Chapter 37 of Shirley is here in full — 628 sentences across 126 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXVII
Chapter 37 of Shirley is here in full — 628 sentences across 126 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE WINDING-UP. Yes, reader, we must settle accounts now. I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate. Let us turn to the curates--to the much-loved, though long-neglected. Come forward, modest merit!
Chapter 37 of Shirley is here in full — 628 sentences across 126 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/125 · 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 “account” — a record or narrative description of past events
From this reading “Yes, reader, we must settle accounts now.”
for a short time
From this reading “I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.”
plural of “fate” — an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
From this reading “I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.”
any admirable quality or attribute
From this reading “Come forward, modest merit!”
marked by simplicity; having a humble opinion of yourself
From this reading “Come forward, modest merit!”
provide commentary for a film, for example
From this reading “I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.”
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading “I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.”
act as a barrier between; stand between
From this reading “I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.”
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.
take someone's hands and shake them as a gesture of greeting or congratulation
In this reading “I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.”
make oneself visible; take action
In this reading “Come forward, modest merit!”
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.
plural of “account” — a record or narrative description of past events
From this reading Yes, reader, we must settle accounts now.
personal knowledge or information about someone or something
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
for a short time
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Come forward, modest merit!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Let us turn to the curates--to the much-loved, though long-neglected.
plural of “fate” — an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
occurring at or forming an end or termination
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
at or to or toward the front
From this reading Come forward, modest merit!
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading Let us turn to the curates--to the much-loved, though long-neglected.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Let us turn to the curates--to the much-loved, though long-neglected.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
any admirable quality or attribute
From this reading Come forward, modest merit!
marked by simplicity; having a humble opinion of yourself
From this reading Come forward, modest merit!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Let us turn to the curates--to the much-loved, though long-neglected.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading Yes, reader, we must settle accounts now.
provide commentary for a film, for example
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Yes, reader, we must settle accounts now.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
and nothing more
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
a person who enjoys reading
From this reading Yes, reader, we must settle accounts now.
act as a barrier between; stand between
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
settle into a position, usually on a surface or ground
From this reading Yes, reader, we must settle accounts now.
move or cause to move back and forth
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE WINDING-UP.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
in spite of the fact that
From this reading Let us turn to the curates--to the much-loved, though long-neglected.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense
From this reading Let us turn to the curates--to the much-loved, though long-neglected.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Let us turn to the curates--to the much-loved, though long-neglected.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading Yes, reader, we must settle accounts now.
belonging to which person
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE WINDING-UP.
an affirmative
From this reading Yes, reader, we must settle accounts now.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I have only briefly to narrate the final fates of some of the personages whose acquaintance we have made in this narrative, and then you and I must shake hands, and for the present separate.
Chapter 37 of Shirley by Charlotte Brontë holds 628 sentences, grouped into 126 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 37 holds 628 sentences of Shirley, unabridged, divided into 126 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 37 of Shirley by Charlotte Brontë exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 628 sentences, grouped into 126 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 126 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 126 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 37 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 Shirley by Charlotte Brontë on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 14226 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #30486 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #30486, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2846 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Shirley section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of Shirley 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 Shirley, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
