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The Land of Desolation
The Land of Desolation

Chapter XIX

Chapter 19 of The Land of Desolation is here in full — 42 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

By I. I. (Isaac Israel) Hayes • Curated US English Learning Edition
Cover illustration for The Land of Desolation
Context Illustration Reading 1/8 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
THE GLACIER.
How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.
Imagine it!
The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.
How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.
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AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

The Land of Desolation

Chapter XIX

Chapter 19 of The Land of Desolation is here in full — 42 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/8 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
THE GLACIER.
/ðə ˈɡleɪʃər/
Line 2
How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.
Line 3
Imagine it!
/ˌɪˈmædʒən ɪt/
Line 4
The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.
Line 5
How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

Learner Dictionary

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.

corresponding adjective US /ˌkɔːrəˈspɑːndɪŋ/

accompanying

From this reading “The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
describe verb US /dɪˈskraɪb/

give a description of

From this reading “How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
fills noun US /fɪlz/

plural of “fill” — a quantity sufficient to satisfy

From this reading “The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
glacier noun US /ˈɡleɪʃər/

a slowly moving mass of ice

From this reading “THE GLACIER.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
hundreds noun US /ˈhʌndrədz/

plural of “hundred” — ten 10s

From this reading “How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
steadily adverb US /ˈstedəli/

at a steady rate or pace

From this reading “How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
steamed adjective US /stiːmd/

cooked in steam

From this reading “How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
width noun US /wɪdθ/

the extent of something from side to side

From this reading “The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.”

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1

Word partnerships in these lines

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.

describe the scene verb + article + noun counted as “describe … scene”

In this reading “How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.”

280 times in 426,211 chapters
thousand feet noun + noun counted as “thousand foot”

In this reading “How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.”

4,554 times in 426,211 chapters
two thousand noun + noun

In this reading “How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.”

10,148 times in 426,211 chapters
two miles noun + noun counted as “two mile”

In this reading “The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.”

9,400 times in 426,211 chapters
of course preposition + noun

as might be expected

In this reading “How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.”

307,822 times in 426,211 chapters
many places adjective + noun counted as “many place”

In this reading “How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.”

3,478 times in 426,211 chapters

All words in this reading · 50

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.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
asconjunctionUS /æz/

at the same time that; because; in the way that

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
beauxiliary verbUS /biː/

used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
beyondprepositionUS /bɪˈɑːnd/

on the far side of; further than

From this reading The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
butconjunctionUS /bʌt/

used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
canmodal verbUS /kæn/

to be able to, or to be allowed to

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
correspondingadjectiveUS /ˌkɔːrəˈspɑːndɪŋ/

accompanying

From this reading The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
coursenounUS /kɔːrs/

education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
describeverbUS /dɪˈskraɪb/

give a description of

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
everywhereadverbUS /ˈevriwer/

to or in any or all places

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
feetnounUS /fiːt/

plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
fillsnounUS /fɪlz/

plural of “fill” — a quantity sufficient to satisfy

From this reading The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
fiordnoun

a long narrow inlet of the sea between steep cliffs; common in Norway

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
fromprepositionUS /frʌm/

showing where something starts, or who sent it

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
GLACIERnounUS /ˈɡleɪʃər/

a slowly moving mass of ice

From this reading THE GLACIER.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
How

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

Pending verification
hundredsnounUS /ˈhʌndrədz/

plural of “hundred” — ten 10s

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
IpronounUS /aɪ/

the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
ImagineverbUS /ˌɪˈmædʒən/

form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case

From this reading Imagine it!

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
inprepositionUS /ɪn/

inside something, or within a place, period, or state

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
isauxiliary verbUS /ɪz/

the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
itpronounUS /ɪt/

a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned

From this reading Imagine it!

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
manyadjectiveUS /ˈmeni/

a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
milesnounUS /maɪlz/

plural of “mile” — a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters

From this reading The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
mustmodal verbUS /mʌst/

used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
notadverbUS /nɑːt/

used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
onepronounUS /wʌn/

used to mean any person in general, including the speaker

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
openedadjectiveUS /ˈoʊpənd/

used of mouth or eyes

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
perfectlyadverbUS /ˈpɜːrfəktli/

completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers

From this reading The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
placesnounUS /ˈpleɪsəz/

plural of “place” — a point located with respect to surface features of some region

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
probablyadverbUS /ˈprɑːbəbliː/

with considerable certainty; without much doubt

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
rapidlyadverbUS /ˈræpədli/

with speed

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
scenenounUS /siːn/

the place where some action occurs

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
shallmodal verbUS /ʃæl/

used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
steadilyadverbUS /ˈstedəli/

at a steady rate or pace

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
steamedadjectiveUS /stiːmd/

cooked in steam

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
THEdeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading THE GLACIER.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
thickadjectiveUS /θɪk/

not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
thousandnounUS /ˈθaʊzənd/

the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
toparticleUS /tuː/

used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
toldverbUS /toʊld/

inflected form of “tell” — express in words

From this reading How thick it is, of course, can not be told, but hundreds of feet it must be everywhere; it is probably from one to two thousand feet in many places.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
twonounUS /tuː/

the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number

From this reading The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
upadjectiveUS /ʌp/

being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
uspronounUS /ʌs/

the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
valleynounUS /ˈvæli/

a long depression in the surface of the land that usually contains a river

From this reading The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
wepronounUS /wiː/

the speaker together with one or more other people

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
whichpronounUS /wɪtʃ/

used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned

From this reading How shall I describe the scene which steadily opened to us as we steamed rapidly up the fiord.

Velmora grammar entry · CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
wideadjectiveUS /waɪd/

having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other

From this reading The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1
widthnounUS /wɪdθ/

the extent of something from side to side

From this reading The fiord is two miles wide; the valley beyond is of corresponding width, and the glacier fills it perfectly.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1

Chapter 19 of The Land of Desolation by I. I. (Isaac Israel) Hayes holds 42 sentences, grouped into 9 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.

What does chapter 19 of The Land of Desolation contain?

Chapter 19 holds 42 sentences of The Land of Desolation, unabridged, divided into 9 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 19 of The Land of Desolation by I. I. (Isaac Israel) Hayes exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 42 sentences, grouped into 9 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.

How do I study chapter 19 of The Land of Desolation?

Work through the 9 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 9 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.

Can chapter 19 be read aloud to me?

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.

Questions about reading The Land of Desolation

Common questions about reading The Land of Desolation by I. I. (Isaac Israel) Hayes on this page, its source edition and its audio.

Is this the complete text of The Land of Desolation?

Yes. All 3145 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #59217 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

Which edition of The Land of Desolation is used?

Project Gutenberg eBook #59217, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

How long does The Land of Desolation take to read?

About 262 minutes of reading across 629 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

How to read The Land of Desolation section by section

How to work through The Land of Desolation section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.

  1. Open a chapter

    Choose one of the 39 chapters of The Land of Desolation to begin.

  2. Read one section

    Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.

  3. Listen and tap

    Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.

Vocabulary met early in The Land of Desolation

Words and structures a reader meets early in The Land of Desolation, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

Being
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Land of Desolation; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Personal
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Land of Desolation; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Narrative
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Land of Desolation; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Observation
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Land of Desolation; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.