Chapter 12 of The Dynasts is here in full — 372 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Dynasts is here in full — 372 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now. FRANCIS [gloomily] Yes: I have seen the signs for some good while. But he retreats with blows, and orderly. [Time passes, till the sun has rounded far towards the west. The features of the battle now materially change.
Chapter 12 of The Dynasts is here in full — 372 sentences across 75 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/74 · 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.
an officer who acts as military assistant to a more senior officer
From this reading “FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.”
a sovereign prince of the former ruling house of Austria
From this reading “FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.”
with gloom
From this reading “FRANCIS [gloomily] Yes: I have seen the signs for some good while.”
with respect to material aspects
From this reading “The features of the battle now materially change.”
a soldier who serves as an attendant to a superior officer
From this reading “But he retreats with blows, and orderly.”
plural of “retreat” — (military) withdrawal of troops to a more favorable position to escape the enemy's superior forces or after a defeat
From this reading “FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.”
curving and somewhat round in shape rather than jagged
From this reading “[Time passes, till the sun has rounded far towards the west.”
plural of “wear” — impairment resulting from long use
From this reading “FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.”
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 FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
an officer who acts as military assistant to a more senior officer
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
a sovereign prince of the former ruling house of Austria
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading The features of the battle now materially change.
plural of “blow” — a powerful stroke with the fist or a weapon
From this reading But he retreats with blows, and orderly.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But he retreats with blows, and orderly.
cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
From this reading The features of the battle now materially change.
King of France from 1560 to 1574 whose reign was dominated by his mother Catherine de Medicis (1550-1574)
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
soiled or likely to soil with dirt or grime
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading [Time passes, till the sun has rounded far towards the west.
plural of “feature” — a prominent attribute or aspect of something
From this reading The features of the battle now materially change.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading FRANCIS [gloomily] Yes: I have seen the signs for some good while.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading FRANCIS [gloomily] Yes: I have seen the signs for some good while.
with gloom
From this reading FRANCIS [gloomily] Yes: I have seen the signs for some good while.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading FRANCIS [gloomily] Yes: I have seen the signs for some good while.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading [Time passes, till the sun has rounded far towards the west.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading FRANCIS [gloomily] Yes: I have seen the signs for some good while.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading But he retreats with blows, and orderly.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading FRANCIS [gloomily] Yes: I have seen the signs for some good while.
prepare and issue for public distribution or sale
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
and nothing more
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
impressiveness in scale or proportion
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
with respect to material aspects
From this reading The features of the battle now materially change.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The features of the battle now materially change.
a soldier who serves as an attendant to a superior officer
From this reading But he retreats with blows, and orderly.
plural of “pass” — (baseball) an advance to first base by a batter who receives four balls
From this reading [Time passes, till the sun has rounded far towards the west.
plural of “retreat” — (military) withdrawal of troops to a more favorable position to escape the enemy's superior forces or after a defeat
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
curving and somewhat round in shape rather than jagged
From this reading [Time passes, till the sun has rounded far towards the west.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading FRANCIS [gloomily] Yes: I have seen the signs for some good while.
plural of “sign” — a perceptible indication of something not immediately apparent (as a visible clue that something has happened)
From this reading FRANCIS [gloomily] Yes: I have seen the signs for some good while.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading FRANCIS [gloomily] Yes: I have seen the signs for some good while.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading [Time passes, till the sun has rounded far towards the west.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
up to a particular time
From this reading [Time passes, till the sun has rounded far towards the west.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading [Time passes, till the sun has rounded far towards the west.
in the direction of
From this reading [Time passes, till the sun has rounded far towards the west.
plural of “wear” — impairment resulting from long use
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
the countries of (originally) Europe and (now including) North America and South America
From this reading [Time passes, till the sun has rounded far towards the west.
during the time that
From this reading FRANCIS [gloomily] Yes: I have seen the signs for some good while.
in the company of; together with
From this reading But he retreats with blows, and orderly.
an affirmative
From this reading FRANCIS [gloomily] Yes: I have seen the signs for some good while.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading FIRST AIDE The Archduke Charles retreats, your majesty; And the issue wears a dirty look just now.
Chapter 12 of The Dynasts by Thomas Hardy holds 372 sentences, grouped into 75 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 12 holds 372 sentences of The Dynasts, unabridged, divided into 75 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Dynasts by Thomas Hardy exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 372 sentences, grouped into 75 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 75 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 75 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 12 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 Dynasts by Thomas Hardy on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9483 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4043 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4043, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1897 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Dynasts section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of The Dynasts 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 Dynasts, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
