Chapter 5 of Poems & Ballads (First Series) is here in full — 298 sentences across 60 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Poems & Ballads (First Series) is here in full — 298 sentences across 60 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote? Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat? What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck? What milk fed thee first at what bosom? What sins gave thee suck?
Chapter 5 of Poems & Ballads (First Series) is here in full — 298 sentences across 60 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/59 · 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.
produce or yield flowers
From this reading “What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?”
a partially opened flower
From this reading “What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?”
pull or pull out sharply
From this reading “What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?”
plural of “sin” — estrangement from god
From this reading “What sins gave thee suck?”
aroused to impatience or anger
From this reading “Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote?”
draw into the mouth by creating a practical vacuum in the mouth
From this reading “What sins gave thee suck?”
plural of “vision” — a vivid mental image
From this reading “Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote?”
an old form of “were”, used with “thou”
From this reading “Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?”
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 “Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?”
In this reading “What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?”
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 Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
(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 What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading What milk fed thee first at what bosom?
produce or yield flowers
From this reading What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?
the chest considered as the place where secret thoughts are kept
From this reading What milk fed thee first at what bosom?
a partially opened flower
From this reading What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state
From this reading Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
any federal law-enforcement officer
From this reading What milk fed thee first at what bosom?
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote?
an unmarried girl (especially a virgin)
From this reading Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?
the force of workers available
From this reading What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?
a white nutritious liquid secreted by mammals and used as food by human beings
From this reading What milk fed thee first at what bosom?
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?
pull or pull out sharply
From this reading What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?
free of extraneous elements of any kind
From this reading Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
ammunition consisting of a cylindrical metal casing containing an explosive charge and a projectile; fired from a large gun
From this reading What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?
plural of “sin” — estrangement from god
From this reading What sins gave thee suck?
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote?
plural of “story” — a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote?
aroused to impatience or anger
From this reading Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote?
draw into the mouth by creating a practical vacuum in the mouth
From this reading What sins gave thee suck?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
an old word for “you”, as the object, speaking to one person
From this reading Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote?
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
The passage at the back of the mouth.
From this reading Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
plural of “vision” — a vivid mental image
From this reading Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote?
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading What bud was the shell of a blossom That all men may smell to and pluck?
an old form of “were”, used with “thou”
From this reading Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote?
at the time that
From this reading Wert thou pure and a maiden, Dolores, When desire took thee first by the throat?
which person or people
From this reading Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote?
accumulated knowledge or erudition or enlightenment
From this reading Who gave thee thy wisdom? what stories That stung thee, what visions that smote?
Chapter 5 of Poems & Ballads (First Series) by Algernon Charles Swinburne holds 298 sentences, grouped into 60 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 5 holds 298 sentences of Poems & Ballads (First Series), unabridged, divided into 60 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Poems & Ballads (First Series) by Algernon Charles Swinburne exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 298 sentences, grouped into 60 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 60 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 60 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 5 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 Poems & Ballads (First Series) by Algernon Charles Swinburne on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2011 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #35402 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #35402, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 167 minutes of reading across 403 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Poems & Ballads (First Series) section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of Poems & Ballads (First Series) 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 Poems & Ballads (First Series), each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
