The Copybook

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

661

© Matt Brown, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Deep River by William Charles Berwick Sayers

Berwick Sayers tells how his friend, the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, set out on his last voyage.

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662

© Henry Hartley, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln

Following a decisive victory in the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln urged his supporters to make sure that liberty’s advantage was not squandered.

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663

© Steven C. Berger, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Battle of Gettysburg by D. H. Montgomery

Two years into the American Civil War, the Union army responded to a dispiriting defeat at Chancellorsville with a decisive and historic victory at Gettysburg.

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664

© Tanya Dedyukhina, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Battle of Lewes by D. H. Montgomery

The Battle of Lewes in 1263 took place just a few miles from the Battle of Hastings two centuries before it, and was arguably as important.

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665

© NotFromUtrecht, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Provisions of Oxford by D. H. Montgomery

When King Henry III’s barons turned up to his council wearing full armour, he realised he had to mend his ways.

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666

© Niki.L, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.

The Harrowing of Hell by William Langland

Will Langland tells how after the crucifixion, the soul of Christ went down to Hades to fetch Piers the Ploughman and the rest of hopeless humanity.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

April 23 NS

April 10 OS

St George the Triumphant Martyr : One of the Emperor Galerius’s most trusted generals openly defied him.
Christ is Risen! : Felicia Skene recalls the Easter celebrations on one emotionally-charged night in Athens
Approachable : Replace the verb ‘can’ with these alternatives, and explain how the meaning of the sentence has changed.
The First Easter : In a translation from the Authorized Version of the Bible, published in 1611, St Mark recounts the discovery of Christ’s empty tomb.
A Collect for Easter Day : A short prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, for the day of Christ’s resurrection.
The Gambler : Which well-known expression is Dr Johnson talking about here?
If I Had But Two Little Wings : Samuel Taylor Coleridge holds on to those precious moments when loneliness is a problem for tomorrow.
Red Eye : Reconstruct the speaker’s original words from these reports.
Responsible : Combine each group of ideas into a single sentence, in as many ways as you can.
Opposites : Suggest words that seem opposite in meaning to the words in this list.
Three of a Kind : For each of these things, think of three different varieties of it.
The Son of God Goes Forth to War : A hymn in praise of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
Peace Plan : Report this brief exchange between Anna and M. Pierre and Tolstoy’s War and Peace
Metaphors : Choose one of these words and use it metaphorically, not literally.
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