Chapter 1 of Three Margarets is here in full — 130 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Three Margarets is here in full — 130 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE ARRIVAL. Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill. Christina G. Rossetti. The rain was falling fast. It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
Chapter 1 of Three Margarets is here in full — 130 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/26 · 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.
plural of “elm” — any of various trees of the genus Ulmus: important timber or shade trees
From this reading “It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.”
plural of “locust” — migratory grasshoppers of warm regions having short antennae
From this reading “It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.”
plural of “maiden” — an unmarried girl (especially a virgin)
From this reading “Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.”
in a musical manner
From this reading “It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.”
plural of “puddle” — a mixture of wet clay and sand that can be used to line a pond and that is impervious to water when dry
From this reading “It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.”
edge of a way or road or path
From this reading “It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.”
English poet and painter who was a leader of the Pre-Raphaelites (1828-1882)
From this reading “Christina G. Rossetti.”
past form of “tinkle” — make or emit a high sound
From this reading “It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.”
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 Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.
in the past
From this reading Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.
accomplishment of an objective
From this reading THE ARRIVAL.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Christina G. Rossetti.
separated in space or coming from or going to a distance
From this reading Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.
inflected form of “dwell” — think moodily or anxiously about something
From this reading Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.
plural of “elm” — any of various trees of the genus Ulmus: important timber or shade trees
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
decreasing in amount or degree
From this reading The rain was falling fast.
quickly or rapidly (often used as a combining form)
From this reading The rain was falling fast.
a metric unit of weight equal to one thousandth of a kilogram
From this reading Christina G. Rossetti.
in a gradual manner
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
plural of “locust” — migratory grasshoppers of warm regions having short antennae
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
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 Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.
plural of “maiden” — an unmarried girl (especially a virgin)
From this reading Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.
in a musical manner
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
affording pleasure; being in harmony with your taste or likings
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
plural of “puddle” — a mixture of wet clay and sand that can be used to line a pond and that is impervious to water when dry
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere
From this reading The rain was falling fast.
edge of a way or road or path
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
English poet and painter who was a leader of the Pre-Raphaelites (1828-1882)
From this reading Christina G. Rossetti.
not in physical motion
From this reading Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.
the warmest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE ARRIVAL.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.
past form of “tinkle” — make or emit a high sound
From this reading It was a pleasant summer rain that plashed gently on the leaves of the great elms and locusts, and tinkled musically in the roadside puddles.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Long ago and long ago, And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The rain was falling fast.
Chapter 1 of Three Margarets by Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards holds 130 sentences, grouped into 26 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 130 sentences of Three Margarets, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Three Margarets by Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 130 sentences, grouped into 26 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 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 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 Three Margarets by Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2639 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #22293 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #22293, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 219 minutes of reading across 528 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Three Margarets section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of Three Margarets 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 Three Margarets, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
