Chapter 5 of The Poetaster is here in full — 372 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Poetaster is here in full — 372 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Tuc. Not now, you shall not take, boy. Cris. By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave. Tuc.
Chapter 5 of The Poetaster is here in full — 372 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/74 · 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.
a youthful male person
From this reading “Not now, you shall not take, boy.”
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading “By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.”
characterized by a firm and humorless belief in the validity of your opinions
From this reading “By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.”
go away from a place
From this reading “By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.”
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading “Not now, you shall not take, boy.”
carry out
From this reading “Not now, you shall not take, boy.”
a fact that has been verified
From this reading “By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.”
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 By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.
a youthful male person
From this reading Not now, you shall not take, boy.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cris.
characterized by a firm and humorless belief in the validity of your opinions
From this reading By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.
go away from a place
From this reading By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Not now, you shall not take, boy.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Not now, you shall not take, boy.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading Not now, you shall not take, boy.
carry out
From this reading Not now, you shall not take, boy.
a fact that has been verified
From this reading By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tuc.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Not now, you shall not take, boy.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading By my truth and earnest, but he shall, captain, by your leave.
Chapter 5 of The Poetaster by Ben Jonson holds 372 sentences, grouped into 75 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 5 holds 372 sentences of The Poetaster, unabridged, divided into 75 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Poetaster by Ben Jonson exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 372 sentences, grouped into 75 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 75 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 75 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 5 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 Poetaster by Ben Jonson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4319 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5166 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5166, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 359 minutes of reading across 864 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Poetaster section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of The Poetaster 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 Poetaster, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
