Chapter 4 of The Two Noble Kinsmen is here in full — 227 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Two Noble Kinsmen is here in full — 227 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ARCITE. Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep. Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends. Have at thy life! PALAMON.
Chapter 4 of The Two Noble Kinsmen is here in full — 227 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/45 · 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.
take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission
From this reading “Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.”
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading “Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.”
extended verbal expression in speech or writing
From this reading “Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.”
plural of “end” — either extremity of something that has length
From this reading “Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.”
plural of “fear” — an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight)
From this reading “Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.”
the state of being honored
From this reading “Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.”
the collection of rules imposed by authority
From this reading “Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.”
an old form of “shall”, used with “thou”
From this reading “Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ARCITE.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Have at thy life!
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
extended verbal expression in speech or writing
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
plural of “end” — either extremity of something that has length
From this reading Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.
plural of “fear” — an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight)
From this reading Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.
the state of being honored
From this reading Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
the collection of rules imposed by authority
From this reading Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Have at thy life!
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.
and nothing more
From this reading Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
an old form of “shall”, used with “thou”
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading Have at thy life!
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Then, come what can come, Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well Die, as discourse, or sleep.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading Only this fears me, The law will have the honour of our ends.
Chapter 4 of The Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare holds 227 sentences, grouped into 46 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 227 sentences of The Two Noble Kinsmen, unabridged, divided into 46 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 227 sentences, grouped into 46 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 46 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 46 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 Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1332 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1506 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1506, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 111 minutes of reading across 267 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Two Noble Kinsmen section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of The Two Noble Kinsmen 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 Two Noble Kinsmen, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
