2 JUNE 1984, Page 33

Competition

No. 1323:Short ballade

Set by Jaspistos: You are invited to write a ballade of 20 lines (two stanzas of eight lines followed by an 'envoi' of four lines), with a maximum of three rhymes and a 'refrain' (at the end of each stanza and the envoi) of tried to kill myself three times last week'. Entries to 'Competition No. 1323' by 15 June.