Chapter 4 of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 1 (1853-1866) is here in full — 177 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 1 (1853-1866) is here in full — 177 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
There is but one more letter of this early period. Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared. The last letter is from Philadelphia and seems to reflect homesickness. The novelty of absence and travel was wearing thin. To Mrs. Moffett, in St. Louis:
Chapter 4 of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 1 (1853-1866) is here in full — 177 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/35 · 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.
United States writer and humorist best known for his novels about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (1835-1910)
From this reading “Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.”
a longing to return home
From this reading “The last letter is from Philadelphia and seems to reflect homesickness.”
originality by virtue of being refreshingly novel
From this reading “The novelty of absence and travel was wearing thin.”
the largest city in Pennsylvania; located in the southeastern part of the state on the Delaware river; site of Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed; site of the University of Pennsylvania
From this reading “The last letter is from Philadelphia and seems to reflect homesickness.”
manifest or bring back
From this reading “The last letter is from Philadelphia and seems to reflect homesickness.”
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading “The novelty of absence and travel was wearing thin.”
the capital of the United States in the District of Columbia and a tourist mecca; George Washington commissioned Charles L'Enfant to lay out the city in 1791
From this reading “Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.”
(geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it)
From this reading “The novelty of absence and travel was wearing thin.”
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 state of being absent
From this reading The novelty of absence and travel was wearing thin.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The last letter is from Philadelphia and seems to reflect homesickness.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading There is but one more letter of this early period.
United States writer and humorist best known for his novels about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (1835-1910)
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
past form of “disappear” — get lost, as without warning or explanation
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading There is but one more letter of this early period.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
a longing to return home
From this reading The last letter is from Philadelphia and seems to reflect homesickness.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There is but one more letter of this early period.
immediately past
From this reading The last letter is from Philadelphia and seems to reflect homesickness.
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading There is but one more letter of this early period.
the literary culture
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
United States prizefighter who was world heavyweight champion for 12 years (1914-1981)
From this reading To Mrs. Moffett, in St. Louis:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To Mrs. Moffett, in St. Louis:
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading There is but one more letter of this early period.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading To Mrs. Moffett, in St. Louis:
originality by virtue of being refreshingly novel
From this reading The novelty of absence and travel was wearing thin.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading There is but one more letter of this early period.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading There is but one more letter of this early period.
an amount of time
From this reading There is but one more letter of this early period.
the largest city in Pennsylvania; located in the southeastern part of the state on the Delaware river; site of Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed; site of the University of Pennsylvania
From this reading The last letter is from Philadelphia and seems to reflect homesickness.
manifest or bring back
From this reading The last letter is from Philadelphia and seems to reflect homesickness.
third-person singular of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading The last letter is from Philadelphia and seems to reflect homesickness.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
depleted of energy, force, or strength
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To Mrs. Moffett, in St. Louis:
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The last letter is from Philadelphia and seems to reflect homesickness.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There is but one more letter of this early period.
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading The novelty of absence and travel was wearing thin.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading There is but one more letter of this early period.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The last letter is from Philadelphia and seems to reflect homesickness.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading The novelty of absence and travel was wearing thin.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The novelty of absence and travel was wearing thin.
the capital of the United States in the District of Columbia and a tourist mecca; George Washington commissioned Charles L'Enfant to lay out the city in 1791
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
(geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it)
From this reading The novelty of absence and travel was wearing thin.
inflected form of “write” — produce a literary work
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading Young Clemens spent some time in Washington, but if he wrote from there his letters have disappeared.
Chapter 4 of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 1 (1853-1866) by Mark Twain holds 177 sentences, grouped into 36 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 4 holds 177 sentences of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 1 (1853-1866), unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 1 (1853-1866) by Mark Twain exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 177 sentences, grouped into 36 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 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 36 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 4 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 Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 1 (1853-1866) by Mark Twain on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2217 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3193 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3193, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 184 minutes of reading across 444 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 1 (1853-1866) section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 1 (1853-1866) 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 Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 1 (1853-1866), each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
