Chapter 3 of The Heart's Country is here in full — 57 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Heart's Country is here in full — 57 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The heart of man is mysterious. Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't. It was fatal to Alec. I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha! Ya ha!
Chapter 3 of The Heart's Country is here in full — 57 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/11 · 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.
highly attractive and able to arouse hope or desire
From this reading “Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.”
communicated in words
From this reading “Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.”
bringing death
From this reading “It was fatal to Alec.”
enclose with a fence
From this reading “I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!”
the act of participating in an athletic competition in which you must jump
From this reading “I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!”
with passion
From this reading “Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.”
encouragement in the form of cheers from spectators
From this reading “I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!”
expel or eject (saliva or phlegm or sputum) from the mouth
From this reading “Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.”
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 “Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.”
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 a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was fatal to Alec.
highly attractive and able to arouse hope or desire
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!
communicated in words
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
bringing death
From this reading It was fatal to Alec.
enclose with a fence
From this reading I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!
the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
(astronomy) the angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing; the right ascension for an observer at a particular location and time of day
From this reading I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading The heart of man is mysterious.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The heart of man is mysterious.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was fatal to Alec.
the act of participating in an athletic competition in which you must jump
From this reading I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!
plural of “know” — the fact of being aware of information that is known to few people
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The heart of man is mysterious.
of an obscure nature
From this reading The heart of man is mysterious.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The heart of man is mysterious.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
relating to or being on or near the outer side or limit
From this reading I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!
with passion
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
encouragement in the form of cheers from spectators
From this reading I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!
expel or eject (saliva or phlegm or sputum) from the mouth
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The heart of man is mysterious.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was fatal to Alec.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why a passionately expressed desire to spit upon one should be alluring, God knows--I don't.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I see him now jumping up and down outside the fence, shouting forth: "Ya ha!
Chapter 3 of The Heart's Country by Mary Heaton Vorse holds 57 sentences, grouped into 12 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 3 holds 57 sentences of The Heart's Country, unabridged, divided into 12 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Heart's Country by Mary Heaton Vorse exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 57 sentences, grouped into 12 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 12 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 12 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 3 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 Heart's Country by Mary Heaton Vorse on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2528 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36919 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36919, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 210 minutes of reading across 506 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Heart's Country section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of The Heart's Country 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 Heart's Country, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
