Chapter 2 of Books and Authors is here in full — 387 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Books and Authors is here in full — 387 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"MY VALENTINE." * * * * * DEATH BED REVELATIONS. Men before they die see and comprehend enigmas hidden from them before. The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible." * * * * * STAMMERING WIT.
Chapter 2 of Books and Authors is here in full — 387 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/77 · 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.
get the meaning of something
From this reading “Men before they die see and comprehend enigmas hidden from them before.”
superlative of “noble” — impressive in appearance
From this reading “The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."”
make less visible or unclear
From this reading “The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."”
plural of “revelation” — the speech act of making something evident
From this reading “* * * * * DEATH BED REVELATIONS.”
plural of “thinker” — an important intellectual
From this reading “The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."”
a sweetheart chosen to receive a greeting on Saint Valentine's Day
From this reading “"MY VALENTINE."”
capable of being seen; or open to easy view
From this reading “The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."”
a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
From this reading “* * * * * STAMMERING WIT.”
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 “The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."”
In this reading “The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."”
In this reading “The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."”
make clear and (more) comprehensible
In this reading “The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."”
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.
how long something has existed
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Men before they die see and comprehend enigmas hidden from them before.
enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading * * * * * DEATH BED REVELATIONS.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Men before they die see and comprehend enigmas hidden from them before.
rid of obstructions
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
get the meaning of something
From this reading Men before they die see and comprehend enigmas hidden from them before.
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading * * * * * DEATH BED REVELATIONS.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading Men before they die see and comprehend enigmas hidden from them before.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Men before they die see and comprehend enigmas hidden from them before.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Men before they die see and comprehend enigmas hidden from them before.
highest in quality
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
not accessible to view
From this reading Men before they die see and comprehend enigmas hidden from them before.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
immediately past
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
the force of workers available
From this reading Men before they die see and comprehend enigmas hidden from them before.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "MY VALENTINE."
superlative of “noble” — impressive in appearance
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
make less visible or unclear
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
plural of “revelation” — the speech act of making something evident
From this reading * * * * * DEATH BED REVELATIONS.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Men before they die see and comprehend enigmas hidden from them before.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading * * * * * STAMMERING WIT.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Men before they die see and comprehend enigmas hidden from them before.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Men before they die see and comprehend enigmas hidden from them before.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
plural of “thinker” — an important intellectual
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
a sweetheart chosen to receive a greeting on Saint Valentine's Day
From this reading "MY VALENTINE."
capable of being seen; or open to easy view
From this reading The greatest poet, and one of the noblest thinkers of the last age, said on his death-bed:--"Many things obscure to me before, now clear up and become visible."
a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
From this reading * * * * * STAMMERING WIT.
Chapter 2 of Books and Authors by Anonymous holds 387 sentences, grouped into 78 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 2 holds 387 sentences of Books and Authors, unabridged, divided into 78 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Books and Authors by Anonymous exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 387 sentences, grouped into 78 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 78 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 78 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 2 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 Books and Authors by Anonymous on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1651 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #30396 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #30396, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 137 minutes of reading across 331 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Books and Authors section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of Books and Authors 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 Books and Authors, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
