Chapter 38 of Ishmael is here in full — 367 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter 38 of Ishmael is here in full — 367 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE BRIDE-ELECT. She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight. Beautiful? Yes, with her hair So wild and her cheeks so flushed! Awful?
Chapter 38 of Ishmael is here in full — 367 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/73 · 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.
exceptionally bad or displeasing
From this reading “She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.”
the Crown (or the reigning monarch) as the symbol of the power and authority of a monarchy
From this reading “She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.”
a transparent piece of diamond that has been cut and polished and is valued as a precious gem
From this reading “She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.”
the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases)
From this reading “She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.”
having the pinkish flush of health
From this reading “Yes, with her hair So wild and her cheeks so flushed!”
the vertical dimension of extension; distance from the base of something to the top
From this reading “She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.”
plural of “stand” — a support or foundation
From this reading “She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.”
plural of “star” — (astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior
From this reading “She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.”
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.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
exceptionally bad or displeasing
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE BRIDE-ELECT.
emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
plural of “cheek” — either side of the face below the eyes
From this reading Yes, with her hair So wild and her cheeks so flushed!
the Crown (or the reigning monarch) as the symbol of the power and authority of a monarchy
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
a transparent piece of diamond that has been cut and polished and is valued as a precious gem
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
put on clothes
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
opinion or judgment
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
(of a number) having a fixed and unchanging value
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases)
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
having the pinkish flush of health
From this reading Yes, with her hair So wild and her cheeks so flushed!
containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
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 Yes, with her hair So wild and her cheeks so flushed!
the vertical dimension of extension; distance from the base of something to the top
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
possessing material wealth
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Yes, with her hair So wild and her cheeks so flushed!
plural of “stand” — a support or foundation
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
plural of “star” — (astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE BRIDE-ELECT.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
marked by extreme lack of restraint or control
From this reading Yes, with her hair So wild and her cheeks so flushed!
in the company of; together with
From this reading She stands up her full height, With her rich dress flowing round her, And her eyes as fixed and bright As the diamond stars that crown her,-- An awful, beautiful sight.
an affirmative
From this reading Yes, with her hair So wild and her cheeks so flushed!
Chapter 38 of Ishmael by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth holds 367 sentences, grouped into 74 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 38 holds 367 sentences of Ishmael, unabridged, divided into 74 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 38 of Ishmael by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 367 sentences, grouped into 74 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 74 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 74 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 38 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 Ishmael by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 12266 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #15774 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #15774, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2454 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ishmael section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Ishmael 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 Ishmael, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
