Chapter 4 of Sesame and Lilies is here in full — 119 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Sesame and Lilies is here in full — 119 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A “Bishop” means “a person who sees.” A “Pastor” means “a person who feeds.” The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be Blind. The most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to be fed,—to be a Mouth. Take the two reverses together, and you have “blind mouths.”
Chapter 4 of Sesame and Lilies is here in full — 119 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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.
a senior member of the Christian clergy having spiritual and administrative authority; appointed in Christian churches to oversee priests or ministers; considered in some churches to be successors of the twelve Apostles of Christ
From this reading “A “Bishop” means “a person who sees.””
any federal law-enforcement officer
From this reading “The most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to be fed,—to be a Mouth.”
the act of consuming food
From this reading “The most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to be fed,—to be a Mouth.”
plural of “feed” — food for domestic livestock
From this reading “A “Pastor” means “a person who feeds.””
plural of “mouth” — the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading “Take the two reverses together, and you have “blind mouths.””
a person authorized to conduct religious worship
From this reading “A “Pastor” means “a person who feeds.””
plural of “revers” — a lapel on a woman's garment; turned back to show the reverse side
From this reading “Take the two reverses together, and you have “blind mouths.””
plural of “see” — the seat within a bishop's diocese where his cathedral is located
From this reading “A “Bishop” means “a person who sees.””
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 A “Bishop” means “a person who sees.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Take the two reverses together, and you have “blind mouths.”
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be Blind.
a senior member of the Christian clergy having spiritual and administrative authority; appointed in Christian churches to oversee priests or ministers; considered in some churches to be successors of the twelve Apostles of Christ
From this reading A “Bishop” means “a person who sees.”
people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
From this reading The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be Blind.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be Blind.
an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story)
From this reading The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be Blind.
any federal law-enforcement officer
From this reading The most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to be fed,—to be a Mouth.
the act of consuming food
From this reading The most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to be fed,—to be a Mouth.
plural of “feed” — food for domestic livestock
From this reading A “Pastor” means “a person who feeds.”
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be Blind.
in place of, or as an alternative to
From this reading The most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to be fed,—to be a Mouth.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be Blind.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be Blind.
thing or person that acts to produce a particular effect or achieve an end
From this reading A “Bishop” means “a person who sees.”
used to form the superlative
From this reading The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be Blind.
the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading The most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to be fed,—to be a Mouth.
plural of “mouth” — the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading Take the two reverses together, and you have “blind mouths.”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to be fed,—to be a Mouth.
a person authorized to conduct religious worship
From this reading A “Pastor” means “a person who feeds.”
a human being
From this reading A “Bishop” means “a person who sees.”
plural of “revers” — a lapel on a woman's garment; turned back to show the reverse side
From this reading Take the two reverses together, and you have “blind mouths.”
plural of “see” — the seat within a bishop's diocese where his cathedral is located
From this reading A “Bishop” means “a person who sees.”
carry out
From this reading Take the two reverses together, and you have “blind mouths.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be Blind.
for that reason; as a result
From this reading The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be Blind.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be Blind.
in contact with each other or in proximity
From this reading Take the two reverses together, and you have “blind mouths.”
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Take the two reverses together, and you have “blind mouths.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be Blind.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to be fed,—to be a Mouth.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading The most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to be fed,—to be a Mouth.
which person or people
From this reading A “Bishop” means “a person who sees.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Take the two reverses together, and you have “blind mouths.”
Chapter 4 of Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin holds 119 sentences, grouped into 24 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 119 sentences of Sesame and Lilies, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 119 sentences, grouped into 24 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 24 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 24 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 Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1408 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1293 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1293, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 117 minutes of reading across 282 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Sesame and Lilies section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of Sesame and Lilies 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 Sesame and Lilies, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
