The Copybook

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

May 2 ns April 19 os

Read short passages similar to those NL Clay collected in his anthologies, to gain a feeling for the language, history and culture of the English-speaking world.

In The Copybook

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Featured

© Paul Dickson, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Sunday of Palms and Willows by Clay Lane

For centuries, northern countries from Russia to England have laid the catkins of the willow tree before Jesus as he enters Jerusalem.

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1

By Alfred Wordsworth Thompson (1840-1896), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

She was a Phantom of Delight by William Wordsworth

Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.

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2

By Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The Death of Julius Caesar by Plutarch

When Julius Caesar entered the Senate that day, a note warning him of treachery was clutched in his hand — unread.

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3

© Brian Deegan, Geograph. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Two Letters Home by Sir Edward Hamilton Westrow Hulse

A German soldier stopped the Great War so he could ask Captain Hulse to post a letter for him.

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4

© Vladimir Kosov (2018), via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Zheng He and the Rise of Malacca by Jawaharlal Nehru

Malacca became a refuge from the overbearing empires of the Far East, thanks to a celebrated Chinese admiral.

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5

From the Lindisfarne Gospels, ca. AD 700, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The Making of Mark by Eusebius of Caesarea

St Mark wrote his Gospel as a summary of the preaching of St Peter.

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6

By Yevgeny Khaldei (1916-1997), viua Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Russia’s Heroic Stand from Compton’s Encyclopedia

In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.

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Clay Lane The Copybook
About Clay Lane nicholas@claylane.uk

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 2 NS

April 19 OS

She was a Phantom of Delight : Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.
Hardly : Tone down these bold assertions with ‘hardly’.
The Death of Julius Caesar : When Julius Caesar entered the Senate that day, a note warning him of treachery was clutched in his hand — unread.
Two Letters Home : A German soldier stopped the Great War so he could ask Captain Hulse to post a letter for him.
Smile : Choose adjectives of praise for these nouns, at about the 7/10 level.
The Making of Mark : St Mark wrote his Gospel as a summary of the preaching of St Peter.
Zheng He and the Rise of Malacca : Malacca became a refuge from the overbearing empires of the Far East, thanks to a celebrated Chinese admiral.
Confusables : Compose sentences to bring out the similarities and differences between these words.
Jill and I : Include yourself in these sentences about Jill.
Saddled : Use these words in sentences, and see if you can use one of them as a verb.
Russia’s Heroic Stand : In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.
Approachable : Replace the verb ‘can’ with these alternatives, and explain how the meaning of the sentence has changed.
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