Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (_Soft Music._) Hark! There's music in the wind! And that strange light There in the east, it brightens all the night! I seem to hear again the whir of wings, Awake, awake!
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 355 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 62/71 · 5 reading units · Lines 306–310
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.
not in a state of sleep; completely conscious
From this reading “I seem to hear again the whir of wings, Awake, awake!”
third-person singular of “brighten” — make more cheerful through the use of color
From this reading “And that strange light There in the east, it brightens all the night!”
think moodily or anxiously about something
From this reading “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
the cardinal compass point that is at 90 degrees
From this reading “And that strange light There in the east, it brightens all the night!”
that which is pleasing or valuable or useful
From this reading “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
listen; used mostly in the imperative
From this reading “(_Soft Music._) Hark!”
leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice
From this reading “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
a means of flight or ascent
From this reading “I seem to hear again the whir of wings, Awake, awake!”
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.
anew
From this reading I seem to hear again the whir of wings, Awake, awake!
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
not in a state of sleep; completely conscious
From this reading I seem to hear again the whir of wings, Awake, awake!
third-person singular of “brighten” — make more cheerful through the use of color
From this reading And that strange light There in the east, it brightens all the night!
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
think moodily or anxiously about something
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
the cardinal compass point that is at 90 degrees
From this reading And that strange light There in the east, it brightens all the night!
at any time
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
that which is pleasing or valuable or useful
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
listen; used mostly in the imperative
From this reading (_Soft Music._) Hark!
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading I seem to hear again the whir of wings, Awake, awake!
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading And that strange light There in the east, it brightens all the night!
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading And that strange light There in the east, it brightens all the night!
terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading (_Soft Music._) Hark!
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading And that strange light There in the east, it brightens all the night!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading I seem to hear again the whir of wings, Awake, awake!
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
yielding readily to pressure or weight
From this reading (_Soft Music._) Hark!
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading And that strange light There in the east, it brightens all the night!
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading And that strange light There in the east, it brightens all the night!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
in or at that place or location
From this reading And that strange light There in the east, it brightens all the night!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There's music in the wind!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I seem to hear again the whir of wings, Awake, awake!
sound of something in rapid motion
From this reading I seem to hear again the whir of wings, Awake, awake!
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading There's music in the wind!
a means of flight or ascent
From this reading I seem to hear again the whir of wings, Awake, awake!
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry by Walter Ben Hare holds 355 sentences, grouped into 71 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 355 sentences of The White Christmas and other Merry, unabridged, divided into 71 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry by Walter Ben Hare exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 355 sentences, grouped into 71 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 71 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 71 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 White Christmas and other Merry by Walter Ben Hare on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The White Christmas and other Merry section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The White Christmas and other Merry 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 White Christmas and other Merry, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
