Chapter 1 of An Essay on Man is here in full — 131 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of An Essay on Man is here in full — 131 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BY ALEXANDER POPE. CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS & MELBOURNE_. 1891. INTRODUCTION. Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
Chapter 1 of An Essay on Man is here in full — 131 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/26 · 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.
European herb somewhat resembling celery widely naturalized in Britain coastal regions and often cultivated as a potherb
From this reading “BY ALEXANDER POPE.”
the act of beginning something new
From this reading “INTRODUCTION.”
small in range or scope
From this reading “CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS & MELBOURNE_.”
a resort town in east central Florida
plural of “period” — an amount of time
From this reading “Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.”
the head of the Roman Catholic Church
From this reading “BY ALEXANDER POPE.”
possessive form of “pope” — the head of the Roman Catholic Church
From this reading “Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.”
plural of “reign” — a period during which something or somebody is dominant or powerful
From this reading “Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 1891.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
European herb somewhat resembling celery widely naturalized in Britain coastal regions and often cultivated as a potherb
From this reading BY ALEXANDER POPE.
replying
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading BY ALEXANDER POPE.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS & MELBOURNE_.
an institution created to conduct business
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS & MELBOURNE_.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
to certain extent or degree
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
the petals or sepals of a flower that bend downward (especially the outer perianth of an iris)
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
the act of beginning something new
From this reading INTRODUCTION.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
small in range or scope
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS & MELBOURNE_.
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS & MELBOURNE_.
a resort town in east central Florida
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS & MELBOURNE_.
the capital and largest city of France; and international center of culture and commerce
From this reading CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON_, _PARIS & MELBOURNE_.
plural of “period” — an amount of time
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
the head of the Roman Catholic Church
From this reading BY ALEXANDER POPE.
possessive form of “pope” — the head of the Roman Catholic Church
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
plural of “reign” — a period during which something or somebody is dominant or powerful
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
past form of “work” — exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading Pope's life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.
Chapter 1 of An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope holds 131 sentences, grouped into 27 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 131 sentences of An Essay on Man, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 131 sentences, grouped into 27 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 27 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 27 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #2428, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 161 minutes of reading across 387 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in An Essay on Man, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
