Chapter 8 of Ariel: A Shelley Romance is here in full — 87 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Ariel: A Shelley Romance is here in full — 87 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THIS DESPOTIC CHAIN . Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him. “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
Chapter 8 of Ariel: A Shelley Romance is here in full — 87 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/17 · 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 series of things depending on each other as if linked together
From this reading “THIS DESPOTIC CHAIN .”
belonging to or having the characteristics of a despot
From this reading “THIS DESPOTIC CHAIN .”
Scottish writer of rustic verse (1770-1835)
From this reading ““This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.””
the painted structures of a stage set that are intended to suggest a particular locale
From this reading ““This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.””
English writer who created Frankenstein's monster and married Percy Bysshe Shelley (1797-1851)
From this reading “Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.”
lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age
From this reading ““This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.””
plural of “torrent” — a heavy rain
From this reading “Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.”
producing little or no profit or gain
From this reading ““This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.””
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.
In this reading “Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.”
In this reading “Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.”
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 “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
(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 “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
surrounded by; in the middle of a group
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
cause to be bored
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
a series of things depending on each other as if linked together
From this reading THIS DESPOTIC CHAIN .
belonging to or having the characteristics of a despot
From this reading THIS DESPOTIC CHAIN .
emanating from God
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
plural of “hill” — a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
Scottish writer of rustic verse (1770-1835)
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
used to form the superlative
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
a land mass that projects well above its surroundings; higher than a hill
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
possession of controlling influence
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
the painted structures of a stage set that are intended to suggest a particular locale
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
English writer who created Frankenstein's monster and married Percy Bysshe Shelley (1797-1851)
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading THIS DESPOTIC CHAIN .
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
plural of “torrent” — a heavy rain
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
producing little or no profit or gain
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
precisely as stated
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
plural of “voice” — the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Now for the first time Shelley was among mountain solitudes, and heard the voices of mountain torrents, but the power of hills was not upon him.
inflected form of “write” — produce a literary work
From this reading “This is most divine scenery,” he wrote to Hogg, “but all very dull, stale, flat, and unprofitable; indeed, the place is a very great bore.”
Chapter 8 of Ariel: A Shelley Romance by André Maurois holds 87 sentences, grouped into 18 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 8 holds 87 sentences of Ariel: A Shelley Romance, unabridged, divided into 18 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Ariel: A Shelley Romance by André Maurois exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 87 sentences, grouped into 18 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 18 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 18 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 Ariel: A Shelley Romance by André Maurois on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4252 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #64118 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #64118, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 354 minutes of reading across 851 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ariel: A Shelley Romance section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of Ariel: A Shelley Romance 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 Ariel: A Shelley Romance, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
