Chapter 1 of The Silent Shore: A Romance is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Silent Shore: A Romance is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar." "And you are certain of the year he was married in?" "Perfectly--there is no possibility of my being mistaken. He was married on New Year's Day, '58; I was born in May, '59." "It is strange, certainly.
Chapter 1 of The Silent Shore: A Romance is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/29 · 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.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading “"To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."”
plural of “billow” — a large sea wave
From this reading “"To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."”
brought into existence
From this reading “He was married on New Year's Day, '58; I was born in May, '59."”
an intermediate platform in a staircase
From this reading “"To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."”
wrong in e.g. opinion or judgment
From this reading “"Perfectly--there is no possibility of my being mistaken.”
a future prospect or potential
From this reading “"Perfectly--there is no possibility of my being mistaken.”
make a loud noise, as of wind, water, or vehicles
From this reading “"To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."”
possessive form of “year” — a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading “He was married on New Year's Day, '58; I was born in May, '59."”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He was married on New Year's Day, '58; I was born in May, '59."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He was married on New Year's Day, '58; I was born in May, '59."
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "And you are certain of the year he was married in?"
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "And you are certain of the year he was married in?"
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading "Perfectly--there is no possibility of my being mistaken.
plural of “billow” — a large sea wave
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
brought into existence
From this reading He was married on New Year's Day, '58; I was born in May, '59."
definite but not specified or identified
From this reading "And you are certain of the year he was married in?"
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading "It is strange, certainly.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading He was married on New Year's Day, '58; I was born in May, '59."
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "And you are certain of the year he was married in?"
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading He was married on New Year's Day, '58; I was born in May, '59."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "And you are certain of the year he was married in?"
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "It is strange, certainly.
an intermediate platform in a staircase
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
joined in matrimony
From this reading "And you are certain of the year he was married in?"
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading He was married on New Year's Day, '58; I was born in May, '59."
wrong in e.g. opinion or judgment
From this reading "Perfectly--there is no possibility of my being mistaken.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "Perfectly--there is no possibility of my being mistaken.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading He was married on New Year's Day, '58; I was born in May, '59."
not any; not one
From this reading "Perfectly--there is no possibility of my being mistaken.
and not; used after a negative to add a second negative
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "And you are certain of the year he was married in?"
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading "Perfectly--there is no possibility of my being mistaken.
a future prospect or potential
From this reading "Perfectly--there is no possibility of my being mistaken.
make a loud noise, as of wind, water, or vehicles
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
the land along the edge of a body of water
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
marked by absence of sound
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading "It is strange, certainly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "And you are certain of the year he was married in?"
in or at that place or location
From this reading "Perfectly--there is no possibility of my being mistaken.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "And you are certain of the year he was married in?"
in or at the place that
From this reading "To die is landing on a silent shore, Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar."
a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading "And you are certain of the year he was married in?"
possessive form of “year” — a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading He was married on New Year's Day, '58; I was born in May, '59."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "And you are certain of the year he was married in?"
Chapter 1 of The Silent Shore: A Romance by John Bloundelle-Burton holds 147 sentences, grouped into 30 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 147 sentences of The Silent Shore: A Romance, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Silent Shore: A Romance by John Bloundelle-Burton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 147 sentences, grouped into 30 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 30 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 30 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 Silent Shore: A Romance by John Bloundelle-Burton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2985 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #52209 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #52209, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 248 minutes of reading across 597 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Silent Shore: A Romance section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 22 chapters of The Silent Shore: A Romance 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 Silent Shore: A Romance, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
