The Copybook

Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

1675
November Thomas Hood

Humorist Thomas Hood obviously didn’t like to see the nights drawing in

November weather isn’t always as miserable as Hood makes out. But the sun doesn’t rise until half-past seven in the morning, and it sets just after four o’clock, so the days are a little short.

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1676
Ozymandias Percy Bysshe Shelley

The glory of political power soon passes away.

Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote this poem in friendly competition with fellow-poet Horace Smith. Ozymandias is an ancient Greek name for Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II (1279-1213 BC).

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1677
Unsung Heroes Thomas Gray

The poet reflects on the obscure lives that most of us lead.

We find in a churchyard people who had the same talents as the great figures of English history and poetry, but not their chance to achieve fame.

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