Chapter 8 of Walden: Life in the Woods is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Walden: Life in the Woods is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy. What but my hopes shot upward e’er so bright? What but my fortunes sunk so low in night? Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all? Was thy existence then too fanciful For our life’s common light, who are so dull?
Chapter 8 of Walden: Life in the Woods is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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.
past form of “banish” — expel from a community or group
From this reading “Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?”
inflected form of “deny” — declare untrue; contradict
From this reading ““Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.”
indulging in or influenced by fancy
From this reading “Was thy existence then too fanciful For our life’s common light, who are so dull?”
plural of “fortune” — an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another
From this reading “What but my fortunes sunk so low in night?”
an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a fire can be built
From this reading “Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?”
the ability to form mental images of things or events
From this reading ““Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.”
possessive form of “life” — a characteristic state or mode of living
past form of “welcome” — accept gladly
From this reading “Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?”
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 ““Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.”
In this reading “Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?”
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.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Was thy existence then too fanciful For our life’s common light, who are so dull?
an old form of “are”, used with “thou”
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
past form of “banish” — expel from a community or group
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
dearly loved
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading What but my hopes shot upward e’er so bright?
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public
From this reading Was thy existence then too fanciful For our life’s common light, who are so dull?
dearly loved
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
inflected form of “deny” — declare untrue; contradict
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading Was thy existence then too fanciful For our life’s common light, who are so dull?
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading What but my hopes shot upward e’er so bright?
the state or fact of existing
From this reading Was thy existence then too fanciful For our life’s common light, who are so dull?
indulging in or influenced by fancy
From this reading Was thy existence then too fanciful For our life’s common light, who are so dull?
A hot glowing body of ignited gas produced by fire.
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Was thy existence then too fanciful For our life’s common light, who are so dull?
plural of “fortune” — an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another
From this reading What but my fortunes sunk so low in night?
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a fire can be built
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
plural of “hope” — a specific instance of feeling hopeful
From this reading What but my hopes shot upward e’er so bright?
the ability to form mental images of things or events
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading What but my fortunes sunk so low in night?
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
possessive form of “life” — a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Was thy existence then too fanciful For our life’s common light, who are so dull?
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Was thy existence then too fanciful For our life’s common light, who are so dull?
less than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading What but my fortunes sunk so low in night?
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading What but my hopes shot upward e’er so bright?
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading What but my fortunes sunk so low in night?
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
the act of firing a projectile
From this reading What but my hopes shot upward e’er so bright?
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading What but my hopes shot upward e’er so bright?
doomed to extinction
From this reading What but my fortunes sunk so low in night?
an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Was thy existence then too fanciful For our life’s common light, who are so dull?
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Never, bright flame, may be denied to me Thy dear, life imaging, close sympathy.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading Was thy existence then too fanciful For our life’s common light, who are so dull?
directed up
From this reading What but my hopes shot upward e’er so bright?
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Was thy existence then too fanciful For our life’s common light, who are so dull?
past form of “welcome” — accept gladly
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What but my hopes shot upward e’er so bright?
which person or people
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why art thou banished from our hearth and hall, Thou who art welcomed and beloved by all?
Chapter 8 of Walden: Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau holds 399 sentences, grouped into 80 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 8 holds 399 sentences of Walden: Life in the Woods, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Walden: Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 399 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 8 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 Walden: Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau 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 #?, unabridged. 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 Walden: Life in the Woods section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Walden: Life in the Woods 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 Walden: Life in the Woods, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
