Chapter 21 of Ralph Waldo Emerson is here in full — 123 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of Ralph Waldo Emerson is here in full — 123 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
1878-1882. AET. 75-79. Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies." The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
Chapter 21 of Ralph Waldo Emerson is here in full — 123 sentences across 25 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/24 · 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.
plural of “address” — (computer science) the code that identifies where a piece of information is stored
From this reading “Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."”
of or relating to or being biography
From this reading “Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."”
possessive form of “emerson” — United States writer and leading exponent of transcendentalism (1803-1882)
From this reading “The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.”
plural of “essay” — an analytic or interpretive literary composition
From this reading “Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."”
the state of being inactive
From this reading “The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.”
plural of “labor” — a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
From this reading “Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."”
plural of “lecture” — a speech that is open to the public
From this reading “Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."”
plural of “sketch” — preliminary drawing for later elaboration
From this reading “Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 1878-1882.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 1878-1882.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 75-79.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 75-79.
plural of “address” — (computer science) the code that identifies where a piece of information is stored
From this reading Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading AET.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."
of or relating to or being biography
From this reading Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
past form of “condemn” — express strong disapproval of
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
grow worse
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
possessive form of “emerson” — United States writer and leading exponent of transcendentalism (1803-1882)
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
constituting the full quantity or extent; complete
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
plural of “essay” — an analytic or interpretive literary composition
From this reading Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."
plural of “faculty” — one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
in a gradual manner
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
in a gradual manner
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
the state of being inactive
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
plural of “labor” — a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
From this reading Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."
immediately past
From this reading Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."
plural of “lecture” — a speech that is open to the public
From this reading Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."
of or relating to or characteristic of literature
From this reading Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
plural of “sketch” — preliminary drawing for later elaboration
From this reading Last Literary Labors.--Addresses and Essays.--"Lectures and Biographical Sketches."--"Miscellanies."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
actively engaged in paid work
From this reading The decline of Emerson's working faculties went on gently and gradually, but he was not condemned to entire inactivity.
Chapter 21 of Ralph Waldo Emerson by Oliver Wendell Holmes holds 123 sentences, grouped into 25 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 21 holds 123 sentences of Ralph Waldo Emerson, unabridged, divided into 25 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of Ralph Waldo Emerson by Oliver Wendell Holmes exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 123 sentences, grouped into 25 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 25 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 25 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 21 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.
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Yes. All 4858 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12700 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12700, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 404 minutes of reading across 972 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in Ralph Waldo Emerson, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
