Chapter 9 of Henry Is Twenty is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of Henry Is Twenty is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples. He began humming: 'I arise from dreams of thee.' She picked it up, very softly, in a floating, velvety pianissimo. His own voice died out. He couldn't sing.
Chapter 9 of Henry Is Twenty is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
come into existence; take on form or shape
From this reading “He began humming: 'I arise from dreams of thee.'”
plural of “dream” — a series of mental images and emotions occurring during sleep
From this reading “He began humming: 'I arise from dreams of thee.'”
borne up by or suspended in a liquid
From this reading “She picked it up, very softly, in a floating, velvety pianissimo.”
a humming noise
From this reading “He began humming: 'I arise from dreams of thee.'”
deliver by singing
From this reading “He couldn't sing.”
made smooth by ironing
From this reading “He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.”
plural of “temple” — place of worship consisting of an edifice for the worship of a deity
From this reading “He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.”
smooth and soft to sight or hearing or touch or taste
From this reading “She picked it up, very softly, in a floating, velvety pianissimo.”
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 “He began humming: 'I arise from dreams of thee.'”
become extinct
In this reading “His own voice died out.”
investigate scientifically
In this reading “He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.”
In this reading “His own voice died out.”
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 She picked it up, very softly, in a floating, velvety pianissimo.
come into existence; take on form or shape
From this reading He began humming: 'I arise from dreams of thee.'
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading He began humming: 'I arise from dreams of thee.'
a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He couldn't sing.
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading His own voice died out.
plural of “dream” — a series of mental images and emotions occurring during sleep
From this reading He began humming: 'I arise from dreams of thee.'
lighted by or as if by twilight
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
borne up by or suspended in a liquid
From this reading She picked it up, very softly, in a floating, velvety pianissimo.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His own voice died out.
a humming noise
From this reading He began humming: 'I arise from dreams of thee.'
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading He began humming: 'I arise from dreams of thee.'
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading She picked it up, very softly, in a floating, velvety pianissimo.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He began humming: 'I arise from dreams of thee.'
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading His own voice died out.
above and across; more than
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading His own voice died out.
(music) low loudness
From this reading She picked it up, very softly, in a floating, velvety pianissimo.
past form of “pick” — select carefully from a group
From this reading She picked it up, very softly, in a floating, velvety pianissimo.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She picked it up, very softly, in a floating, velvety pianissimo.
deliver by singing
From this reading He couldn't sing.
made smooth by ironing
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
with low volume
From this reading She picked it up, very softly, in a floating, velvety pianissimo.
plural of “temple” — place of worship consisting of an edifice for the worship of a deity
From this reading He bent over her face; looked into it; smoothed her dusky hair away from her temples.
an old word for “you”, as the object, speaking to one person
From this reading He began humming: 'I arise from dreams of thee.'
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading She picked it up, very softly, in a floating, velvety pianissimo.
smooth and soft to sight or hearing or touch or taste
From this reading She picked it up, very softly, in a floating, velvety pianissimo.
precisely as stated
From this reading She picked it up, very softly, in a floating, velvety pianissimo.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading His own voice died out.
Chapter 9 of Henry Is Twenty by Samuel Merwin holds 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 9 holds 404 sentences of Henry Is Twenty, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of Henry Is Twenty by Samuel Merwin exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 9 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 Henry Is Twenty by Samuel Merwin on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8391 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #51948 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #51948, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1679 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Henry Is Twenty section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 21 chapters of Henry Is Twenty 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 Henry Is Twenty, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
