Chapter 3 of 20 · 3992 words · ~20 min read

Part 3

1. Is the windˊ blowˊing? Is the sunˊ shinˊing? Is it rainˊing? Is it snowˊing?

2. Do I loveˊ? dost thou loveˊ? do we loveˊ?

3. Are you coldˊ? Is he poorˊ? Is she vainˊ?

4. Has he not involˊved himself by his improvˊidence?

5. Has that poorˊ man been cheatˊed? has his povˊerty been no protecˊtion?

EXCEPTION.—_When the question defies contradiction, and is only interrogatory in form, being really an assertion, the falling inflection is used: as—_

6. Are not the happy rareˋ? Are not the good the most hapˋpy?

7. Does he not possessˋ this world’s goodsˋ as if he possessed them notˋ?

8. How fewˋ can we find whose activˋity has not been misappliedˋ?

V.—Words that are contrasted with one another have opposite inflections; and answers have, generally, opposite inflections to the questions.

EXAMPLES.

1. We see the moteˋ in anothˊer’s eye, but cannot discern the beamˊ in our ownˋ.

2. He strikes othˊers but hurts himselfˋ.

3. We should judge by the heartˋ rather than the headˊ.

4. Did he act justˋly or unjustˊly? He acted justˊly, not unjustˋly.

5. Did he say trueˋ or untrueˊ. He said trueˊ, not untrueˋ.

6. I am more inclined to be gladˋ than sorˊry, to loveˋ than to hateˊ, to make friendsˋ than to deserve foesˊ, to be a good friendˊ than a bad enemyˋ.

VI.—When words express pity, joy, or grief, they take the _rising inflection_; and in all language expressive of tender emotion the _rising inflection_ predominates.

EXAMPLES.

1. Ohˊ dearˊ me. Oh genˊtle sleepˊ, nature’s soft nurseˊ.

2. Piˊty, kindˊ gentlemen, friendsˊ of humanityˊ.

3. Ohˊ, my lordˊ, let me speak a word in thy earˊ.

4. I am thy fathˊer—oh, my sonˊ! my sonˊ!

5. Poor Maˊry. How my heartˊ bled to see her angˊuish, when she looked upon her departed childˊ.

6. Ohˊ that I knewˊ how I could consoleˊ her, how I could bring peaceˊ to her mind.ˋ

VII.—When words express denunciation, reproach, violent passion, or dignified emotion, they take the falling inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. You wrong me evˋery way—you wrongˋ me, Brutus.

2. Revengeˋ, _revengeˋ_, Timotheus cries.

3. Let no man dareˋ speak ill of my departed fatherˋ.

4. Oh wretched manˋ. Oh unhapˋpy sinner.

5. Wretchˋ that I amˋ, whereˋ shall I goˋ?

6. Avauntˋ and quit my sightˋ. Let the earth hideˋ thee. Begoneˋ!

7. What a splendid piece of workˋmanship is manˋ.

8. Behold the child of purˋity arrayed in her inˋnocence.

9. Oh, dearˋest to my soulˋ—now goneˋ, alasˋ, from my sight. Woeˋ is me, that my sojourning is prolongˋed.

VIII.—In a commencing series, of three or four numbers, the last number or numbers of the series, and in a concluding series, the last but one, generally takes the _rising inflection_, and all the other take the _falling inflection_.

EXAMPLES.

1. Honorˋ, virˋtue, and truthˊ, distinguish himˋ.

2. He is distinguished by honˋor, virˊtue, and truthˋ.

3. Haˋtreds, dissenˋtions, disˋcords, and warsˊ are produced by ambiˋtion.

4. You have a friend who will pityˋ, supportˋ, defendˊ, and relieveˋ you.

5. The wind and rain are oˋver; calm is the morn of dayˋ; the clouds are divided in heavˊen; over the green hills flies the inconstant sunˋ.

6. A true friend unbosoms freeˋly, advises justˋly, assists readˋily, takes all paˊtiently, and continues a friend unchangeˋably.

7. A good disposiˋtion, virtuous princiˋples, a liberal educaˋtion, and industrious habˊits, are passports to happiness and honˋor.

8. Hapˋpiness and honorˊ are the reward of a good disˋposition, virtuous prinˋciples, a liberal educaˊtion, and industrious habˋits.

9. If you look about youˊ, and consider the lives of othˊers as well as your ownˋ; if you think how few are bornˋ with honˊor, and how many dieˊ without nameˊ or childˋren; how little beautyˋ we seeˊ, and how few friendsˊ we hearˋ of; how many diseasesˊ and how much povˋerty there is in the worldˊ, you will admireˊ, instead of repinˋing at God’s provˋidence.

CIRCUMFLEX INFLECTION.

In a circumflex the voice is made to bend so that it falls and rises, or rises and falls, during the utterance of a single sound. Circumflex inflection is used in expression of bitter irony or reproach.

EXAMPLES.

1. They offer us their protecˋtion. Yĕs, sŭch protection as vŭltures give to lămbs—covering and devouring themˋ.

2. Gone to be mărried! gone to swĕar a pĕace! gone to be frĭends!

3. He dâres not touch a hâir of Catalineˋ.

4. I may do what I shall be sorˋry for. You hâve done what you shoûld be sorˋry for.

5. So this is yŏu. How glăd I am to meet so trŭe a friend.

MONOTONE.

In a monotone the voice neither rises nor falls during the utterance of a succession of words. It is generally used in pronouncing grand and solemn passages.

EXAMPLES.

1. _The bell strikes one._ We _take no note of time but from its loss. To give it_, then, _a tongue is wise in man. As if an angel spoke, I feel the solemn sound. If heard aright, it_ is the _knell of my departed hours_.

Who would fardells bear, To groan and sweat under a weary life, _But that the dread of something after death_ _That undiscovered country from whose bourne_ _No traveler returns_,—puzzles the will And makes us _rather bear the ills we have_ Than _fly to others which we know not of_.

3. I flew towards her; my arms were already unclosed to clasp her, when, suddenly, _her figure changed—her face grew pale—a stream of blood gushed from her bosom. ’Twas Evelina._

The _cloud-capped towers_, the _gorgeous palaces_, The _solemn temples_, the great globeˊ itselfˋ— Yea, _all which it inherit shall dissolve_, And, _like the baseless fabric of a vision_, Leaveˊ not a wreck behindˋ.

PARENTHESIS AND PARENTHETICAL CLAUSES.

A parenthesis is an explanatory clause introduced into a sentence. Parenthesis might be omitted in reading without injuring the grammatical construction of the sentence. The tone employed in reading parenthetical clauses, should, generally, be lower than that in which the other parts of the sentence are read. The monotone is most suitable for parenthesis, but when inflections are used, as they sometimes are in short clauses, the inflection should be the same as that used at the pause immediately preceding the parenthesis, which is generally the _rising inflection_.

EXAMPLES.

1. Rememˊber (continued she with a sighˊ) your dearˊ absent friendˋ.

2. Know then, this truthˊ, (enough for man to knowˊ,) Virtue aloneˋ is happiness belowˋ.

3. Nothing can be greatˊ the contemplation of which is not greatˋ (says Longinusˋ).

4. On the one handˊ, are the divine approbaˊtion and immorˋtal honˋor; on the othˊer, (remember and bewareˊ,) are the stings of conˋscience and endless inˋfamy.

5. Genˊtlemen, if I make out this case by evˊidence, (and if I do not, forget every thing you have heard, and reproach me for having abused your honest feelˊings,) I have established a claim for damˊages that has no parallel in the annals of fashionable intrigueˋ.

The expressions _said I_, _continued he_, _so to speak_, _then_, _except_, _nevertheless_, _therefore_, _yet_, _notwithstanding_, etc., are read in a lower tone, like parenthesis, and with the _falling inflection_, as:

Justice, _said heˋ_, will carry it. Though he was rich, _yetˋ_, for our sakes he became poor. Though deep, _yet clearˋ_; though gentle, _yetˋ_ not dull. I love every one of them, _exceptˋ_ the old crone. He was, _so to speakˋ_, the lion of the tribe.

TONE.

Tone differs from accent and emphasis, but may be said to be nearly allied to inflection. Tone is not confined to words, but to whole passages, and is intended to convey to the minds of the hearers the passions and feelings which are supposed to have influenced the writer or speaker.

Nothing can contribute more to beautiful and expressive reading than the use of the tones most suitable to the matter read. Nor is the correct language of emotion, the appropriate sound with which certain passages should be uttered, of very difficult attainment. The smallest child finds tones to express its various feelings, and there can be no great difficulty in the reader’s ascertaining the emotions under which the author spoke or wrote, and making his tones such as give best expression to those emotions.

But in this, as in other matters, there should be moderation. Every thing artificial and theatrical should, in reading ordinary compositions, be avoided. We recommend Murray’s rule to the learner: “In reading, let your tones of expression be borrowed from those of common speech, but, in some degree, more faintly characterized. Let those tones which signify any disagreeable passion of the mind be more faint than those which indicate agreeable emotion; and, on all occasions, preserve yourselves from being so far affected with the subject as to be able to proceed through it with an easy and masterly manner, which has its good effects in this as well as in every other art.”

EXPRESSION AND ENERGY.

The following observations on Expression and Energy are taken from Vandenhoff’s “Plain System of Elocution:”

EXPRESSION.

“Expression is the modulating or regulating the organ of the voice to tones of gentleness or force, according to the nature and degree of feeling, or passion, expressed in words. Expression is the natural language of emotion. It is, in Elocution, to a certain extent, a vocal imitation of passion. But this must be done without “aggravating the voice” (as Bottom has it.) It is a grace which requires the nicest management; and cannot be achieved but with the best cultivation of _ear_ and _voice_; in order to catch and re-echo the tones of the heart to the ears and hearts of others.

“Expression, therefore, is a refinement on Intonation: they go hand in hand: we cannot think of the one without the other. Intonation gives the voice volume and power; expression uses and adopts it to the feeling of the moment.

ENERGY.

“Energy is intimately allied to the two preceding graces of Elocution; to which it adds force, intensity, and earnestness. As Expression is variety of Intonation, Energy may be called the _Emphasis of Expression_.

“It is the life, the soul, the animating spirit. Without it, the speaker may be correct, and even agreeable, by a due observance of rule; but if he lack _energy_, he will be listened to without interest; his voice will fall powerless on the ear, and neither “awake the senses,” nor “stir the blood.”

“Energy, it is true, depends somewhat on individual temperament and constitution. But even where natural or physical energy is deficient, an _energetic manner_ may be acquired by practice and exercise under judicious direction; just as the muscular powers may be improved, and bodily vigor increased, even in a feeble frame, under a course of training and well-regulated exercise.

“Even in narration, what force, what reality can be given to a description by a speaker who, as it were, throws himself into the scene, and by the vivacity and energy of his delivery brings the action graphically before your eyes, hurries you into the heat of it, and makes you feel as if personally engaged in what is so stirringly related to you as in that beautiful description, in Shakspeare’s _Henry IV._, of the gallant Prince Henry and his comrades armed for battle:

“All furnish’d, all in arms, Glitt’ring in golden coats like images; As full of spirit as the month of May, And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer; Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls. I saw young Harry,—with his beaver on, His cuises on his thighs, gallantly arm’d,— Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury, And vaulted with such ease into his seat, As if an angel dropp’d down from the clouds, To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus, And witch the world with noble horsemanship!

“Unless this description, full of poetic imagination and coloring as it is, be delivered with warmth, _energy_, and a tone of enthusiasm, it will fall very short of its due impression; and thus the poet will be deprived, by the speaker’s coldness, of the full appreciation, by the hearer, of the exquisite beauty of the picture.

“But the force of his elocution must be greatly increased, and the expression must be changed, become impassioned, and raised almost to _fierceness_, to produce the full effect of _Hotspur’s_ heroic and inspiring answer: which breaths the highest enthusiasm of confident and daring valor, undaunted resolution, and impatient thirst of glory.

“It must therefore be marked with all the _energy_ that the reader can command.

HOTSPUR’S EAGERNESS FOR BATTLE.

Let them come! They come like sacrifices in their trim, And to the fire-eyed maid of smoky war, All hot, and bleeding, will we offer them! The mailed Mars shall on his altar sit Up to the ears in blood. I am on fire, To hear this rich reprisal is so nigh, And yet not ours! Come, let me take my horse, Which is to bear me like a thunderbolt Against the bosom of the Prince of Wales: Harry to Harry shall, hot horse to horse, Meet, and ne’er part till one drop down a corse!

“Thus we see that Intonation, Energy, and Expression are kindred graces: united and embodied in full force and with just discrimination, they reach the climax of the power of Elocution, the acmé of its art—PASSION.

“In conclusion, I take leave to add, that I shall indeed feel proud if this feeble attempt of mine may have the effect of awaking the reader’s interest, exciting, and in some degree aiding him in the cultivation of an art, on which the Orator’s success so much depends.”

ON READING OF VERSE.

The following remarks on reading verse are by the same writer:

“In the reading of verse, we must observe

1. Time and rhythm.

2. Melody and cadence.

“1. By _time_, I mean the regulation of the pulsation and movement of sound by the voice, to the regulated metrical accentuation (or rhythm), and construction of the verse.

“Time and rhythm are therefore inseparable and mutually dependent: one belongs to the Poet, the other to the Elocutionist.

“English verse consists of the arrangement at regular intervals of accented and _un_accented—or, heavy and light—syllables. This regular arrangement makes the _rhythm_ of the verse: the number of syllables employed in a line makes the _metre_ of the verse.

“Now if, in reading verse, we do not _regularly_ mark the pulsation of the accented syllables,—according to their arrangement in the rhythm—at due intervals of sound, we shall break the rhythm by reading _out of time_.

“For example, in the Ode of Dryden, on Cecilia’s Day, occurs this couplet; which I now mark according to the _regular_ rhythmical division and accentuation.

“But to read the first line of the couplet thus, (accenting _the_ and not accenting _bare_) would be to sacrifice all the force of the line, in order to produce an unmeaning _sing-song_ by equipulsation of sound.

“We must, therefore, by art, reconcile the strength of the line with the music of the verse; and thus divide and accent it in delivery.

On the bareˊ | earthˊ | exposedˊ | he liesˊ.

“Sometimes the poet himself will, purposely, break the regularity of his rhythm for expression and effect; the Elocutionist, in such cases, must aid that effect by marking and _timing_ the pulsation of sound accordingly. As in the following lines from Pope:

1. _Smooth_ˊ flow the waves, the zephyrs gently play.

2. _Wide_ˊ and more wide the floating rings advance, _Fill_ˊ all the wat’ry plain, _and to the mar_gin dance.

3. Amphion there the loud creating lyre _Strikes_ˊ, and behold a sudden Thebes aspire!

4. _Fame_ˊ sits aloft, and points them out their course.

5. _Bright_ˊ as the sun, her eyes the gazers strike.

6. _All_ˊ are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body Nature is, and God the soul; That chang’d through all, and yet is all the same, _Great_ˊ in the earth, as in the ethereal frame, _Warms_ˊ in the sun, _refreshes_ in the breeze, _Glows_ˊ in the stars, and _blossoms_ in the trees, _Lives_ˊ thro’ all life, _extends_ through all extent, _Spreads_ˊ undivided, _operates_ unspent, _Breathes_ˊ in our soul, _informs_ our mortal part, &c.

“The _Italicised_ words indicate the departure from the _regular_ rhythm in these lines; most of which commence with a heavy syllable, for force and effect. This the reader must mark by pulsation of voice,—a prolongation of sound, or a rest, on the commencing heavy syllable, with a lighter enunciation of the succeeding unaccented syllables.

“The occurrence of several successive unaccented syllables, lessening the due number of accents in any line, must be balanced by a short rest to supply the place of the deficient accent (_as in the_ 5_th and_ 6_th lines of the_ 6_th example._) By these means the due time of the verse will be preserved, and its movement will _echo_, (as it were,) or, at all events, aid and strengthen the sense.

“The above verses will accordingly be read with the division and accentuation following:

1. Smoothˊ | flow the wavesˊ, | the zephˊyrs gent | ly playˊ.

4. Fameˊ | sits aloftˊ, | and pointsˊ | them outˊ | their course.

5. Brightˊ | as the sunˊ, | her eyesˊ | the gaˊ | zers strikeˊ.

RESTS IN VERSE.

“There is another point, which properly comes under the head of _time_, in rhythmical reading, and the due observance of which is essential to the melody of verse: that is the rests or pauses peculiar to verse, viz.:

THE CÆSURAL REST, to divide the line; and THE REST AT THE CLOSE of each line.

“The duration of each of these pauses or rests is equal to that of the _short rhetorical pause_; subject, of course, to be increased by the pause of sense.

“‘The cæsural pause may fall,’ says Blair, ‘in heroic verse, after the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, or the seventh syllable.’

“The placing it is the poet’s business: it is the Elocutionist’s to mark it in delivery. But if its introduction would be absolutely repugnant to sense and just elocution, the poet must bear the fault, and his line lose some portion of its melody by the omission; for sense cannot be sacrificed to sound.

“The rest at the end of the line suggests itself, and must not be omitted: the sense will most frequently enforce it; when it does not, a rest must nevertheless be made by a suspension of voice at the end of each line, equal to the short pause in Elocution.

EXAMPLE.

Achilles’ wrath, | to Greece the direful spring | Of woes unnumbered, | heav’nly goddess sing!

EXERCISES.

“The following verses in heroic measure—that is, consisting of ten syllables to each line, the syllables being (with occasional variations, which are allowed) alternately light and heavy—I have marked with the cæsural pause and rest at the end of the line. Let the student read them _aloud_, marking these pauses, and duly observing _time_, _rhythm_, and _poetical intonation_.

THE TEMPLE OF FAME.—_Pope._

MELODY and CADENCE require that in reading poetry the inflections be more smooth, or less angular, than in prose. To make the inflections as sharp as they often are in ordinary composition, would interfere with that easy and graceful flow which is the chief charm of poetical composition. But while cadence adds much to the beauty of poetical expression, it must not be carried so far as to supersede the just inflection and emphasis which the sense demands. To do so, would be to give to the reading a _sing-song_ tone and sameness, both unmeaning and disagreeable. Melody may be said to relate to the whole verse in poetry; cadence applies only to the closing line or phrase.

[3] Pronouns used as _antecedents_, and also _relatives_, when _their antecedents are not expressed_, should obviously be pronounced with a certain degree of emphatic force; as, “_He_ that runs may read.” “_Who_ seeks for glory often finds a grave.” “_What_ man has done, man can do.”

[4] The following is Mr. J. Sheridan Knowles’s account of emphasis:—“EMPHASIS is of two kinds, absolute and relative. Relative emphasis has always an antithesis expressed or implied: absolute emphasis takes place when the peculiar eminence of the thought is solely, singly considered.

’Twas base and poor, unworthy of a _peasant_, To forge a scroll so villainous and loose, And mark it with a noble lady’s name.

Here we have an example of relative emphasis; for, if the thought were expressed at full, it would stand thus:—Unworthy not only of a _gentleman_, but of a _peasant_.

’Twas base and poor, unworthy of a _man_, To forge a scroll so villainous and loose, And mark it with a noble lady’s name.

Here we have an example of absolute emphasis; for, if the thought were expressed at full, it would stand thus:—Unworthy a being composed of such perfections as constitute a man.” Mr. Knowles adds: “I apprehend that, notwithstanding all that has been written on the subject, the true definition of emphasis remains still to be discovered.”

[5] _Single_ emphasis, is when there is _one_ pair of words opposed to each other in a sentence; _Double_ emphasis, when there are _two_ pairs; and _Treble_, when there are _three_.

PART SECOND.

[Illustration]

I.—TEACHING AND CHARACTER OF JESUS CHRIST.

CHATEAUBRIAND.

Among the French writers of the nineteenth century, Chateaubriand has been one of the most distinguished. His “Genius of Christianity” is a remarkably brilliant and eloquent work.