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

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1669
The Debtor and his Pig by Clay Lane

There are no lengths to which some people won’t go.

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1670
The Crow and the Pitcher by Clay Lane

Brute force is no substitute for quick thinking.

As the old military maxim goes, Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted.

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1671
‘I Remember’ by Thomas Hood

A poem of nostalgia tinged with regret.

Thomas Hood is better known for his humorous verse; this is a poignant little reflection on childhood innocence lost.

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1672
The Music of Silence by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In Coleridge’s epic poem, the Ancient Mariner, amid the horrors of a ship of dead men, sees a sight both beautiful and surreal.

The Ancient Mariner has wantonly killed an albatross, and brought death and destruction on his ship. Surrounded now by the dead bodies of the crew, a new and ghostly sight meets his eyes.

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1673
November by 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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1674
Ozymandias by 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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About Clay Lane nicholas@claylane.uk

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 30 NS

May 17 OS

Loan Words : Match these words to the language they come from, whether Old Norse, Malay or Welsh.
Evidence : Join these ideas together to form a single sentence, using the relative pronoun ‘who’.
Fatal Vow : Robert Pierrepont called heaven to witness that he would never pick a side in the Civil War.
Lost and Found : What would you in these difficult situations?
They Might Not Need Me : Read these lines of verse out aloud.
The Turn : Ben Jonson tells us how we should measure a life well lived.
Music Video : Julius Benedict, Piano Concerto in E flat: II. Andante,
The Character of George Washington : Thomas Jefferson recalls the virtues (and a few faults) of the first US President.
Amen to That : John Bright declared it was time stop fighting wars around the world for ‘British interests’.
Arena : Use these nouns in sentences of at least ten words in length.
Q & A :
Deep Harmony : In the midst of the US Civil War, a simple melody briefly brought the warring factions together.
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