Chapter 1 of Anthony the Absolute is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Anthony the Absolute is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Author Of “The Citadel,” Etc. New York The Century Co. _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool. I was quite right in this. He is.
Chapter 1 of Anthony the Absolute is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading “Author Of “The Citadel,” Etc.”
a period of 100 years
From this reading “New York The Century Co.”
A fortress protecting a city, metaphorically representing the invincible inner sanctuary of the rational mind.
From this reading “Author Of “The Citadel,” Etc.”
a person who lacks good judgment
From this reading “_At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.”
march in a procession
From this reading “_At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.”
United States parliamentary authority and author (in 1876) of Robert's Rules of Order (1837-1923)
From this reading “_At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.”
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading “_At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.”
the English royal house (a branch of the Plantagenet line) that reigned from 1461 to 1485; its emblem was a white rose
From this reading “New York The Century Co.”
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.
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 _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading Author Of “The Citadel,” Etc.
a period of 100 years
From this reading New York The Century Co.
A fortress protecting a city, metaphorically representing the invincible inner sanctuary of the rational mind.
From this reading Author Of “The Citadel,” Etc.
an odorless very poisonous gas that is a product of incomplete combustion of carbon
From this reading New York The Century Co.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Author Of “The Citadel,” Etc.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
a person who lacks good judgment
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading I was quite right in this.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He is.
march in a procession
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading New York The Century Co.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Author Of “The Citadel,” Etc.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading I was quite right in this.
precisely, exactly
From this reading I was quite right in this.
United States parliamentary authority and author (in 1876) of Robert's Rules of Order (1837-1923)
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
term of address for a man
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Author Of “The Citadel,” Etc.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _At Sea--March 28th._ |THIS evening I told Sir Robert What's-His-Name he was a fool.
the English royal house (a branch of the Plantagenet line) that reigned from 1461 to 1485; its emblem was a white rose
From this reading New York The Century Co.
Chapter 1 of Anthony the Absolute by Samuel Merwin holds 403 sentences, grouped into 81 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 403 sentences of Anthony the Absolute, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Anthony the Absolute by Samuel Merwin exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 403 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 Anthony the Absolute by Samuel Merwin on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5602 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #52507 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #52507, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 466 minutes of reading across 1121 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Anthony the Absolute section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of Anthony the Absolute 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 Anthony the Absolute, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
