Chapter 2 of Venice Preserved: A Tragedy in Five Acts is here in full — 345 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Venice Preserved: A Tragedy in Five Acts is here in full — 345 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou? _Jaf._ Indeed, 'tis late. _Bel._ Alas! where am I? whither is't you lead me? Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold! Heav'ns guard my love, and bless his heart with patience!
Chapter 2 of Venice Preserved: A Tragedy in Five Acts is here in full — 345 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/69 · 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.
a logarithmic unit of sound intensity equal to 10 decibels
mental turmoil
From this reading “Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!”
occurring every hour or payable by the hour
From this reading “_Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou?”
an iconic mental representation
From this reading “_Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou?”
plural of “run” — a score in baseball made by a runner touching all four bases safely
From this reading “Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!”
move or cause to move back and forth
From this reading “Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!”
move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways
From this reading “Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!”
an old word meaning “to where”
From this reading “_Bel._ Alas! where am I? whither is't you lead me?”
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 show sadness, pity, or regret
From this reading _Bel._ Alas! where am I? whither is't you lead me?
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading _Bel._ Alas! where am I? whither is't you lead me?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!
an old form of “are”, used with “thou”
From this reading _Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou?
a logarithmic unit of sound intensity equal to 10 decibels
From this reading _Bel._ Alas! where am I? whither is't you lead me?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou?
give a benediction to
From this reading Heav'ns guard my love, and bless his heart with patience!
The red fluid that circulates in the heart and blood vessels.
From this reading Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs 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 Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!
mental turmoil
From this reading Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!
to come or go into
From this reading _Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou?
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!
a person who keeps watch over something or someone
From this reading Heav'ns guard my love, and bless his heart with patience!
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading Heav'ns guard my love, and bless his heart with patience!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Heav'ns guard my love, and bless his heart with patience!
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Heav'ns guard my love, and bless his heart with patience!
occurring every hour or payable by the hour
From this reading _Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading _Bel._ Alas! where am I? whither is't you lead me?
an iconic mental representation
From this reading _Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading _Jaf._ Indeed, 'tis late.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Bel._ Alas! where am I? whither is't you lead me?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Jaf._ Indeed, 'tis late.
a metric unit of capacity, formerly defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water under standard conditions; now equal to 1,000 cubic centimeters (or approximately 1.75 pints)
From this reading _Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou?
being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time
From this reading _Jaf._ Indeed, 'tis late.
take somebody somewhere
From this reading _Bel._ Alas! where am I? whither is't you lead me?
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading Heav'ns guard my love, and bless his heart with patience!
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading _Bel._ Alas! where am I? whither is't you lead me?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading _Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou?
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading _Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou?
good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence
From this reading Heav'ns guard my love, and bless his heart with patience!
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!
plural of “run” — a score in baseball made by a runner touching all four bases safely
From this reading Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!
move or cause to move back and forth
From this reading Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading _Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou?
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading _Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou?
plural of “ti” — a light strong grey lustrous corrosion-resistant metallic element used in strong lightweight alloys (as for airplane parts); the main sources are rutile and ilmenite
From this reading _Jaf._ Indeed, 'tis late.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!
move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways
From this reading Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!
in or at the place that
From this reading _Enter Belvidera, L._ Thou hourly image of my thoughts, where art thou?
an old word meaning “to where”
From this reading _Bel._ Alas! where am I? whither is't you lead me?
in the company of; together with
From this reading Heav'ns guard my love, and bless his heart with patience!
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading _Bel._ Alas! where am I? whither is't you lead me?
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Methinks I read distraction in your face,-- You shake and tremble, too! your blood runs cold!
Chapter 2 of Venice Preserved: A Tragedy in Five Acts by Thomas Otway holds 345 sentences, grouped into 69 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 345 sentences of Venice Preserved: A Tragedy in Five Acts, unabridged, divided into 69 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Venice Preserved: A Tragedy in Five Acts by Thomas Otway exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 345 sentences, grouped into 69 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 69 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 69 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.
Common questions about reading Venice Preserved: A Tragedy in Five Acts by Thomas Otway on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1061 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #21515 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #21515, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 88 minutes of reading across 213 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Venice Preserved: A Tragedy in Five Acts section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of Venice Preserved: A Tragedy in Five Acts 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 Venice Preserved: A Tragedy in Five Acts, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
