Chapter 17 of Vera Nevill is here in full — 140 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of Vera Nevill is here in full — 140 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
LADY KYNASTON'S PLANS. Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night. And ere a man hath power to say, "Behold!" The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion. "Midsummer Night's Dream."
Chapter 17 of Vera Nevill is here in full — 140 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 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.
see with attention
From this reading “And ere a man hath power to say, "Behold!"”
disorder resulting from a failure to behave predictably
From this reading “The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.”
destroy completely
From this reading “The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.”
plural of “jaw” — the part of the skull of a vertebrate that frames the mouth and holds the teeth
From this reading “The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.”
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading “Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.”
June 21, when the sun is at its northernmost point
From this reading “"Midsummer Night's Dream."”
possessive form of “night” — the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading “"Midsummer Night's Dream."”
plural of “plan” — a series of steps to be carried out or goals to be accomplished
From this reading “LADY KYNASTON'S PLANS.”
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 Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And ere a man hath power to say, "Behold!"
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
see with attention
From this reading And ere a man hath power to say, "Behold!"
of short duration or distance
From this reading Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts
From this reading The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.
disorder resulting from a failure to behave predictably
From this reading The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.
destroy completely
From this reading The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.
A series of thoughts, images, or emotions during sleep.
From this reading Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
an old word for “before”
From this reading And ere a man hath power to say, "Behold!"
an old form of “has”
From this reading And ere a man hath power to say, "Behold!"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.
plural of “jaw” — the part of the skull of a vertebrate that frames the mouth and holds the teeth
From this reading The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LADY KYNASTON'S PLANS.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading LADY KYNASTON'S PLANS.
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading And ere a man hath power to say, "Behold!"
June 21, when the sun is at its northernmost point
From this reading "Midsummer Night's Dream."
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
possessive form of “night” — the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading "Midsummer Night's Dream."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.
plural of “plan” — a series of steps to be carried out or goals to be accomplished
From this reading LADY KYNASTON'S PLANS.
possession of controlling influence
From this reading And ere a man hath power to say, "Behold!"
accomplished rapidly and without delay
From this reading The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.
express in words
From this reading And ere a man hath power to say, "Behold!"
A dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface.
From this reading Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.
moving very fast
From this reading Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading And ere a man hath power to say, "Behold!"
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The jaws of darkness do devour it up: So quick bright things come to confusion.
Chapter 17 of Vera Nevill by H. Lovett, Mrs. Cameron holds 140 sentences, grouped into 28 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 17 holds 140 sentences of Vera Nevill, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of Vera Nevill by H. Lovett, Mrs. Cameron exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 140 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 17 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 Vera Nevill by H. Lovett, Mrs. Cameron on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5662 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #18385 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #18385, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 471 minutes of reading across 1133 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Vera Nevill section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of Vera Nevill 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 Vera Nevill, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
