Copy Book Archive

‘This England’ John of Gaunt watches in despair as his country is milked for its wealth and shared out among the king’s favourites.
set in 1399
Music: Sir Edward Elgar

© Karl and Ali, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0. Source

Sheep on Nab Hill in the Lune Valley.

About this picture …

Sheep on Nab Hill in the Lune Valley in Cumbria, England.

‘This England’
It is 1399, and for two years King Richard II has (in addition to legalised murder) been levying extortionate rents on the property of his opponents, and handing out grace-and-favour homes to his cronies. As John of Gaunt lies dying, he charges his nephew with being ‘landlord of England, not king’.
Abridged

THIS throne of kings, this sceptr’d isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,
This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land,
Dear for her reputation through the world,
Is now leased out, I die pronouncing it,
Like to a tenement or pelting farm:*

England, bound in with the triumphant sea
Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege
Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame,
With inky blots and rotten parchment bonds:
That England, that was wont to conquer others,
Hath made a shameful conquest of itself.

‘Pelting’ in this case is an adjective with a meaning similar to ‘paltry, mean’.

Précis

As John of Gaunt comes to his last hours, he laments the way his nephew, King Richard II, is cynically exploiting the country he loves for personal gain and ambition. For John, Richard is humiliating an honourable people deserving of respect, and squandering advantages, of history and of geography, with which few other Kings are blessed. (56 / 60 words)

Source

Abridged from ‘Richard II’ (Act II, Scene 1), by William Shakespeare.

Suggested Music

Pomp and Circumstance March No. 2

Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

Performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vernon Handley.

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How To Use This Passage

You can use this passage to help improve your command of English.

IRead it aloud, twice or more. IISummarise it in one sentence of up to 30 words. IIISummarise it in one paragraph of 40-80 words. IVMake notes on the passage, and reconstruct the original from them later on. VJot down any unfamiliar words, and make your own sentences with them later. VIMake a note of any words that surprise or impress you, and ask yourself what meaning they add to the words you would have expected to see. VIITurn any old-fashioned English into modern English. VIIITurn prose into verse, and verse into prose. IXAsk yourself what the author is trying to get you to feel or think. XHow would an artist or a photographer capture the scene? XIHow would a movie director shoot it, or a composer write incidental music for it?

For these and more ideas, see How to Use The Copy Book.

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