Chapter 1 of Lollingdon Downs, and Other Poems, with Sonnets is here in full — 531 sentences across 107 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Lollingdon Downs, and Other Poems, with Sonnets is here in full — 531 sentences across 107 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN. 1917. TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string. What is this thing? Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.
Chapter 1 of Lollingdon Downs, and Other Poems, with Sonnets is here in full — 531 sentences across 107 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/106 · 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.
several beads threaded together on a string
From this reading “TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.”
the qualities that give pleasure to the senses
From this reading “Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.”
having or capable of producing colors
From this reading “Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.”
having color or a certain color; sometimes used in combination
From this reading “TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.”
excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves
From this reading “Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.”
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading “LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN.”
your consciousness of your own identity
From this reading “TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.”
a lightweight cord
From this reading “TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.”
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.
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 1917.
(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 Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.
several beads threaded together on a string
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
the qualities that give pleasure to the senses
From this reading Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.
having or capable of producing colors
From this reading Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.
having color or a certain color; sometimes used in combination
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves
From this reading Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading What is this thing?
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.
apprehended with certainty
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
not any; not one
From this reading Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.
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 Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
your consciousness of your own identity
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
a lightweight cord
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
a special situation
From this reading What is this thing?
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
in spite of the fact that
From this reading Not beauty, no; not greed, O, not indeed; Not all, though much; Its colour is not such.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What is this thing?
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading TO MY WIFE So I have known this life, These beads of coloured days, This self the string.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN.
Chapter 1 of Lollingdon Downs, and Other Poems, with Sonnets by John Masefield holds 531 sentences, grouped into 107 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 1 holds 531 sentences of Lollingdon Downs, and Other Poems, with Sonnets, unabridged, divided into 107 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Lollingdon Downs, and Other Poems, with Sonnets by John Masefield exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 531 sentences, grouped into 107 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 107 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 107 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.
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About 44 minutes of reading across 107 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in Lollingdon Downs, and Other Poems, with Sonnets, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
