Chapter 1 of The White Devil is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The White Devil is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
What, travelling to bed with your kind wife? Cam. I assure you, brother, no. My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime. I do not well remember, I protest, When I last lay with her.
Chapter 1 of The White Devil is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 27/80 · 5 reading units · Lines 131–135
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.
make certain of
From this reading “I assure you, brother, no.”
a river in east central England that flows past Cambridge to join the Ouse River
From this reading “Cam.”
comparative of “cold” — having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading “My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.”
plural of “lie” — a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
From this reading “My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.”
situated in or oriented toward the north
From this reading “My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.”
a formal and solemn declaration of objection
From this reading “I do not well remember, I protest, When I last lay with her.”
the act of going from one place to another
From this reading “What, travelling to bed with your kind wife?”
an act of traveling by water
From this reading “My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.”
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 My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.
make certain of
From this reading I assure you, brother, no.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading What, travelling to bed with your kind wife?
a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading I assure you, brother, no.
a river in east central England that flows past Cambridge to join the Ouse River
From this reading Cam.
the weather in some location averaged over some long period of time
From this reading My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.
comparative of “cold” — having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading I do not well remember, I protest, When I last lay with her.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading I do not well remember, I protest, When I last lay with her.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I assure you, brother, no.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.
having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
From this reading What, travelling to bed with your kind wife?
immediately past
From this reading I do not well remember, I protest, When I last lay with her.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading I do not well remember, I protest, When I last lay with her.
plural of “lie” — a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
From this reading My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.
not any; not one
From this reading I assure you, brother, no.
situated in or oriented toward the north
From this reading My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I do not well remember, I protest, When I last lay with her.
a formal and solemn declaration of objection
From this reading I do not well remember, I protest, When I last lay with her.
To recall to mind.
From this reading I do not well remember, I protest, When I last lay with her.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading What, travelling to bed with your kind wife?
the act of going from one place to another
From this reading What, travelling to bed with your kind wife?
an act of traveling by water
From this reading My voyage lies More northerly, in a far colder clime.
(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 I do not well remember, I protest, When I last lay with her.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What, travelling to bed with your kind wife?
at the time that
From this reading I do not well remember, I protest, When I last lay with her.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading What, travelling to bed with your kind wife?
in the company of; together with
From this reading What, travelling to bed with your kind wife?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I assure you, brother, no.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading What, travelling to bed with your kind wife?
Chapter 1 of The White Devil by John Webster holds 403 sentences, grouped into 81 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 1 holds 403 sentences of The White Devil, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The White Devil by John Webster exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 403 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 1 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 White Devil by John Webster on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3118 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12915 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12915, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 259 minutes of reading across 624 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The White Devil section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The White Devil 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 White Devil, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
