Chapter 17 of The Secret Places of the Heart is here in full — 215 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Secret Places of the Heart is here in full — 215 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Love was music and power. If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife. Love would have created love, would have tolerated and taught and inspired. Where there is perfect love there is neither greed nor impatience. He would have done his work calmly.
Chapter 17 of The Secret Places of the Heart is here in full — 215 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/43 · 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.
with self-possession (especially in times of stress)
From this reading “He would have done his work calmly.”
past form of “create” — make or cause to be or to become
From this reading “Love would have created love, would have tolerated and taught and inspired.”
past form of “drift” — be in motion due to some air or water current
From this reading “If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.”
excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves
From this reading “Where there is perfect love there is neither greed nor impatience.”
a lack of patience; irritation with anything that causes delay
From this reading “Where there is perfect love there is neither greed nor impatience.”
being of such surpassing excellence as to suggest inspiration by the gods
From this reading “Love would have created love, would have tolerated and taught and inspired.”
inflected form of “teach” — impart skills or knowledge to
From this reading “Love would have created love, would have tolerated and taught and inspired.”
past form of “tolerate” — put up with something or somebody unpleasant
From this reading “Love would have created love, would have tolerated and taught and inspired.”
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 Love was music and power.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.
with self-possession (especially in times of stress)
From this reading He would have done his work calmly.
past form of “create” — make or cause to be or to become
From this reading Love would have created love, would have tolerated and taught and inspired.
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading He would have done his work calmly.
past form of “drift” — be in motion due to some air or water current
From this reading If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.
excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves
From this reading Where there is perfect love there is neither greed nor impatience.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.
a lack of patience; irritation with anything that causes delay
From this reading Where there is perfect love there is neither greed nor impatience.
being of such surpassing excellence as to suggest inspiration by the gods
From this reading Love would have created love, would have tolerated and taught and inspired.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Where there is perfect love there is neither greed nor impatience.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading Love was music and power.
held dear
From this reading If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading Love was music and power.
a condition requiring relief
From this reading If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.
not one and not the other of two
From this reading Where there is perfect love there is neither greed nor impatience.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.
and not; used after a negative to add a second negative
From this reading Where there is perfect love there is neither greed nor impatience.
being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish
From this reading Where there is perfect love there is neither greed nor impatience.
possession of controlling influence
From this reading Love was music and power.
inflected form of “teach” — impart skills or knowledge to
From this reading Love would have created love, would have tolerated and taught and inspired.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Where there is perfect love there is neither greed nor impatience.
past form of “tolerate” — put up with something or somebody unpleasant
From this reading Love would have created love, would have tolerated and taught and inspired.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Love was music and power.
in or at the place that
From this reading Where there is perfect love there is neither greed nor impatience.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading If he had loved enough he need never have drifted away from his wife.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading He would have done his work calmly.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Love would have created love, would have tolerated and taught and inspired.
Chapter 17 of The Secret Places of the Heart by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells holds 215 sentences, grouped into 43 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 17 holds 215 sentences of The Secret Places of the Heart, unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Secret Places of the Heart by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 215 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 17 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 Secret Places of the Heart by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4621 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1734 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1734, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 385 minutes of reading across 925 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Secret Places of the Heart section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 21 chapters of The Secret Places of the Heart 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 Secret Places of the Heart, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
