Chapter 1 of The Military Sketch-Book, Vol. 2 (of 2) is here in full — 434 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Military Sketch-Book, Vol. 2 (of 2) is here in full — 434 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MILITARY SKETCH-BOOK. ABROAD AND AT HOME. BY AN OFFICER OF THE LINE. “The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.” IN TWO VOLUMES.
Chapter 1 of The Military Sketch-Book, Vol. 2 (of 2) is here in full — 434 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/86 · 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.
to or in a foreign country
From this reading “ABROAD AND AT HOME.”
bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer
From this reading ““The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.””
a feeling of thoughtful sadness
From this reading ““The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.””
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading ““The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.””
of or relating to the study of the principles of warfare
From this reading “MILITARY SKETCH-BOOK.”
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading ““The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.””
plural of “volume” — the amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object
From this reading “IN TWO VOLUMES.”
a human being; “wight” is an archaic term
From this reading ““The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.””
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 ““The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.””
a reception held in your own home
In this reading “ABROAD AND AT HOME.”
In this reading “IN TWO VOLUMES.”
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 “The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.”
to or in a foreign country
From this reading ABROAD AND AT HOME.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading BY AN OFFICER OF THE LINE.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading ABROAD AND AT HOME.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading ABROAD AND AT HOME.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading BY AN OFFICER OF THE LINE.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading “The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.”
a person who is in charge
From this reading “The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.”
a piece of land cleared of trees and usually enclosed
From this reading “The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.”
be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight
From this reading “The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.”
bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer
From this reading “The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.”
where you live at a particular time
From this reading ABROAD AND AT HOME.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading IN TWO VOLUMES.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading “The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.”
a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading BY AN OFFICER OF THE LINE.
a feeling of thoughtful sadness
From this reading “The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.”
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading “The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.”
of or relating to the study of the principles of warfare
From this reading MILITARY SKETCH-BOOK.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading BY AN OFFICER OF THE LINE.
any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command
From this reading BY AN OFFICER OF THE LINE.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MILITARY SKETCH-BOOK.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading “The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.”
express in words
From this reading “The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading BY AN OFFICER OF THE LINE.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading IN TWO VOLUMES.
plural of “volume” — the amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object
From this reading IN TWO VOLUMES.
a human being; “wight” is an archaic term
From this reading “The wight can tell A melancholy and a merry tale Of field, and fight, and chief, and lady gay.”
Chapter 1 of The Military Sketch-Book, Vol. 2 (of 2) by William Maginn holds 434 sentences, grouped into 87 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 434 sentences of The Military Sketch-Book, Vol. 2 (of 2), unabridged, divided into 87 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Military Sketch-Book, Vol. 2 (of 2) by William Maginn exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 434 sentences, grouped into 87 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 87 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 87 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 Military Sketch-Book, Vol. 2 (of 2) by William Maginn on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2197 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #57327 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #57327, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 183 minutes of reading across 440 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Military Sketch-Book, Vol. 2 (of 2) section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of The Military Sketch-Book, Vol. 2 (of 2) 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 Military Sketch-Book, Vol. 2 (of 2), each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
