Chapter 15 of Leaves of Grass is here in full — 61 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of Leaves of Grass is here in full — 61 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A Song for Occupations A song for occupations! In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings. Workmen and Workwomen! Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
Chapter 15 of Leaves of Grass is here in full — 61 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/12 · 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.
plural of “development” — act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining
From this reading “In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.”
plural of “education” — the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill
From this reading “Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?”
plural of “engine” — motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work
From this reading “In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.”
plural of “meaning” — the message that is intended or expressed or signified
From this reading “In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.”
plural of “occupation” — the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
From this reading “A Song for Occupations”
any plant grown for its beauty or ornamental value
From this reading “Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?”
plural of “trade” — the commercial exchange (buying and selling on domestic or international markets) of goods and services
From this reading “In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.”
plural of “workman” — an employee who performs manual or industrial labor
From this reading “Workmen and Workwomen!”
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 A Song for Occupations
(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 Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
a quantity of money
From this reading Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.
plural of “development” — act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining
From this reading In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
plural of “education” — the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill
From this reading Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
plural of “engine” — motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work
From this reading In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.
continuing forever or indefinitely
From this reading In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.
United States comedian and film actor (1880-1946)
From this reading In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading A Song for Occupations
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
From this reading In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
plural of “meaning” — the message that is intended or expressed or signified
From this reading In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.
plural of “occupation” — the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
From this reading A Song for Occupations
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.
any plant grown for its beauty or ornamental value
From this reading Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
concerned with actual use or practice
From this reading Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
a short musical composition with words
From this reading A Song for Occupations
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
plural of “trade” — the commercial exchange (buying and selling on domestic or international markets) of goods and services
From this reading In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields I find the developments, And find the eternal meanings.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
plural of “workman” — an employee who performs manual or industrial labor
From this reading Workmen and Workwomen!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Workmen and Workwomen!
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Were all educations practical and ornamental well display’d out of me, what would it amount to?
Chapter 15 of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman holds 61 sentences, grouped into 13 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 15 holds 61 sentences of Leaves of Grass, unabridged, divided into 13 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 61 sentences, grouped into 13 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 13 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 13 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 15 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 Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4156 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1322 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1322, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 346 minutes of reading across 832 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Leaves of Grass section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 34 chapters of Leaves of Grass 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 Leaves of Grass, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
