Chapter 17 of Willing to Die: A Novel is here in full — 191 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of Willing to Die: A Novel is here in full — 191 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MY BOUQUET. I remember so vividly the night of my first ball. The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass. I hardly knew myself. I gazed at myself with the irrepressible smile of elation.
Chapter 17 of Willing to Die: A Novel is here in full — 191 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
plural of “anticipation” — an expectation
From this reading “The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.”
an arrangement of flowers that is usually given as a present
From this reading “MY BOUQUET.”
plural of “consultation” — a conference (usually with someone important)
From this reading “The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.”
plural of “debate” — a discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal
From this reading “The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.”
an exhilarating psychological state of pride and optimism; an absence of depression
From this reading “I gazed at myself with the irrepressible smile of elation.”
impossible to repress or control
From this reading “I gazed at myself with the irrepressible smile of elation.”
possessive form of “maid” — a female domestic
From this reading “The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.”
in a vivid manner
From this reading “I remember so vividly the night of my first ball.”
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 “The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
plural of “anticipation” — an expectation
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
eagerly desirous
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading I gazed at myself with the irrepressible smile of elation.
round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games
From this reading I remember so vividly the night of my first ball.
an arrangement of flowers that is usually given as a present
From this reading MY BOUQUET.
plural of “consultation” — a conference (usually with someone important)
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
plural of “debate” — a discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
greatly pleasing or entertaining
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
an exhilarating psychological state of pride and optimism; an absence of depression
From this reading I gazed at myself with the irrepressible smile of elation.
the feeling of lively and cheerful joy
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
occurring at or forming an end or termination
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading I remember so vividly the night of my first ball.
move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
past form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading I gazed at myself with the irrepressible smile of elation.
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
only a very short time before
From this reading I hardly knew myself.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I remember so vividly the night of my first ball.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
impossible to repress or control
From this reading I gazed at myself with the irrepressible smile of elation.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading I hardly knew myself.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
possessive form of “maid” — a female domestic
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading MY BOUQUET.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading I hardly knew myself.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading I remember so vividly the night of my first ball.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I remember so vividly the night of my first ball.
giving pleasure and satisfaction
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
To recall to mind.
From this reading I remember so vividly the night of my first ball.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading I gazed at myself with the irrepressible smile of elation.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading I remember so vividly the night of my first ball.
great in vertical dimension; high in stature
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I remember so vividly the night of my first ball.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
(of the voice) quivering as from weakness or fear
From this reading The excitement of the toilet; mamma's and the maid's consultations and debates; the tremulous anticipations; the "pleasing terror;" the delightful, anxious flutter, and my final look in the tall glass.
in a vivid manner
From this reading I remember so vividly the night of my first ball.
in the company of; together with
From this reading I gazed at myself with the irrepressible smile of elation.
Chapter 17 of Willing to Die: A Novel by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu holds 191 sentences, grouped into 39 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 191 sentences of Willing to Die: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of Willing to Die: A Novel by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 191 sentences, grouped into 39 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 39 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 39 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.
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About 600 minutes of reading across 1568 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in Willing to Die: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
