The Copybook

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

1045

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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1046

© 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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1047

© 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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1048

© 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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1049

© 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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1050

© José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Michaelmas

A celebration of St Michael, captain of heaven’s angel host, courteous warrior, and healer.

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