4 AUGUST 2001, Page 35

St Patrick's, Soho

In the paradise of word games, Imagine a stranger pair of names; And after the drunks in Soho Square The peace inside was doubly rare.

So visiting London, I went back, And said a prayer near the bronze plaque A grateful rector placed inside In thanks for the night he nearly died: A German bomb had cracked the roof, The pastor left the plaque as proof, As if to tell the Soho poor Eternity doesn't use the door.

Lawrence Dugan