hearken

verb

1. (transitive)To hear (something) with attention; to have regard to (something).

   “Thenceforth ſhe paſt into his dreadfull den, / VVhere nought but darkeſome drerineſſe ſhe found, / Ne creature ſaw, but hearkned now and then / Some little whiſpering, and ſoft groaning ſound.”

   “This King of Naples being an Enemy / To me inueterate, hearkens my Brothers ſuit, / Which was, That he in lieu o' th' premiſes, / Of homage, and I know not how much Tribute, / Should preſently extirpate me and mine / Out of the Dukedome, and confer faire Milane / With all the Honors, on my brother: […]”

   “With pleaſure he hearkens the heart-ſoothing chear / Shakes Morpheus and ſlumber away; / While joyful he ſtarts, and with ſpeed doth appear / The foremoſt to welcome the day.”

   “Tho' I cannot speak a word, I shall hearken what ye say, / And be often—often with ye when ye think I'm faraway.”

   “And now a sweet bird calls its scattered mates, / And gaily hearkens the unburdened heart.”

2. (intransitive)To listen; to attend or give heed to what is uttered; to hear with attention, compliance, or obedience.

   “Who ſo hearkeneth vnto me, ſhal not come to confuſion, & they that worke by me, ſhal not offende; [they that make me to be knowen, ſhal haue euerlaſting life.]”

   “She hearkens for his hounds and for his horn: / Anon she hears them chant it lustily, / And all in haste she coasteth to the cry.”

   “And vnto Adam he [God] ſaid, Becauſe thou hast hearkened vnto the voice of thy wife [Eve], and haſt eaten of the tree, of which I commaunded thee, ſaying, Thou ſhalt not eate of it: curſed is the ground for thy ſake: in ſorow ſhalt thou eate of it all the dayes of thy life.”

   “Nowe therefore hearken, O Iſrael, vnto the Statutes, and vnto the Judgments which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may liue, and goe in and poſſeſſe the lande, which the Lord God of your fathers giueth you.”

   “Ev'n from the depths of Hell the Damn'd advance, / Th' Infernal Manſions nodding ſeem to dance; / The gaping three-mouth'd Dog forgets to ſnarl, / The Furies harken, and their Snakes uncurl.”

3. (intransitive, obsolete)To enquire; to seek information.

   “Claudio. Hearken after their offence my Lord. / Prince. Officers, what offence haue theſe men done?”