Chapter 8 of A Voyage to Arcturus is here in full — 247 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of A Voyage to Arcturus is here in full — 247 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Maskull awoke before the others. He got up, stretched himself, and walked out into the sunlight. Branchspell was already declining. He climbed to the top of the crater edge and looked away toward Ifdawn. The afterglow of Alppain had by now completely disappeared.
Chapter 8 of A Voyage to Arcturus is here in full — 247 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/49 · 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.
a glow sometimes seen in the sky after sunset
From this reading “The afterglow of Alppain had by now completely disappeared.”
inflected form of “awake” — stop sleeping
From this reading “Maskull awoke before the others.”
past form of “climb” — go upward with gradual or continuous progress
From this reading “He climbed to the top of the crater edge and looked away toward Ifdawn.”
to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (“whole” is often used informally for “wholly”)
From this reading “The afterglow of Alppain had by now completely disappeared.”
a bowl-shaped geological formation at the top of a volcano
From this reading “He climbed to the top of the crater edge and looked away toward Ifdawn.”
-ing form of “decline” — grow worse
From this reading “Branchspell was already declining.”
(of muscles) relieved of stiffness by stretching
From this reading “He got up, stretched himself, and walked out into the sunlight.”
the rays of the sun
From this reading “He got up, stretched himself, and walked out into the sunlight.”
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.
a glow sometimes seen in the sky after sunset
From this reading The afterglow of Alppain had by now completely disappeared.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The afterglow of Alppain had by now completely disappeared.
prior to a specified or implied time
From this reading Branchspell was already declining.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He got up, stretched himself, and walked out into the sunlight.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading He climbed to the top of the crater edge and looked away toward Ifdawn.
inflected form of “awake” — stop sleeping
From this reading Maskull awoke before the others.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Maskull awoke before the others.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Branchspell was already declining.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading The afterglow of Alppain had by now completely disappeared.
past form of “climb” — go upward with gradual or continuous progress
From this reading He climbed to the top of the crater edge and looked away toward Ifdawn.
to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (“whole” is often used informally for “wholly”)
From this reading The afterglow of Alppain had by now completely disappeared.
a bowl-shaped geological formation at the top of a volcano
From this reading He climbed to the top of the crater edge and looked away toward Ifdawn.
-ing form of “decline” — grow worse
From this reading Branchspell was already declining.
past form of “disappear” — get lost, as without warning or explanation
From this reading The afterglow of Alppain had by now completely disappeared.
the boundary of a surface
From this reading He climbed to the top of the crater edge and looked away toward Ifdawn.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading He got up, stretched himself, and walked out into the sunlight.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The afterglow of Alppain had by now completely disappeared.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He got up, stretched himself, and walked out into the sunlight.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading He got up, stretched himself, and walked out into the sunlight.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He climbed to the top of the crater edge and looked away toward Ifdawn.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading He got up, stretched himself, and walked out into the sunlight.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He climbed to the top of the crater edge and looked away toward Ifdawn.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Maskull awoke before the others.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading The afterglow of Alppain had by now completely disappeared.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He climbed to the top of the crater edge and looked away toward Ifdawn.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Maskull awoke before the others.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading He got up, stretched himself, and walked out into the sunlight.
(of muscles) relieved of stiffness by stretching
From this reading He got up, stretched himself, and walked out into the sunlight.
the rays of the sun
From this reading He got up, stretched himself, and walked out into the sunlight.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Maskull awoke before the others.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He climbed to the top of the crater edge and looked away toward Ifdawn.
the upper part of anything
From this reading He climbed to the top of the crater edge and looked away toward Ifdawn.
in the direction of
From this reading He climbed to the top of the crater edge and looked away toward Ifdawn.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading He got up, stretched himself, and walked out into the sunlight.
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading He got up, stretched himself, and walked out into the sunlight.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Branchspell was already declining.
Chapter 8 of A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay holds 247 sentences, grouped into 50 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 8 holds 247 sentences of A Voyage to Arcturus, unabridged, divided into 50 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 247 sentences, grouped into 50 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 50 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 50 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 8 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 Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7783 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1329 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1329, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1557 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Voyage to Arcturus section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 21 chapters of A Voyage to Arcturus 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 Voyage to Arcturus, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
