Bill Greenwell's research into the history of the NS competition seems to indicate that poetry comps were fairly common once upon a time. It will be interesting to see when prose comps begin to dominate.
(I think you're right about Milton, John. When Charles I squares off against Cromwell, there's no lefty in the ring. It's kind of like a Shah vs. Ayatollah bout -- just competing brands of excessively nasty right-wingery.)
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