Chapter 19 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 93 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIX
Chapter 19 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 93 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it. Once I fell in the mireage up to my waist. My, they was mad at me. "Can't tramp a meadow without falling in the mireage?" they said. I miss it often.
Chapter 19 of The Great American Novel is here in full — 93 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/18 · 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.
decreasing in amount or degree
From this reading “"Can't tramp a meadow without falling in the mireage?" they said.”
roused to anger
From this reading “My, they was mad at me.”
a field where grass or alfalfa are grown to be made into hay
From this reading “Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.”
a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young
From this reading “Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.”
cause to go somewhere
From this reading “Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.”
a vagrant
From this reading “"Can't tramp a meadow without falling in the mireage?" they said.”
large gallinaceous bird with fan-shaped tail; widely domesticated for food
From this reading “Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.”
the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips
From this reading “Once I fell in the mireage up to my waist.”
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 “Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.”
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 Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading My, they was mad at me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Can't tramp a meadow without falling in the mireage?" they said.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
decreasing in amount or degree
From this reading "Can't tramp a meadow without falling in the mireage?" they said.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading Once I fell in the mireage up to my waist.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Once I fell in the mireage up to my waist.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
roused to anger
From this reading My, they was mad at me.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
a field where grass or alfalfa are grown to be made into hay
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
the force of workers available
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Once I fell in the mireage up to my waist.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading I miss it often.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Once I fell in the mireage up to my waist.
a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
many times at short intervals
From this reading I miss it often.
on one occasion
From this reading Once I fell in the mireage up to my waist.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Can't tramp a meadow without falling in the mireage?" they said.
express in words
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
cause to go somewhere
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
on certain occasions or in certain cases but not always
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading My, they was mad at me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
a vagrant
From this reading "Can't tramp a meadow without falling in the mireage?" they said.
large gallinaceous bird with fan-shaped tail; widely domesticated for food
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Once I fell in the mireage up to my waist.
the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips
From this reading Once I fell in the mireage up to my waist.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading "Can't tramp a meadow without falling in the mireage?" they said.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Sometimes the men would come in and say there was a turkey nest down in the meadow and they'd send me to look for it.
Chapter 19 of The Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams holds 93 sentences, grouped into 19 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 19 holds 93 sentences of The Great American Novel, unabridged, divided into 19 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 19 of The Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 93 sentences, grouped into 19 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 19 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 19 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 19 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 Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1885 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #63888 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #63888, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 157 minutes of reading across 377 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Great American Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Great American Novel 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 Great American Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
