Chapter 2 of The Works of the Right Honourable John, Earl of Rochester is here in full — 297 sentences across 60 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Works of the Right Honourable John, Earl of Rochester is here in full — 297 sentences across 60 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray. X. Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise? Didst thou not stand to point their dull Philosophies. XI.
Chapter 2 of The Works of the Right Honourable John, Earl of Rochester is here in full — 297 sentences across 60 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/59 · 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.
determine the essential quality of
From this reading “Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?”
come up with (an idea, plan, explanation, theory, or principle) after a mental effort
From this reading “Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?”
an old form of “did”, used with “thou”
From this reading “Didst thou not stand to point their dull Philosophies.”
address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading “Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?”
characterized by or displaying negation or denial or opposition or resistance; having no positive features
From this reading “Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?”
plural of “philosophy” — a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school
From this reading “Didst thou not stand to point their dull Philosophies.”
morally excellent
From this reading “Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.”
in a wise manner
From this reading “Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.”
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.
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
determine the essential quality of
From this reading Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?
come up with (an idea, plan, explanation, theory, or principle) after a mental effort
From this reading Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?
an old form of “did”, used with “thou”
From this reading Didst thou not stand to point their dull Philosophies.
mark as different
From this reading Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading Didst thou not stand to point their dull Philosophies.
address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?
in a free manner
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
characterized by or displaying negation or denial or opposition or resistance; having no positive features
From this reading Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Didst thou not stand to point their dull Philosophies.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
plural of “philosophy” — a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school
From this reading Didst thou not stand to point their dull Philosophies.
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading Didst thou not stand to point their dull Philosophies.
address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
express in words
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
be standing; be upright
From this reading Didst thou not stand to point their dull Philosophies.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
impart skills or knowledge to
From this reading Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
an old word for “you”, as the object, speaking to one person
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Didst thou not stand to point their dull Philosophies.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
to no avail
From this reading Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?
morally excellent
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
morally bad in principle or practice
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
having or prompted by wisdom or discernment
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
in a wise manner
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Great Negative, how vainly wou'd the Wise Enquire, define, distinguish, teach, devise?
the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
From this reading X.
the cardinal number that is the sum of ten and one
From this reading XI.
but in spite of that
From this reading Yet this of thee the Wise may freely say, Thou from the Virtuous nothing tak'st away, And to be part with thee the Wicked wisely pray.
Chapter 2 of The Works of the Right Honourable John, Earl of Rochester by John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester holds 297 sentences, grouped into 60 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 2 holds 297 sentences of The Works of the Right Honourable John, Earl of Rochester, unabridged, divided into 60 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Works of the Right Honourable John, Earl of Rochester by John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 297 sentences, grouped into 60 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 60 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 60 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 2 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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About 49 minutes of reading across 120 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in The Works of the Right Honourable John, Earl of Rochester, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
