Chapter 9 of Ulysses is here in full — 576 sentences across 116 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of Ulysses is here in full — 576 sentences across 116 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
—Many a good man’s fault, Mr Dedalus said with a sigh. They halted about the door of the mortuary chapel. Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar. Poor boy! Was he there when the father?
Chapter 9 of Ulysses is here in full — 576 sentences across 116 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/115 · 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.
the organic process of bearing flowers
From this reading “Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.”
a place of worship that has its own altar
From this reading “They halted about the door of the mortuary chapel.”
a band that fits around the neck and is usually folded over
From this reading “Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.”
having long narrow shallow depressions (as grooves or wrinkles) in the surface
From this reading “Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.”
past form of “halt” — cause to stop
From this reading “They halted about the door of the mortuary chapel.”
of or relating to or characteristic of death
From this reading “They halted about the door of the mortuary chapel.”
being of delicate or slender build
From this reading “Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.”
flower arrangement consisting of a circular band of foliage or flowers for ornamental purposes
From this reading “Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.”
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 —Many a good man’s fault, Mr Dedalus said with a sigh.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading They halted about the door of the mortuary chapel.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
the organic process of bearing flowers
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
a youthful male person
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
a place of worship that has its own altar
From this reading They halted about the door of the mortuary chapel.
a band that fits around the neck and is usually folded over
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading —Many a good man’s fault, Mr Dedalus said with a sigh.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading They halted about the door of the mortuary chapel.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading Was he there when the father?
a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
From this reading —Many a good man’s fault, Mr Dedalus said with a sigh.
having long narrow shallow depressions (as grooves or wrinkles) in the surface
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading —Many a good man’s fault, Mr Dedalus said with a sigh.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
past form of “halt” — cause to stop
From this reading They halted about the door of the mortuary chapel.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Was he there when the father?
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
possessive form of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading —Many a good man’s fault, Mr Dedalus said with a sigh.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading —Many a good man’s fault, Mr Dedalus said with a sigh.
of or relating to or characteristic of death
From this reading They halted about the door of the mortuary chapel.
a form of address for a man
From this reading —Many a good man’s fault, Mr Dedalus said with a sigh.
the part of an organism (human or animal) that connects the head to the rest of the body
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading They halted about the door of the mortuary chapel.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading Poor boy!
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading —Many a good man’s fault, Mr Dedalus said with a sigh.
heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily
From this reading —Many a good man’s fault, Mr Dedalus said with a sigh.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
being of delicate or slender build
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading They halted about the door of the mortuary chapel.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Was he there when the father?
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They halted about the door of the mortuary chapel.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Was he there when the father?
at the time that
From this reading Was he there when the father?
in the company of; together with
From this reading —Many a good man’s fault, Mr Dedalus said with a sigh.
flower arrangement consisting of a circular band of foliage or flowers for ornamental purposes
From this reading Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath looking down at his sleekcombed hair and at the slender furrowed neck inside his brandnew collar.
Chapter 9 of Ulysses by James Joyce holds 576 sentences, grouped into 116 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 9 holds 576 sentences of Ulysses, unabridged, divided into 116 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of Ulysses by James Joyce exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 576 sentences, grouped into 116 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 116 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 116 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 9 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 Ulysses by James Joyce 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 #?, a public-domain edition. 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 Ulysses section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Ulysses 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 Ulysses, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
