Reading

Classic English Reading

These are short, famous texts in English from classic sources like the Bible or Shakespeare. Some texts have word definitions and explanations to help you. Some of these texts are written in an old style of English. Try to understand them, because the English that we speak today is based on what our great, great, great, great grandparents spoke before! Of course, not all these texts were originally written in English. The Bible, for example, is a translation. But they are all well known in English today, and many of them express beautiful thoughts.

Elementary

I Wish I Loved...
Monday's Child
The Walrus & the Carpenter
The Grasshopper
The Hare & the Tortoise
The Hare & the Hound

Intermediate

Declaration of Independence
Away In A Manger
For now we see...
Futility
If
I shall not pass
Ozymandias
Rune of St Patrick
The Female of the Species
The Lord is my shepherd
To be, or not to be
To every thing...

Advanced

Desiderata
Lilies of the Field
The Sick Rose
Song of Solomon
The Tiger
Shakespeare
I had rather be a toad...
What a piece of work...
When forty winters...
Shall I compare thee...
Weary with toil...
They that have power...
Let me not...