Chapter 21 of April's Lady: A Novel is here in full — 143 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of April's Lady: A Novel is here in full — 143 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"A bitter and perplexed 'What shall I do?' Is worse to man than worse necessity." Three months have come and gone, and winter is upon us. It is close on Christmastide indeed. All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
Chapter 21 of April's Lady: A Novel is here in full — 143 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 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.
completely unclothed
From this reading “All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.”
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.”
marked by strong resentment or cynicism
From this reading “"A bitter and perplexed 'What shall I do?'”
plural of “denizen” — a person who inhabits a particular place
From this reading “All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.”
providing no shelter or sustenance
From this reading “All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.”
inflected form of “fly” — travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading “All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.”
the condition of being essential or indispensable
From this reading “Is worse to man than worse necessity."”
full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment
From this reading “"A bitter and perplexed 'What shall I do?'”
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 "A bitter and perplexed 'What shall I do?'
(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 All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "A bitter and perplexed 'What shall I do?'
completely unclothed
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
marked by strong resentment or cynicism
From this reading "A bitter and perplexed 'What shall I do?'
period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6
From this reading It is close on Christmastide indeed.
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading It is close on Christmastide indeed.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Three months have come and gone, and winter is upon us.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
plural of “denizen” — a person who inhabits a particular place
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
providing no shelter or sustenance
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "A bitter and perplexed 'What shall I do?'
having dropped by the force of gravity
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
inflected form of “fly” — travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
destroyed or killed
From this reading Three months have come and gone, and winter is upon us.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Three months have come and gone, and winter is upon us.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "A bitter and perplexed 'What shall I do?'
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading It is close on Christmastide indeed.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Is worse to man than worse necessity."
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is close on Christmastide indeed.
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Is worse to man than worse necessity."
plural of “month” — one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading Three months have come and gone, and winter is upon us.
the condition of being essential or indispensable
From this reading Is worse to man than worse necessity."
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading It is close on Christmastide indeed.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment
From this reading "A bitter and perplexed 'What shall I do?'
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading "A bitter and perplexed 'What shall I do?'
having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Is worse to man than worse necessity."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading Three months have come and gone, and winter is upon us.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Is worse to man than worse necessity."
plural of “tree” — a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading All the trees lie bare and desolate, the leaves have fallen from them, and their sweet denizens, the birds, flown or dead.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Three months have come and gone, and winter is upon us.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Three months have come and gone, and winter is upon us.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "A bitter and perplexed 'What shall I do?'
the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading Three months have come and gone, and winter is upon us.
(comparative of “bad”) inferior to another in quality or condition or desirability
From this reading Is worse to man than worse necessity."
Chapter 21 of April's Lady: A Novel by Duchess holds 143 sentences, grouped into 29 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 143 sentences of April's Lady: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 29 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of April's Lady: A Novel by Duchess exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 143 sentences, grouped into 29 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 29 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 29 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 April's Lady: A Novel by Duchess on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8969 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #21641 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #21641, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1794 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through April's Lady: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of April's Lady: A Novel 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 April's Lady: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
