hearkening

Verb

hearken (third-person singular simple present hearkens, present participle hearkening, simple past and past participle hearkened)

1. (transitive, archaic except poetic) 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.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 33, page 103
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.]1560, [William Whittingham et al., transl.], The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. […] (the Geneva Bible), Geneva: […] Rouland Hall, →OCLC, Ecclesiasticus XXIIII:25...
3. (intransitive, obsolete) To enquire; to seek information.
   • Claudio. Hearken after their offence my Lord. / Prince. Officers, what offence haue theſe men done?1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, Much Adoe about Nothing. […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act V...