Chapter 1 of The Eternal Feminine is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Eternal Feminine is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It’s the only way to learn. Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself! The teacher just stood and looked at me. He said I had Fate-sealing eyes. Why, you’re looking at my eyes just the way he did!
Chapter 1 of The Eternal Feminine is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 16/85 · 5 reading units · Lines 76–80
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 old form of “are”, used with “thou”
From this reading “Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!”
gain knowledge or skills
From this reading “It’s the only way to learn.”
plural of “lesson” — a unit of instruction
From this reading “Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!”
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading “Why, you’re looking at my eyes just the way he did!”
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading “Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!”
a cushion to support the head of a sleeping person
From this reading “Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!”
an upholstered seat for more than one person
From this reading “Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!”
a person whose occupation is teaching
From this reading “The teacher just stood and looked at me.”
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.
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “The teacher just stood and looked at me.”
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 Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The teacher just stood and looked at me.
an old form of “are”, used with “thou”
From this reading Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The teacher just stood and looked at me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Why, you’re looking at my eyes just the way he did!
opinion or judgment
From this reading He said I had Fate-sealing eyes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He said I had Fate-sealing eyes.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He said I had Fate-sealing eyes.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He said I had Fate-sealing eyes.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It’s the only way to learn.
and nothing more
From this reading The teacher just stood and looked at me.
gain knowledge or skills
From this reading It’s the only way to learn.
plural of “lesson” — a unit of instruction
From this reading Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The teacher just stood and looked at me.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading Why, you’re looking at my eyes just the way he did!
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The teacher just stood and looked at me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Why, you’re looking at my eyes just the way he did!
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!
and nothing more
From this reading It’s the only way to learn.
a cushion to support the head of a sleeping person
From this reading Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading He said I had Fate-sealing eyes.
an upholstered seat for more than one person
From this reading Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading The teacher just stood and looked at me.
a person whose occupation is teaching
From this reading The teacher just stood and looked at me.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It’s the only way to learn.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It’s the only way to learn.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading It’s the only way to learn.
at the time that
From this reading Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why, when I took Art lessons, I made a burnt-wood sofa pillow all myself!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Why, you’re looking at my eyes just the way he did!
Chapter 1 of The Eternal Feminine by Carolyn Wells holds 429 sentences, grouped into 86 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 429 sentences of The Eternal Feminine, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Eternal Feminine by Carolyn Wells exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 429 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 Eternal Feminine by Carolyn Wells on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1271 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #47598 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #47598, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 105 minutes of reading across 255 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Eternal Feminine section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of The Eternal Feminine 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 Eternal Feminine, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
