Chapter 6 of Songs of a Savoyard is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of Songs of a Savoyard is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SHE. Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O! Nobody I care for Comes a-courting—therefore, Hey, willow waly O! HE. Prithee, pretty maiden, will you marry me?
Chapter 6 of Songs of a Savoyard is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 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.
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading “Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!”
filled with or evoking sadness
From this reading “Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!”
grant freedom to; free from confinement
From this reading “Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!”
soft and mild; not harsh or stern or severe
From this reading “Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!”
an unmarried girl (especially a virgin)
From this reading “Prithee, pretty maiden, will you marry me?”
take in marriage
From this reading “Prithee, pretty maiden, will you marry me?”
no person; not anyone
From this reading “Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!”
any of numerous deciduous trees and shrubs of the genus Salix
From this reading “Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
filled with or evoking sadness
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
grant freedom to; free from confinement
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
given to merry frolicking
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
soft and mild; not harsh or stern or severe
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading HE.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
an unmarried girl (especially a virgin)
From this reading Prithee, pretty maiden, will you marry me?
take in marriage
From this reading Prithee, pretty maiden, will you marry me?
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
no person; not anyone
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading Prithee, pretty maiden, will you marry me?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Prithee, pretty maiden, will you marry me?
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading SHE.
term of address for a man
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
for that reason; as a result
From this reading Nobody I care for Comes a-courting—therefore, Hey, willow waly O!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading Prithee, pretty maiden, will you marry me?
any of numerous deciduous trees and shrubs of the genus Salix
From this reading Gentle sir, my heart is frolicsome and free— (Hey, but he’s doleful, willow, willow waly!) Nobody I care for comes a-courting me— Hey, willow waly O!
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Prithee, pretty maiden, will you marry me?
Chapter 6 of Songs of a Savoyard by W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert holds 105 sentences, grouped into 21 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 6 holds 105 sentences of Songs of a Savoyard, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of Songs of a Savoyard by W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 105 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 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 6 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, a public-domain edition. 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.
