The Copybook

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

439

By Dnalor 01, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Why Rome Persecuted the Christians by Jacobus de Voragine

If only the primitive Christians had filled in the right forms and said that one man’s god is as good as another’s, they wouldn’t have had to die.

Read

440

From the Getty Museum, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

St John Port Latin by Jacobus de Voragine

According to an ancient tradition, the Roman authorities banished St John the Divine to the island of Patmos because they were quite unable to kill him.

Read

441

By Alonzo Chappel (1828–1887), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Plea of Pocahontas by John Smith

In 1607, settler Captain John Smith was captured by the Algonquin near the English colony at Jamestown, and watched his captors’ ceremonies with rising anxiety.

Read

442

© Richard Rice, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Hare Who was Afraid of his Ears by J.B. Rundell

After the Lion cracks down on horns right across his kingdom, a nervous Hare gets to wondering exactly what counts as a horn.

Read

443

Photo by Jabez Hughes, from Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

A Little Savoir Faire by George W. E. Russell

At the Berlin Congress of Powers in 1878, the draft of the Prime Minister’s keynote speech had his anxious aides scuttling about like ants.

Read

444

Terje Sørgjerd, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Fire and Ice from The Old English Genesis

When the angels rebelled against their Maker, they demanded a kingdom of their own in a land without him — and he gave them what they wanted.

Read

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

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

April 23 NS

April 10 OS

A Tale of a Garter : Following the Battle of Crécy in 1346, Edward III instituted an order of chivalry in honour of St George, inspired (some said) by something he picked up in the street.
The Day of Resurrection : An eighth-century hymn of the Greek Church, for Easter Day
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.
Latest

Clay Lane Home

Search

Blog

The Copybook

Think and Speak

Comfortable Words

Word Games

Featured Authors

Featured Subjects

Search The Copybook

About Clay Lane

Close Menu