Bob, yes, I think you may be right about the first stanza. I thought maybe I needed to show it was about lust from the get-go. But maybe not?

N.B. The poem does not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the poet!;)

I'm being punctilious here, folks, but Lucy does say:

"You are invited to provide a poem in praise of one of the seven deadly sins"

The poems incorporating all of them are very clever, but that's not what's being asked for.

(Only pointing it out, for the record...!)

Jayne

One way to praise a particular sin is by comparing and contrasting it with the other sins.

I think you can send in two, one under an alias. Is that right, Jayne? Or anyone?

Avarice, O avarice,
You are a deadly sin, it's true,
But avarice, O avarice,
I cannot get enough of you!

Avarice, O avarice,
Despite the warning of our Lord,
O avarice, O avarice,
You are the sin I wish to hoard!

Avarice, O avarice,
When you are gone I'm sad and blue!
O avarice, O avarice,
I cannot get my fill of you!

There's also a little ambiguity concerning one of the sins: is it Avarice, or Greed? Wikipedia has the following:

The currently recognized version of the sins are usually given as wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.

I have assumed that it is Greed, which offers a wider scope. It's true that Avarice (like Gluttony) is a form of Greed, so anyone writing about it should be OK. I just hope the reverse is true.

As far as I'm aware, John, there isn't a limit to the number of entries but I'm not 100% certain about that. I'd say 'within reason' comes into it, though. I'm sure I've sent in a couple of entries in my own name before now, hoping one of them might win so I've never seen the need to give Lucy a pseudonym in case both of them do. That'd be the day! :)

Jayne

I think Roger's latest 'Avarice' poem, post #35, is a perfect example of what's asked for. It's in praise of, and it's one deadly sin.

Avarice is cupidity – greed for money. Gluttony is gourmandising – belly greed.

Jayne,

I wrote to Lucy about pseudonyms, and she replied to say that pseudonyms are welcomed, and that all entries are judged on their merits. I have very occasionally found pseudonyms useful, but if I send in more than two entries, I prefer to use "borrowed" names that are not immediately recognisable as being me for the third (and subsequent !) entries.

My thinking is this: two entries from the same competitor might make it, but with the best will in the world, if there's a third entry that is just slightly better than someone else's, would not a sense of "fair do's for all" induce the judge to choose the latter?

You may think it's a hypothetical question, but there was one occasion (the sin of pride raises its ugly head) when I won with three entries ... but that was back in the 1960's, and it never happened again!

You remember, Brian, the, presumably apocryphal story that the great Martin Fagg won ALL the prizes in a competition once.