Chapter 6 of Poems Chiefly from Manuscript is here in full — 278 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of Poems Chiefly from Manuscript is here in full — 278 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The swallow's on the wing, bonny Mary O! Where the rushes fringe the spring, bonny Mary O! Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O! There's the yellowhammer's nest, bonny Mary O! Where she hides her golden breast, bonny Mary O!
Chapter 6 of Poems Chiefly from Manuscript is here in full — 278 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/55 · 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.
very pleasing to the eye
From this reading “The swallow's on the wing, bonny Mary O!”
the outside boundary or surface of something
From this reading “Where the rushes fringe the spring, bonny Mary O!”
plural of “hide” — the dressed skin of an animal (especially a large animal)
From this reading “Where she hides her golden breast, bonny Mary O!”
a white nutritious liquid secreted by mammals and used as food by human beings
From this reading “Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!”
a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young
From this reading “There's the yellowhammer's nest, bonny Mary O!”
plural of “rush” — the act of moving hurriedly and in a careless manner
From this reading “Where the rushes fringe the spring, bonny Mary O!”
develop or come to a promising stage
From this reading “Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!”
a movable organ for flying (one of a pair)
From this reading “The swallow's on the wing, bonny Mary O!”
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.
(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 Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!
very pleasing to the eye
From this reading The swallow's on the wing, bonny Mary O!
the front of the trunk from the neck to the abdomen
From this reading Where she hides her golden breast, bonny Mary O!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!
the outside boundary or surface of something
From this reading Where the rushes fringe the spring, bonny Mary O!
coins made of gold
From this reading Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!
having the deep slightly brownish color of gold
From this reading Where she hides her golden breast, bonny Mary O!
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Where she hides her golden breast, bonny Mary O!
plural of “hide” — the dressed skin of an animal (especially a large animal)
From this reading Where she hides her golden breast, bonny Mary O!
engage in
From this reading Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading The swallow's on the wing, bonny Mary O!
a white nutritious liquid secreted by mammals and used as food by human beings
From this reading Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!
a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young
From this reading There's the yellowhammer's nest, bonny Mary O!
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading The swallow's on the wing, bonny Mary O!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The swallow's on the wing, bonny Mary O!
plural of “rush” — the act of moving hurriedly and in a careless manner
From this reading Where the rushes fringe the spring, bonny Mary O!
the act of causing something to move up and down (or back and forth) with quick movements
From this reading Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Where she hides her golden breast, bonny Mary O!
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!
the season of growth
From this reading Where the rushes fringe the spring, bonny Mary O!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The swallow's on the wing, bonny Mary O!
having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The swallow's on the wing, bonny Mary O!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There's the yellowhammer's nest, bonny Mary O!
develop or come to a promising stage
From this reading Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!
in or at the place that
From this reading Where the rushes fringe the spring, bonny Mary O!
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Where the cowslips do unfold, shaking tassels all of gold, Which make the milk so sweet, bonny Mary O!
a movable organ for flying (one of a pair)
From this reading The swallow's on the wing, bonny Mary O!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There's the yellowhammer's nest, bonny Mary O!
Chapter 6 of Poems Chiefly from Manuscript by John Clare holds 278 sentences, grouped into 56 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 6 holds 278 sentences of Poems Chiefly from Manuscript, unabridged, divided into 56 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of Poems Chiefly from Manuscript by John Clare exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 278 sentences, grouped into 56 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 56 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 56 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 6 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 Chiefly from Manuscript by John Clare on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1875 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #8672 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #8672, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 156 minutes of reading across 375 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Poems Chiefly from Manuscript section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of Poems Chiefly from Manuscript 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 Chiefly from Manuscript, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
