Chapter 8 of The Sphinx is here in full — 92 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Sphinx is here in full — 92 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
July 10. Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk. Weather hazy, with a light baffling wind from the eastward. To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog. This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
Chapter 8 of The Sphinx is here in full — 92 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/18 · 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.
making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe
From this reading “Weather hazy, with a light baffling wind from the eastward.”
possessive form of “cook” — someone who cooks food
rum cut with water
From this reading “To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.”
port city located in southeastern Virginia on the Elizabeth River at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay; headquarters of the Atlantic fleet of the United States Navy
From this reading “Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk.”
plural of “peter” — disciple of Jesus and leader of the Apostles; regarded by Catholics as the vicar of Christ on earth and first Pope
From this reading “This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.”
certainty based on past experience
From this reading “This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.”
the former capital and 2nd largest city of Brazil; chief Brazilian port; famous as a tourist attraction
From this reading “Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk.”
plural of “spasm” — a painful and involuntary muscular contraction
From this reading “To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.”
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 July 10.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk.
later than; following
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
past form of “attack” — launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe
From this reading Weather hazy, with a light baffling wind from the eastward.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
confined by bonds
From this reading Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk.
two-masted sailing vessel square-rigged on both masts
From this reading Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk.
possessive form of “cook” — someone who cooks food
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
the act of consuming liquids
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
moving toward the east
From this reading Weather hazy, with a light baffling wind from the eastward.
coming next after the seventh and just before the ninth in position
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk.
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
rum cut with water
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
filled or abounding with fog or mist
From this reading Weather hazy, with a light baffling wind from the eastward.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
the month following June and preceding August
From this reading July 10.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Weather hazy, with a light baffling wind from the eastward.
most important element
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
port city located in southeastern Virginia on the Elizabeth River at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay; headquarters of the Atlantic fleet of the United States Navy
From this reading Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
an organization to gain political power
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
plural of “peter” — disciple of Jesus and leader of the Apostles; regarded by Catholics as the vicar of Christ on earth and first Pope
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
situated in a particular spot or position
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
certainty based on past experience
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
the former capital and 2nd largest city of Brazil; chief Brazilian port; famous as a tourist attraction
From this reading Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk.
United States humorist remembered for his homespun commentary on politics and American society (1879-1935)
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
plural of “spasm” — a painful and involuntary muscular contraction
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Weather hazy, with a light baffling wind from the eastward.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading To-day Hartman Rogers died, having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass of grog.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
the atmospheric conditions that comprise the state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation
From this reading Weather hazy, with a light baffling wind from the eastward.
the form of “who” used as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placed his main reliance.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading Weather hazy, with a light baffling wind from the eastward.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Weather hazy, with a light baffling wind from the eastward.
Chapter 8 of The Sphinx by Edgar Allan Poe holds 92 sentences, grouped into 19 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 92 sentences of The Sphinx, unabridged, divided into 19 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Sphinx by Edgar Allan Poe exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 92 sentences, grouped into 19 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 19 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 19 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 The Sphinx by Edgar Allan Poe 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 The Sphinx section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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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 The Sphinx, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
