Chapter 7 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1 is here in full — 389 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1 is here in full — 389 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_Frisco_. Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred? _Io_. I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other. _Mop_.
Chapter 7 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1 is here in full — 389 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/77 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
having made preparations
From this reading “I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.”
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?”
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading “Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?”
to wash or wipe with or as if with a mop
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading “Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?”
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading “I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.”
(used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result
From this reading “Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?
having made preparations
From this reading I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Frisco_.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?
(Greek mythology) a maiden seduced by Zeus; when Hera was about to discover them together Zeus turned her into a white heifer
From this reading _Io_.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?
to wash or wipe with or as if with a mop
From this reading _Mop_.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.
(used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result
From this reading Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I am disposed to be melancholly, And I cannot be priuate for one villaine or other.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cannot a man be merry in his owne walke But a must be thus encombred?
Chapter 7 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1 by A. H. (Arthur Henry) [Editor] Bullen holds 389 sentences, grouped into 78 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 7 holds 389 sentences of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1, unabridged, divided into 78 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1 by A. H. (Arthur Henry) [Editor] Bullen exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 389 sentences, grouped into 78 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 78 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 78 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 7 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
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Yes. All 7531 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #10388 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #10388, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1507 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1 to begin.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
