Chapter 4 of Bulchevy's Book of English Verse is here in full — 30 sentences across 6 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Bulchevy's Book of English Verse is here in full — 30 sentences across 6 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Wedding-Guest feareth that a spirit is talking to him; 'I fear thee, ancient Mariner! I fear thy skinny hand! And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb'd sea-sand. I fear thee and thy glittering eye, And thy skinny hand so brown.'-- 'Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest!
Chapter 4 of Bulchevy's Book of English Verse is here in full — 30 sentences across 6 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/6 · 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.
Belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence or deeply revered.
From this reading “'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!”
an old form of “are”, used with “thou”
From this reading “And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb'd sea-sand.”
an orange of low brightness and saturation
From this reading “And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb'd sea-sand.”
having brief brilliant points or flashes of light
From this reading “I fear thee and thy glittering eye, And thy skinny hand so brown.'-- 'Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest!”
long and thin and often limp
From this reading “And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb'd sea-sand.”
a man who serves as a sailor
From this reading “'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!”
being very thin
From this reading “I fear thy skinny hand!”
an exchange of ideas via conversation
From this reading “The Wedding-Guest feareth that a spirit is talking to 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 The Wedding-Guest feareth that a spirit is talking to him;
Belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence or deeply revered.
From this reading 'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb'd sea-sand.
an old form of “are”, used with “thou”
From this reading And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb'd sea-sand.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb'd sea-sand.
an orange of low brightness and saturation
From this reading And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb'd sea-sand.
the organ of sight
From this reading I fear thee and thy glittering eye, And thy skinny hand so brown.'-- 'Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest!
be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event
From this reading 'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Wedding-Guest feareth that a spirit is talking to him;
having brief brilliant points or flashes of light
From this reading I fear thee and thy glittering eye, And thy skinny hand so brown.'-- 'Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest!
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading I fear thy skinny hand!
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The Wedding-Guest feareth that a spirit is talking to him;
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading 'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The Wedding-Guest feareth that a spirit is talking to him;
long and thin and often limp
From this reading And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb'd sea-sand.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb'd sea-sand.
a man who serves as a sailor
From this reading 'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I fear thee and thy glittering eye, And thy skinny hand so brown.'-- 'Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb'd sea-sand.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb'd sea-sand.
being very thin
From this reading I fear thy skinny hand!
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading I fear thee and thy glittering eye, And thy skinny hand so brown.'-- 'Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest!
the vital principle or animating force within living things
From this reading The Wedding-Guest feareth that a spirit is talking to him;
an exchange of ideas via conversation
From this reading The Wedding-Guest feareth that a spirit is talking to him;
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The Wedding-Guest feareth that a spirit is talking to him;
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Wedding-Guest feareth that a spirit is talking to him;
an old word for “you”, as the object, speaking to one person
From this reading 'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb'd sea-sand.
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading I fear thy skinny hand!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The Wedding-Guest feareth that a spirit is talking to him;
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Wedding-Guest feareth that a spirit is talking to him;
Chapter 4 of Bulchevy's Book of English Verse by Arthur [Editor] Quiller-Couch holds 30 sentences, grouped into 6 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 4 holds 30 sentences of Bulchevy's Book of English Verse, unabridged, divided into 6 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Bulchevy's Book of English Verse by Arthur [Editor] Quiller-Couch exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 30 sentences, grouped into 6 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 6 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 6 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 4 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 Bulchevy's Book of English Verse by Arthur [Editor] Quiller-Couch on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3994 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1304 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1304, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 332 minutes of reading across 799 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Bulchevy's Book of English Verse section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of Bulchevy's Book of English Verse 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 Bulchevy's Book of English Verse, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
