The Copybook

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

673

© 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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674

From the Vaux Passional, via the National Library of Wales and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Trial and Crucifixion by William Langland

In ‘Do-bet,’ the sequel to his popular ‘Vision of Piers the Ploughman,’ Will Langland dreams about the trial of Jesus Christ before Pontius Pilate, and what followed.

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675

From the Benedictional of St Athelwold, via the British Library and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Triumphal Entry by William Langland

Will Langland, a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer, dreams he is looking for his old friend Piers the Ploughman in Jerusalem just when Christ rides in on a donkey.

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676

By Tomhannen, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

On Top of the World by Dr Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori takes some of her pupils up onto a roof terrace, and witnesses a eureka moment.

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677

By Sir John Gilbert (1817-1897), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Leading from the Front by Thomas Elmham

Henry V’s chaplain Thomas Elmham, an eyewitness of the battle of Agincourt, gave us this account of the King in the moments before the fighting began.

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678

From the Passion of St Edmund, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Martyrdom of St Edmund the King by Elfric of Eynsham

Edmund, King of the East Angles, is given a stark choice by the Viking warrior who has ravaged his realm.

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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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