Chapter 1 of A Devotee is here in full — 194 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of A Devotee is here in full — 194 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.' TENNYSON. The cathedral was crammed. The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads. The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
Chapter 1 of A Devotee is here in full — 194 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
plural of “arch” — a curved shape in the vertical plane that spans an opening
From this reading “The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.”
any large and important church
From this reading “The cathedral was crammed.”
any utterance produced simultaneously by a group
From this reading “The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.”
inflected form of “cram” — crowd or pack to capacity
From this reading “The cathedral was crammed.”
formed or united into a whole
From this reading “The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.”
a musical organization consisting of a group of instrumentalists including string players
From this reading “The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.”
Englishman and Victorian poet (1809-1892)
From this reading “TENNYSON.”
emit long loud cries
From this reading “The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.”
In this reading “The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.”
In this reading “The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.”
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 before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.
anew
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
plural of “arch” — a curved shape in the vertical plane that spans an opening
From this reading The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
any large and important church
From this reading The cathedral was crammed.
any utterance produced simultaneously by a group
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
inflected form of “cram” — crowd or pack to capacity
From this reading The cathedral was crammed.
in a gradual manner
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
plural of “head” — the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
used to add a contrasting statement
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
characteristic of humanity
From this reading The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
moving to the inside of something
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
held dear
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
formed or united into a whole
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
a musical organization consisting of a group of instrumentalists including string players
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.
a human being
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
an expression of approval and commendation
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
the act of communicating with a deity (especially as a petition or in adoration or contrition or thanksgiving)
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.
utter in a loud voice; talk in a loud voice (usually denoting characteristic manner of speaking)
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
being of delicate or slender build
From this reading The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.
the season of growth
From this reading The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.
great in vertical dimension; high in stature
From this reading The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.
Englishman and Victorian poet (1809-1892)
From this reading TENNYSON.
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The cathedral was crammed.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
unusually great in size or amount or degree or especially extent or scope
From this reading The tall slender arches seemed to spring out of a vast sea of human heads.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
emit long loud cries
From this reading The orchestra and chorus had gradually merged into one person: one shout of praise, one voice of prayer, one wail of terror.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The cathedral was crammed.
a late time of life
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
but in spite of that
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
a young person (especially a young man or boy)
From this reading 'Yet to be loved makes not to love again; Not at my years, however it hold in youth.'
Chapter 1 of A Devotee by Mary Cholmondeley holds 194 sentences, grouped into 39 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 1 holds 194 sentences of A Devotee, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of A Devotee by Mary Cholmondeley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 194 sentences, grouped into 39 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 39 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 39 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 1 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 A Devotee by Mary Cholmondeley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1651 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40408 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40408, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 137 minutes of reading across 331 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Devotee section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of A Devotee 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 A Devotee, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
