Chapter 4 of Dubliners is here in full — 209 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Dubliners is here in full — 209 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Damned Italians! coming over here!” As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness. She trembled as she heard again her mother’s voice saying constantly with foolish insistence: “Derevaun Seraun! Derevaun Seraun!”
Chapter 4 of Dubliners is here in full — 209 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/41 · 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 ordinary and unremarkable
From this reading “As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.”
informal terms for insanity
From this reading “As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.”
expletives used informally as intensifiers
From this reading ““Damned Italians! coming over here!””
continual and persistent demands
From this reading “She trembled as she heard again her mother’s voice saying constantly with foolish insistence:”
plural of “italian” — a native or inhabitant of Italy
From this reading ““Damned Italians! coming over here!””
past form of “muse” — reflect deeply on a subject
From this reading “As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.”
inspiring mixed contempt and pity
From this reading “As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.”
plural of “sacrifice” — the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc.
From this reading “As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.”
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.
anew
From this reading She trembled as she heard again her mother’s voice saying constantly with foolish insistence:
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
the act of closing something
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading “Damned Italians! coming over here!”
completely ordinary and unremarkable
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
without variation or change, in every case
From this reading She trembled as she heard again her mother’s voice saying constantly with foolish insistence:
informal terms for insanity
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
expletives used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “Damned Italians! coming over here!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Derevaun Seraun!
occurring at or forming an end or termination
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
devoid of good sense or judgment
From this reading She trembled as she heard again her mother’s voice saying constantly with foolish insistence:
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading She trembled as she heard again her mother’s voice saying constantly with foolish insistence:
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading “Damned Italians! coming over here!”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
continual and persistent demands
From this reading She trembled as she heard again her mother’s voice saying constantly with foolish insistence:
plural of “italian” — a native or inhabitant of Italy
From this reading “Damned Italians! coming over here!”
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
set down according to a plan
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
possessive form of “mother” — a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
past form of “muse” — reflect deeply on a subject
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
above and across; more than
From this reading “Damned Italians! coming over here!”
inspiring mixed contempt and pity
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
accomplished rapidly and without delay
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
plural of “sacrifice” — the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc.
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations
From this reading She trembled as she heard again her mother’s voice saying constantly with foolish insistence:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Derevaun Seraun!
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
orally recite the letters of or give the spelling of
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
past form of “tremble” — move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways
From this reading She trembled as she heard again her mother’s voice saying constantly with foolish insistence:
precisely as stated
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
a vivid mental image
From this reading As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother’s life laid its spell on the very quick of her being—that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading She trembled as she heard again her mother’s voice saying constantly with foolish insistence:
in the company of; together with
From this reading She trembled as she heard again her mother’s voice saying constantly with foolish insistence:
Chapter 4 of Dubliners by James Joyce holds 209 sentences, grouped into 42 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 209 sentences of Dubliners, unabridged, divided into 42 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Dubliners by James Joyce exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 209 sentences, grouped into 42 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 42 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 42 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 Dubliners by James Joyce on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4667 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2814 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2814, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 388 minutes of reading across 934 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Dubliners section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of Dubliners 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 Dubliners, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
