Chapter 1 of The Sorrows of Young Werther is here in full — 892 sentences across 179 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Sorrows of Young Werther is here in full — 892 sentences across 179 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MAY 4. How happy I am that I am gone! My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man! To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy! I know you will forgive me.
Chapter 1 of The Sorrows of Young Werther is here in full — 892 sentences across 179 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/178 · 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.
in a sincere and heartfelt manner
From this reading “To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!”
undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind
From this reading “To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!”
stop blaming or grant forgiveness
From this reading “I know you will forgive me.”
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading “My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man!”
destroyed or killed
From this reading “How happy I am that I am gone!”
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading “How happy I am that I am gone!”
not capable of being separated
From this reading “To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!”
go away from a place
From this reading “To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!”
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 MAY 4.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man!
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading How happy I am that I am gone!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
the past participle of “be”
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
dearly loved
From this reading My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man!
in a sincere and heartfelt manner
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
stop blaming or grant forgiveness
From this reading I know you will forgive me.
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man!
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
destroyed or killed
From this reading How happy I am that I am gone!
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading How happy I am that I am gone!
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How happy I am that I am gone!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading How happy I am that I am gone!
not capable of being separated
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man!
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading I know you will forgive me.
go away from a place
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man!
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading MAY 4.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I know you will forgive me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man!
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading How happy I am that I am gone!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man!
a special situation
From this reading My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
used to ask for information about something
From this reading My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man!
the form of “who” used as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading I know you will forgive me.
but in spite of that
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy!
Chapter 1 of The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe holds 892 sentences, grouped into 179 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 1 holds 892 sentences of The Sorrows of Young Werther, unabridged, divided into 179 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 892 sentences, grouped into 179 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 179 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 179 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 Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2248 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2527 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2527, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 187 minutes of reading across 450 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Sorrows of Young Werther section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of The Sorrows of Young Werther 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 Sorrows of Young Werther, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
