Chapter 11 of The Draytons and the Davenants is here in full — 643 sentences across 129 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XI
Chapter 11 of The Draytons and the Davenants is here in full — 643 sentences across 129 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
OLIVE'S STORY. The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony. I saw him coming hastily across the fields from the direction of Davenant Hall. It was very early in the morning. The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.
Chapter 11 of The Draytons and the Davenants is here in full — 643 sentences across 129 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/128 · 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.
Roman general under Julius Caesar in the Gallic wars; repudiated his wife for the Egyptian queen Cleopatra; they were defeated by Octavian at Actium (83-30 BC)
From this reading “The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.”
in a hurried or hasty manner
From this reading “I saw him coming hastily across the fields from the direction of Davenant Hall.”
just preceding something else in time or order
From this reading “The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.”
plural of “rumour” — gossip (usually a mixture of truth and untruth) passed around by word of mouth
From this reading “The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.”
agitating a liquid with an implement
From this reading “The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.”
information about recent and important events
From this reading “The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.”
worthy of trust or belief
From this reading “The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.”
lacking a sense of security or affording no ease or reassurance
From this reading “The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.”
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 “I saw him coming hastily across the fields from the direction of Davenant Hall.”
In this reading “The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.”
In this reading “It was very early in the morning.”
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.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading I saw him coming hastily across the fields from the direction of Davenant Hall.
the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.
Roman general under Julius Caesar in the Gallic wars; repudiated his wife for the Egyptian queen Cleopatra; they were defeated by Octavian at Actium (83-30 BC)
From this reading The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading I saw him coming hastily across the fields from the direction of Davenant Hall.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I saw him coming hastily across the fields from the direction of Davenant Hall.
a line leading to a place or point
From this reading I saw him coming hastily across the fields from the direction of Davenant Hall.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading It was very early in the morning.
United States comedian and film actor (1880-1946)
From this reading I saw him coming hastily across the fields from the direction of Davenant Hall.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading I saw him coming hastily across the fields from the direction of Davenant Hall.
in a hurried or hasty manner
From this reading I saw him coming hastily across the fields from the direction of Davenant Hall.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I saw him coming hastily across the fields from the direction of Davenant Hall.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I saw him coming hastily across the fields from the direction of Davenant Hall.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It was very early in the morning.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was very early in the morning.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading It was very early in the morning.
a village in western Northamptonshire
From this reading The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading OLIVE'S STORY.
just preceding something else in time or order
From this reading The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.
plural of “rumour” — gossip (usually a mixture of truth and untruth) passed around by word of mouth
From this reading The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.
cut with a saw
From this reading I saw him coming hastily across the fields from the direction of Davenant Hall.
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.
agitating a liquid with an implement
From this reading The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading OLIVE'S STORY.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.
information about recent and important events
From this reading The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.
worthy of trust or belief
From this reading The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.
lacking a sense of security or affording no ease or reassurance
From this reading The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.
precisely as stated
From this reading It was very early in the morning.
a community of people smaller than a town
From this reading The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was very early in the morning.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The first trustworthy tidings we had of the battle of Naseby were from Dr. Antony.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The village had been stirring through the previous afternoon with uneasy rumours, and I had not slept.
Chapter 11 of The Draytons and the Davenants by Elizabeth Rundle Charles holds 643 sentences, grouped into 129 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 11 holds 643 sentences of The Draytons and the Davenants, unabridged, divided into 129 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 11 of The Draytons and the Davenants by Elizabeth Rundle Charles exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 643 sentences, grouped into 129 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 129 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 129 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 11 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 #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in The Draytons and the Davenants, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
