Chapter 1 of Life in the Iron-Mills is here in full — 209 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Life in the Iron-Mills is here in full — 209 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Is this the end? O Life, as futile, then, as frail! What hope of answer or redress?” A cloudy day: do you know what that is in a town of iron-works? The sky sank down before dawn, muddy, flat, immovable.
Chapter 1 of Life in the Iron-Mills is here in full — 209 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/41 · 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.
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A cloudy day: do you know what that is in a town of iron-works?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading What hope of answer or redress?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O Life, as futile, then, as frail!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The sky sank down before dawn, muddy, flat, immovable.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A cloudy day: do you know what that is in a town of iron-works?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The sky sank down before dawn, muddy, flat, immovable.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A cloudy day: do you know what that is in a town of iron-works?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A cloudy day: do you know what that is in a town of iron-works?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The sky sank down before dawn, muddy, flat, immovable.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Is this the end?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The sky sank down before dawn, muddy, flat, immovable.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O Life, as futile, then, as frail!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O Life, as futile, then, as frail!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading What hope of answer or redress?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The sky sank down before dawn, muddy, flat, immovable.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A cloudy day: do you know what that is in a town of iron-works?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A cloudy day: do you know what that is in a town of iron-works?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Is this the end?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A cloudy day: do you know what that is in a town of iron-works?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O Life, as futile, then, as frail!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The sky sank down before dawn, muddy, flat, immovable.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O Life, as futile, then, as frail!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading What hope of answer or redress?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading What hope of answer or redress?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading What hope of answer or redress?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The sky sank down before dawn, muddy, flat, immovable.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The sky sank down before dawn, muddy, flat, immovable.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A cloudy day: do you know what that is in a town of iron-works?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Is this the end?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O Life, as futile, then, as frail!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Is this the end?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A cloudy day: do you know what that is in a town of iron-works?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading What hope of answer or redress?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A cloudy day: do you know what that is in a town of iron-works?
Chapter 1 of Life in the Iron-Mills by Rebecca Harding Davis holds 209 sentences, grouped into 42 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 1 holds 209 sentences of Life in the Iron-Mills, unabridged, divided into 42 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Life in the Iron-Mills by Rebecca Harding Davis exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 209 sentences, grouped into 42 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 42 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 42 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 1 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 Life in the Iron-Mills by Rebecca Harding Davis on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1034 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #876 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #876, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 86 minutes of reading across 207 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Life in the Iron-Mills section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Life in the Iron-Mills 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 Life in the Iron-Mills, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
