Chapter 1 of The Golden Legend is here in full — 369 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Golden Legend is here in full — 369 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
PROLOGUE. THE SPIRE OF STRASBURG CATHEDRAL. _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten! O ye spirits! From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
Chapter 1 of The Golden Legend is here in full — 369 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/73 · 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.
any large and important church
From this reading “THE SPIRE OF STRASBURG CATHEDRAL.”
act or move at high speed
From this reading “_Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!”
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading “_Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!”
treat with contempt
From this reading “From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!”
slow and laborious because of weight
From this reading “From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!”
an introduction to a play
From this reading “PROLOGUE.”
a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building (usually a church or temple) and that tapers to a point at the top
From this reading “THE SPIRE OF STRASBURG CATHEDRAL.”
exalted emotionally especially with pride
From this reading “From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!”
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.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!
any large and important church
From this reading THE SPIRE OF STRASBURG CATHEDRAL.
travel across or pass over
From this reading _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!
pull, as against a resistance
From this reading From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
act or move at high speed
From this reading _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!
greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
a heavy ductile magnetic metallic element; is silver-white in pure form but readily rusts; used in construction and tools and armament; plays a role in the transport of oxygen by the blood
From this reading From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!
treat with contempt
From this reading From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!
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 ye spirits!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE SPIRE OF STRASBURG CATHEDRAL.
slow and laborious because of weight
From this reading From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
plural of “power” — possession of controlling influence
From this reading _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!
an introduction to a play
From this reading PROLOGUE.
a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building (usually a church or temple) and that tapers to a point at the top
From this reading THE SPIRE OF STRASBURG CATHEDRAL.
an alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented
From this reading O ye spirits!
a facility equipped with special equipment and personnel for a particular purpose
From this reading From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
behave violently, as if in state of a great anger
From this reading _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE SPIRE OF STRASBURG CATHEDRAL.
separate or cause to separate abruptly
From this reading _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE SPIRE OF STRASBURG CATHEDRAL.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!
hard to endure
From this reading _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!
exalted emotionally especially with pride
From this reading From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading From its station drag the ponderous Cross of iron, that to mock us Is uplifted high in air!
in the company of; together with
From this reading _Night and storm._ LUCIFER, _with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross._ _Lucifer._ HASTEN! hasten!
an old word for “you”, speaking to more than one person
From this reading O ye spirits!
Chapter 1 of The Golden Legend by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow holds 369 sentences, grouped into 74 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 369 sentences of The Golden Legend, unabridged, divided into 74 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Golden Legend by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 369 sentences, grouped into 74 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 74 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 74 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 Golden Legend by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1771 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #10490 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #10490, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 147 minutes of reading across 355 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Golden Legend section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of The Golden Legend 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 Golden Legend, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
