Chapter 5 of Songs of a Savoyard is here in full — 108 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Songs of a Savoyard is here in full — 108 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected. High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected! Blue blood! Blue blood! When virtuous love is sought, Thy power is naught, Though dating from the Flood, Blue blood!
Chapter 5 of Songs of a Savoyard is here in full — 108 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/21 · 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.
show off
From this reading “High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!”
use of chemical analysis to estimate the age of geological specimens
From this reading “When virtuous love is sought, Thy power is naught, Though dating from the Flood, Blue blood!”
third-person singular of “involve” — connect closely and often incriminatingly
From this reading “High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!”
a quantity of no importance
From this reading “When virtuous love is sought, Thy power is naught, Though dating from the Flood, Blue blood!”
in a noble manner
From this reading “SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.”
receiving deferential regard
From this reading “High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!”
reject with contempt
From this reading “SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.”
morally excellent
From this reading “SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.”
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.
acted upon; influenced
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
The red fluid that circulates in the heart and blood vessels.
From this reading Blue blood!
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading Blue blood!
show off
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
brought into existence
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
an assertion of a right (as to money or property)
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
being joined in close association
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
use of chemical analysis to estimate the age of geological specimens
From this reading When virtuous love is sought, Thy power is naught, Though dating from the Flood, Blue blood!
be identical or equivalent to
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
the rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto normally dry land
From this reading When virtuous love is sought, Thy power is naught, Though dating from the Flood, Blue blood!
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading When virtuous love is sought, Thy power is naught, Though dating from the Flood, Blue blood!
greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
low or inferior in station or quality
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
third-person singular of “involve” — connect closely and often incriminatingly
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading When virtuous love is sought, Thy power is naught, Though dating from the Flood, Blue blood!
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
a quantity of no importance
From this reading When virtuous love is sought, Thy power is naught, Though dating from the Flood, Blue blood!
not any; not one
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
in a noble manner
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
and not; used after a negative to add a second negative
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
possession of controlling influence
From this reading When virtuous love is sought, Thy power is naught, Though dating from the Flood, Blue blood!
a row or line of people (especially soldiers or police) standing abreast of one another
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
receiving deferential regard
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
a painful emotion resulting from an awareness of inadequacy or guilt
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
that is looked for
From this reading When virtuous love is sought, Thy power is naught, Though dating from the Flood, Blue blood!
reject with contempt
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
in spite of the fact that
From this reading When virtuous love is sought, Thy power is naught, Though dating from the Flood, Blue blood!
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading When virtuous love is sought, Thy power is naught, Though dating from the Flood, Blue blood!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
interact in a certain way
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
morally excellent
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading High rank involves no shame— We boast an equal claim With him of humble name To be respected!
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
at the time that
From this reading When virtuous love is sought, Thy power is naught, Though dating from the Flood, Blue blood!
in the company of; together with
From this reading SPURN not the nobly born With love affected, Nor treat with virtuous scorn The well connected.
Chapter 5 of Songs of a Savoyard by W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert holds 108 sentences, grouped into 22 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 5 holds 108 sentences of Songs of a Savoyard, unabridged, divided into 22 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Songs of a Savoyard by W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 108 sentences, grouped into 22 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 22 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 22 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 5 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 Songs of a Savoyard by W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 800 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #934 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #934, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 66 minutes of reading across 160 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Songs of a Savoyard section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of Songs of a Savoyard 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 Songs of a Savoyard, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
