Chapter 2 of Songs of the Mexican Seas is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Songs of the Mexican Seas is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet! The story of thy land is meet, The stars stand listening to know. Rhyme on, O river of the earth! Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth. Rhyme on, the reed is at thy mouth, O kingly minstrel, mighty stream!
Chapter 2 of Songs of the Mexican Seas is here in full — 265 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/53 · 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 motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases)
From this reading “Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!”
summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic
From this reading “Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.”
having the rank of or resembling or befitting a king
From this reading “Rhyme on, the reed is at thy mouth, O kingly minstrel, mighty stream!”
a singer of folk songs
From this reading “Rhyme on, the reed is at thy mouth, O kingly minstrel, mighty stream!”
tall woody perennial grasses with hollow slender stems especially of the genera Arundo and Phragmites
From this reading “Rhyme on, the reed is at thy mouth, O kingly minstrel, mighty stream!”
having a tone of a reed instrument
From this reading “Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!”
correspondence in the sounds of two or more lines (especially final sounds)
From this reading “Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!”
a writer who composes rhymes; a maker of poor verses (usually used as terms of contempt for minor or inferior poets)
From this reading “Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!”
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.
In this reading “Rhyme on, the reed is at thy mouth, O kingly minstrel, mighty stream!”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Rhyme on, the reed is at thy mouth, O kingly minstrel, mighty stream!
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading Rhyme on, O river of the earth!
at any time
From this reading Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases)
From this reading Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!
a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!
summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The story of thy land is meet, The stars stand listening to know.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
having the rank of or resembling or befitting a king
From this reading Rhyme on, the reed is at thy mouth, O kingly minstrel, mighty stream!
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading The story of thy land is meet, The stars stand listening to know.
the land on which real estate is located
From this reading The story of thy land is meet, The stars stand listening to know.
the act of hearing attentively
From this reading The story of thy land is meet, The stars stand listening to know.
come together
From this reading The story of thy land is meet, The stars stand listening to know.
having or showing great strength or force or intensity
From this reading Rhyme on, the reed is at thy mouth, O kingly minstrel, mighty stream!
a singer of folk songs
From this reading Rhyme on, the reed is at thy mouth, O kingly minstrel, mighty stream!
the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading Rhyme on, the reed is at thy mouth, O kingly minstrel, mighty stream!
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 Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The story of thy land is meet, The stars stand listening to know.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!
tall woody perennial grasses with hollow slender stems especially of the genera Arundo and Phragmites
From this reading Rhyme on, the reed is at thy mouth, O kingly minstrel, mighty stream!
having a tone of a reed instrument
From this reading Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!
correspondence in the sounds of two or more lines (especially final sounds)
From this reading Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!
a writer who composes rhymes; a maker of poor verses (usually used as terms of contempt for minor or inferior poets)
From this reading Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!
plural of “sea” — a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
be standing; be upright
From this reading The story of thy land is meet, The stars stand listening to know.
plural of “star” — (astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior
From this reading The story of thy land is meet, The stars stand listening to know.
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 The story of thy land is meet, The stars stand listening to know.
a natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth
From this reading Rhyme on, the reed is at thy mouth, O kingly minstrel, mighty stream!
having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading Rhyme on, rhyme on in reedy flow, O river, rhymer ever sweet!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The story of thy land is meet, The stars stand listening to know.
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading The story of thy land is meet, The stars stand listening to know.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The story of thy land is meet, The stars stand listening to know.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
the state of being rich and affluent; having a plentiful supply of material goods and money
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
an indefinite quantity of something having a specified value
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
but in spite of that
From this reading Gray father of the dreadful seas, Rhyme on! the world upon its knees Shall yet invoke thy wealth and worth.
Chapter 2 of Songs of the Mexican Seas by Joaquin Miller holds 265 sentences, grouped into 53 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 2 holds 265 sentences of Songs of the Mexican Seas, unabridged, divided into 53 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Songs of the Mexican Seas by Joaquin Miller exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 265 sentences, grouped into 53 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 53 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 53 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 2 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 the Mexican Seas by Joaquin Miller on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 886 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #38766 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #38766, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 73 minutes of reading across 178 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Songs of the Mexican Seas section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of Songs of the Mexican Seas 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 the Mexican Seas, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
