Chapter 14 of Flower o' the Heather is here in full — 411 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of Flower o' the Heather is here in full — 411 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Now had the moment come for all my courage. Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards. Would the rope hold? If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass. But it held!
Chapter 14 of Flower o' the Heather is here in full — 411 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
fall or come down violently
From this reading “If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.”
past form of “disengage” — release from something that holds fast, connects, or entangles
From this reading “Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.”
spatially or metaphorically from a higher to a lower level or position
From this reading “Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.”
located inward
From this reading “Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.”
deprived of life; no longer living
From this reading “If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.”
the paved surface of a thoroughfare
From this reading “If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.”
a strong line
From this reading “Would the rope hold?”
structural member consisting of a continuous horizontal timber forming the lowest member of a framework or supporting structure
From this reading “Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.”
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 “Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.”
In this reading “Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.”
In this reading “If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.”
temporarily
In this reading “Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.”
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 Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
(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 Now had the moment come for all my courage.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
Directly under; in or to a lower position than.
From this reading If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.
on the far side of; further than
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
From this reading If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But it held!
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Now had the moment come for all my courage.
a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear
From this reading Now had the moment come for all my courage.
fall or come down violently
From this reading If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.
past form of “disengage” — release from something that holds fast, connects, or entangles
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
spatially or metaphorically from a higher to a lower level or position
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
the boundary of a surface
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Now had the moment come for all my courage.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Now had the moment come for all my courage.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading But it held!
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading Would the rope hold?
inflected form of “hang” — be suspended or hanging
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.
located inward
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading But it held!
deprived of life; no longer living
From this reading If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.
the property of a body that causes it to have weight in a gravitational field
From this reading If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.
a particular point in time
From this reading Now had the moment come for all my courage.
in motion
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Now had the moment come for all my courage.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now had the moment come for all my courage.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
the paved surface of a thoroughfare
From this reading If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.
a strong line
From this reading Would the rope hold?
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.
structural member consisting of a continuous horizontal timber forming the lowest member of a framework or supporting structure
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Slowly moving my hands one beyond another, I disengaged my feet from the inner edge of the sill and for a moment hung head downwards.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Now had the moment come for all my courage.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading If not, I should crash upon the pavement beneath me, a broken, lifeless mass.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Would the rope hold?
Chapter 14 of Flower o' the Heather by Robert William MacKenna holds 411 sentences, grouped into 83 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 14 holds 411 sentences of Flower o' the Heather, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of Flower o' the Heather by Robert William MacKenna exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 411 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 14 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 Flower o' the Heather by Robert William MacKenna on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5970 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #46769 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #46769, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 497 minutes of reading across 1194 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Flower o' the Heather section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of Flower o' the Heather 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 Flower o' the Heather, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
