Chapter 8 of The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table is here in full — 254 sentences across 51 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table is here in full — 254 sentences across 51 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
[Spring has come. You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes. If you are an impatient reader, skip to them at once. In reading aloud, omit, if you please, the sixth and seventh verses. These are parenthetical and digressive, and, unless your audience is of superior intelligence, will confuse them.
Chapter 8 of The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table is here in full — 254 sentences across 51 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/50 · 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.
mistake one thing for another
From this reading “These are parenthetical and digressive, and, unless your audience is of superior intelligence, will confuse them.”
restless or short-tempered under delay or opposition
From this reading “If you are an impatient reader, skip to them at once.”
prevent from being included or considered or accepted
From this reading “In reading aloud, omit, if you please, the sixth and seventh verses.”
an expression in parentheses
From this reading “These are parenthetical and digressive, and, unless your audience is of superior intelligence, will confuse them.”
coming next after the sixth and just before the eighth in position
From this reading “In reading aloud, omit, if you please, the sixth and seventh verses.”
coming next after the fifth and just before the seventh in position
From this reading “In reading aloud, omit, if you please, the sixth and seventh verses.”
bypass
From this reading “If you are an impatient reader, skip to them at once.”
plural of “verse” — literature in metrical form
From this reading “You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.”
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.
using the voice; not silently
From this reading In reading aloud, omit, if you please, the sixth and seventh verses.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading If you are an impatient reader, skip to them at once.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading In reading aloud, omit, if you please, the sixth and seventh verses.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading If you are an impatient reader, skip to them at once.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
a gathering of spectators or listeners at a (usually public) performance
From this reading These are parenthetical and digressive, and, unless your audience is of superior intelligence, will confuse them.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading [Spring has come.
mistake one thing for another
From this reading These are parenthetical and digressive, and, unless your audience is of superior intelligence, will confuse them.
of superficial relevance if any
From this reading These are parenthetical and digressive, and, unless your audience is of superior intelligence, will confuse them.
a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading [Spring has come.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If you are an impatient reader, skip to them at once.
restless or short-tempered under delay or opposition
From this reading If you are an impatient reader, skip to them at once.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In reading aloud, omit, if you please, the sixth and seventh verses.
the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience
From this reading These are parenthetical and digressive, and, unless your audience is of superior intelligence, will confuse them.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading These are parenthetical and digressive, and, unless your audience is of superior intelligence, will confuse them.
plural of “note” — a brief written record
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
prevent from being included or considered or accepted
From this reading In reading aloud, omit, if you please, the sixth and seventh verses.
on one occasion
From this reading If you are an impatient reader, skip to them at once.
an expression in parentheses
From this reading These are parenthetical and digressive, and, unless your audience is of superior intelligence, will confuse them.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading In reading aloud, omit, if you please, the sixth and seventh verses.
a person who enjoys reading
From this reading If you are an impatient reader, skip to them at once.
the cognitive process of understanding a written linguistic message
From this reading In reading aloud, omit, if you please, the sixth and seventh verses.
coming next after the sixth and just before the eighth in position
From this reading In reading aloud, omit, if you please, the sixth and seventh verses.
coming next after the fifth and just before the seventh in position
From this reading In reading aloud, omit, if you please, the sixth and seventh verses.
bypass
From this reading If you are an impatient reader, skip to them at once.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
the season of growth
From this reading [Spring has come.
of high or superior quality or performance
From this reading These are parenthetical and digressive, and, unless your audience is of superior intelligence, will confuse them.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading If you are an impatient reader, skip to them at once.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
except if; if not
From this reading These are parenthetical and digressive, and, unless your audience is of superior intelligence, will confuse them.
plural of “verse” — literature in metrical form
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You will find some verses to that effect at the end of these notes.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading These are parenthetical and digressive, and, unless your audience is of superior intelligence, will confuse them.
Chapter 8 of The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes holds 254 sentences, grouped into 51 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 8 holds 254 sentences of The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, unabridged, divided into 51 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 254 sentences, grouped into 51 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 51 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 51 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 8 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 The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3599 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #751 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #751, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 299 minutes of reading across 720 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table 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 The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
