Chapter 4 of Poems — Volume 2 is here in full — 149 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Poems — Volume 2 is here in full — 149 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE WOODS OF WESTERMAIN I ENTER these enchanted woods, You who dare. Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves. Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
Chapter 4 of Poems — Volume 2 is here in full — 149 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/29 · 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.
third-person singular of “cleave” — separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument
From this reading “Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves.”
Filled with or placed under the influence of magical power or charm.
From this reading “ENTER these enchanted woods, You who dare.”
plural of “harm” — any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.
From this reading “Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves.”
North American songbirds having a yellow breast
From this reading “Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.”
any of numerous small rodents typically resembling diminutive rats having pointed snouts and small ears on elongated bodies with slender usually hairless tails
From this reading “Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.”
a trained athlete who participates in swimming meets
From this reading “Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves.”
throw or toss with a light motion
From this reading “Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.”
any of numerous relatively small elongated soft-bodied animals especially of the phyla Annelida and Chaetognatha and Nematoda and Nemertea and Platyhelminthes; also many insect larvae
From this reading “Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.”
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 Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
Directly under; in or to a lower position than.
From this reading Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves.
third-person singular of “cleave” — separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument
From this reading Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves.
take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission
From this reading ENTER these enchanted woods, You who dare.
Filled with or placed under the influence of magical power or charm.
From this reading ENTER these enchanted woods, You who dare.
to come or go into
From this reading ENTER these enchanted woods, You who dare.
free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
an agenda of things to do
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
plural of “harm” — any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.
From this reading Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I
North American songbirds having a yellow breast
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves.
any of numerous small rodents typically resembling diminutive rats having pointed snouts and small ears on elongated bodies with slender usually hairless tails
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE WOODS OF WESTERMAIN
the state prevailing during the absence of war
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
a trained athlete who participates in swimming meets
From this reading Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE WOODS OF WESTERMAIN
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading ENTER these enchanted woods, You who dare.
throw or toss with a light motion
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
plural of “wave” — one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)
From this reading Nothing harms beneath the leaves More than waves a swimmer cleaves.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE WOODS OF WESTERMAIN
which person or people
From this reading ENTER these enchanted woods, You who dare.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading THE WOODS OF WESTERMAIN
any of numerous relatively small elongated soft-bodied animals especially of the phyla Annelida and Chaetognatha and Nematoda and Nemertea and Platyhelminthes; also many insect larvae
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading ENTER these enchanted woods, You who dare.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Toss your heart up with the lark, Foot at peace with mouse and worm, Fair you fare.
Chapter 4 of Poems — Volume 2 by George Meredith holds 149 sentences, grouped into 30 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 149 sentences of Poems — Volume 2, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Poems — Volume 2 by George Meredith exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 149 sentences, grouped into 30 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 30 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 30 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 Poems — Volume 2 by George Meredith on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2831 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1382 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1382, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 235 minutes of reading across 567 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Poems — Volume 2 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of Poems — Volume 2 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 — Volume 2, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
