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

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151

By John William Waterhouse (1849–1917), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

What’s in a Name? by William Shakespeare

Juliet complains that the man she loves has the wrong name, and the man she loves hears her doing it.

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152

By Bruno Liljefors (1860–1939), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Hare and Many Friends by John Gay

John Gay reflects that in matters of friendship, quality is preferable to quantity.

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153

By Michiel Sweerts (1618-1664), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Beggar’s Petition by Thomas Moss

A destitute and friendless farmer, turned from the tradesman’s entrance, tries his luck at the front door.

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154

By Charles Sillem Lidderdale (1831-1895), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

An Unlikely Heroine by Jane Austen

When she was ten, Catherine Morland showed none of the qualities needed to impress the ladies who read romantic fiction.

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155

By John William Waterhouse (1849-1917), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Koré by John Buchan

Sir Edward Leithen finds himself revising his opinion of the ‘detestable’ Koré Arabin.

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156

© Francesca Grossi, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

To the Last I Grapple With Thee by Herman Melville

Ahab, his mind broken by an obsession, at last confronts the enemy he has hunted so long.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 21 NS

May 8 OS

The Spy : In 1910, Constantine Zervakos, a young monk from the Greek island of Paros, found himself charged with espionage.
The Miracle of St John of the Caves : The story of an unexpected escape through the heart of a hill.
The Peninsular War : Napoleon’s six-year-long campaign (1808-1814) to bring Spain and Portugal into his united Europe was frustrated by Arthur Wellesley.
Thick and Thin : Express each of these ideas as a single word.
Break : Explain what each of these common expressions means, and give examples.
Blind Guide : William Wirt recalls an overpowering sermon from a blind man in a little wooden chapel.
It’s All in the Delivery : Aeschines paid tribute to the oratory of his greatest rival — whether he meant to or not.
The Road to Ruin : George Berkeley warned that industry, not financial speculation, was the guarantee of a nation’s wealth.
Signs of Command : Suggest publicly-displayed commands, and say how many of them are sentences.
My Native Notes : Scotsman James Boswell always spoke good English when in England, but he was careful to leave a little Scots in.
Hidden Message : Reveal the hidden message in a letter, and write a coded letter of your own.
The Great and the Good : Daniel Defoe wondered whether goodness was not preferable to greatness.
Statements, Questions and Commands : Choose a word from our list, and then use it in any one of the three basic types of sentence — if possible.
Sentegrams : These sentences, taken from English literature, have been jumbled up like an anagram; see if you can piece them back together.
Good Sense : Rewrite these sentences so that the word ‘unless’ is not used.
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