The Copybook

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

1087

Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Pubic domain.

A World of Differences by Jane Austen

Emma tries to reconcile her father to the unaccountable tastes of his nearest and dearest.

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1088

© Ian Patterson, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Ode to English Joy by Clay Lane

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was commissioned by a fiercely independent Britain, and Beethoven was excited to oblige.

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1089

© Nick MacNeill, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Train of a Life by Charles Dickens

In Charles Dickens’s tale set around Mugby Junction, a man sees his life flash by like a ghostly train.

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1090

By Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Twelve Poor Men and True by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens explains the thinking behind Jesus Christ’s choice of friends.

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1091

By Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Anne Ford Thicknesse by Clay Lane

A young English girl in Dr Johnson’s London struggles to share her gift for music.

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1092

© Olaf Tausch, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

Birds of Paradise by Cynewulf

Anglo-Saxon poet Cynewulf paints a word-picture of heaven and the seraph-band that swoops and soars before the throne.

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

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 3 NS

April 20 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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