Chapter 8 of Multitude and Solitude 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 VIII
Chapter 8 of Multitude and Solitude is here in full — 396 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Yes," he said. "I wrote it." The hostess interposed. The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress. A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
Chapter 8 of Multitude and Solitude 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.
inflected form of “bear” — have
From this reading “The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress.”
past form of “bump” — knock against with force or violence
From this reading “A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.”
construct, build, or erect
From this reading “A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.”
of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading “A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.”
a woman host
From this reading “The hostess interposed.”
any distinct time period in a sequence of events
From this reading “A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.”
of or relating to Queen Victoria of Great Britain or to the age in which she ruled
From this reading “The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress.”
lean and sinewy
From this reading “A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.”
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.
collide violently with an obstacle
In this reading “A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.”
In this reading “A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.”
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 The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
inflected form of “bear” — have
From this reading The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress.
past form of “bump” — knock against with force or violence
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
a woolen tunic worn by men and women in ancient Greece
From this reading The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress.
a commissioned military officer in the United States Army or Air Force or Marines who ranks above a lieutenant colonel and below a brigadier general
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
put on clothes
From this reading The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress.
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress.
construct, build, or erect
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Yes," he said.
a woman host
From this reading The hostess interposed.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I wrote it."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The hostess interposed.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "I wrote it."
a polite name for any woman
From this reading The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Yes," he said.
any distinct time period in a sequence of events
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The hostess interposed.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress.
precisely as stated
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
of or relating to Queen Victoria of Great Britain or to the age in which she ruled
From this reading The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The chiton was borne off to a lady in Early Victorian dress.
lean and sinewy
From this reading A little grey man, very erect and wiry, like a colonel on the stage, bumped into Roger.
inflected form of “write” — produce a literary work
From this reading "I wrote it."
an affirmative
From this reading "Yes," he said.
Chapter 8 of Multitude and Solitude by John Masefield 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 8 holds 396 sentences of Multitude and Solitude, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Multitude and Solitude by John Masefield 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 8 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 Multitude and Solitude by John Masefield on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7061 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #58436 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #58436, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 588 minutes of reading across 1413 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Multitude and Solitude section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of Multitude and Solitude 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 Multitude and Solitude, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
