Chapter 4 of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Here today and at the couturiers with Ricky tomorrow. Night club today and novelette tomorrow. Serial today, book, movie, play. Sarcophagous tomorrow. I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.
Chapter 4 of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
an onerous or difficult concern
From this reading “I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.”
characteristic of the present
From this reading “I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.”
in a plucky manner
From this reading “I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.”
a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement
From this reading “Serial today, book, movie, play.”
worthy of or requiring responsibility or trust; or held accountable
From this reading “I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.”
in regular succession without gaps
From this reading “Serial today, book, movie, play.”
the present time or age
From this reading “Here today and at the couturiers with Ricky tomorrow.”
the day after today
From this reading “Here today and at the couturiers with Ricky tomorrow.”
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 “I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.”
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 form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Here today and at the couturiers with Ricky tomorrow.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Here today and at the couturiers with Ricky tomorrow.
have
From this reading I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.
a written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together)
From this reading Serial today, book, movie, play.
an onerous or difficult concern
From this reading I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.
a team of professional baseball players who play and travel together
From this reading Night club today and novelette tomorrow.
characteristic of the present
From this reading I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Here today and at the couturiers with Ricky tomorrow.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.
in a plucky manner
From this reading I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading Here today and at the couturiers with Ricky tomorrow.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.
the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree
From this reading I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.
a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement
From this reading Serial today, book, movie, play.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading Night club today and novelette tomorrow.
a short novel
From this reading Night club today and novelette tomorrow.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.
participate in games or sport
From this reading Serial today, book, movie, play.
worthy of or requiring responsibility or trust; or held accountable
From this reading I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Here today and at the couturiers with Ricky tomorrow.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sarcophagous tomorrow.
in regular succession without gaps
From this reading Serial today, book, movie, play.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Here today and at the couturiers with Ricky tomorrow.
the present time or age
From this reading Here today and at the couturiers with Ricky tomorrow.
the day after today
From this reading Here today and at the couturiers with Ricky tomorrow.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Here today and at the couturiers with Ricky tomorrow.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading I am at least one two-billion-three-hundred-millionth responsible for the contemporary world and bear the burden gamely.
Chapter 4 of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower by Philip Wylie holds 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 404 sentences of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower by Philip Wylie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower by Philip Wylie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9988 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #62900 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #62900, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1998 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower 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 Opus 21 Descriptive Music for the Lower, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
