38 October 27
Faced with a choice between silence, dungeon or exile, William Cobbett chose exile — and then had to make sense of it.
I have added a new post to the Copy Book, An Englishman in Exile. It comes from a letter written in July 1817 by firebrand radical William Cobbett, now living in exile in the USA, to his legion of supporters back home. With characteristic directness, Cobbett faces up to his divided loyalties, and sets out clearly what he owes to the Government and people of the United States, and what he owes to the country of his birth.
The passage is only the more relavant today as war, economic insecurity and political repression force millions of people to migrate. What does the migrant owe to his adopted country? What does he do if the interests of the country of his birth clash with those of his new home, even to the point of war? Cobbett met these difficult questions head on.
Copy Book Posts (37)
39 October 26
Leigh Hunt looks back to a memorable event in a long life.
I have added a new post to the Copy Book, Jenny Kissed Me. It is a very short poem by Victorian essayist Leigh Hunt (1784-1859), which at one time was a popular choice for practice in elocution.
JENNY kissed me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief, who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in;
Say I’m weary, say I’m sad,
Say that health and wealth have missed me,
Say I’m growing old, but add,
Jenny kissed me.
Copy Book Posts (37)
40 October 26
Make as many words as you can using the letters of one nine-letter word. Can you beat our score?
I have added a new Polyword to the collection.
Make as many words as you can using only the nine letters you are given below. Your words should all be four letters or more in length, and they should all contain the letter highlighted in the centre of the grid. You may not use the same letter twice. There is one nine-letter word to find.
Polywords (8)
41 October 25
Rewrite these sentences so that they do not use the word ‘and’.
Rewrite these sentences to eliminate the word ‘and’. There may be several ways of doing this. For example:
I scrambled to my feet and looked around.
→ Scrambling to my feet, I looked around.
→ When I had scrambled to my feet, I looked around.
1 I asked for a night’s lodging and she said I was welcome to the bed in the loft.
2 I fitted my key into the door and just then I noticed a man and he was at my elbow.
3 I walked into the room and there was an old man and he was at the head of the table and he rose.
These sentences are based on sentences in the novels of John Buchan.
Exercises (15)
42 October 25
The Man Who Couldn’t Abide Greed
On a money-spinning pilgrimage to Canterbury, a Pardoner says the quiet part out loud.
I have added a new post to the Copy Book, The Man Who Couldn’t Abide Greed, a short extract from the Prologue to the Pardoner’s Tale in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (?1343-1400).
In 1476, The Canterbury Tales became one of the first books to be printed in England, at the press of William Caxton. It is a poem, written in the Middle English of Chaucer’s day, which follows a diverse band of pilgrims walking to Canterbury, the chief See of the English Church and the burial-place of the murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket, one of the most prominent of English saints.
A group of pious pilgrims, or at any rate pilgrims behaving piously, was an irresistible attraction to a Pardoner. Pardoners were engaged by the Roman Catholic Church to raise funds for the Pope by selling supposed relics of the saints (good for whatever ails you or your prize cow) and indulgences, the Pope’s personal guarantee of relief from some of the punishment sinners could expect to undergo in Purgatory after death. It was a trade that was always wide open to corruption, but by Chaucer’s time it was quite simply a racket. As the pilgrims exchanged stories with little reserve, the Pardoner too opened up about his scams.
43 October 22
A road accident made parish priest George Herbert late for his musical evening, but he was not a bit sorry.
I have added a new post to the Copy Book, A Well-Tuned Heart.
It is an anecdote from a biography of George Herbert written by Izaak Walton, who is better known today for his Compleat Angler (1653), a classic of English literature. George Herbert (1593-1633) was a Welshman, well-connected and educated as a gentleman, who surprised many of his friends by taking orders, and in 1630 surprised them even more by accepting a post as a country clergyman in the obscure parish of Bemerton near Salisbury. He appears to have devoted himself selflessly to his parishioners and to have been much loved in return, but after barely three years Herbert died. He left behind a large body of poetry and prose of enduring popularity.
The title of this extract comes from Ye holy angels bright, a hymn written in 1681 by Richard Baxter (1615-1691).
My soul, bear thou thy part,
Triumph in God above,
And with a well-tuned heart
Sing thou the songs of love.
Copy Book Posts (37)