Chapter 1 of Where the Blue Begins is here in full — 199 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Where the Blue Begins is here in full — 199 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
One night he was walking on his little verandah. Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent. The air was serene, with a faint acid taste. Suddenly there shrilled a soft, sweet, melancholy whistle, earnestly repeated. It seemed to come from the little pond in the near-by copses.
Chapter 1 of Where the Blue Begins is here in full — 199 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 7/39 · 5 reading units · Lines 31–35
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.
harsh or corrosive in tone
From this reading “The air was serene, with a faint acid taste.”
official routes of communication
From this reading “Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.”
in a serious manner
From this reading “Suddenly there shrilled a soft, sweet, melancholy whistle, earnestly repeated.”
a small lake
From this reading “It seemed to come from the little pond in the near-by copses.”
a large number or amount
From this reading “Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.”
not agitated; without losing self-possession
From this reading “The air was serene, with a faint acid taste.”
transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity
From this reading “Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.”
make whistling sounds
From this reading “Suddenly there shrilled a soft, sweet, melancholy whistle, earnestly repeated.”
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 The air was serene, with a faint acid taste.
harsh or corrosive in tone
From this reading The air was serene, with a faint acid taste.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading The air was serene, with a faint acid taste.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.
official routes of communication
From this reading Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.
plural of “cloud” — any collection of particles (e.g., smoke or dust) or gases that is visible
From this reading Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading It seemed to come from the little pond in the near-by copses.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It seemed to come from the little pond in the near-by copses.
relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply
From this reading Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.
in a serious manner
From this reading Suddenly there shrilled a soft, sweet, melancholy whistle, earnestly repeated.
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading The air was serene, with a faint acid taste.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading It seemed to come from the little pond in the near-by copses.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading One night he was walking on his little verandah.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading One night he was walking on his little verandah.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It seemed to come from the little pond in the near-by copses.
to an inconceivable degree
From this reading Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It seemed to come from the little pond in the near-by copses.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading One night he was walking on his little verandah.
a feeling of thoughtful sadness
From this reading Suddenly there shrilled a soft, sweet, melancholy whistle, earnestly repeated.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It seemed to come from the little pond in the near-by copses.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading One night he was walking on his little verandah.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading One night he was walking on his little verandah.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One night he was walking on his little verandah.
a small lake
From this reading It seemed to come from the little pond in the near-by copses.
a large number or amount
From this reading Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.
recurring again and again
From this reading Suddenly there shrilled a soft, sweet, melancholy whistle, earnestly repeated.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading It seemed to come from the little pond in the near-by copses.
not agitated; without losing self-possession
From this reading The air was serene, with a faint acid taste.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Suddenly there shrilled a soft, sweet, melancholy whistle, earnestly repeated.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.
the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.
yielding readily to pressure or weight
From this reading Suddenly there shrilled a soft, sweet, melancholy whistle, earnestly repeated.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading Suddenly there shrilled a soft, sweet, melancholy whistle, earnestly repeated.
having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading Suddenly there shrilled a soft, sweet, melancholy whistle, earnestly repeated.
To perceive flavor through the mouth.
From this reading The air was serene, with a faint acid taste.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The air was serene, with a faint acid taste.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Suddenly there shrilled a soft, sweet, melancholy whistle, earnestly repeated.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It seemed to come from the little pond in the near-by copses.
transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity
From this reading Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.
a porch along the outside of a building (sometimes partly enclosed)
From this reading One night he was walking on his little verandah.
close enough to be walked to
From this reading One night he was walking on his little verandah.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading One night he was walking on his little verandah.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Between rafts of silver-edged clouds were channels of ocean-blue sky, inconceivably deep and transparent.
make whistling sounds
From this reading Suddenly there shrilled a soft, sweet, melancholy whistle, earnestly repeated.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The air was serene, with a faint acid taste.
Chapter 1 of Where the Blue Begins by Christopher Morley holds 199 sentences, grouped into 40 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 199 sentences of Where the Blue Begins, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Where the Blue Begins by Christopher Morley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 199 sentences, grouped into 40 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 40 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 40 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 Where the Blue Begins by Christopher Morley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2507 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1402 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1402, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 208 minutes of reading across 502 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Where the Blue Begins section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of Where the Blue Begins 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 Where the Blue Begins, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
