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Blow time.

6. I thought that the course of the pilgrim to heaven

Would be bright as the summer, and glad as the morn; Thou show'dst me the path,-it was dark and uneven, All rugged with rock and tangled with thorn.

I dreamed of celestial reward and renown,

I grasped at the triumph that blesses the brave
I asked for the palm-branch, the robe, and the crown,-
I asked,—and Thou show'dst me a cross and a grave

Subdued and instructed, at length, to Thy will,

My hopes and my longings I fain would resign; Oh give me the heart that can wait and be still, Nor know of a wish or a pleasure but Thine.

There are mansions exempted from sin and from woe,
But they stand in a region by mortals untrod;
There are rivers of joy, but they flow not below;
There is rest, but it dwells in the presence of God.

EMPHASIS.

S in pronunciation we mark certain syllables with stress of voice which we call accent, so in reading we distinguish certain words by stress of voice, which is called Emphasis. It is of three kinds, abrupt or radical, median or smooth, and vanishing Emphasis. By radical, we mean the sudden, emphatic force which is given to the first part of sound in speaking or reading; by median, that smooth or even sound applied to the middle of words; and vanishing, that last or ending sound. It is given with a sudden jerk or snap of the voice, on the last syllable of words in expressing Revenge, Scorn Defiance, Anger, Contempt.

Sometimes we have the radical and vanishing emphasis united; we distinguish that emphasis as compound.

We append a few selections and extracts for practice in Emphasis, and, at the same time, would remind the student that this department of our subject cannot be learned from books. It is that natural variation in the utterance of sentences which exhibits thought, and gives the agreeable variety to the speech of those who understand its application. It is more than stress of voice. It requires feeling. The greatest emphasis is frequently exhibited when there is least voice. It is both expressive and impressive utterance.

To apply Emphasis correctly, in reading or speaking, it is necessary to understand thoroughly the sentiments uttered, and to enter fully into the spirit of them. This is the only suggestion or rule that we give for Emphasis, and we are assured that the student will rarely fail in its application, if he observe this rule.

Let the student enter into the spirit of each quotation and selection, and emphasis will take care of itself.

EXAMPLES IN EMPHATIC UTTERANCE.

1. Advance your standards, draw your willing swords! Sound drums and trumpets, boldly and cheerfully! God and St. George! Ireland and victory

2. Where rests the sword?-where sleeps the brave? Awake! Cecropia's ally save

From the fury of the blast!

Burst the storm Ghocis' walls

Rise or Greece forever falls;

Up! or Freedom breathes her last!

3. Strike for the sires who left you free! Strike for their sakes who bore you! Strike for your homes and liberty

And the Heaven you worship o'er you!

4. Villains! you did not threat when your vile daggers Hacked one another in the sides of Cæsar!

You showed your teeth like apes, and fawned like hounds,
And bowed like bondmen, kissing Cæsar's feet;
Whilst damned Casca, like a cur, behind,
Struck Cæsar on the neck.-Oh! flatterers !

5. Rejoice, you men of Angiers! ring your bells
King John, your king and England's, doth approach!
Open your gates and give the victors way!

INFLECTION, CIRCUMFLEX, AND MONOTONE.

BY

INFLECTION.

Y Inflection we mean the axis, a slide of the voice on which the variety, force, and harmony of speaking turns. They are the great outlines of Pronunciation.

By the rising and falling inflection of the voice is not meant the pitch in which the whole word is pronounced, or that loudness or softness which may accompany any pitch; but the upward or downward slide which the voice makes, when the pronunciation of a word is finishing: and which may, therefore, not improperly be called the rising and falling inflection.

So important is a just mixture of these two inflections, that the moment they are neglected, our pronunciation becomes forceless and monotonous: if the sense of a sentence require the voice to adopt the rising inflection, on any particular word, either in the middle or at the end of a phrase, variety and harmony demand the falling inflection on one of the preceding words, and, on the other hand, if emphasis, harmony, or a completion of sense, require the falling inflection on any word, the word immediately preceding, almost always, demands the rising inflection; so that these inflections of voice are in an order nearly alternate.

These inflections depend upon the style of the composition or address, for their length. If the composition is to be read in pure voice, unimpassioned style, the inflections are moderately long. If grand, or sublime, or bold, requiring the orotund voice, the inflections will be long. If plaintive, or subdued, requiring the tremor voice, low pitch, or slow time, the inflection will be short.

If we understand the principle of utterence, that inflections alternate, we require to know which leads, and then the following cadence will take care of itself. We can decide which is the leading inflection by applying the following rule:

All complete or positive assertions have the falling inflec tion at the close. All incomplete, or negative sentences have the rising inflection at the close.

Sometimes the principal word, which has the emphasis and the inflection, will not be the closing word in the sentence.

EXAMPLES IN INFLECTIONS.

1. Count 1' 1' 2' 2' 3' 3' 4'

45' 5' 6' 6'.

2. Elements a' a'e' e' i'i

o'o' u' u'.

3. As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dialplate', so the advances we make in knowledge are only perceivable by the distance' gone over.

4. How frightful the grave'! how deserted and drear'! With the howl of the storm-wind the creaks of the bier, And the white bones all clattering' together.

5. How peaceful the grave'! its quiet' how deep'! Its zephyrs breathe calmly'; and soft is its sleep; And flowers perfume it with ether.

6. When oceans roar, or thunders roll',

May thoughts of THY dread vengeance shake my soul'!

7. Begone! run to your houses, fall upon your knees, Pray to the gods to intermit the plagues

That needs must light on this ingratitude'!

8. Can ministers still presume to expect support' in their infatuation'? Can Parliament be so dead to its dignity and its duty, as to give its support to measures thus obtruded and forcéd upon it'?1

CIRCUMFLEX.

The Circumflex is a union of the inflections, and is of two kinds, Rising and Falling. It is governed by the same principle; that is, positive assertions of irony, raillery, etc., will have the falling Circumflex, and all negative assertions of double meaning will have the rising.

Doubt, pity, contrast, grief, supposition, comparison, irony, implication, sneering, raillery, scorn, reproach, and contempt, are expressed by them. Be sure and get the right feeling and thought, and you will find no difficulty in expressing them properly, if you have mastered the voice.

Both these circumflex inflections may be exemplified in the word so, in a speech of the Clown in Shakespeare's "As You Like It."

1. I knew when seven justices could not take up a quarrel; but when the parties were met themselves, one of them thought but of an If; as if you said so, then I said sô. Oh hô! did you say so? So they shook hands and were sworn friends.

1 For further examples in inflection, study the varied selections in the body of the work. Accustom the ear to detect the difference between the inflection of the positive assertion of a fact, and the rising slide of in difference, doubt, or indecision.

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