Chapter 1 of The Black Riders, and Other Lines is here in full — 336 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Black Riders, and Other Lines is here in full — 336 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Black Riders came from the sea. There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin. Three little birds in a row Sat musing. A man passed near that place. Then did the little birds nudge each other.
Chapter 1 of The Black Riders, and Other Lines is here in full — 336 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/67 · 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.
a loud resonant repeating noise
From this reading “There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.”
A violent confrontation or disagreement between opposing forces or factions.
From this reading “There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.”
the bottom of a shoe or boot; the back part of a shoe or boot that touches the ground and provides elevation
From this reading “There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.”
the foot of an ungulate mammal
From this reading “There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.”
a calm, lengthy, intent consideration
From this reading “Three little birds in a row Sat musing.”
to push against gently
From this reading “Then did the little birds nudge each other.”
plural of “rider” — a traveler who actively rides an animal (as a horse or camel)
From this reading “Black Riders came from the sea.”
a long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon
From this reading “There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.”
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 “Three little birds in a row Sat musing.”
In this reading “Three little birds in a row Sat musing.”
In this reading “Black Riders came from the sea.”
In this reading “Black Riders came from the sea.”
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 before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Three little birds in a row Sat musing.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading Three little birds in a row Sat musing.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading Black Riders came from the sea.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Black Riders came from the sea.
a loud resonant repeating noise
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
A violent confrontation or disagreement between opposing forces or factions.
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Then did the little birds nudge each other.
every one of two or more people or things, taken separately
From this reading Then did the little birds nudge each other.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Black Riders came from the sea.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
the bottom of a shoe or boot; the back part of a shoe or boot that touches the ground and provides elevation
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
the foot of an ungulate mammal
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Three little birds in a row Sat musing.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading A man passed near that place.
a calm, lengthy, intent consideration
From this reading Three little birds in a row Sat musing.
near in time or place or relationship
From this reading A man passed near that place.
to push against gently
From this reading Then did the little birds nudge each other.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading Then did the little birds nudge each other.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading A man passed near that place.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading A man passed near that place.
sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
plural of “rider” — a traveler who actively rides an animal (as a horse or camel)
From this reading Black Riders came from the sea.
an arrangement of objects or people side by side in a line
From this reading Three little birds in a row Sat musing.
move hurridly
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Three little birds in a row Sat musing.
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading Black Riders came from the sea.
a protective covering or structure
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
plural of “shout” — a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
estrangement from god
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
a long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading A man passed near that place.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Black Riders came from the sea.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then did the little birds nudge each other.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading Three little birds in a row Sat musing.
(used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
marked by extreme lack of restraint or control
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading There was clang and clang of spear and shield, And clash and clash of hoof and heel, Wild shouts and the wave of hair In the rush upon the wind: Thus the ride of Sin.
Chapter 1 of The Black Riders, and Other Lines by Stephen Crane holds 336 sentences, grouped into 68 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 1 holds 336 sentences of The Black Riders, and Other Lines, unabridged, divided into 68 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Black Riders, and Other Lines by Stephen Crane exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 336 sentences, grouped into 68 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 68 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 68 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 1 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 Black Riders, and Other Lines by Stephen Crane on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 336 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40786 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40786, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 28 minutes of reading across 68 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Black Riders, and Other Lines section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of The Black Riders, and Other Lines 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 Black Riders, and Other Lines, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
