Chapter 27 of History of English Literature from "Beowulf" to Swinburne is here in full — 374 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXVII
Chapter 27 of History of English Literature from "Beowulf" to Swinburne is here in full — 374 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
AUGUSTAN PROSE. Steele. Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne. Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are. Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.
Chapter 27 of History of English Literature from "Beowulf" to Swinburne is here in full — 374 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/74 · 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.
Queen of England and Scotland and Ireland; daughter if James II and the last of the Stuart monarchs; in 1707 she was the last English ruler to exercise the royal veto over parliament (1665-1714)
From this reading “Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.”
someone who has exceptional intellectual ability and originality
From this reading “Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.”
plural of “impress” — the act of coercing someone into government service
From this reading “Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.”
ordinary writing as distinguished from verse
From this reading “AUGUSTAN PROSE.”
English writer (1672-1729)
From this reading “Steele.”
moving very fast
From this reading “Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.”
(mineralogy) two interwoven crystals that are mirror images on each other
From this reading “Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.”
characterized by unity; being or joined into a single entity
From this reading “Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.”
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 “Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.”
In this reading “Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.”
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 Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.
how long something has existed
From this reading Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.
surrounded by; in the middle of a group
From this reading Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.
Queen of England and Scotland and Ireland; daughter if James II and the last of the Stuart monarchs; in 1707 she was the last English ruler to exercise the royal veto over parliament (1665-1714)
From this reading Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
relating to or characteristic of the times of the Roman Emperor Augustus
From this reading AUGUSTAN PROSE.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.
one or the other of two
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
someone who has exceptional intellectual ability and originality
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
greater in size or importance or degree
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
plural of “impress” — the act of coercing someone into government service
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
plural of “life” — a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.
held dear
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
ordinary writing as distinguished from verse
From this reading AUGUSTAN PROSE.
the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs
From this reading Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
plural of “star” — (astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior
From this reading Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.
English writer (1672-1729)
From this reading Steele.
moving very fast
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.
up to a particular time
From this reading Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.
(mineralogy) two interwoven crystals that are mirror images on each other
From this reading Steele and Addison are the Twins among the stars of the age of Queen Anne.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.
characterized by unity; being or joined into a single entity
From this reading Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Swift impresses us as a greater genius than either Steele or Addison, but he is not loved, and he is not read as they are.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.
a late time of life
From this reading Their lives, till two or three years before Addison's death, were united.
Chapter 27 of History of English Literature from "Beowulf" to Swinburne by Andrew Lang holds 374 sentences, grouped into 75 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 27 holds 374 sentences of History of English Literature from "Beowulf" to Swinburne, unabridged, divided into 75 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 27 of History of English Literature from "Beowulf" to Swinburne by Andrew Lang exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 374 sentences, grouped into 75 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 75 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 75 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 27 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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Project Gutenberg eBook #56613, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1736 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in History of English Literature from "Beowulf" to Swinburne, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
