Chapter 15 of The Old Church Clock is here in full — 113 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of The Old Church Clock is here in full — 113 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament. I saw her, upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
Chapter 15 of The Old Church Clock is here in full — 113 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/22 · 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.
a ghostly appearing figure
From this reading “SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.”
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading “SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.”
past form of “gleam” — be shiny, as if wet
From this reading “SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.”
appealing to the emotions as well as the eye
From this reading “SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.”
possessive form of “moment” — a particular point in time
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading “I saw her, upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too!”
make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.
From this reading “SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.”
A ghost or apparition; a figment of the imagination or a hidden dweller.
From this reading “SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.”
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.
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 SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
a ghostly appearing figure
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
past form of “gleam” — be shiny, as if wet
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading I saw her, upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I saw her, upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
appealing to the emotions as well as the eye
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
possessive form of “moment” — a particular point in time
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading I saw her, upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
A ghost or apparition; a figment of the imagination or a hidden dweller.
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
cut with a saw
From this reading I saw her, upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
100 senti equal 1 kroon in Estonia
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
the vital principle or animating force within living things
From this reading I saw her, upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading I saw her, upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
a formal word for “on”
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
a way of regarding situations or topics etc.
From this reading I saw her, upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
at the time that
From this reading SHE was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading I saw her, upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
but in spite of that
From this reading I saw her, upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
Chapter 15 of The Old Church Clock by Richard Parkinson holds 113 sentences, grouped into 23 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 15 holds 113 sentences of The Old Church Clock, unabridged, divided into 23 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of The Old Church Clock by Richard Parkinson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 113 sentences, grouped into 23 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 23 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 23 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 15 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 Old Church Clock by Richard Parkinson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1469 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #61587 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #61587, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 122 minutes of reading across 294 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Old Church Clock section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of The Old Church Clock 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 Old Church Clock, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
