Chapter 26 of The Works of William Shakespeare — Vol. 8 is here in full — 734 sentences across 147 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of The Works of William Shakespeare — Vol. 8 is here in full — 734 sentences across 147 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
[4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope. _Why ... reason?_] Prose in Q₂. Two lines, the first ending _backe,_ in Q₁ Q₃. [4142] _the_] Q₁ Q₃. _no_ Q₂.
Chapter 26 of The Works of William Shakespeare — Vol. 8 is here in full — 734 sentences across 147 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/146 · 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.
the end of a word (a suffix or inflectional ending or final morpheme)
From this reading “Two lines, the first ending _backe,_ in Q₁ Q₃.”
a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe
From this reading “[4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.”
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading “[4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.”
plural of “line” — a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading “Two lines, the first ending _backe,_ in Q₁ Q₃.”
the head of the Roman Catholic Church
From this reading “[4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.”
ordinary writing as distinguished from verse
From this reading “_Why ... reason?_] Prose in Q₂.”
a rational motive for a belief or action
From this reading “_Why ... reason?_] Prose in Q₂.”
happening unexpectedly
From this reading “[4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.”
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.
In this reading “Two lines, the first ending _backe,_ in Q₁ Q₃.”
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 [4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [4142] _the_] Q₁ Q₃.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading [4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Two lines, the first ending _backe,_ in Q₁ Q₃.
the end of a word (a suffix or inflectional ending or final morpheme)
From this reading Two lines, the first ending _backe,_ in Q₁ Q₃.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Two lines, the first ending _backe,_ in Q₁ Q₃.
a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe
From this reading [4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.
destroyed or killed
From this reading [4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading _Why ... reason?_] Prose in Q₂.
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading [4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.
plural of “line” — a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading Two lines, the first ending _backe,_ in Q₁ Q₃.
not any; not one
From this reading _no_ Q₂.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading [4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.
the head of the Roman Catholic Church
From this reading [4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.
ordinary writing as distinguished from verse
From this reading _Why ... reason?_] Prose in Q₂.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Two lines, the first ending _backe,_ in Q₁ Q₃.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Why ... reason?_] Prose in Q₂.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Two lines, the first ending _backe,_ in Q₁ Q₃.
a rational motive for a belief or action
From this reading _Why ... reason?_] Prose in Q₂.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading [4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading [4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading [4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two lines, the first ending _backe,_ in Q₁ Q₃.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading [4141] _Why ... back_] _The King of France so suddenly gone back!_ Pope.
Chapter 26 of The Works of William Shakespeare — Vol. 8 by William Shakespeare holds 734 sentences, grouped into 147 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 26 holds 734 sentences of The Works of William Shakespeare — Vol. 8, unabridged, divided into 147 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of The Works of William Shakespeare — Vol. 8 by William Shakespeare exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 734 sentences, grouped into 147 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 147 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 147 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 26 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 Works of William Shakespeare — Vol. 8 by William Shakespeare on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 26487 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #49008 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #49008, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 5298 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Works of William Shakespeare — Vol. 8 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of The Works of William Shakespeare — Vol. 8 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 Works of William Shakespeare — Vol. 8, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
