Skip to content
English Deutsch Français Polski

Prose

Under the Greenwood Tree, singing in the lane

Author: Thomas Hardy Year: 1872 Length: 490 characters Difficulty: medium Public domain

Prose runs into a short quoted song, so the passage mixes long clauses with indented lines and quotation marks.

On a cold and starry Christmas-eve within living memory a man was passing up a lane towards Mellstock Cross in the darkness of a plantation that whispered thus distinctively to his intelligence. All the evidences of his nature were those afforded by the spirit of his footsteps, which succeeded each other lightly and quickly, and by the liveliness of his voice as he sang in a rural cadence: “With the rose and the lily And the daffodowndilly, The lads and the lasses a-sheep-shearing go.”

Or simply start typing.

Time so far
0
Words per minute
0
Accuracy
100%

Cover tile for Under the Greenwood Tree, singing in the lane by Thomas Hardy, 1872
What you just typedUnder the Greenwood Tree, singing in the laneThomas Hardy, 1872
Keys&Type

Under the Greenwood Tree appeared in 1872 and was Hardy's second published novel. He gave it the subtitle A Rural Painting of the Dutch School, borrowing a term from picture galleries. The village choir in the book is drawn from the one his own father and grandfather played in. Project Gutenberg carries the full novel.

What it trainsProse runs into a short quoted song, so the passage mixes long clauses with indented lines and quotation marks.

Under the Greenwood Tree appeared in 1872 and was Hardy's second published novel. He gave it the subtitle A Rural Painting of the Dutch School, borrowing a term from picture galleries. The village choir in the book is drawn from the one his own father and grandfather played in. Project Gutenberg carries the full novel.

Read the full text at the publisher: domena publiczna, Project Gutenberg

What next

ToolTyping testSee your speed and accuracy on a text worth knowing. Your first key starts it. ArticleISO vs ANSI Keyboard Layout Differences ExplainedEnter shape, left Shift width, one extra key and the backslash position: 105 keys against 104, and what that costs at the keycap shop. TextLittle Women, the gray dawn of ChristmasJo wakes early on Christmas morning and finds the gift her mother promised.

Other texts

Pick a text
{'en': 'A horse and cart on a wet road under bare trees beside a stone wall at night, A Wet Moon, Putney Road, John Atkinson Grimshaw, 1886.'} ProseLittle Women, the gray dawn of ChristmasLouisa May Alcott, 1868Jo wakes early on Christmas morning and finds the gift her mother promised.easy363 characters {'en': 'A sandy track winds past oak trees, a pool and a thatched cottage under piled clouds, Landscape in Suffolk, Thomas Gainsborough, 1747.'} ProseEmma, the view from Donwell AbbeyJane Austen, 1815A summer view of English fields and gardens from the grounds of Donwell Abbey.demanding344 characters {'en': 'A woman in a blue dress sits on a bench beside a standing man under an oak, with a wheat field behind, Mr and Mrs Andrews, Thomas Gainsborough, 1748.'} ProseEmma, the village of HighburyJane Austen, 1815A short portrait of Highbury and of the place the Woodhouse family holds in it.medium428 characters {'en': 'A sandy track winds past oak trees, a pool and a thatched cottage under piled clouds, Landscape in Suffolk, Thomas Gainsborough, 1747.'} ProsePersuasion, the walk down to the sea at LymeJane Austen, 1818The party from Uppercross settles at an inn in Lyme and goes straight down to the shore.easy260 characters {'en': 'Cattle stand at a stream among trees, with a valley and distant hills in warm evening light, Landscape with Cattle, Thomas Gainsborough, 1773.'} ProsePride and Prejudice, the park at PemberleyJane Austen, 1813Elizabeth drives into the grounds of Pemberley and sees the wood and the rising ground.easy301 characters ProseJane Eyre, morning at ThornfieldCharlotte Bronte, 1847Jane wakes in her new room at Thornfield and finds the light and the furniture cheerful.easy434 characters