Chapter 12 of A Select Collection of Old English Plays is here in full — 359 sentences across 72 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of A Select Collection of Old English Plays is here in full — 359 sentences across 72 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MORDRED. Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once. CONAN. The kingliest point is to affect but right. MORDRED.
Chapter 12 of A Select Collection of Old English Plays is here in full — 359 sentences across 72 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/71 · 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.
have an effect upon
From this reading “The kingliest point is to affect but right.”
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading “Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.”
plural of “king” — a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading “Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.”
a principle or condition that customarily governs behavior
From this reading “Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.”
possessive form of “safety” — the state of being certain that adverse effects will not be caused by some agent under defined conditions
the imperial authority symbolized by a scepter
From this reading “Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.”
a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard
From this reading “Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.”
plural of “want” — a state of extreme poverty
From this reading “Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
In this reading “Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.”
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.
have an effect upon
From this reading The kingliest point is to affect but right.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The kingliest point is to affect but right.
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CONAN.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The kingliest point is to affect but right.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The kingliest point is to affect but right.
plural of “king” — a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MORDRED.
on one occasion
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading The kingliest point is to affect but right.
precisely, exactly
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
a principle or condition that customarily governs behavior
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
possessive form of “safety” — the state of being certain that adverse effects will not be caused by some agent under defined conditions
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
the imperial authority symbolized by a scepter
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The kingliest point is to affect but right.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
plural of “want” — a state of extreme poverty
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
belonging to which person
From this reading Whose rule wants right, his safety’s in his sword; For sword and sceptre comes to kings at once.
Chapter 12 of A Select Collection of Old English Plays by William Carew [Editor] Hazlitt holds 359 sentences, grouped into 72 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 12 holds 359 sentences of A Select Collection of Old English Plays, unabridged, divided into 72 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of A Select Collection of Old English Plays by William Carew [Editor] Hazlitt exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 359 sentences, grouped into 72 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 72 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 72 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 12 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 Select Collection of Old English Plays by William Carew [Editor] Hazlitt on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6286 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #49550 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #49550, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 523 minutes of reading across 1258 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Select Collection of Old English Plays section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of A Select Collection of Old English Plays 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 Select Collection of Old English Plays, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
