Chapter 6 of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2 is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2 is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
NAISI. And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me? O, my eagle! Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above? DEIRDRE.
Chapter 6 of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2 is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading “Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?”
any of various large keen-sighted diurnal birds of prey noted for their broad wings and strong soaring flight
From this reading “O, my eagle!”
not solid; having a space or gap or cavity
From this reading “Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?”
possessive form of “night” — the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
the property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold)
From this reading “And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?”
a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading “Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?”
characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
From this reading “Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?”
a means of flight or ascent
From this reading “Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?”
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 “Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?”
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 And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
higher than, or over, something
From this reading Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?
put or send forth
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DEIRDRE.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
any of various large keen-sighted diurnal birds of prey noted for their broad wings and strong soaring flight
From this reading O, my eagle!
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
acknowledged as a supposition
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
not solid; having a space or gap or cavity
From this reading Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading O, my eagle!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading NAISI.
possessive form of “night” — the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
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 O, my eagle!
the property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold)
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?
characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
From this reading Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
at the time that
From this reading Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?
a means of flight or ascent
From this reading Why do you beat vain wings upon the rock When hollow night’s above?
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading And do you think That, were I given life at such a price, I would not cast it from me?
Chapter 6 of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2 by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats holds 399 sentences, grouped into 80 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 6 holds 399 sentences of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William — Vol. 2, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 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 399 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 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.
