Chapter 4 of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2 is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2 is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CONCHUBAR. A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories. They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind. They have gone to school to learn the trick of it. CUCHULAIN.
Chapter 4 of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2 is here in full — 406 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly
From this reading “A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.”
throw forcefully
From this reading “They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.”
impossible or nearly impossible to see; imperceptible by the eye
From this reading “They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.”
the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading “A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.”
Recollections of past events.
From this reading “A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.”
plural of “spell” — a psychological state induced by (or as if induced by) a magical incantation
From this reading “They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.”
a cunning or deceitful action or device
From this reading “They have gone to school to learn the trick of it.”
a female sorcerer or magician
From this reading “A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.”
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.
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 A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CONCHUBAR.
be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly
From this reading A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CUCHULAIN.
destroyed or killed
From this reading They have gone to school to learn the trick of it.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading They have gone to school to learn the trick of it.
throw forcefully
From this reading They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.
impossible or nearly impossible to see; imperceptible by the eye
From this reading They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading They have gone to school to learn the trick of it.
the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.
gain knowledge or skills
From this reading They have gone to school to learn the trick of it.
engage in
From this reading A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.
Recollections of past events.
From this reading A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.
move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.
an educational institution
From this reading They have gone to school to learn the trick of it.
plural of “spell” — a psychological state induced by (or as if induced by) a magical incantation
From this reading They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They have gone to school to learn the trick of it.
a cunning or deceitful action or device
From this reading They have gone to school to learn the trick of it.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading They run upon the wind and hurl the spells That make us nothing, out of the invisible wind.
a female sorcerer or magician
From this reading A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.
in the company of; together with
From this reading A witch of the air Can make a leaf confound us with memories.
Chapter 4 of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2 by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats holds 406 sentences, grouped into 82 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 4 holds 406 sentences of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2 by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 406 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 4 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 Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2 by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3229 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #49609 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #49609, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 269 minutes of reading across 646 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2 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 Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
