Chapter 19 of Ships that pass in the night is here in full — 120 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIX
Chapter 19 of Ships that pass in the night is here in full — 120 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A LOVE-LETTER. TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt. Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook. The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy. It failed to hold him.
Chapter 19 of Ships that pass in the night is here in full — 120 sentences across 24 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.
the branch of morphology that deals with the structure of animals
From this reading “The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy.”
possessive form of “carpenter” — a woodworker who makes or repairs wooden objects
From this reading “The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy.”
providing no shelter or sustenance
From this reading “Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook.”
not to your liking
From this reading “The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy.”
reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating
From this reading “TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.”
a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations
From this reading “Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook.”
subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition
From this reading “Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook.”
plural of “snow” — precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals
From this reading “TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.”
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 LOVE-LETTER.
later than; following
From this reading TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.
the branch of morphology that deals with the structure of animals
From this reading The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook.
a room used primarily for sleeping
From this reading The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.
possessive form of “carpenter” — a woodworker who makes or repairs wooden objects
From this reading The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.
providing no shelter or sustenance
From this reading Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook.
not to your liking
From this reading The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook.
past form of “fail” — fail to do something; leave something undone
From this reading It failed to hold him.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading It failed to hold him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading It failed to hold him.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It failed to hold him.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A LOVE-LETTER.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy.
reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating
From this reading TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook.
a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations
From this reading Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.
subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition
From this reading Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook.
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy.
plural of “snow” — precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals
From this reading TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Nothing could be drearier than that process: nothing more desolate than the outlook.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.
hard to endure
From this reading The Disagreeable Man sat in his bedroom trying to read Carpenter's Anatomy.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading TWO days after Bernardine had left Petershof, the snows began to melt.
Chapter 19 of Ships that pass in the night by Beatrice Harraden holds 120 sentences, grouped into 24 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 19 holds 120 sentences of Ships that pass in the night, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 19 of Ships that pass in the night by Beatrice Harraden exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 120 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 19 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 Ships that pass in the night by Beatrice Harraden on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2788 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #12476 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #12476, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 232 minutes of reading across 558 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ships that pass in the night section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of Ships that pass in the night 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 Ships that pass in the night, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
