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.
[Aside.] My fears are fall'n upon me: oh, my heart! My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin. Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none. Brach. What value is this jewel?
Chapter 1 of The White Devil is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 58/80 · 5 reading units · Lines 286–290
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.
plural of “earthquake” — shaking and vibration at the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement along a fault plane or from volcanic activity
From this reading “Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.”
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 “[Aside.] My fears are fall'n upon me: oh, my heart!”
a precious or semiprecious stone incorporated into a piece of jewelry
From this reading “What value is this jewel?”
a strong sexual desire
From this reading “Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.”
someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce)
From this reading “My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin.”
a descent as through liquid (especially through water)
From this reading “My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin.”
acting with or marked by or resulting from great force or energy or emotional intensity
From this reading “Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.”
misery resulting from affliction
From this reading “Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.”
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.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading [Aside.] My fears are fall'n upon me: oh, my heart!
on or to one side
From this reading [Aside.] My fears are fall'n upon me: oh, my heart!
at or toward the back of something
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Brach.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
plural of “earthquake” — shaking and vibration at the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement along a fault plane or from volcanic activity
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [Aside.] My fears are fall'n upon me: oh, my heart!
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 [Aside.] My fears are fall'n upon me: oh, my heart!
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading [Aside.] My fears are fall'n upon me: oh, my heart!
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin.
a heavy ductile magnetic metallic element; is silver-white in pure form but readily rusts; used in construction and tools and armament; plays a role in the transport of oxygen by the blood
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading What value is this jewel?
a precious or semiprecious stone incorporated into a piece of jewelry
From this reading What value is this jewel?
take somebody somewhere
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
go away from a place
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
a strong sexual desire
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading [Aside.] My fears are fall'n upon me: oh, my heart!
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading [Aside.] My fears are fall'n upon me: oh, my heart!
not one, and not any
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading [Aside.] My fears are fall'n upon me: oh, my heart!
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin.
someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce)
From this reading My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin.
an irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction
From this reading My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin.
a descent as through liquid (especially through water)
From this reading My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin.
a male human offspring
From this reading My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin.
a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading What value is this jewel?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading My son the pander! now I find our house Sinking to ruin.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading [Aside.] My fears are fall'n upon me: oh, my heart!
a numerical quantity measured or assigned or computed
From this reading What value is this jewel?
acting with or marked by or resulting from great force or energy or emotional intensity
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What value is this jewel?
in or at the place that
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
misery resulting from affliction
From this reading Earthquakes leave behind, Where they have tyranniz'd, iron, or lead, or stone; But woe to ruin, violent lust leaves none.
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.
