Chapter 9 of Hester's Counterpart is here in full — 306 sentences across 62 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of Hester's Counterpart is here in full — 306 sentences across 62 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Hester was deep in literary work for the Philomathean paper. She was not attempting poetry. After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret. It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals. Poets are born, while any one can write personals.
Chapter 9 of Hester's Counterpart is here in full — 306 sentences across 62 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/61 · 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.
-ing form of “attempt” — make an effort or attempt
From this reading “She was not attempting poetry.”
disapproval expressed by pointing out faults or shortcomings
From this reading “After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.”
possessive form of “helen” — (Greek mythology) the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda who was abducted by Paris; the Greek army sailed to Troy to get her back which resulted in the Trojan War
From this reading “After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.”
of or relating to or characteristic of literature
From this reading “Hester was deep in literary work for the Philomathean paper.”
plural of “personal” — a short newspaper article about a particular person or group
From this reading “It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.”
literature in metrical form
From this reading “She was not attempting poetry.”
plural of “poet” — a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)
From this reading “Poets are born, while any one can write personals.”
-ing form of “scribble” — write down quickly without much attention to detail
From this reading “It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.”
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 “It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.”
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 It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
later than; following
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
in spite of the fact that
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading Poets are born, while any one can write personals.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Poets are born, while any one can write personals.
-ing form of “attempt” — make an effort or attempt
From this reading She was not attempting poetry.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
brought into existence
From this reading Poets are born, while any one can write personals.
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Poets are born, while any one can write personals.
disapproval expressed by pointing out faults or shortcomings
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply
From this reading Hester was deep in literary work for the Philomathean paper.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
let fall to the ground
From this reading It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
plural of “effort” — earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Hester was deep in literary work for the Philomathean paper.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
possessive form of “helen” — (Greek mythology) the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda who was abducted by Paris; the Greek army sailed to Troy to get her back which resulted in the Trojan War
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Hester was deep in literary work for the Philomathean paper.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Hester was deep in literary work for the Philomathean paper.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
of or relating to or characteristic of literature
From this reading Hester was deep in literary work for the Philomathean paper.
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 It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading She was not attempting poetry.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Poets are born, while any one can write personals.
a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses
From this reading Hester was deep in literary work for the Philomathean paper.
plural of “personal” — a short newspaper article about a particular person or group
From this reading It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Hester was deep in literary work for the Philomathean paper.
a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)
From this reading It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
literature in metrical form
From this reading She was not attempting poetry.
plural of “poet” — a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)
From this reading Poets are born, while any one can write personals.
people in general considered as a whole
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
-ing form of “scribble” — write down quickly without much attention to detail
From this reading It is a long and hard drop from being a poet to a hack-writer scribbling down personals.
Something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others.
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She was not attempting poetry.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Hester was deep in literary work for the Philomathean paper.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Hester was deep in literary work for the Philomathean paper.
during the time that
From this reading Poets are born, while any one can write personals.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading Hester was deep in literary work for the Philomathean paper.
produce a literary work
From this reading After Helen's criticism she had not the heart to bring her efforts before the public, although she did write in secret.
Chapter 9 of Hester's Counterpart by Jean K. (Jean Katherine) Baird holds 306 sentences, grouped into 62 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 306 sentences of Hester's Counterpart, unabridged, divided into 62 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of Hester's Counterpart by Jean K. (Jean Katherine) Baird exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 306 sentences, grouped into 62 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 62 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 62 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 Hester's Counterpart by Jean K. (Jean Katherine) Baird on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5085 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26973 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26973, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 423 minutes of reading across 1017 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Hester's Counterpart section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of Hester's Counterpart 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 Hester's Counterpart, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
