Chapter 2 of The House of Dust: A Symphony is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The House of Dust: A Symphony is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
I. The round red sun heaves darkly out of the sea. The walls and towers are warmed and gleam. Sounds go drowsily up from streets and wharves. The city stirs like one that is half in dream.
Chapter 2 of The House of Dust: A Symphony is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
without light
From this reading “The round red sun heaves darkly out of the sea.”
be shiny, as if wet
From this reading “The walls and towers are warmed and gleam.”
a chronic emphysema of the horse that causes difficult expiration and heaving of the flanks
From this reading “The round red sun heaves darkly out of the sea.”
plural of “sound” — the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading “Sounds go drowsily up from streets and wharves.”
plural of “stir” — a prominent or sensational but short-lived news event
From this reading “The city stirs like one that is half in dream.”
plural of “street” — a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading “Sounds go drowsily up from streets and wharves.”
plural of “tower” — a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building
From this reading “The walls and towers are warmed and gleam.”
having been warmed up
From this reading “The walls and towers are warmed and gleam.”
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 The walls and towers are warmed and gleam.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The walls and towers are warmed and gleam.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading The city stirs like one that is half in dream.
without light
From this reading The round red sun heaves darkly out of the sea.
A series of thoughts, images, or emotions during sleep.
From this reading The city stirs like one that is half in dream.
in a drowsy manner
From this reading Sounds go drowsily up from streets and wharves.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Sounds go drowsily up from streets and wharves.
be shiny, as if wet
From this reading The walls and towers are warmed and gleam.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Sounds go drowsily up from streets and wharves.
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading The city stirs like one that is half in dream.
a chronic emphysema of the horse that causes difficult expiration and heaving of the flanks
From this reading The round red sun heaves darkly out of the sea.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The city stirs like one that is half in dream.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The city stirs like one that is half in dream.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading The city stirs like one that is half in dream.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The round red sun heaves darkly out of the sea.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The city stirs like one that is half in dream.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading The round red sun heaves darkly out of the sea.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading The round red sun heaves darkly out of the sea.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading The round red sun heaves darkly out of the sea.
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading The round red sun heaves darkly out of the sea.
plural of “sound” — the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading Sounds go drowsily up from streets and wharves.
plural of “stir” — a prominent or sensational but short-lived news event
From this reading The city stirs like one that is half in dream.
plural of “street” — a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading Sounds go drowsily up from streets and wharves.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading The round red sun heaves darkly out of the sea.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The city stirs like one that is half in dream.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The round red sun heaves darkly out of the sea.
plural of “tower” — a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building
From this reading The walls and towers are warmed and gleam.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Sounds go drowsily up from streets and wharves.
plural of “wall” — an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading The walls and towers are warmed and gleam.
having been warmed up
From this reading The walls and towers are warmed and gleam.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sounds go drowsily up from streets and wharves.
Chapter 2 of The House of Dust: A Symphony by Conrad Aiken holds 425 sentences, grouped into 85 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 2 holds 425 sentences of The House of Dust: A Symphony, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The House of Dust: A Symphony by Conrad Aiken exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 425 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 2 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 House of Dust: A Symphony by Conrad Aiken on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2235 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1246 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1246, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 186 minutes of reading across 447 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The House of Dust: A Symphony section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of The House of Dust: A Symphony 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 House of Dust: A Symphony, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
