Chapter 21 of A Voyage to Arcturus is here in full — 232 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of A Voyage to Arcturus is here in full — 232 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night. Nightspore could no longer see his companion. The water lapped gently against the side of the island raft. “You say the night is past,” said Nightspore. “But the night is still here.
Chapter 21 of A Voyage to Arcturus is here in full — 232 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/46 · 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.
past form of “disappear” — get lost, as without warning or explanation
From this reading “The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.”
droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
From this reading “The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.”
in a gradual manner
From this reading “The water lapped gently against the side of the island raft.”
inflected form of “lap” — lie partly over or alongside of something or of one another
From this reading “The water lapped gently against the side of the island raft.”
a flat float (usually made of logs or planks) that can be used for transport or as a platform for swimmers
From this reading “The water lapped gently against the side of the island raft.”
plural of “sun” — the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading “The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.”
made or having become thick
From this reading “The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.”
to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (“whole” is often used informally for “wholly”)
From this reading “The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.”
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.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading The water lapped gently against the side of the island raft.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “But the night is still here.
a friend who is frequently in the company of another
From this reading Nightspore could no longer see his companion.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Nightspore could no longer see his companion.
past form of “disappear” — get lost, as without warning or explanation
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
in a gradual manner
From this reading The water lapped gently against the side of the island raft.
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading “But the night is still here.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Nightspore could no longer see his companion.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “You say the night is past,” said Nightspore.
a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
From this reading The water lapped gently against the side of the island raft.
inflected form of “lap” — lie partly over or alongside of something or of one another
From this reading The water lapped gently against the side of the island raft.
for more time
From this reading Nightspore could no longer see his companion.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Nightspore could no longer see his companion.
not any; not one
From this reading Nightspore could no longer see his companion.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The water lapped gently against the side of the island raft.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading “You say the night is past,” said Nightspore.
a flat float (usually made of logs or planks) that can be used for transport or as a platform for swimmers
From this reading The water lapped gently against the side of the island raft.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “You say the night is past,” said Nightspore.
express in words
From this reading “You say the night is past,” said Nightspore.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Nightspore could no longer see his companion.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading The water lapped gently against the side of the island raft.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
not in physical motion
From this reading “But the night is still here.
plural of “sun” — the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
made or having become thick
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading The water lapped gently against the side of the island raft.
to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (“whole” is often used informally for “wholly”)
From this reading The fog thickened so that the two suns wholly disappeared, and all grew as black as night.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You say the night is past,” said Nightspore.
Chapter 21 of A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay holds 232 sentences, grouped into 47 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 21 holds 232 sentences of A Voyage to Arcturus, unabridged, divided into 47 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 232 sentences, grouped into 47 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 47 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 47 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 21 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, unabridged. 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.
