Chapter 33 of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 is here in full — 230 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXIII
Chapter 33 of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 is here in full — 230 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MARY LAMB TO BARBARA BETHAM (Aged 14) Nov'r. 2, 1814. It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me. Such a nice letter as it is too. And what a pretty hand you write.
Chapter 33 of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 is here in full — 230 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/46 · 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.
past form of “afford” — be able to spare or give up
From this reading “It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.”
advanced in years; (“aged” is pronounced as two syllables)
From this reading “MARY LAMB TO BARBARA BETHAM (Aged 14) Nov'r.”
conforming to your own liking or feelings or nature
From this reading “It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.”
young sheep
From this reading “MARY LAMB TO BARBARA BETHAM (Aged 14) Nov'r.”
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading “MARY LAMB TO BARBARA BETHAM (Aged 14) Nov'r.”
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
From this reading “Such a nice letter as it is too.”
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading “It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.”
produce a literary work
From this reading “And what a pretty hand you write.”
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 MARY LAMB TO BARBARA BETHAM (Aged 14) Nov'r.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 2, 1814.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 2, 1814.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Such a nice letter as it is too.
past form of “afford” — be able to spare or give up
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
advanced in years; (“aged” is pronounced as two syllables)
From this reading MARY LAMB TO BARBARA BETHAM (Aged 14) Nov'r.
conforming to your own liking or feelings or nature
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And what a pretty hand you write.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MARY LAMB TO BARBARA BETHAM (Aged 14) Nov'r.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MARY LAMB TO BARBARA BETHAM (Aged 14) Nov'r.
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading And what a pretty hand you write.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
young sheep
From this reading MARY LAMB TO BARBARA BETHAM (Aged 14) Nov'r.
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading MARY LAMB TO BARBARA BETHAM (Aged 14) Nov'r.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
From this reading Such a nice letter as it is too.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MARY LAMB TO BARBARA BETHAM (Aged 14) Nov'r.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading And what a pretty hand you write.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading MARY LAMB TO BARBARA BETHAM (Aged 14) Nov'r.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading Such a nice letter as it is too.
precisely as stated
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading And what a pretty hand you write.
in the company of; together with
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
produce a literary work
From this reading And what a pretty hand you write.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading And what a pretty hand you write.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading It is very long since I have met with such an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, my kind young friend, afforded me.
Chapter 33 of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 by Charles Lamb holds 230 sentences, grouped into 46 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 33 holds 230 sentences of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5, unabridged, divided into 46 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 33 of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 by Charles Lamb exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 230 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 33 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.
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Yes. All 11239 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #9365 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #9365, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2248 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
