Chapter 5 of A Rogue's Life is here in full — 127 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of A Rogue's Life is here in full — 127 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HE led the way into the street as he spoke. I felt the irresistible force of his logic. I sympathized with the ardent philanthropy of his motives. I burned with a noble ambition to extend the sphere of the Old Masters. In short, I took the tide at the flood, and followed Dick.
Chapter 5 of A Rogue's Life is here in full — 127 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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.
characterized by intense emotion
From this reading “I sympathized with the ardent philanthropy of his motives.”
extend in scope or range or area
From this reading “I burned with a noble ambition to extend the sphere of the Old Masters.”
impossible to resist; overpowering
From this reading “I felt the irresistible force of his logic.”
the branch of philosophy that analyzes inference
From this reading “I felt the irresistible force of his logic.”
plural of “motive” — the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
From this reading “I sympathized with the ardent philanthropy of his motives.”
voluntary promotion of human welfare
From this reading “I sympathized with the ardent philanthropy of his motives.”
a particular environment or walk of life
From this reading “I burned with a noble ambition to extend the sphere of the Old Masters.”
past form of “sympathize” — share the feelings of; understand the sentiments of
From this reading “I sympathized with the ardent philanthropy of his motives.”
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 I burned with a noble ambition to extend the sphere of the Old Masters.
a cherished desire
From this reading I burned with a noble ambition to extend the sphere of the Old Masters.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading In short, I took the tide at the flood, and followed Dick.
characterized by intense emotion
From this reading I sympathized with the ardent philanthropy of his motives.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading HE led the way into the street as he spoke.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading In short, I took the tide at the flood, and followed Dick.
treated by heating to a high temperature but below the melting or fusing point
From this reading I burned with a noble ambition to extend the sphere of the Old Masters.
someone who is a detective
From this reading In short, I took the tide at the flood, and followed Dick.
extend in scope or range or area
From this reading I burned with a noble ambition to extend the sphere of the Old Masters.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading I felt the irresistible force of his logic.
the rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto normally dry land
From this reading In short, I took the tide at the flood, and followed Dick.
past form of “follow” — to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading In short, I took the tide at the flood, and followed Dick.
a powerful effect or influence
From this reading I felt the irresistible force of his logic.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading HE led the way into the street as he spoke.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading I felt the irresistible force of his logic.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I felt the irresistible force of his logic.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In short, I took the tide at the flood, and followed Dick.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading HE led the way into the street as he spoke.
impossible to resist; overpowering
From this reading I felt the irresistible force of his logic.
diode such that light emitted at a p-n junction is proportional to the bias current; color depends on the material used
From this reading HE led the way into the street as he spoke.
the branch of philosophy that analyzes inference
From this reading I felt the irresistible force of his logic.
United States poet (1869-1950)
From this reading I burned with a noble ambition to extend the sphere of the Old Masters.
plural of “motive” — the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
From this reading I sympathized with the ardent philanthropy of his motives.
impressive in appearance
From this reading I burned with a noble ambition to extend the sphere of the Old Masters.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I felt the irresistible force of his logic.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading I burned with a noble ambition to extend the sphere of the Old Masters.
voluntary promotion of human welfare
From this reading I sympathized with the ardent philanthropy of his motives.
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading In short, I took the tide at the flood, and followed Dick.
a particular environment or walk of life
From this reading I burned with a noble ambition to extend the sphere of the Old Masters.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading HE led the way into the street as he spoke.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading HE led the way into the street as he spoke.
past form of “sympathize” — share the feelings of; understand the sentiments of
From this reading I sympathized with the ardent philanthropy of his motives.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading HE led the way into the street as he spoke.
the periodic rise and fall of the sea level under the gravitational pull of the moon
From this reading In short, I took the tide at the flood, and followed Dick.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I burned with a noble ambition to extend the sphere of the Old Masters.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading In short, I took the tide at the flood, and followed Dick.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading HE led the way into the street as he spoke.
in the company of; together with
From this reading I sympathized with the ardent philanthropy of his motives.
Chapter 5 of A Rogue's Life by Wilkie Collins holds 127 sentences, grouped into 26 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 5 holds 127 sentences of A Rogue's Life, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of A Rogue's Life by Wilkie Collins exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 127 sentences, grouped into 26 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 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 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 5 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 Rogue's Life by Wilkie Collins on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2291 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1588 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1588, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 190 minutes of reading across 459 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Rogue's Life section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of A Rogue's Life 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 Rogue's Life, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
