Chapter 4 of The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. Stevenson is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. Stevenson is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DOROTHY. I have refused him. ANTHONY. Dorothy, you lie. You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
Chapter 4 of The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. Stevenson is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/53 · 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 “ANTHONY.”
plural of “concern” — something that interests you because it is important or affects you
From this reading “You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.”
possessive form of “father” — a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
the state of being honored
From this reading “You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.”
a person who loves someone or is loved by someone
From this reading “You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.”
past form of “refuse” — show unwillingness towards
From this reading “I have refused him.”
a protective covering or structure
From this reading “You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.”
plural of “strike” — a group's refusal to work in protest against low pay or bad work conditions
From this reading “You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
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 ANTHONY.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
plural of “concern” — something that interests you because it is important or affects you
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DOROTHY.
possessive form of “father” — a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I have refused him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I have refused him.
the state of being honored
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I have refused him.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading Dorothy, you lie.
a person who loves someone or is loved by someone
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
and nothing more
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
past form of “refuse” — show unwillingness towards
From this reading I have refused him.
a protective covering or structure
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
plural of “strike” — a group's refusal to work in protest against low pay or bad work conditions
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Dorothy, you lie.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You would shield your lover; but this concerns not you only: it strikes my honour and my father’s honour.
Chapter 4 of The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. Stevenson by William Ernest Henley holds 265 sentences, grouped into 53 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 4 holds 265 sentences of The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. Stevenson, unabridged, divided into 53 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. Stevenson by William Ernest Henley exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 265 sentences, grouped into 53 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 53 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 53 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 The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. Stevenson by William Ernest Henley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2217 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #719 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #719, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 184 minutes of reading across 444 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. Stevenson section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. Stevenson 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 Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. Stevenson, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
