The Copybook

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

127

By Henry Fuseli (1741-1825), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. Colour levels brightened.

Infirm of Purpose! William Shakespeare

After the murder of King Duncan, Lady Macbeth is alarmed to see her husband losing his grip on reality.

Read

128

© Michal Klajban, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Long Arm of Rob Roy Dorothy Wordsworth

Nearly seventy years after his death, the roguish laird still cast a spell over the farm-folk of the Highlands.

Read

129

© Basile Morin, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Manners Makyth Man Edmund Saul Dixon

The Revd Edmund Dixon urged young people to think about what a little politeness could do for them.

Read

130

© Victor Michailovich Semernev, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. Detail, cropped.

The Blues, the Greens, and Belisarius Samuel Goodrich

The Nika Rebellion drew a rising Roman general against some rioting sports fans, and it was a tense game.

Read

131

© Roman Boldyrev, Wikimedia Commons. CC Attribution 4.0.

The Story of Miss Clay Lane

A half-starved cat is recruited by the Allies in the fight against Hitler.

Read

132

© Peter O’Connor aka anemoneprojectors, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Art Appreciation Benjamin Robert Haydon

Some years before the Elgin marbles were put on display in the British Museum, rising artist Benjamin Haydon got a sneak preview.

Read