Our Society was formed during the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II and named The Queen’s English Society to echo its purpose in upholding the standards that the Queen’s English was held to represent.

In 2021 the possibility was put to the members of the Queen’s English Society that the Society’s name might change upon the sad event of her death, and a resolution was passed by a majority of 96% of voting members to retain the name with which the society had been formed. At the Society’s AGM in September 2022, after the Queen’s death, that decision was upheld as a mark of respect, although it was always open for reconsideration in future.

At the Annual General Meeting on 24 September 2024, a Resolution to change the name to The King's English Society was carried by 75 votes to 7.