Chapter 4 of The Spanish Tragedy is here in full — 375 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Spanish Tragedy is here in full — 375 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
PED. O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit. So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope. But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat. HANG.
Chapter 4 of The Spanish Tragedy is here in full — 375 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/75 · 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.
footwear that covers the whole foot and lower leg
From this reading “But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.”
having made preparations
From this reading “O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.”
give something useful or necessary to
From this reading “O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.”
a toothed wheel that engages another toothed mechanism in order to change the speed or direction of transmitted motion
From this reading “So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.”
rope or canvas headgear for a horse, with a rope for leading
From this reading “O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.”
an executioner who hangs the condemned person
From this reading “But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.”
catch sight of
From this reading “But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.”
an old form of “would”, used with “thou”
From this reading “O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.”
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.
move out of or depart from
In this reading “So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.”
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 O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
footwear that covers the whole foot and lower leg
From this reading But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.
cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
From this reading But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
having made preparations
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.
at or to or toward the front
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
give something useful or necessary to
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
a toothed wheel that engages another toothed mechanism in order to change the speed or direction of transmitted motion
From this reading So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.
an established custom
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
rope or canvas headgear for a horse, with a rope for leading
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
be suspended or hanging
From this reading HANG.
an executioner who hangs the condemned person
From this reading But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.
lack of honesty; acts of lying or cheating or stealing
From this reading But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading PED.
especially fine or decorative clothing
From this reading So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.
a strong line
From this reading So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.
term of address for a man
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.
catch sight of
From this reading But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading So should I go out of this gear, my raiment, into that gear, the rope.
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
in the company of; together with
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.
an old form of “would”, used with “thou”
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading O, sir, you are to forward; thou wouldst fain furnish me with a halter, to disfurnish me of my habit.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading But, hangman, now I spy your knavery, I'll not change without boot; that's flat.
Chapter 4 of The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd holds 375 sentences, grouped into 75 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 4 holds 375 sentences of The Spanish Tragedy, unabridged, divided into 75 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 375 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 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 Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2268 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #35330 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #35330, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 189 minutes of reading across 454 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Spanish Tragedy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of The Spanish Tragedy 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 Spanish Tragedy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
