Clay Lane: the Blog

5 Monday

In 1917-18, Arthur Ransome (who would later write Swallows and Amazons) was in St Petersburg, then named Petrograd, reporting on the Communist revolution for the Daily News. One of his tales tickled fellow journalist Alfred Gardiner, who nonetheless drew from it a serious lesson about liberty, a word bandied about as carelessly then as it is today.

The Rule of the Road

Being a free citizen doesn’t mean that everyone else has to get out of your way.

6 Sunday

Blind Courage

Writing in 1905, American essayist George Santayana was full of admiration for the common soldier, and for the ordinary citizen who stands up to a bully. But to bellicose politicians and generals, and to anyone who romanticised war, he had some stern words to say.

Blind Courage

George Santayana reprimanded politicians and military men who thought war was good for the country’s soul.

7 Sunday

Patience

Join this group of ideas together to form a single sentence. Try to do this in at least two different ways. See if you can use one of more of the suggested words.

We passed by a table. A man was sitting there. He was playing patience.

Where. Which. Who.

Sentence based on Greenmantle (1916) by John Buchan.

8 Sunday

The Angel Cried

The Virgin Mary was among the women who came to Christ’s tomb expecting to care for his dead body, only to find the grave empty and an angel waiting for them. This hymn, sung in the weeks after Easter, imagines how the angel told the news of Christ’s resurrection to his mother.

The Angel Cried

A hymn sung in the weeks after Easter, imagining how Gabriel brought the news of Christ’s resurrection to Mary.

9 Friday

She Was a Phantom of Delight

This poem is a look back over how William Wordsworth’s love for his wife Mary had developed over time. “The germ of this poem” he admitted “was four lines composed as a part of the verses on the Highland Girl. Though beginning in this way, it was written from my heart, as is sufficiently obvious.”

She was a Phantom of Delight

Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.

10 1 May

Hardly

Each of these statements is a little too strong. Tone them down by adding the words almost or hardly, and making any other changes you think necessary.

IHe never misses a chance. IINobody could hear him. IIIThere’s nowhere to park. IVThere’s nothing he wouldn’t do. VHe won without breaking a sweat. VIThe engine is completely silent.

The word ‘hardly’ is used to mean ‘true, but only to an insignificant degree’ e.g. ‘I can hardly [only just] believe my eyes’, ‘I’d hardly [only just] sat down to lunch when the doorbell rang’.

For Example

I cannot keep my hands warm.

I can hardly [only just] keep my hands warm.

Jane Austen

My fingers are numb with cold.

My fingers are so cold I can hardly [only just] feel them.

Developed from an exercise in Straightforward English (1949) by NL Clay.

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