Chapter 17 of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader is here in full — 396 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader is here in full — 396 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
1. Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea! And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me. 2. Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!
Chapter 17 of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader is here in full — 396 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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.
come into existence; take on form or shape
From this reading “And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.”
terminate
From this reading “Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea!”
possessive form of “fisherman” — someone whose occupation is catching fish
From this reading “Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!”
a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
From this reading “Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea!”
plural of “shout” — a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
From this reading “Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!”
plural of “stone” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading “Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea!”
a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
From this reading “And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.”
articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise
From this reading “And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.”
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 1.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 2.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.
come into existence; take on form or shape
From this reading And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!
a youthful male person
From this reading Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!
terminate
From this reading Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.
possessive form of “fisherman” — someone whose occupation is catching fish
From this reading Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!
a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
From this reading Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.
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 Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
participate in games or sport
From this reading Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
plural of “shout” — a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
From this reading Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!
a female person who has the same parents as another person
From this reading Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!
plural of “stone” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
From this reading And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.
articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise
From this reading And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!
in the company of; together with
From this reading Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play!
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me.
Chapter 17 of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader by William Holmes McGuffey holds 396 sentences, grouped into 80 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 17 holds 396 sentences of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader by William Holmes McGuffey exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 396 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 17 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 McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader by William Holmes McGuffey on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7800 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #15040 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #15040, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1560 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader 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 McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
