The Copybook

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

1069

By William Sharp (1749-1824), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Glorious John Clay Lane

JB Cramer was one of the finest pianists of his day, though his reverence for Mozart made his own music more popular in the drawing room than the concert hall.

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1070

By Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain

The Empire Within Percy Bysshe Shelley

Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley says that the pinnacle of political achievement is the government not of others, but of ourselves.

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1071

© Neil Theasby, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Autumn: A Dirge Percy Bysshe Shelley

Poet Percy Shelley calls on November’s sister months to watch by the graveside of the dead Year.

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1072

© David Crocker, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

To Autumn John Keats

Poet John Keats speaks of the beauties of Autumn, her colours, her sounds and her rich harvest.

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1073

© Gouwenaar, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

‘Thy Necessity is Yet Greater than Mine’ Fulke Greville, Baron Brooke

Elizabethan courtier and soldier Sir Philip Sidney shows that a nobleman can also be a gentleman.

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1074

© David Dixon, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Bishop and the Chatterbox Clay Lane

One week into a Lenten retreat with the Bishop of Hexham, a boy’s miserable life is turned right around.

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