Chapter 4 of The frozen deep is here in full — 17 sentences across 4 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The frozen deep is here in full — 17 sentences across 4 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Good-by to England! Good-by to inhabited and civilized regions of the earth! Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores. The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes. The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.
Chapter 4 of The frozen deep is here in full — 17 sentences across 4 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/3 · 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.
the regions to the north of the Arctic Circle centered on the North Pole
From this reading “The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.”
tending to float on a liquid or rise in air or gas
From this reading “The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.”
past form of “entomb” — place in a grave or tomb
From this reading “The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.”
having inhabitants; lived in
From this reading “Good-by to inhabited and civilized regions of the earth!”
having a pair of equal and opposite charges
From this reading “The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.”
plural of “voyager” — a traveler to a distant land (especially one who travels by sea)
From this reading “Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores.”
someone who leads a wandering unsettled life
plural of “waste” — any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted
From this reading “The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Good-by to inhabited and civilized regions of the earth!
the regions to the north of the Arctic Circle centered on the North Pole
From this reading The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.
tending to float on a liquid or rise in air or gas
From this reading The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.
having a high state of culture and development both social and technological
From this reading Good-by to inhabited and civilized regions of the earth!
the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading Good-by to inhabited and civilized regions of the earth!
a division of the United Kingdom
From this reading Good-by to England!
a purposeful or industrious undertaking (especially one that requires effort or boldness)
From this reading The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.
past form of “entomb” — place in a grave or tomb
From this reading The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.
a military campaign designed to achieve a specific objective in a foreign country
From this reading The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.
past form of “fail” — fail to do something; leave something undone
From this reading The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.
a farewell remark
From this reading Good-by to England!
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores.
water frozen in the solid state
From this reading The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.
having inhabitants; lived in
From this reading Good-by to inhabited and civilized regions of the earth!
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.
no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered
From this reading The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.
characteristic of or existing by virtue of geographic origin
From this reading Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Good-by to inhabited and civilized regions of the earth!
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores.
having a pair of equal and opposite charges
From this reading The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.
plural of “region” — the extended spatial location of something
From this reading Good-by to inhabited and civilized regions of the earth!
sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.
past form of “sail” — traverse or travel on (a body of water)
From this reading Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.
plural of “ship” — a vessel that carries passengers or freight
From this reading The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.
plural of “shore” — the land along the edge of a body of water
From this reading Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Good-by to inhabited and civilized regions of the earth!
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Good-by to England!
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores.
plural of “voyager” — a traveler to a distant land (especially one who travels by sea)
From this reading Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores.
someone who leads a wandering unsettled life
From this reading The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.
plural of “waste” — any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted
From this reading The enterprise has failed--the Arctic expedition is lost and ice-locked in the Polar wastes.
United States actress and singer (1896-1977)
From this reading The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading The good ships _Wanderer_ and _Sea-mew_, entombed in ice, will never ride the buoyant waters more.
a late time of life
From this reading Two years have passed since the voyagers sailed from their native shores.
Chapter 4 of The frozen deep by Wilkie Collins holds 17 sentences, grouped into 4 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 4 holds 17 sentences of The frozen deep, unabridged, divided into 4 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The frozen deep by Wilkie Collins exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 17 sentences, grouped into 4 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 4 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 4 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 frozen deep by Wilkie Collins on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2323 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1625 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1625, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 193 minutes of reading across 465 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The frozen deep section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of The frozen deep 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 frozen deep, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
