Chapter 1 of Borgia: A Period Play is here in full — 411 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Borgia: A Period Play is here in full — 411 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
[_With a short laugh, unmasking._] Oh, my father! LUCREZIA. But enter, enter, Holiness. ALEXANDER. [_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?
Chapter 1 of Borgia: A Period Play is here in full — 411 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
European herb somewhat resembling celery widely naturalized in Britain coastal regions and often cultivated as a potherb
From this reading “ALEXANDER.”
cause to move by pulling
From this reading “[_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?”
plural of “embrace” — the act of clasping another person in the arms (as in greeting or affection)
to come or go into
From this reading “But enter, enter, Holiness.”
the quality of being holy
From this reading “But enter, enter, Holiness.”
the sound of laughing
From this reading “[_With a short laugh, unmasking._] Oh, my father!”
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading “[_With a short laugh, unmasking._] Oh, my father!”
a person loved by another person
From this reading “[_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?”
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.
In this reading “[_With a short laugh, unmasking._] Oh, my father!”
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 [_With a short laugh, unmasking._] Oh, my father!
European herb somewhat resembling celery widely naturalized in Britain coastal regions and often cultivated as a potherb
From this reading ALEXANDER.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading [_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But enter, enter, Holiness.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading [_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?
cause to move by pulling
From this reading [_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?
plural of “embrace” — the act of clasping another person in the arms (as in greeting or affection)
From this reading [_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?
to come or go into
From this reading But enter, enter, Holiness.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading [_With a short laugh, unmasking._] Oh, my father!
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading [_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading [_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?
the quality of being holy
From this reading But enter, enter, Holiness.
the sound of laughing
From this reading [_With a short laugh, unmasking._] Oh, my father!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LUCREZIA.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading [_With a short laugh, unmasking._] Oh, my father!
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading [_With a short laugh, unmasking._] Oh, my father!
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading [_With a short laugh, unmasking._] Oh, my father!
a person loved by another person
From this reading [_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading [_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading [_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?
the exposure of an impostor or a fraud
From this reading [_With a short laugh, unmasking._] Oh, my father!
in or at the place that
From this reading [_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?
in the company of; together with
From this reading [_With a short laugh, unmasking._] Oh, my father!
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading [_To_ CESARE, _as he embraces_ LUCREZIA.] My heart, Where do you draw the sweetheart?
Chapter 1 of Borgia: A Period Play by Michael Field holds 411 sentences, grouped into 83 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 1 holds 411 sentences of Borgia: A Period Play, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Borgia: A Period Play by Michael Field exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 411 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 1 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 Borgia: A Period Play by Michael Field on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3226 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #65280 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #65280, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 268 minutes of reading across 646 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Borgia: A Period Play section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of Borgia: A Period Play 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 Borgia: A Period Play, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
