Chapter 1 of The Beggar's Opera is here in full — 277 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Beggar's Opera is here in full — 277 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BEGGAR, PLAYER. BEGGAR. IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine. I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_. I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
Chapter 1 of The Beggar's Opera is here in full — 277 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/55 · 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 “beggar” — a pauper who lives by begging
From this reading “I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.”
plural of “catch” — a drawback or difficulty that is not readily evident
From this reading “I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.”
take exception to
From this reading “IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.”
plural of “festival” — a day or period of time set aside for feasting and celebration
From this reading “I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.”
a person who participates in or is skilled at some game
From this reading “BEGGAR, PLAYER.”
something that remunerates
From this reading “I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.”
a periodical that is published every week (or 52 issues per year)
From this reading “I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.”
a reference book that is published regularly once every year
From this reading “I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.”
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 IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
a pauper who lives by begging
From this reading BEGGAR, PLAYER.
plural of “beggar” — a pauper who lives by begging
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
plural of “catch” — a drawback or difficulty that is not readily evident
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
an institution created to conduct business
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
the main meal of the day served in the evening or at midday
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
take exception to
From this reading IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
plural of “festival” — a day or period of time set aside for feasting and celebration
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
engage in
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
the one or ones belonging to the person speaking
From this reading IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
used to form the superlative
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
a person who participates in or is skilled at some game
From this reading BEGGAR, PLAYER.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
literature in metrical form
From this reading IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
plural of “poet” — a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions
From this reading IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
something that remunerates
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
express in words
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured
From this reading IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
in or at that place or location
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
a heading that names a statute or legislative bill; may give a brief summary of the matters it deals with
From this reading IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading IF Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure no-body can dispute mine.
a periodical that is published every week (or 52 issues per year)
From this reading I own myself of the Company of Beggars; and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at _St. Giles’s_.
accept gladly
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
at any time that; every time that
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
a reference book that is published regularly once every year
From this reading I have a small Yearly Salary for my Catches, and am welcome to a Dinner there whenever I please, which is more than most Poets can say.
Chapter 1 of The Beggar's Opera by John Gay holds 277 sentences, grouped into 56 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 1 holds 277 sentences of The Beggar's Opera, unabridged, divided into 56 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Beggar's Opera by John Gay exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 277 sentences, grouped into 56 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 56 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 56 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 The Beggar's Opera by John Gay on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1403 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2421 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2421, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 116 minutes of reading across 281 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Beggar's Opera section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of The Beggar's Opera 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 The Beggar's Opera, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
