Chapter 4 of Portia is here in full — 160 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Portia is here in full — 160 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"'Tis not mine to forget. Yet can I not Remember what I would or what were well. Memory plays tyrant with me, by a wand I cannot master!" --G. MELLEN. PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
Chapter 4 of Portia is here in full — 160 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/32 · 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.
pleasant-smelling
From this reading “PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.”
possessive form of “moon” — the natural satellite of the Earth
From this reading “PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.”
the amount of electromagnetic radiation leaving or arriving at a point on a surface
From this reading “PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.”
a performance of a musical composition or a dramatic role etc.
From this reading “PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.”
curving and somewhat round in shape rather than jagged
From this reading “PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.”
a cruel and oppressive dictator
From this reading “Memory plays tyrant with me, by a wand I cannot master!"”
a rod used by a magician or water diviner
From this reading “Memory plays tyrant with me, by a wand I cannot master!"”
the quality or state of the achromatic color of greatest lightness (bearing the least resemblance to black)
From this reading “PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.”
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 “PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.”
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 Memory plays tyrant with me, by a wand I cannot master!"
weapons considered collectively
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Memory plays tyrant with me, by a wand I cannot master!"
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Yet can I not Remember what I would or what were well.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Memory plays tyrant with me, by a wand I cannot master!"
free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
dismiss from the mind; stop remembering
From this reading "'Tis not mine to forget.
pleasant-smelling
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
a metric unit of weight equal to one thousandth of a kilogram
From this reading --G. MELLEN.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Yet can I not Remember what I would or what were well.
an artist of consummate skill
From this reading Memory plays tyrant with me, by a wand I cannot master!"
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Memory plays tyrant with me, by a wand I cannot master!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading --G. MELLEN.
The faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information and knowledge.
From this reading Memory plays tyrant with me, by a wand I cannot master!"
Mediterranean woody annual widely cultivated for its dense terminal spikelike clusters greenish or yellowish white flowers having an intense spicy fragrance
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
the one or ones belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "'Tis not mine to forget.
possessive form of “moon” — the natural satellite of the Earth
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "'Tis not mine to forget.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Yet can I not Remember what I would or what were well.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
plural of “play” — a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage
From this reading Memory plays tyrant with me, by a wand I cannot master!"
the amount of electromagnetic radiation leaving or arriving at a point on a surface
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
To recall to mind.
From this reading Yet can I not Remember what I would or what were well.
a performance of a musical composition or a dramatic role etc.
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
plural of “rose” — any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
curving and somewhat round in shape rather than jagged
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
yielding readily to pressure or weight
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
not in physical motion
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
plural of “ti” — a light strong grey lustrous corrosion-resistant metallic element used in strong lightweight alloys (as for airplane parts); the main sources are rutile and ilmenite
From this reading "'Tis not mine to forget.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "'Tis not mine to forget.
a cruel and oppressive dictator
From this reading Memory plays tyrant with me, by a wand I cannot master!"
a rod used by a magician or water diviner
From this reading Memory plays tyrant with me, by a wand I cannot master!"
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Yet can I not Remember what I would or what were well.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Yet can I not Remember what I would or what were well.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Yet can I not Remember what I would or what were well.
the quality or state of the achromatic color of greatest lightness (bearing the least resemblance to black)
From this reading PAST the roses, past the fragrant mignonette they go, the moon's soft radiance rendering still more fair the whiteness of their rounded arms.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Memory plays tyrant with me, by a wand I cannot master!"
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Yet can I not Remember what I would or what were well.
but in spite of that
From this reading Yet can I not Remember what I would or what were well.
Chapter 4 of Portia by Duchess holds 160 sentences, grouped into 32 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 4 holds 160 sentences of Portia, unabridged, divided into 32 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Portia by Duchess exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 160 sentences, grouped into 32 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 32 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 32 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 Portia by Duchess on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6566 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31825 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31825, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 547 minutes of reading across 1314 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Portia section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of Portia 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 Portia, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
