| 1. | The Friar laugh'd when he had heard all this "Now, Dame," quoth he, "so have I joy and bliss, This is a long preamble of a tale." And when the Sompnour heard the Friar gale. - from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer |
| 2. | And so, whether our conclusion be true or false, let us assume all this, and proceed at once from the prelude or preamble to the chief strain A play upon the Greek word, which means both 'law' and 'strain.', and describe that in like manner. - from The Republic by Plato |
| 3. | Danglars, who had listened to all this preamble with imperturbable coolness, but without understanding a word, since like every man burdened with thoughts of the past, he was occupied with seeking the thread of his own ideas in those of the speaker. - from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Pere |