Chapter 4 of Rookwood is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Rookwood is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Come hither,' said he to me. 'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth. Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off. What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night? It is--it is.
Chapter 4 of Rookwood is here in full — 400 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
-ing form of “avenge” — take revenge for a perceived wrong
From this reading “Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.”
the dead body of a human being
From this reading “What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?”
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading “'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth.”
a feeling of intense anger
From this reading “Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.”
an old word meaning “to this place”
From this reading “Come hither,' said he to me.”
the property of a body that causes it to have weight in a gravitational field
From this reading “What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?”
plural of “sens” — street names for marijuana
From this reading “Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.”
travel through water
From this reading “Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.”
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 'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth.
weapons considered collectively
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
-ing form of “avenge” — take revenge for a perceived wrong
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Come hither,' said he to me.
the dead body of a human being
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
absence of light or illumination
From this reading 'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading 'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading 'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth.
a feeling of intense anger
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Come hither,' said he to me.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
an old word meaning “to this place”
From this reading Come hither,' said he to me.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading 'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading 'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
the property of a body that causes it to have weight in a gravitational field
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Come hither,' said he to me.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading 'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading 'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading 'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth.
near in time or place or relationship
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
not any; not one
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading 'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Come hither,' said he to me.
Something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others.
From this reading 'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth.
plural of “sens” — street names for marijuana
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
a female person who has the same parents as another person
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
travel through water
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
express in words
From this reading Tell my sister--no, my senses swim--Susan is near me--fury in her eyes--avenging fury--keep her off.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
in or at that place or location
From this reading 'There is a dark, dreadful secret on my mind--it must forth.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Come hither,' said he to me.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
a Caucasian
From this reading What is this white mass in my arms? what do I hold? is it the corpse by my side, as it lay that long, long night?
Chapter 4 of Rookwood by William Harrison Ainsworth holds 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 400 sentences of Rookwood, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Rookwood by William Harrison Ainsworth exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 400 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 Rookwood by William Harrison Ainsworth on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9403 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #23564 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #23564, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1881 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Rookwood section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of Rookwood 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 Rookwood, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
