Chapter 10 of Mary Barton is here in full — 267 sentences across 54 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter X
Chapter 10 of Mary Barton is here in full — 267 sentences across 54 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL. "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure." ELLIOTT. "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be." "THE OUTCAST."
Chapter 10 of Mary Barton is here in full — 267 sentences across 54 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/53 · 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.
malicious satisfaction
From this reading “"My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."”
used of old persons or old trees; covered with knobs or knots
From this reading “"My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."”
plural of “ill” — an often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining
From this reading “"My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."”
the quality of innocent naivete
From this reading “"Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."”
a person who is rejected (from society or home)
From this reading “"THE OUTCAST."”
a recklessly extravagant consumer
From this reading “RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL.”
a protective covering or structure
From this reading “"Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."”
possessive form of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading “"My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."”
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 "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
provide a cure for, make healthy again
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ELLIOTT.
descend in free fall under the influence of gravity
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
malicious satisfaction
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
used of old persons or old trees; covered with knobs or knots
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
death of a person
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
a person who keeps watch over something or someone
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
plural of “ill” — an often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
the quality of innocent naivete
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
on one occasion
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
a person who is rejected (from society or home)
From this reading "THE OUTCAST."
a recklessly extravagant consumer
From this reading RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL.
go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
a protective covering or structure
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
yielding readily to pressure or weight
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
separate or cause to separate abruptly
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
a more or less definite period of time now or previously present
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Then guard and shield her innocence, Let her not fall like me; 'Twere better, Oh! a thousand times, She in her grave should be."
in the company of; together with
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
possessive form of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading "My heart, once soft as woman's tear, is gnarled With gloating on the ills I cannot cure."
Chapter 10 of Mary Barton by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell holds 267 sentences, grouped into 54 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 10 holds 267 sentences of Mary Barton, unabridged, divided into 54 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 10 of Mary Barton by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 267 sentences, grouped into 54 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 54 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 54 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 10 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 Mary Barton by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7946 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2153 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2153, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1590 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mary Barton section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 38 chapters of Mary Barton 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 Mary Barton, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
