Chapter 32 of Leaves of Grass is here in full — 198 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXII
Chapter 32 of Leaves of Grass is here in full — 198 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Thou Orb Aloft Full-Dazzling Thou orb aloft full-dazzling! thou hot October noon! Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent! my special word to thee.
Chapter 32 of Leaves of Grass is here in full — 198 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/39 · 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.
a technique used in behavior therapy; client is flooded with experiences of a particular kind until becoming either averse to them or numbed to them
From this reading “Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!”
a mass of small bubbles formed in or on a liquid
From this reading “Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!”
the ball-shaped capsule containing the vertebrate eye
From this reading “Thou Orb Aloft Full-Dazzling”
(plural) something that reminds you of someone or something
From this reading “Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!”
process or result of distributing or extending over a wide expanse of space
From this reading “Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!”
plural of “streak” — an unbroken series of events
From this reading “Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!”
of a light brown to brownish orange color; the color of tanned leather
From this reading “Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!”
plural of “vista” — the visual percept of a region
From this reading “Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!”
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.
at or on or to the masthead or upper rigging of a ship
From this reading Thou Orb Aloft Full-Dazzling
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
an area of sand sloping down to the water of a sea or lake
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
a technique used in behavior therapy; client is flooded with experiences of a particular kind until becoming either averse to them or numbed to them
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
a mass of small bubbles formed in or on a liquid
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Thou Orb Aloft Full-Dazzling
a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning
From this reading thou hot October noon!
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading my special word to thee.
near in time or place or relationship
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
the middle of the day
From this reading thou hot October noon!
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
the month following September and preceding November
From this reading thou hot October noon!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
the ball-shaped capsule containing the vertebrate eye
From this reading Thou Orb Aloft Full-Dazzling
radiating or as if radiating light
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
(plural) something that reminds you of someone or something
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
(ethnic slur) offensive term for a Jew
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
a consonant characterized by a hissing sound (like s or sh)
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
unique or specific to a person or thing or category
From this reading my special word to thee.
process or result of distributing or extending over a wide expanse of space
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
plural of “streak” — an unbroken series of events
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
of a light brown to brownish orange color; the color of tanned leather
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
an old word for “you”, as the object, speaking to one person
From this reading my special word to thee.
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading Thou Orb Aloft Full-Dazzling
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading my special word to thee.
plural of “vista” — the visual percept of a region
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
in the company of; together with
From this reading Flooding with sheeny light the gray beach sand, The sibilant near sea with vistas far and foam, And tawny streaks and shades and spreading blue; O sun of noon refulgent!
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading my special word to thee.
Chapter 32 of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman holds 198 sentences, grouped into 40 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 32 holds 198 sentences of Leaves of Grass, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 32 of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 198 sentences, grouped into 40 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 40 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 40 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 32 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.
