Complete classic literature • Five-line readings • Clear US narration
VELMORA ACADEMY
Academy of Archival Languages & Memory Studies
Menu Close
The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning
The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning

Chapter XVII

Chapter 17 of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning is here in full — 871 sentences across 175 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Cover illustration for The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning
Context Illustration Reading 1/174 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
With law's award, budge!
Back into your place!
Your betters shall arrange the rest for you.
We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.
We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.
0:00 / 0:00
Speed 0.75x
AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning

Chapter XVII

Chapter 17 of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning is here in full — 871 sentences across 175 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/174 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
With law's award, budge!
/wɪð lɔːz əˈwɔːrd bʌdʒ/
Line 2
Back into your place!
/bæk ˈɪntuː jɔːr pleɪs/
Line 3
Your betters shall arrange the rest for you.
/jɔːr ˈbetərz ʃæl ərˈeɪndʒ ðə rest fɔːr juː/
Line 4
We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.
Line 5
We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

Learner Dictionary

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.

award noun US /əˈwɔːrd/

a grant made by a law court

From this reading “With law's award, budge!”

betters noun US /ˈbetərz/

plural of “better” — something superior in quality or condition or effect

From this reading “Your betters shall arrange the rest for you.”

budge verb US /bʌdʒ/

move very slightly

From this reading “With law's award, budge!”

cheat verb US /tʃiːt/

deprive somebody of something by deceit

From this reading “We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.”

divorce verb US /dɪˈvɔːrs/

part; cease or break association with

From this reading “We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.”

erred verb US /erd/

past form of “err” — to make a mistake or be incorrect

From this reading “We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.”

law's noun US /lɔːz/

possessive form of “law” — the collection of rules imposed by authority

From this reading “With law's award, budge!”

unaware adjective US /ˌʌnəˈwer/

(often followed by “of”) not aware

From this reading “We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.”

Word partnerships in these lines

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.

by law's preposition + noun counted as “by law”

In this reading “We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.”

All words in this reading · 52

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.

adeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

actionnounUS /ˈækʃən/

something done (usually as opposed to something said)

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

allowverbUS /əˈlaʊ/

make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

arrangeverbUS /ərˈeɪndʒ/

put into a proper or systematic order

From this reading Your betters shall arrange the rest for you.

atprepositionUS /æt/

in or near a particular place or position

From this reading We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

awardnounUS /əˈwɔːrd/

a grant made by a law court

From this reading With law's award, budge!

BackadverbUS /bæk/

in or to or toward a former location

From this reading Back into your place!

bettersnounUS /ˈbetərz/

plural of “better” — something superior in quality or condition or effect

From this reading Your betters shall arrange the rest for you.

budgeverbUS /bʌdʒ/

move very slightly

From this reading With law's award, budge!

byprepositionUS /baɪ/

showing who or what does the action

From this reading We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

cheatverbUS /tʃiːt/

deprive somebody of something by deceit

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

claimnounUS /kleɪm/

an assertion of a right (as to money or property)

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

daughternounUS /ˈdɔːtər/

a female human offspring

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

divorceverbUS /dɪˈvɔːrs/

part; cease or break association with

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

enterverbUS /ˈentər/

to come or go into

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

erredverbUS /erd/

past form of “err” — to make a mistake or be incorrect

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

forprepositionUS /fɔːr/

intended to be given to, or used by, somebody

From this reading Your betters shall arrange the rest for you.

gainverbUS /ɡeɪn/

obtain

From this reading We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

haveauxiliary verbUS /hæv/

used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

ipronounUS /aɪ/

the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

intoprepositionUS /ˈɪntuː/

moving to the inside of something

From this reading Back into your place!

law'snounUS /lɔːz/

possessive form of “law” — the collection of rules imposed by authority

From this reading With law's award, budge!

leastadjectiveUS /liːst/

the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree

From this reading We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

libertynounUS /ˈlɪb.ər.ti/

The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions on one's way of life.

From this reading We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

ll

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

marriagenounUS /ˈmerɪdʒ/

the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce)

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

marriedadjectiveUS /ˈmerid/

joined in matrimony

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

mightmodal verbUS /maɪt/

used to say something is possible but not certain

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

muchadverbUS /mʌtʃ/

to a great degree or extent

From this reading We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

newadjectiveUS /nuː/

not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

orconjunctionUS /ɔːr/

used to join alternatives or possibilities

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

ownverbUS /oʊn/

have ownership or possession of

From this reading We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

personnounUS /ˈpɜːrsən/

a human being

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

placenounUS /pleɪs/

a point located with respect to surface features of some region

From this reading Back into your place!

restverbUS /rest/

not move; be in a resting position

From this reading Your betters shall arrange the rest for you.

shallmodal verbUS /ʃæl/

used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest

From this reading Your betters shall arrange the rest for you.

showingnounUS /ˈʃoʊɪŋ/

the display of a motion picture

From this reading We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

sisternounUS /ˈsɪstər/

a female person who has the same parents as another person

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

soconjunctionUS /soʊ/

for that reason; with the result that

From this reading We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

SureadjectiveUS /ʃʊr/

having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured

From this reading We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

thatconjunctionUS /ðæt/

used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt

From this reading We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading Your betters shall arrange the rest for you.

themselvespronounUS /ðemˈselvz/

used when the people doing the action are also its object

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

thusadverbUS /ðʌs/

(used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

unawareadjectiveUS /ˌʌnəˈwer/

(often followed by “of”) not aware

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

waynounUS /weɪ/

how something is done or how it happens

From this reading We 'll gain you, that way, liberty at least, Sure of so much by law's own showing.

WepronounUS /wiː/

the speaker together with one or more other people

From this reading We 'll enter a new action, claim divorce: Your marriage was a cheat themselves allow: You erred i' the person,--might have married thus Your sister or your daughter unaware.

WithprepositionUS /wɪð/

in the company of; together with

From this reading With law's award, budge!

youpronounUS /juː/

the person or people being spoken to

From this reading Your betters shall arrange the rest for you.

yourdeterminerUS /jɔːr/

belonging to the person or people being spoken to

From this reading Back into your place!

Chapter 17 of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning by Robert Browning holds 871 sentences, grouped into 175 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.

What does chapter 17 of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning contain?

Chapter 17 holds 871 sentences of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning, unabridged, divided into 175 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 17 of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning by Robert Browning exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 871 sentences, grouped into 175 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.

How do I study chapter 17 of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning?

Work through the 175 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 175 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.

Can chapter 17 be read aloud to me?

Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 17 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.

Questions about reading The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning

Common questions about reading The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning by Robert Browning on this page, its source edition and its audio.

Is this the complete text of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning?

Yes. All 33314 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50954 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

Which edition of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning is used?

Project Gutenberg eBook #50954, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

How long does The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning take to read?

About 600 minutes of reading across 6663 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

How to read The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning section by section

How to work through The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.

  1. Open a chapter

    Choose one of the 39 chapters of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning to begin.

  2. Read one section

    Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.

  3. Listen and tap

    Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.

Vocabulary met early in The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning

Words and structures a reader meets early in The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

Scene
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Council
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Chamber
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Rivoli
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.