Chapter 12 of Cinq-Mars is here in full — 346 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of Cinq-Mars is here in full — 346 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me! The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. What do I fear? Myself?
Chapter 12 of Cinq-Mars is here in full — 346 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/69 · 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.
cause great unhappiness for; distress
From this reading “O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!”
To consume or be consumed by fire.
From this reading “The lights burn blue.”
a person who shows fear or timidity
From this reading “O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!”
an old form of “do”, used with “thou”
From this reading “O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!”
plural of “drop” — a shape that is spherical and small
From this reading “It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.”
experiencing or showing fear
From this reading “It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.”
plural of “light” — (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
From this reading “The lights burn blue.”
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading “It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.”
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.
cause great unhappiness for; distress
From this reading O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading The lights burn blue.
To consume or be consumed by fire.
From this reading The lights burn blue.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
motivation deriving logically from ethical or moral principles that govern a person's thoughts and actions
From this reading O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!
a person who shows fear or timidity
From this reading O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading What do I fear?
an old form of “do”, used with “thou”
From this reading O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!
plural of “drop” — a shape that is spherical and small
From this reading It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event
From this reading What do I fear?
experiencing or showing fear
From this reading It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
the soft tissue of the body of a vertebrate: mainly muscle tissue and fat
From this reading It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading What do I fear?
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
plural of “light” — (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
From this reading The lights burn blue.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading Myself?
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
be standing; be upright
From this reading It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The lights burn blue.
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!
a shaky motion
From this reading It is now dead midnight, Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What do I fear?
Chapter 12 of Cinq-Mars by Alfred de Vigny holds 346 sentences, grouped into 70 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 12 holds 346 sentences of Cinq-Mars, unabridged, divided into 70 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Cinq-Mars by Alfred de Vigny exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 346 sentences, grouped into 70 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 70 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 70 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 12 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 Cinq-Mars by Alfred de Vigny on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6455 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3953 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3953, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 537 minutes of reading across 1291 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Cinq-Mars section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of Cinq-Mars 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 Cinq-Mars, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
