Chapter 4 of Three Plays is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Three Plays is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Some say he's dark, I say he's bonny. He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny. BRIAN _(with sombre passion)_ No. My brothers are not with me. I quarrelled with them all and I am nearly heart broken for what I did. MAIRE Ah, Brian MacConnell, I don't know what to say to you at all.
Chapter 4 of Three Plays is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
very pleasing to the eye
From this reading “Some say he's dark, I say he's bonny.”
plural of “brother” — a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading “BRIAN _(with sombre passion)_ No. My brothers are not with me.”
pleasing or delighting
From this reading “He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny.”
pleasingly persuasive or intended to persuade
From this reading “He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny.”
a church congregation guided by a pastor
From this reading “He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny.”
a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading “He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny.”
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading “He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny.”
a strong feeling or emotion
From this reading “BRIAN _(with sombre passion)_ No. My brothers are not with me.”
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 MAIRE Ah, Brian MacConnell, I don't know what to say to you at all.
(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 I quarrelled with them all and I am nearly heart broken for what I did.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading I quarrelled with them all and I am nearly heart broken for what I did.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I quarrelled with them all and I am nearly heart broken for what I did.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading BRIAN _(with sombre passion)_ No. My brothers are not with me.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading MAIRE Ah, Brian MacConnell, I don't know what to say to you at all.
very pleasing to the eye
From this reading Some say he's dark, I say he's bonny.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BRIAN _(with sombre passion)_ No. My brothers are not with me.
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
From this reading I quarrelled with them all and I am nearly heart broken for what I did.
plural of “brother” — a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading BRIAN _(with sombre passion)_ No. My brothers are not with me.
pleasing or delighting
From this reading He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny.
pleasingly persuasive or intended to persuade
From this reading He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading Some say he's dark, I say he's bonny.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading I quarrelled with them all and I am nearly heart broken for what I did.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MAIRE Ah, Brian MacConnell, I don't know what to say to you at all.
a church congregation guided by a pastor
From this reading He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny.
a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading I quarrelled with them all and I am nearly heart broken for what I did.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Some say he's dark, I say he's bonny.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading I quarrelled with them all and I am nearly heart broken for what I did.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Some say he's dark, I say he's bonny.
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading MAIRE Ah, Brian MacConnell, I don't know what to say to you at all.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MAIRE Ah, Brian MacConnell, I don't know what to say to you at all.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MAIRE Ah, Brian MacConnell, I don't know what to say to you at all.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading BRIAN _(with sombre passion)_ No. My brothers are not with me.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading I quarrelled with them all and I am nearly heart broken for what I did.
not any; not one
From this reading BRIAN _(with sombre passion)_ No. My brothers are not with me.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading BRIAN _(with sombre passion)_ No. My brothers are not with me.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny.
a strong feeling or emotion
From this reading BRIAN _(with sombre passion)_ No. My brothers are not with me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I quarrelled with them all and I am nearly heart broken for what I did.
express in words
From this reading Some say he's dark, I say he's bonny.
lacking brightness or color; dull
From this reading BRIAN _(with sombre passion)_ No. My brothers are not with me.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Some say he's dark, I say he's bonny.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He's the flower of the flock, My charming, coaxing Johnny.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading I quarrelled with them all and I am nearly heart broken for what I did.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading MAIRE Ah, Brian MacConnell, I don't know what to say to you at all.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading I quarrelled with them all and I am nearly heart broken for what I did.
in the company of; together with
From this reading BRIAN _(with sombre passion)_ No. My brothers are not with me.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading MAIRE Ah, Brian MacConnell, I don't know what to say to you at all.
Chapter 4 of Three Plays by Padraic Colum holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 4 holds 409 sentences of Three Plays, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Three Plays by Padraic Colum exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 Three Plays by Padraic Colum on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3285 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #11878 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #11878, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 273 minutes of reading across 657 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Three Plays section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of Three Plays 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 Plays, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
