Chapter 4 of Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age is here in full — 348 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age is here in full — 348 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Not long youth lasteth, And old age hasteth. Fa la la! Now is best leisure To take our pleasure. Fa la la! All things invite us Now to delight us.
Chapter 4 of Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age is here in full — 348 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/69 · 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.
how long something has existed
From this reading “Not long youth lasteth, And old age hasteth.”
the supreme effort one can make
From this reading “Now is best leisure To take our pleasure.”
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading “All things invite us Now to delight us.”
increase the likelihood of
From this reading “All things invite us Now to delight us.”
time available for ease and relaxation
From this reading “Now is best leisure To take our pleasure.”
a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading “Now is best leisure To take our pleasure.”
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading “All things invite us Now to delight us.”
a young person (especially a young man or boy)
From this reading “Not long youth lasteth, And old age hasteth.”
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 “Fa la la!”
a late time of life
In this reading “Not long youth lasteth, And old age hasteth.”
In this reading “All things invite us Now to delight us.”
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.
how long something has existed
From this reading Not long youth lasteth, And old age hasteth.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading All things invite us Now to delight us.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Not long youth lasteth, And old age hasteth.
the supreme effort one can make
From this reading Now is best leisure To take our pleasure.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading All things invite us Now to delight us.
the syllable naming the fourth (subdominant) note of the diatonic scale in solmization
From this reading Fa la la!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Not long youth lasteth, And old age hasteth.
increase the likelihood of
From this reading All things invite us Now to delight us.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Now is best leisure To take our pleasure.
a white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily; occurs in rare earth minerals and is usually classified as a rare earth
From this reading Fa la la!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Not long youth lasteth, And old age hasteth.
time available for ease and relaxation
From this reading Now is best leisure To take our pleasure.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Not long youth lasteth, And old age hasteth.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Not long youth lasteth, And old age hasteth.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now is best leisure To take our pleasure.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading Not long youth lasteth, And old age hasteth.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading Now is best leisure To take our pleasure.
a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading Now is best leisure To take our pleasure.
carry out
From this reading Now is best leisure To take our pleasure.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading All things invite us Now to delight us.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Now is best leisure To take our pleasure.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading All things invite us Now to delight us.
a young person (especially a young man or boy)
From this reading Not long youth lasteth, And old age hasteth.
Chapter 4 of Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age by A. H. (Arthur Henry) [Editor] Bullen holds 348 sentences, grouped into 70 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 4 holds 348 sentences of Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age, unabridged, divided into 70 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age by A. H. (Arthur Henry) [Editor] Bullen exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 348 sentences, grouped into 70 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 70 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 70 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 4 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 Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age by A. H. (Arthur Henry) [Editor] Bullen on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2134 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #27129 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #27129, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 177 minutes of reading across 427 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age 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 Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
