Chapter 4 of The Three Taverns: A Book of Poems is here in full — 153 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Three Taverns: A Book of Poems is here in full — 153 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"You met him? Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are? Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle. Was he man, or was he demon? Anyhow, you've gone too far To go back, and I'm your servant.
Chapter 4 of The Three Taverns: A Book of Poems is here in full — 153 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/30 · 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.
used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement
From this reading “Anyhow, you've gone too far To go back, and I'm your servant.”
an evil supernatural being
From this reading “Was he man, or was he demon?”
a mental representation of some haunting experience
From this reading “Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?”
an area that is approximately central within some larger region
From this reading “Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle.”
past form of “poison” — spoil as if by poison
From this reading “Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?”
a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
From this reading “Anyhow, you've gone too far To go back, and I'm your servant.”
a person, without saying who
From this reading “Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?”
plural of “story” — 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 “Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle.”
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 Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle.
in the past
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle.
used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement
From this reading Anyhow, you've gone too far To go back, and I'm your servant.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Anyhow, you've gone too far To go back, and I'm your servant.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle.
an evil supernatural being
From this reading Was he man, or was he demon?
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading Anyhow, you've gone too far To go back, and I'm your servant.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
a mental representation of some haunting experience
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Anyhow, you've gone too far To go back, and I'm your servant.
destroyed or killed
From this reading Anyhow, you've gone too far To go back, and I'm your servant.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Was he man, or was he demon?
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "You met him?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Anyhow, you've gone too far To go back, and I'm your servant.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Was he man, or was he demon?
come together
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading "You met him?
an area that is approximately central within some larger region
From this reading Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Was he man, or was he demon?
past form of “poison” — spoil as if by poison
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
From this reading Anyhow, you've gone too far To go back, and I'm your servant.
a person, without saying who
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
plural of “story” — 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 Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle.
carry out
From this reading Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Anyhow, you've gone too far To go back, and I'm your servant.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading Anyhow, you've gone too far To go back, and I'm your servant.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Was he man, or was he demon?
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Did you meet the ghost of someone you had poisoned, Long ago, before I knew you for the woman that you are?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You met him?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Anyhow, you've gone too far To go back, and I'm your servant.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Take a chair; and don't begin your stories always in the middle.
Chapter 4 of The Three Taverns: A Book of Poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson holds 153 sentences, grouped into 31 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 4 holds 153 sentences of The Three Taverns: A Book of Poems, unabridged, divided into 31 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Three Taverns: A Book of Poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 153 sentences, grouped into 31 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 31 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 31 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 4 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 Three Taverns: A Book of Poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1122 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1040 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1040, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 93 minutes of reading across 225 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Three Taverns: A Book of Poems section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The Three Taverns: A Book of Poems 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 Three Taverns: A Book of Poems, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
