Chapter 15 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_Bred_. Take better thoughts. _Bar_. They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me. I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
Chapter 15 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 is here in full — 388 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.
a room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter
call upon in supplication; entreat
From this reading “I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.”
inflected form of “breed” — call forth
praise somewhat dishonestly
From this reading “I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.”
the state of being honored
From this reading “I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.”
third-person singular of “owe” — be obliged to pay or repay
From this reading “I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.”
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading “I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.”
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading “Take better thoughts.”
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 I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me.
a room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter
From this reading _Bar_.
in a despicable, ignoble manner
From this reading I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
call upon in supplication; entreat
From this reading I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me.
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading Take better thoughts.
inflected form of “breed” — call forth
From this reading _Bred_.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me.
praise somewhat dishonestly
From this reading I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
the state of being honored
From this reading I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
immediately past
From this reading They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me.
go away from a place
From this reading They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
third-person singular of “owe” — be obliged to pay or repay
From this reading I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
carry out
From this reading Take better thoughts.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They are my first and last, The legacie I leave my friends behind me.
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Take better thoughts.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I never knew to flatter, to kneele basely And beg from him a smile owes me an honour.
Chapter 15 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 by A. H. (Arthur Henry) [Editor] Bullen holds 388 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 15 holds 388 sentences of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2, unabridged, divided into 78 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 by A. H. (Arthur Henry) [Editor] Bullen exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 388 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 15 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.
Common questions about reading A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 by A. H. (Arthur Henry) [Editor] Bullen on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10315 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #10656 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #10656, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2063 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
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 2, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
