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Faculty of Teacher Training – English Department

Course Title: Advanced English Language IV

Instructor: Dr. Rod

E-mail: sjrod55@gmail.com

Merchant of Venice – Act IV

ACT IV
SCENE I. Venice. A court of justice.
Enter the DUKE, the Magnificoes, ANTONIO, BASSANIO, GRATIANO, SALERIO, and others 
DUKE 
What, is Antonio here?
ANTONIO 
Ready, so please your grace.
DUKE 
I am sorry for thee: thou art come to answer
A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch
uncapable of pity, void and empty
From any dram of mercy.
ANTONIO 
I have heard
Your grace hath ta’en great pains to qualify
His rigorous course; but since he stands obdurate
And that no lawful means can carry me
Out of his envy’s reach, I do oppose
My patience to his fury, and am arm’d
To suffer, with a quietness of spirit,
The very tyranny and rage of his.
DUKE 
Go one, and call the Jew into the court.
SALERIO 
He is ready at the door: he comes, my lord.
Enter SHYLOCK
DUKE 
Make room, and let him stand before our face.
Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too,
That thou but lead’st this fashion of thy malice
To the last hour of act; and then ’tis thought
Thou’lt show thy mercy and remorse more strange
Than is thy strange apparent cruelty;
And where thou now exact’st the penalty,
Which is a pound of this poor merchant’s flesh,
Thou wilt not only loose the forfeiture,
But, touch’d with human gentleness and love,
Forgive a moiety of the principal;
Glancing an eye of pity on his losses,
That have of late so huddled on his back,
Enow to press a royal merchant down
And pluck commiseration of his state
From brassy bosoms and rough hearts of flint,
From stubborn Turks and Tartars, never train’d
To offices of tender courtesy.
We all expect a gentle answer, Jew.
SHYLOCK 
I have possess’d your grace of what I purpose;
And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn
To have the due and forfeit of my bond:
If you deny it, let the danger light
Upon your charter and your city’s freedom.
You’ll ask me, why I rather choose to have
A weight of carrion flesh than to receive
Three thousand ducats: I’ll not answer that:
But, say, it is my humour: is it answer’d?
What if my house be troubled with a rat
And I be pleased to give ten thousand ducats
To have it baned? What, are you answer’d yet?
Some men there are love not a gaping pig;
Some, that are mad if they behold a cat;
And others, when the bagpipe sings i’ the nose,
Cannot contain their urine: for affection,
Mistress of passion, sways it to the mood
Of what it likes or loathes. Now, for your answer:
As there is no firm reason to be render’d,
Why he cannot abide a gaping pig;
Why he, a harmless necessary cat;
Why he, a woollen bagpipe; but of force
Must yield to such inevitable shame
As to offend, himself being offended;
So can I give no reason, nor I will not,
More than a lodged hate and a certain loathing
I bear Antonio, that I follow thus
A losing suit against him. Are you answer’d?
BASSANIO 
This is no answer, thou unfeeling man,
To excuse the current of thy cruelty.
SHYLOCK 
I am not bound to please thee with my answers.
BASSANIO 
Do all men kill the things they do not love?
SHYLOCK 
Hates any man the thing he would not kill?
BASSANIO 
Every offence is not a hate at first.
SHYLOCK 
What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice?
ANTONIO 
I pray you, think you question with the Jew:
You may as well go stand upon the beach
And bid the main flood bate his usual height;
You may as well use question with the wolf
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb;
You may as well forbid the mountain pines
To wag their high tops and to make no noise,
When they are fretten with the gusts of heaven;
You may as well do anything most hard,
As seek to soften that–than which what’s harder?–
His Jewish heart: therefore, I do beseech you,
Make no more offers, use no farther means,
But with all brief and plain conveniency
Let me have judgment and the Jew his will.
BASSANIO 
For thy three thousand ducats here is six.
SHYLOCK 
What judgment shall I dread, doing
Were in six parts and every part a ducat,
I would not draw them; I would have my bond.
DUKE 
How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering none?
SHYLOCK 
What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong?
You have among you many a purchased slave,
Which, like your asses and your dogs and mules,
You use in abject and in slavish parts,
Because you bought them: shall I say to you,
Let them be free, marry them to your heirs?
Why sweat they under burthens? let their beds
Be made as soft as yours and let their palates
Be season’d with such viands? You will answer
‘The slaves are ours:’ so do I answer you:
The pound of flesh, which I demand of him,
Is dearly bought; ’tis mine and I will have it.
If you deny me, fie upon your law!
There is no force in the decrees of Venice.
I stand for judgment: answer; shall I have it?
BASSANIO 
Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly?
SHYLOCK 
To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt there.
GRATIANO 
Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew,
Thou makest thy knife keen; but no metal can,
No, not the hangman’s axe, bear half the keenness
Of thy sharp envy. Can no prayers pierce thee?
SHYLOCK 
No, none that thou hast wit enough to make.
GRATIANO 
O, be thou damn’d, inexecrable dog!
And for thy life let justice be accused.
Thou almost makest me waver in my faith
To hold opinion with Pythagoras,
That souls of animals infuse themselves
Into the trunks of men: thy currish spirit
Govern’d a wolf, who, hang’d for human slaughter,
Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet,
And, whilst thou lay’st in thy unhallow’d dam,
Infused itself in thee; for thy desires
Are wolvish, bloody, starved and ravenous.
SHYLOCK 
Till thou canst rail the seal from off my bond,
Thou but offend’st thy lungs to speak so loud:
Repair thy wit, good youth, or it will fall
To cureless ruin. I stand here for law.
=====================================================================

Soft!
The Jew shall have all justice; soft! no haste:
He shall have nothing but the penalty.
GRATIANO 
O Jew! an upright judge, a learned judge!
PORTIA 
Therefore prepare thee to cut off the flesh.
Shed thou no blood, nor cut thou less nor more
But just a pound of flesh: if thou cut’st more
Or less than a just pound, be it but so much
As makes it light or heavy in the substance,
Or the division of the twentieth part
Of one poor scruple, nay, if the scale do turn
But in the estimation of a hair,
Thou diest and all thy goods are confiscate.
GRATIANO 
A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew!
Now, infidel, I have you on the hip.
PORTIA 
Why doth the Jew pause? take thy forfeiture.
SHYLOCK 
Give me my principal, and let me go.
BASSANIO 
I have it ready for thee; here it is.
PORTIA 
He hath refused it in the open court:
He shall have merely justice and his bond.
GRATIANO 
A Daniel, still say I, a second Daniel!
I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.
SHYLOCK 
Shall I not have barely my principal?
PORTIA 
Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture,
To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
SHYLOCK 
Why, then the devil give him good of it!
I’ll stay no longer question.


Romeo and Juliet Act II

SCENE II. Capulet’s orchard.
Enter ROMEO 
ROMEO 
He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
JULIET appears above at a window
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she:
Be not her maid, since she is envious;
Her vestal livery is but sick and green
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.
It is my lady, O, it is my love!
O, that she knew she were!
She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
I am too bold, ’tis not to me she speaks:
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!
JULIET 
Ay me!
ROMEO 
She speaks:
O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o’er my head
As is a winged messenger of heaven
Unto the white-upturned wondering eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.
JULIET 
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
ROMEO 
[Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
JULIET 
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.
ROMEO 
I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.
JULIET 
What man art thou that thus bescreen’d in night
So stumblest on my counsel?
ROMEO 
By a name
I know not how to tell thee who I am:
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself,
Because it is an enemy to thee;
Had I it written, I would tear the word.
JULIET 
My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words
Of that tongue’s utterance, yet I know the sound:
Art thou not Romeo and a Montague?
ROMEO 
Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike.
JULIET 
How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore?
The orchard walls are high and hard to climb,
And the place death, considering who thou art,
If any of my kinsmen find thee here.
ROMEO 
With love’s light wings did I o’er-perch these walls;
For stony limits cannot hold love out,
And what love can do that dares love attempt;
Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me.
JULIET 
If they do see thee, they will murder thee.
ROMEO 
Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye
Than twenty of their swords: look thou but sweet,
And I am proof against their enmity.
JULIET 
I would not for the world they saw thee here.
ROMEO 
I have night’s cloak to hide me from their sight;
And but thou love me, let them find me here:
My life were better ended by their hate,
Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.
JULIET 
By whose direction found’st thou out this place?
ROMEO 
By love, who first did prompt me to inquire;
He lent me counsel and I lent him eyes.
I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far
As that vast shore wash’d with the farthest sea,
I would adventure for such merchandise.
JULIET 
Thou know’st the mask of night is on my face,
Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek
For that which thou hast heard me speak to-night
Fain would I dwell on form, fain, fain deny
What I have spoke: but farewell compliment!
Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say ‘Ay,’
And I will take thy word: yet if thou swear’st,
Thou mayst prove false; at lovers’ perjuries
Then say, Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo,
If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully:
Or if thou think’st I am too quickly won,
I’ll frown and be perverse an say thee nay,
So thou wilt woo; but else, not for the world.
In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond,
And therefore thou mayst think my ‘havior light:
But trust me, gentleman, I’ll prove more true
Than those that have more cunning to be strange.
I should have been more strange, I must confess,
But that thou overheard’st, ere I was ware,
My true love’s passion: therefore pardon me,
And not impute this yielding to light love,
Which the dark night hath so discovered.
ROMEO 
Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops–
JULIET 
O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
ROMEO 
What shall I swear by?
JULIET 
Do not swear at all;
Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry,
And I’ll believe thee.
ROMEO 
If my heart’s dear love–
JULIET 
Well, do not swear: although I joy in thee,
I have no joy of this contract to-night:
It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden;
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
Ere one can say ‘It lightens.’ Sweet, good night!
This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.
Good night, good night! as sweet repose and rest
Come to thy heart as that within my breast!
ROMEO 
O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?
JULIET 
What satisfaction canst thou have to-night?
ROMEO 
The exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine.
JULIET 
I gave thee mine before thou didst request it:
And yet I would it were to give again.
ROMEO 
Wouldst thou withdraw it? for what purpose, love?
JULIET 
But to be frank, and give it thee again.
And yet I wish but for the thing I have:
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.
Nurse calls within
I hear some noise within; dear love, adieu!
Anon, good nurse! Sweet Montague, be true.
Stay but a little, I will come again.
Exit, above


Macbeth Act I


ACT I
SCENE I. A desert place.
Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches 
First Witch 
When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
Second Witch 
When the hurlyburly’s done,
When the battle’s lost and won.
Third Witch 
That will be ere the set of sun.
First Witch 
Where the place?
Second Witch 
Upon the heath.
Third Witch 
There to meet with Macbeth.
First Witch 
I come, Graymalkin!
Second Witch 
Paddock calls.
Third Witch 
Anon.
ALL 
Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
Exeunt
SCENE II. A camp near Forres.
Alarum within. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENNOX, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Sergeant 
DUNCAN 
What bloody man is that? He can report,
As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt
The newest state.
MALCOLM 
This is the sergeant
Who like a good and hardy soldier fought
‘Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend!
Say to the king the knowledge of the broil
As thou didst leave it.
Sergeant 
Doubtful it stood;
As two spent swimmers, that do cling together
And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald–
Worthy to be a rebel, for to that
The multiplying villanies of nature
Do swarm upon him–from the western isles
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied;
And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Show’d like a rebel’s whore: but all’s too weak:
For brave Macbeth–well he deserves that name–
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour’s minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseam’d him from the nave to the chaps,
And fix’d his head upon our battlements.
DUNCAN 
O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!
Sergeant 
As whence the sun ‘gins his reflection
Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break,
So from that spring whence comfort seem’d to come
Discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark:
No sooner justice had with valour arm’d
Compell’d these skipping kerns to trust their heels,
But the Norweyan lord surveying vantage,
With furbish’d arms and new supplies of men
Began a fresh assault.
DUNCAN 
Dismay’d not this
Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?
Sergeant 
Yes;
As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they were
As cannons overcharged with double cracks, so they
Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe:
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorise another Golgotha,
I cannot tell.
But I am faint, my gashes cry for help.
DUNCAN 
So well thy words become thee as thy wounds;
They smack of honour both. Go get him surgeons.
Exit Sergeant, attended
Who comes here?
Enter ROSS
MALCOLM 
The worthy thane of Ross.
LENNOX 
What a haste looks through his eyes! So should he look
That seems to speak things strange.
ROSS 
God save the king!
DUNCAN 
Whence camest thou, worthy thane?
ROSS 
From Fife, great king;
Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky
And fan our people cold. Norway himself,
With terrible numbers,
Assisted by that most disloyal traitor
The thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict;
Till that Bellona’s bridegroom, lapp’d in proof,
Confronted him with self-comparisons,
Point against point rebellious, arm ‘gainst arm.
Curbing his lavish spirit: and, to conclude,
The victory fell on us.
DUNCAN 
Great happiness!
ROSS 
That now
Sweno, the Norways’ king, craves composition:
Nor would we deign him burial of his men
Till he disbursed at Saint Colme’s inch
Ten thousand dollars to our general use.
DUNCAN 
No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive
Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death,
And with his former title greet Macbeth.
ROSS 
I’ll see it done.
DUNCAN 
What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won.
Exeunt
SCENE III. A heath near Forres.
Thunder. Enter the three Witches 
First Witch 
Where hast thou been, sister?
Second Witch 
Killing swine.
Third Witch 
Sister, where thou?
First Witch 
A sailor’s wife had chestnuts in her lap,
And munch’d, and munch’d, and munch’d:–
‘Give me,’ quoth I:
‘Aroint thee, witch!’ the rump-fed ronyon cries.
Her husband’s to Aleppo gone, master o’ the Tiger:
But in a sieve I’ll thither sail,
And, like a rat without a tail,
I’ll do, I’ll do, and I’ll do.
Second Witch 
I’ll give thee a wind.
First Witch 
Thou’rt kind.
Third Witch 
And I another.
First Witch 
I myself have all the other,
And the very ports they blow,
All the quarters that they know
I’ the shipman’s card.
I will drain him dry as hay:
Sleep shall neither night nor day
Hang upon his pent-house lid;
He shall live a man forbid:
Weary se’nnights nine times nine
Shall he dwindle, peak and pine:
Though his bark cannot be lost,
Yet it shall be tempest-tost.
Look what I have.
Second Witch 
Show me, show me.
First Witch 
Here I have a pilot’s thumb,
Wreck’d as homeward he did come.
Drum within
Third Witch 
A drum, a drum!
Macbeth doth come.
ALL 
The weird sisters, hand in hand,
Posters of the sea and land,
Thus do go about, about:
Thrice to thine and thrice to mine
And thrice again, to make up nine.
Peace! the charm’s wound up.
Enter MACBETH and BANQUO
MACBETH 
So foul and fair a day I have not seen.
BANQUO 
How far is’t call’d to Forres? What are these
So wither’d and so wild in their attire,
That look not like the inhabitants o’ the earth,
And yet are on’t? Live you? or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to understand me,
By each at once her chappy finger laying
Upon her skinny lips: you should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.
MACBETH 
Speak, if you can: what are you?
First Witch 
All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!
Second Witch 
All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!
Third Witch 
All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!
BANQUO 
Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear
Things that do sound so fair? I’ the name of truth,
Are ye fantastical, or that indeed
Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner
You greet with present grace and great prediction
Of noble having and of royal hope,
That he seems rapt withal: to me you speak not.
If you can look into the seeds of time,
And say which grain will grow and which will not,
Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear
Your favours nor your hate.
First Witch 
Hail!
Second Witch 
Hail!
Third Witch 
Hail!
First Witch 
Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
Second Witch 
Not so happy, yet much happier.
Third Witch 
Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:
So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!
First Witch 
Banquo and Macbeth, all hail!
MACBETH 
Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more:
By Sinel’s death I know I am thane of Glamis;
But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives,
A prosperous gentleman; and to be king
Stands not within the prospect of belief,
No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence
You owe this strange intelligence? or why
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you.
Witches vanish

Written by drrodsenglish

March 17, 2010 at 11:17

Posted in Advanced Skills Class, Books, Class Work, English Culture, English UK, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, Presentation, Pronunciation, Romeo and Juliet, SEEU, Shakespeare, Speech

‘Real English’ utilizing AUTHENTIC and NATURAL ESL videos!

with 4 comments

Today I received a letter from Mike at ‘Real English’ a wonderful resources especially for the summer and those long days when you could be practicing your English skills.

The site describes its self as "Welcome to Real English, the Web’s only online ESL site that utilizes authentic and natural ESL videos of people speaking real English on streets across the globe. Designed for individuals learning English, as well as for teachers and institutions, Real English offers unique ESL educational services, including a free subscription to for beginners, and unlimited chat with our teachers, for subscribers."

I ran through many of the pages and discovered a real TREASURE TROVE of materials for students,  teachers, parents, business people and ANYONE who needs to know how to speak REAL English not with a fake accent or using phrases that went out of date during the ‘Flower Power’ days – sorry – most reading this will just know of that as a chapter in the history book. But this site develops YOUR English so that YOU will be understood.

Give it a try, see what you think. I honestly recommend it to you for this summer and once started you will be hooked!

"This site combines ESL grammar and functions with the spontaneity provided by the people we meet casually during our filming campaigns. You will not find any actors here. All of our clips are based on people being themselves, speaking naturally and spontaneously, just like in the situations which learners will deal with when their training is finished, when they travel to English-speaking countries, or when they welcome English speakers into their homes and offices.

Most of our videos are based on targeted grammar structures, providing an anchor and a counterpoint to the spontaneity of street video. This unique approach is greatly appreciated by teachers who have been using traditional materials and videos, which present us with actors speaking slowly and distinctly, as if the real world were slow and distinct. The traditional shock of migrating from "classroom English" to real English is built into the method itself, providing our students with a head start, enabling them to learn in a reality-based environment."

Let us know how you get on!

Written by drrodsenglish

June 17, 2008 at 09:26

Posted in English Culture, English UK, English USA, General, Guides, Pronunciation, Resources, Speech, Summer Reading, Summer School, Web Site

Sites with general ESL listening activities

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This information will help students find quickly resources in English for their listening skills – SAT’s, TOEFL, ESL classes, IELTS etc

  • BBC World Service – Learning Zone Home Page —
    This site has changed recently, but it’s still great for ESL.
    You’ll have to look around for the listening activities, but they’re there.

  • Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab
    –Lots of great Real Audio quizzes good for all levels. Also, there is material for academic listening as well as a few videos.

  • ESL Wonderland–One of Holly’s favourite sites. Kent Trickel delivers a complete package–prelistening and vocabulary, teaching tips, etc.

  • The English Listening Lounge
    — This is commercial, and there are areas that are available only by subscription, but the free quizzes are quite good.

  • About.com–There’s a lot here. It’s got a wide range of accents, and there are
    activities suitable for all levels.

Sites with Authentic Materials

Interviews and news

Weather

Radio Drama

  • Shoe String Radio Theater —
    has a lot of short 5 minute audio scenes in real media format.
  • The Mercury Theater on the Air —
    This fabulous site includes Real Audio of famous radio plays produced by the Mercury Theater. It includes the original 1938 Broadcast of "The War of the Worlds." You will need to download a special font plug-in to view it.
  • Old Timer Radio —
    has audio of old radio programs organized by genre.
  • One Act Plays —
    by a non-profit group called the One Act Players.

Speeches

Film and TV

Songs

Poetry

  • The Academy of American Poets —
    Archive of Poetry with both text & audio usually read by the author).

  • The Favourite Poem Project
    Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky’s ambitious audio/video project asks Americans to record their favourite poems. Here are videos of 50 Americans reading their favourite poems. Wow! What a great site. Listen to many different Americans and different regional accents. Learn why they love these poems.

  • Harper Audio — Poetry read by the authors or by famous actors. Available in several formats.

Educational Video

  • BrainPop–This site is aimed at kids, but the science related animations have real possibilities for the ESL classroom.

Commercials

Sites for pronunciation

    This information page brought to you by Sharon Widmayer and Holly Gray. For more information, please e-mail  Feedback@soundsofenglish.org

    Written by drrodsenglish

    April 26, 2008 at 17:11

    Posted in Guides, Pronunciation, Resources, Speech

    Pronunciation Poems – from the British Council

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    Try these to practice your pronunciation. These are poems used by the British Council to help their students. These are classic ‘English’ Poems from across the United Kingdom. Poems that Native Speakers have grown up listening to and studying. Try your hand at these.

    There are some additional poems written by British Council students that are of particular interest. Enjoy the list!

     

    Scroll down to choose a poem or select a letter from the list to move more quickly.

    A
    About Getting the Exact Word in English
    Miguel Ángel Muñoz Lobo is a young learner of English from Madrid in Spain. Read his poem which is about what it is like to find the exact word in English. Have you ever felt the same way?

    Address to the Haggis
    This famous poem by the great Scottish poet Robert Burns is regularly recited during celebrations throughout the world, whenever Haggis makes an appearance on the menu.

    AIDS poems
    Three poems about AIDS sent to us by users.

    Alfie and Me
    A poem about seafaring sent to us by one of our users.

    The Alphabet
    This poem was written by Eduardo González Chillón, who is a student at the British Institute for Young Learners in Madrid, Spain.

    Animal poetry
    Poems about horses and other animals sent to us by users

    Anthems
    The anthems or national songs of the UK, Australia and Canada, with activities.

    To Autumn
    Autumn, or "fall" as it is called in the USA, often arouses feelings of loss and melancholy. However, in his ode To Autumn, John Keats, the great poet of the early nineteenth century whose own life was so brief, the end of summer is not a cause for sadness but for celebration, of the wonderful fruitfulness of nature on the brink of decay.

    B

    A Ballad of John Silver
    In this poem the John Edward Masefield fondly reminisces about the ‘good old days’ when there were pirates on the seas!

    Banyan Tree
    This poem is by Nobel Prize for Literature winner Rabindranath Tagore, from India. Tagore once said ‘To study a banyan tree, you not only must know its main stem in its own soil, but also must trace the growth of its greatness in the further soil, for then you can know the true nature of its vitality’.

    Bathtub Disaster
    This funny poem by Peter Wyllie is about what happens when a patient in a hospital has a bath that goes wrong…

    The Blind Boy
    In this short poem, Poet Laureate Colley Cibber describes the feelings of a boy who has never been able to see.

    The Bright Dresses
    This poem by Robert Seatter is about teaching English and conveys powerful emotions through observation of impersonal details which in a different context would be trivial or even banal; here we have shoes in shoe shops, bright dresses, the artificial language of an English lesson. Somehow, they resonate with strong feelings.

    C

    Canada
    Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts was the first Canadian to be knighted for his work as a writer. According to one source: "Those of his poetical compositions that are distinctively Canadian are regarded as being specially excellent”.

    The cat that walked by himself
    Rudyard Kipling used to tell his daughter stories in which he invented funny answers for such questions as "How did the camel get his hump?". The stories end in amusing poems that summarise the stories themselves. This poem tells us the reasons why many people prefer dogs to cats.

    Charity: Embankment at Night, before the War
    In this short poem D.H: Lawrence describes an experience where he tried to be charitable.

    Childhood
    Five poems about childhood sent to us by users.

    On Chloris being ill
    In this poem (written as a song), the great Scottish poet Robert Burns laments the illness of his loved one.

    Circus
    This poem by Vine McCasland provides a different, very interesting view of the circus as seen from the audience.

    D
    Dance poetry
    Two poems about dance sent to us by users.

    Danger in the Wet
    Some people in North Queensland (Australia) love having tourists visit them so much, that they tell them this tale…

    Disaster poetry
    Two poems about disasters sent to us by users.

    E

    England
    Poems by William Wordsworth, William Ernest Henley, Henry Newbolt, William James Linton and Charles Leonard Moore, all of who are "singing the praises" of England.

    English Lesson
    Robert Seatter, who has been an English teacher, an actor and a journalist, now works with the BBC. His poem English Lesson takes us vividly into the midst of an English lesson for adult learners. Read the poem, listen to the poet reading it and say it aloud. How does it compare with your own English lessons?

    The Einstein and the Eddington
    This nonsense poem (which is based on Lewis Carroll’s "The Walrus and the Carpenter" in "Through the looking-glass") was written by Dr. W. H. Williams for a faculty club dinner on the eve of the physicist Eddington’s departure from Berkeley in 1924.

    Eye Halve a Spelling Chequer
    In this amusing poem the correct words have been substituted by homophones (two or more words that are spelt differently, but pronounced the same). It proves that computer spelling checkers are not infallible!

    F

    Family poetry
    A poem about families sent to us by a user.

    The Flatulence Tax
    This funny poem explores what would happen if we stopped farming sheep and cattle and started cultivating beans instead!

    Food poetry
    10 short poems about food from famous and not so famous poets, and an activity in which you compare them.

    Funny poetry
    A funny poem sent to us by a user.

    G

    Gambling poem: Tom Beatty
    This poem by Edgar Lee Masters from his acclaimed Spoon River Anthology compares gambling and life.

    A Glass of Wine
    Andrew Motion became the UK’s Poet Laureate in 1999. Listen to Motion read his poem and then describe the feelings that inspired it. "It’s about sitting in the garden with my wife at the end of the summer, in other words a poem I wrote very recently. Feeling happy.."

    The Good Old Days
    This amusing poem compares the meanings of words and expressions as they are used nowadays when speaking about computers, and in their original contexts.

    When Greenville Turned Brown
    A small town called Greenville was a nice place to live,
    With forests and ponds, it had lots to give.
    The people were happy in this little town,
    Until something happened and Greenville turned brown.

    H

    Heat
    This poem by Archibald Lampman conjures up vivid images of a sweltering summer’s day. Phew!

    I

    I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
    This famous poem by William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was inspired by the Spring flower, the yellow, or golden daffodil.

    An Irish Airman Foresees His Death
    According to encyclopedia.com “William Butler Yeats, 1865-1939, Irish poet and playwright … (was) the greatest lyric poet Ireland has produced and one of the major figures of 20th-century literature”. This poem graphically illustrates how it felt to be an Irishman fighting for the Allies.

    It Wouldn’t Do
    This poem was written by John Kay, who was the winner of the White Adder International EFL Poetry Competiton. He teaches English and trains teachers in Bournemouth, England. His poem treats an important theme in a humorous way. It also links the theme to a well-known point of English grammar. What is the theme and what is the grammar point?

    L

    Land-locked
    This poem by Celia Thaxter, who during her lifetime and briefly thereafter, was one of the better known women poets in America, vividly portrays the feelings of someone who yearns for the sea.

    Learning a Language
    What does learning a new language feel like to you? Writer and English language teacher Olivia McMahon, who lives in Scotland, is also a poet. Read and listen to her poem. Say it aloud. Is this how it feels to you?

    Let America Be America Again
    This poem, whose title was chosen by John Kerry as the slogan for his 2004 US Presidential campaign, was written by Langston Hughes, particularly known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties.

    Lord’s Prayer
    This is probably the most frequently recited prayer among Christians, and originates from a Latin prayer, the "Pater Noster". Learn the prayer and do some fun activities connected to it.

    Love and Illness
    The Poem by Mireille Moukarzel of Lebanon, and Just a Job They Say by Sherry Blaylock.

    Love Poems: 1
    Read two love poems sent to us by Lina Al-Adnani from Jordan.

    Love Poems: 2
    Read three more love poems sent to us by learners in Lebanon, Austria and the USA.

    Love Poems: 3
    Read five love poems sent to us by learners from Croatia, Egypt, Pakistan and China.

    Love Poems: 4
    Read three love poems sent to us by learners from Pakistan, the Lebanon and Tanzania.

    Love Poems: 5
    Read five love poems sent to us by learners from round the world.

    Love Poems: 6
    Read three love poems sent to us by learners from round the world.

    M

    Man Hunt
    This poem by Madison Cawein, who was one of  the leading American nature poets of his day, tells of the terrifying ordeal of a man on the run.

    Mountain Fable
    In this fable by Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement, a squirrel and a mountain have an argument!

    Mulga Bill’s Bicycle
    This funny ballad by one of Australia’s favourite poets, ‘Banjo’ Paterson (whose most famous work is undoubtedly Waltzing Matilda), is typical of his work in that his love for the bush and its colourful characters are very apparent.

    Murder
    This poem was sent to us by Lisa Chen from China. Is it possible to kill the sun?

    N

    Night’s Mardi Gras
    In this poem Edward J. Wheeler compares the night to the Mardi Gras, where nothing is quite what it seems …

    No
    This poem by Thomas Hood takes a negative view of winter in a cold, urban climate, but expresses it with a nice sense of humour.

    O

    Online Auction
    In this funny poem by Peter Wyllie we find out about a man’s experience putting in a bid for something on e-Bay.

    Ozymandias
    This poem was written in 1818 by the famous Romantic poet Shelley. In this poem Shelley reflects on the nature of political power, and those who hold it.

    P

    Pasta with Breadcrumbs
    This is a poem by Elisabetta Zezza from Italy, which explains why “The wayfarer eats what’s offered him in exchange for a tale or a song”.

    Poetry as a Foreign Language
    In this poem by Mike Ramsden the author says that he is in a big hall with a crowd of people who are standing and clapping. Why do you think the people are there? What do you think comes next in the poem? Finish the poem yourself.

    Pronunciation poem
    This clever and amusing poem explains why English pronunciation is so very difficult.

    R

    The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
    This famous poem was written by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1797–1799 and published in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads (1798). It is Coleridge’s longest major poem. Along with other poems in Lyrical Ballads, it was a signal shift to modern poetry, and the beginnings of British Romantic literature.

    Ring Out Wild Bells
    One of Tennyson’s most famous poems – partly due to its association with New Year’s Eve.

    S

    Science poetry
    Four poems about science sent to us by users.

    The Seven Ages of Man
    The famous lines from Shakespeare’s play As You Like It.

    The Sick Child
    In this sad little poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, a mother spends the night at her sick child’s bedside.

    Smoking poetry
    Two poems about smoking sent to us by users.

    Spring
    Two seasonal poems from Hiroko Okawa of Japan – a poem dedicated to the cherry blossoms and another poem called Jade.

    Star-gazers
    In this interesting poem William Wordsworth explores what goes through people’s minds when they look at the stars through a telescope.

    Stars and Moon
    In this poem, Nikita Atreya from India shows us how the stars and the moon have a celestial party every night!

    Starshine and Non-Being
    This Taoist poem describes how language and logical classification cannot encompass reality. Trying to label something can make a non-existent thing wrongly seem as if it had concrete or material existence, as Starshine finds out when he asks questions to Non-Being, the darkness.

    T

    The Tay Bridge Disaster
    The most famous poem from William Topaz McGonagall, who is renowned as one of the worst poets in the English language!

    Town & Country
    In Progress, Osbert Sitwell provides negative images of the city and conjures up fond memories of the country. In The City, Charles Hanson Towne does the opposite. Compare them!

    To Travel
    Edjane Harris comes from Brazil, has worked in Senegal and now lives in Thailand. She paints and teaches dance, Spanish and English. Read her poem and listen to it. Pretend you are the speaker and say it aloud. Do you agree with what the speaker says about language and travel?

    Travelling Post Office
    This ballad by ‘Banjo’ Paterson shows what an enormous task it was delivering mail in a country as vast as Australia before modern technologies existed.

    A Trip without End
    A learner of English from Spain, Ana Jiménez Martín, has written a poem about what it is like to learn a new language. Her poem describes it as making a journey that doesn’t have an end.

    The Tyger
    This famous poem by William Blake conjures up amazingly vivid images of the mighty tiger.

    U

    Utenzi wa Shufaka
    Read all about this poem, whose title translate from Swahili as "Poem of Mercifulness", is an utenzi (classical narrative poem) in Swahili literature.

    W

    A wall in Naples
    This poem by Andrew Motion was inspired by a Thomas Jones painting in London’s "National Gallery" in which Motion reflects upon the enduring value of artistic creation.

    We Loved The World Together
    This funny poem by Gordon Taylor describes a love affair of epic proportions: "It’s great when you meet at first, but then after the money’s gone you have to pay the price …"

    Welsh Landscape
    This grim poem by R. S. Thomas, the pre-eminent Welsh poet writing in the English language is typical of his work, which is uncompromising: images like slate – hard and sharp; his style spare, unflinching, honest."

    The White Room
    This lovely short poem was written by a learner of English, Irene Soriano Flórez, a student at the British Institute for Young Learners in Madrid.

    The Wild Colonial Boy
    This ballad tells the story of the rise and fall of an Australian outlaw, Jack Doolan.

    Wolf poetry
    Three poems about wolves by Rudyard Kipling, Cynthia Minde and Tamara Smith. Howoooool!

     

    The British Council

    The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.
    A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland)

    Written by drrodsenglish

    April 25, 2008 at 22:45

    Posted in British Council, Pronunciation, Resources, Speech

    Pronunciation and Understanding – More Poems

    leave a comment »

    Word pairs

    At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
    They were too close to the door to close it. 
    It was difficult to coax the coax cable through the conduit.
    The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert. 
    The buck does funny things when the does are present. 
    The dove dove into the bushes. 
    The entrance to a mall fails to entrance me. 
    I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt. 
    How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend? 
    The insurance for the invalid was invalid. 
    He could lead if he would get the lead out.
    A cat with nine lives lives next door.
    She will mouth obscenities unless you stop her mouth. 
    After a number of injections, my jaw got number. 
    I did not object to the object. 
    We polish the Polish furniture. 
    There is no time like the present to present the present. 
    A farm can produce produce. 
    She was reading a book in Reading.
    The dump was so full it had to refuse more refuse. 
    On the road to the race, the oarsmen rowed about who rowed the best. 
    There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row. 
    A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line. 
    To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow. 
    I had to subject the subject to a series of tests. 
    I shed a tear when I saw the tear in my clothes. 
    The unionised gas smothered the unionised workforce.
    The wind was too strong to wind the sail. 
    The bandage was wound around the wound.

    Written by drrodsenglish

    April 25, 2008 at 20:53

    Posted in Pronunciation, Resources, Speech

    More Pronunciation Resources

    leave a comment »

    Those of us raised with English as our first language tend to forget that we have the most difficult language in the world to learn. This is in no small part due to the mess we have made of pronunciation and the lack of any real rules to follow.

    Fun poem about English pronunciation.

    (Hear the poem being read)

    English is Stupid!

    English is Tough Stuff!

    The Right Way to Spell Potato

    Vocalization Puzzles (a little difficult, but fun!)

     

    "I hate English", a contribution from Bob Baumann

    And for you really strange people out there (You know who you are!) Here’s a link to a collection of 338 Tongue Twisters, in English, (but from Austria!) I double-dare you!

     

    FunTwisters.com has posted this collection of tongue twisters.

     

    Jeff Berkeley of LifeSmith.com has posted a large list of similar material.

    Here is an edited version.

    Howard L. Chace has written a book of common fairy tales and poems, rearranged by "word/sound substitution", like the Vocalization Puzzles above.

    Go here and try your luck at reading them!

    In another site, with the description of a curmudgeon, which is what some might call me! The English it contains is a real test of comprehension, culture, and vocabulary!

    Here’s a funny collection of material for your advanced students to puzzle over —

    It’s great discussion fodder. Have fun with Play on Words.

    Even though the letters are jumbled in this paragraph, most people have no trouble reading it!

    Written by drrodsenglish

    April 25, 2008 at 14:02

    Posted in Pronunciation, Resources, Speech

    English Pronunciation

    leave a comment »

    We are working on the full version of ‘Poem of English Pronunciation’ here is an extract that you can listen to and practice!

    This poem is available to listen to here. Recorded in .rm format you will require a compatible player.

    Poem of English Pronunciation

    Dearest creature in creation,
    Study English pronunciation.
    I will teach you in my verse
    Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
    I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
    Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
    Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
    So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

    Pronunciation/DearestCreature1.rm

    Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
    Dies and diet, lord and word,
    Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
    (Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
    Now I surely will not plague you
    With such words as plaque and ague.
    But be careful how you speak:
    Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
    Cloven, oven, how and low,
    Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

    Pronunciation/DearestCreature1.rm

    Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
    Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
    Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
    Exiles, similes, and reviles;
    Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
    Solar, mica, war and far;
    One, anemone, Balmoral,
    Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
    Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
    Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

    Pronunciation/DearestCreature3.rm

    Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
    Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
    Blood and flood are not like food,
    Nor is mould like should and would.
    Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
    Toward, to forward, to reward.
    And your pronunciation’s OK
    When you correctly say croquet,
    Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
    Friend and fiend, alive and live.

    Pronunciation/DearestCreature4.rm

    Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
    And enamour rhyme with hammer.
    River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
    Doll and roll and some and home.
    Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
    Neither does devour with clangour.
    Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
    Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
    Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
    And then singer, ginger, linger,
    Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
    Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.

    Pronunciation/DearestCreature5.rm

    Query does not rhyme with very,
    Nor does fury sound like bury.
    Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
    Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
    Though the differences seem little,
    We say actual but victual.
    Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
    Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
    Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
    Dull, bull, and George ate late.
    Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
    Science, conscience, scientific.

    Pronunciation/DearestCreature6.rm

    Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
    Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
    We say hallowed, but allowed,
    People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
    Mark the differences, moreover,
    Between mover, cover, clover;
    Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
    Chalice, but police and lice;
    Camel, constable, unstable,
    Principle, disciple, label.

    Pronunciation/DearestCreature7.rm

    Petal, panel, and canal,
    Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
    Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
    Senator, spectator, mayor.
    Tour, but our and succour, four.
    Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
    Sea, idea, Korea, area,
    Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
    Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
    Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

    Pronunciation/DearestCreature8.rm

    Compare alien with Italian,
    Dandelion and battalion.
    Sally with ally, yea, ye,
    Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
    Say aver, but ever, fever,
    Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
    Heron, granary, canary.
    Crevice and device and aerie.

    Pronunciation/DearestCreature9.rm

    Face, but preface, not efface.
    Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
    Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
    Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
    Ear, but earn and wear and tear
    Do not rhyme with here but ere.
    Seven is right, but so is even,
    Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
    Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
    Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.

    Pronunciation/DearestCreature10.rm

    Pronunciation — think of Psyche!
    Is a paling stout and spikey?
    Won’t it make you lose your wits,
    Writing groats and saying grits?
    It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
    Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
    Islington and Isle of Wight,
    Housewife, verdict and indict.

    Pronunciation/DearestCreature11.rm

    Finally, which rhymes with enough?
    Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
    Hiccough has the sound of cup.
    My advice is give it up!

    Pronunciation/DearestCreature12.rm

    Gerard Nolst Trenité

    Written by drrodsenglish

    April 25, 2008 at 13:36

    Posted in Pronunciation, Speech

    Something to do in the summer…

    leave a comment »

    Well the summer break is coming up and with it you will have a lot of time on your hands… want something to do? Try changing your accent to either a British or American one. I received this in my email and am passing it along to my students… note I do not receive any commission or anything in return – this is just something of interest!

    " Master a British or American Accent Now

    Quickly learn a British or an American pronunciation and speak more clearly. Right now you can learn to speak with a British accent or an American accent using our low-cost on-line download. You don’t need to take my word for it, listen to the free on-line example or download the free manual to see the quality and completeness of this accent training course.

    Be Better Understood

    Wouldn’t it be great if you could blend in, sound more like a local and be better understood. Now you can! "Speak More Clearly" will reduce your English accent, enabling you to more clearly pronounce English words, while not affecting your native tongue.

    Easy and Convenient Accent Training

    Yes, you can learn to speak with a new accent while at home, in the car, on the bus and the train, even in your office! No messy software, no complex theory, simply listen and repeat the exercises. Discover why total auditory immersion is the best way to quickly master a new accent and pronounce English more clearly. With daily practice we guarantee that you will improve your speaking skills.

    Get the Recognition you Deserve

    After using "Speak More Clearly" you will be more easily understood. Don’t let your accent hold you back, get the job, salary and the recognition that you deserve.

    Best Wishes "Speaking More Clearly"

    Esther Bruhl  "

    Written by drrodsenglish

    April 22, 2008 at 05:33

    Posted in Resources, Speech

    Writing a speech

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    It is important to remember that speeches are intended to be spoken aloud to an audience. There are many features that the most successful speeches share. Some of them are listed below. After you have read and understood these points, go through the printed speech with a partner and find examples of each of these techniques:

    · Sense of audience. The speaker must show an awareness of the audience by speaking to them directly, trying to engage their interest, and drawing them into the subject. Look for use of the word ‘you’, as well as indications of the type of people in the audience e.g. school children, retired people, parents.
    · Clear introduction. How does the opening paragraph introduce the speaker and the subject? How does it capture the audience’s attention?
    · Enumeration of points. The listener’s brain copes best with information that is presented in clear ‘parcels’. Stating the number of points that you will explain alerts the brain to respond to them.
    · Rhetorical questions. The speaker asks the audience a question that does not need to be answered. This introduces some variety, and stimulates the listener to respond to the argument. This is a technique that should not be over-used; too many questions without answers will not convince your audience – they simply make you look uncertain.
    · Statistics. Statistics used for support can add weight to an argument, but again it is important not to over-use them. A long list of numbers is boring and can be confusing.
    · Memorable phrases or slogans. The audience will forget much of what you say, so you should provide them with some easy to remember phrases that summarise your points. Politicians do this so that short extracts from their speeches will fit impressively into brief news bulletins. Some speeches have become famous for only one or two sentences.
    · Humour. Making the audience laugh will wake them up and perhaps make them like and support you. The audience is also likely to remember something entertaining.
    · Language features. As in other forms of writing, devices such as alliteration, metaphor and simile can be used to create a more powerful effect, and especially to create a visual image in the minds of the audience.
    · Strong conclusion. End your speech with a summary that will fix your ideas firmly in the audience’s mind.

    The most important thing is to have something interesting to say. Work out your ideas in a plan before you write the speech.

    Written by drrodsenglish

    April 5, 2008 at 00:17

    Posted in Presentation, Speech, Word Puzzle

    Resources for Teachers

    leave a comment »

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    Copies of material on this site may be made for educational, non-profit use only. All rights reserved. (c) 2001-2008.

    Written by drrodsenglish

    February 14, 2008 at 19:14

    Posted in Interest, Pronunciation, Resources, Speech

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