Chapter 18 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 XVIII
Chapter 18 of Poems — Volume 2 is here in full — 149 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting. We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers. OUTER AND INNER I FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.
Chapter 18 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.
doing good; feeling beneficent
From this reading “We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.”
think moodily or anxiously about something
From this reading “Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.”
continuing forever or indefinitely
From this reading “Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.”
abstaining from food
From this reading “Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.”
predatory arachnid with eight legs, two poison fangs, two feelers, and usually two silk-spinning organs at the back end of the body; they spin silk to make cocoons for eggs or traps for prey
From this reading “FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.”
branch out in a twiglike manner
From this reading “FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.”
plural of “weave” — pattern of weaving or structure of a fabric
From this reading “FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.”
something forming a web (as between the toes of birds)
From this reading “FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.”
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 Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
doing good; feeling beneficent
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
think moodily or anxiously about something
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
continuing forever or indefinitely
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
abstaining from food
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.
marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
located inward
From this reading OUTER AND INNER
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
subject to death
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
the middle of the day
From this reading FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
being on the outside or further from a center
From this reading OUTER AND INNER
plural of “question” — an instance of questioning
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
plural of “sound” — the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
predatory arachnid with eight legs, two poison fangs, two feelers, and usually two silk-spinning organs at the back end of the body; they spin silk to make cocoons for eggs or traps for prey
From this reading FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
in spite of the fact that
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.
something (as property) held by one party (the trustee) for the benefit of another (the beneficiary)
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
branch out in a twiglike manner
From this reading FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
plural of “weave” — pattern of weaving or structure of a fabric
From this reading FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.
something forming a web (as between the toes of birds)
From this reading FROM twig to twig the spider weaves At noon his webbing fine.
an old word meaning “from where”
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
an old word meaning “to where”
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
in the company of; together with
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading We children of Beneficence Are in its being sharers; And Whither vainer sounds than Whence, For word with such wayfarers.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading Then let our trust be firm in Good, Though we be of the fasting; Our questions are a mortal brood, Our work is everlasting.
Chapter 18 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 18 holds 149 sentences of Poems — Volume 2, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 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 18 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.
