Chapter 2 of Mrs. Siddons is here in full — 180 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Mrs. Siddons is here in full — 180 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MARRIAGE. As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older. The very atmosphere she breathed was dramatic. To walk the stage was a second nature to her. She was not, however, at the same time shut out from common-place every-day matters.
Chapter 2 of Mrs. Siddons is here in full — 180 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/36 · 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.
a particular environment or surrounding influence
From this reading “The very atmosphere she breathed was dramatic.”
uttered without voice
From this reading “The very atmosphere she breathed was dramatic.”
the time of person's life when they are a child
From this reading “As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.”
possessive form of “company” — an institution created to conduct business
suitable to or characteristic of drama
From this reading “The very atmosphere she breathed was dramatic.”
plural of “play” — a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage
From this reading “As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.”
(Old Testament) the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac
From this reading “As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.”
the state of being an adult woman
From this reading “As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.”
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.
In this reading “As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.”
In this reading “She was not, however, at the same time shut out from common-place every-day matters.”
In this reading “As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.”
prevent from entering; shut out
In this reading “She was not, however, at the same time shut out from common-place every-day matters.”
In this reading “As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.”
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 To walk the stage was a second nature to her.
perform an action, or work out or perform (an action)
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
(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 As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading She was not, however, at the same time shut out from common-place every-day matters.
a particular environment or surrounding influence
From this reading The very atmosphere she breathed was dramatic.
uttered without voice
From this reading The very atmosphere she breathed was dramatic.
the time of person's life when they are a child
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She was not, however, at the same time shut out from common-place every-day matters.
possessive form of “company” — an institution created to conduct business
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
without stop or interruption
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
suitable to or characteristic of drama
From this reading The very atmosphere she breathed was dramatic.
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She was not, however, at the same time shut out from common-place every-day matters.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading To walk the stage was a second nature to her.
used to add a contrasting statement
From this reading She was not, however, at the same time shut out from common-place every-day matters.
of great significance or value
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce)
From this reading MARRIAGE.
plural of “matter” — a vaguely specified concern
From this reading She was not, however, at the same time shut out from common-place every-day matters.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
the essential qualities or characteristics by which something is recognized
From this reading To walk the stage was a second nature to her.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading She was not, however, at the same time shut out from common-place every-day matters.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
advanced in years; (“aged” is pronounced as two syllables)
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading She was not, however, at the same time shut out from common-place every-day matters.
the local environment
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
plural of “play” — a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
Identical; not different.
From this reading She was not, however, at the same time shut out from common-place every-day matters.
(Old Testament) the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading To walk the stage was a second nature to her.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut
From this reading She was not, however, at the same time shut out from common-place every-day matters.
any distinct time period in a sequence of events
From this reading To walk the stage was a second nature to her.
the act of someone who picks up or takes something
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading She was not, however, at the same time shut out from common-place every-day matters.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
precisely as stated
From this reading The very atmosphere she breathed was dramatic.
the act of traveling by foot
From this reading To walk the stage was a second nature to her.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The very atmosphere she breathed was dramatic.
the state of being an adult woman
From this reading As Sarah Kemble passed from childhood to early womanhood, she continued to act the round of all the company’s plays, taking more important parts as she grew older.
Chapter 2 of Mrs. Siddons by Nina H. Kennard holds 180 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 2 holds 180 sentences of Mrs. Siddons, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Mrs. Siddons by Nina H. Kennard exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 180 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 2 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 Mrs. Siddons by Nina H. Kennard on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mrs. Siddons section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Mrs. Siddons 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 Mrs. Siddons, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
