Chapter 7 of Tragic Romances is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of Tragic Romances is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“I killed no one. He died his own way. Maybe the cramp took him. Maybe … maybe a kelpie gripped him. I watched.
Chapter 7 of Tragic Romances is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
a painful and involuntary muscular contraction
From this reading “Maybe the cramp took him.”
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading “He died his own way.”
inflected form of “grip” — hold fast or firmly
From this reading “Maybe … maybe a kelpie gripped him.”
past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading ““I killed no one.”
by chance
From this reading “Maybe the cramp took him.”
have ownership or possession of
From this reading “He died his own way.”
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading “Maybe the cramp took him.”
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading “I watched.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “He died his own way.”
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 Maybe … maybe a kelpie gripped him.
a painful and involuntary muscular contraction
From this reading Maybe the cramp took him.
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading He died his own way.
inflected form of “grip” — hold fast or firmly
From this reading Maybe … maybe a kelpie gripped him.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He died his own way.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Maybe the cramp took him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He died his own way.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I killed no one.
(Scottish folklore) water spirit in the form of a horse that likes to drown its riders
From this reading Maybe … maybe a kelpie gripped him.
past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading “I killed no one.
by chance
From this reading Maybe the cramp took him.
not any; not one
From this reading “I killed no one.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading “I killed no one.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading He died his own way.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Maybe the cramp took him.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading Maybe the cramp took him.
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading I watched.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading He died his own way.
Chapter 7 of Tragic Romances by William Sharp holds 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 7 holds 404 sentences of Tragic Romances, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of Tragic Romances by William Sharp exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 7 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 Tragic Romances by William Sharp on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2824 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #53839 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #53839, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 235 minutes of reading across 565 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Tragic Romances section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of Tragic Romances 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 Tragic Romances, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
