Chapter 2 of Sir John Oldcastle is here in full — 256 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Sir John Oldcastle is here in full — 256 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BEVERLY. Professed friends to Wickliffe, foes to Rome. MURLEY. Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house. Say your mind, say your mind.
Chapter 2 of Sir John Oldcastle is here in full — 256 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/51 · 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.
plural of “foe” — an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
From this reading “Professed friends to Wickliffe, foes to Rome.”
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading “Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.”
a boy or man
From this reading “Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.”
to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading “Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.”
professing to be qualified
From this reading “Professed friends to Wickliffe, foes to Rome.”
capital and largest city of Italy; on the Tiber; seat of the Roman Catholic Church; formerly the capital of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire
From this reading “Professed friends to Wickliffe, foes to Rome.”
personnel who assist their superior in carrying out an assigned task
From this reading “Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.”
English theologian whose objections to Roman Catholic doctrine anticipated the Protestant Reformation (1328-1384)
From this reading “Professed friends to Wickliffe, foes to Rome.”
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 Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
(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 Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BEVERLY.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
plural of “foe” — an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
From this reading Professed friends to Wickliffe, foes to Rome.
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading Professed friends to Wickliffe, foes to Rome.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
a boy or man
From this reading Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
an artist of consummate skill
From this reading Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading Say your mind, say your mind.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MURLEY.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
professing to be qualified
From this reading Professed friends to Wickliffe, foes to Rome.
capital and largest city of Italy; on the Tiber; seat of the Roman Catholic Church; formerly the capital of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire
From this reading Professed friends to Wickliffe, foes to Rome.
express in words
From this reading Say your mind, say your mind.
personnel who assist their superior in carrying out an assigned task
From this reading Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Professed friends to Wickliffe, foes to Rome.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Hold by me, lad; lean upon that staff, good master Beverly: all of a house.
English theologian whose objections to Roman Catholic doctrine anticipated the Protestant Reformation (1328-1384)
From this reading Professed friends to Wickliffe, foes to Rome.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Say your mind, say your mind.
Chapter 2 of Sir John Oldcastle by William [Dubious author] Shakespeare holds 256 sentences, grouped into 52 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 2 holds 256 sentences of Sir John Oldcastle, unabridged, divided into 52 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Sir John Oldcastle by William [Dubious author] Shakespeare exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 256 sentences, grouped into 52 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 52 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 52 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 2 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 Sir John Oldcastle by William [Dubious author] Shakespeare on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1546 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1788 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1788, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 128 minutes of reading across 310 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Sir John Oldcastle section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of Sir John Oldcastle 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 Sir John Oldcastle, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
