'Vij'f"v; V'- : V ; J '.L f .' - on ft .- " ; ! 'I L ; ' i PREFACE TO PART I. THIS book is an outgrowth of practical class-room work. It is an effort to strengthen that work by furnish- ing a basis for pursuing elocution as a study. This it attempts to do by giving some definite statement of the principles that govern the mental processes of communi- cation. The design in this tieatment is so to present the sub- ject that the student shall have a definite thing to do each day; shall be able to have a lesson assigned, to prepare that lesson, and to bring into class the results of his work upon it, as definitely as in any other study. Vocal Expression has obvious relations with psychol- ogy and with physiology. Speech occupies the meeting- grnvmd_jj_Jhe rental an d_JJIg__phy&i r,a 1 . The laws of thought as related to utterance might be considered a form of applied psychology; and the action of body and voice in connection with the highest function of a rational being, communication of thought, must be considered one of the noblest and finest departments of physical activity. On both sides its connections, when fully traced, involve much of delicate and painstaking research ; yet its prac- iii IV PREFACE. tical nature and its universal application make many ele- ments of the subject appear so perfectly obvious and commonplace, that it is often found difficult to gain for it that attention which its merits demand. The physical preparation for speech brings with it advantages so apparent that it is scarcely necessary to designate its place in a course of practical training, or invite attention to its aims and to the benefits which it confers. Grace of action, ptirity, ease, fullness and variety of tone,' and the incidental benefits to respiration, circulation, and general physical vigor, all these have of late years been made so familiar to us, and are so pal- pably reasonable, that it has become almost needless to press their claims. Not quite so clear or tangible are the place and claim, of the other branch of the elocutionary art the analysis of thought through tone. /r*m~*~ The expressional analysis here undertaken is designed to supplement rhetorical analysis, forming a sort of cross- plowing and subsoiling of literary and rhetorical study. As it regards literature, the attention is here given to the motive rather than the method, to processes rather than products. A few points may here be suggested as to ways in which this subject may be made a genuine study. First. Principles of analysis and expression must be so distinctly and fully stated and so thoroughly illus- trated that the student shall have firm footing as he pro- PREFACE. V ceecls. This involves careful work on the part of the teacher in presenting each new point. It is assumed that the teacher is an intelligent and syniDathetic reader, a literary interpreter, though lie need not be a great vocal artist. His chief business is to indoctrinate his students in principles of interpretation which shall give them a rational basis for criticism. No " rules " are here imposed. Principles must govern. Second. When the principle in question has been reasonably well apprehended, a lesson should be assigned that will test the student's ability to apply the principle to new cases. As a rule, there should always be required written translations or paraphrases, which shall reveal the logical analysis and the literary or artistic interpre- tation. 'Mere taste or feeling must not be accepted as a standard. These will afterwards come to assert them- selves all the more effectually if at first they are made amenable to reason. In this stage, therefore, there must necessarily be much patient toil on the part of both teacher and student ; for even to those well trained in general principles of language and in formal rhetoric this field of expressional analysis will be essentially a new one. The teacher should often point out, and should encourage students to find, relations between the rhetoric of the voice and that of the page. It will often be found that vocal interpretation is more exact than the forms of expression and interpretation with which the student has previously been familiar. The new point of VI PREFACE. view will often put things in a different light, or in an- other perspective. Principal and subordinate may seem to change places ; inflection and grouping will be found of more importance than punctuation ; transition and proposition will sometimes supersede paragraphing; in- felicities of diction, especially as to euphony and sen- tence-structure, will occasionally reveal themselves, even in the best writings that have not been tested by the ear ; standards of taste will begin to change, or rather will be challenged for their justification; models that have been accepted as faultless by an unquestioning traditionalism may appear less glorious, while subtile beauties may be discovered in fields heretofore over- looked. All these changes require time, patience, and enthu- siasm. It is in this stage of the study that its rational basis is found, and its vital connection with literature and philosophy most plainly indicated. Some minds incline to analysis more than to synthesis ; others are impatient of explanations, and are anxious to realize the artistic results of a method. We must be careful, on the one hand, not to waste time by need- less speculation, and, on the other hand, not to endanger all our future work by hastily laid and insufficient foun- dations. Third. After the principles have come into the stu- dent's possession by this process of independent testing, they must be corroborated, modified, and vitalized by abundant practice. Much longer passages may now be assigned ; lengthy discussions on the given principles have now become needless, and may give place to enlarged application. The examples in Part I. are designed for specific illustration of principles in direct connection with the text; those in Part II., for laboratory material. For theological students and ministers, however, extra mate- rial will be found in the Biblical references appended to most of the chapters in Part I. Students should also find and make many examples. When differences of judgment occur in the treat- ment of passages, they can often be settled, as far as it is possible to settle them, by taking the sense of the class. The teacher must always be ready to give a prompt, and of course an independent, decision ; but it should be understood that his word is a " ruling," rather than a dictation or an ex cathedra deliverance. It is never designed to silence the pupil, but always to enlighten and assist him. Independence of judgment on the part of the student must by all means be en- couraged. Agreement with others, even with the best critics, is not the desideratum for the student. If he does not learn to exercise his own powers of insight and judgment, the study will but enslave him the more to arbitrary standards. No discouragement should be felt if at first the principles seem difficult of applica- tion, or if rulings under them often appear inconsistent. yiii PREFACE. Many points will become clear by repeated exemplifica- tion. Caution needs to be used not to allow a hasty judgment, once taken, to color or neutralize rational considerations that may afterward be adduced. It may be objected that, if there can be no demon- strated or authoritative rendering, which must be ac- cepted, there is no positive teaching. The ready answer is, that in all work which seeks to cultivate the judg- ment, individuality and independence must be sacredly respected. Students will and do appreciate this method of work and this standard of criticism ; and, if carefully watched, it need produce no laxness in the class-room drill. Extempore recitations will not often be attempted ; the difference between a guess and a defensible inde- pendent interpretation soon becomes as apparent as that between an improvised and a prepared translation in any other language. It is supposed that the teacher will have prepared himself on each lesson as he would in any similar study. He will not, however, give his rulings on the basis of his own interpretation alone, but will be prompt in seeing and cordial in accepting any other reasonable and tenable interpretation. This will require, on the part of the teacher, a fullness of knowledge and an alertness of attention that will of themselves do much to impart life and power to the recitation. With classes well prepared in rhetoric and in an elementary course of gesture and vocal culture, the PREFACE. ix work given in this volume may be quite well done in twelve to fo.urteen weeks of daily work. The best place for this study, is, perhaps, in the second year of the college course. It is also well adapted to the first year of a theological course. In the latter case the illustrative material will be more largely drawn from the Bible, which affords the richest and most varied examples of literary expression. It will be found that a review of these principles at a later point, and especially in connection with pri- vate lessons, will often yield to the individual student even more of suggestiveness and help than have been found in the term of study. While, then, it is not for a moment supposed that this analytic study of expression will produce the artis- tic results aimed at in the personal criticism and the more synthetic method of private lessons, it is yet be- lieved that the treatment of the subject herein at- tempted may secure the twofold object of general discipline and immediate practical utility, in connection with the related subjects of rhetoric and literature. It is not to be thought that the work here outlined must be wholly theoretical. The fact that some one ele- ment of expression is the special object of illustration in any given lesson makes the drill only the more in- tensive. It is especially recommended that each topic treated in the text be thus made the basis of practical drill in expression, both by reading and by declaiming x PREFACE. or reciting short extracts. These extracts should be taken either from entire articles or from long selections that have been analyzed by the class, or else from sources perfectly familiar to all. Otherwise there will be no good basis for interpretation or for criticism. For those who desire to become speakers rather than readers, distinctively oratorical passages should largely be chosen. Extempore speaking also should accompany each step. This does not profess to be a special treatise on vocal culture. That subject, however, has not been neglected. The Appendix on Vocal Technique is thought to give as minute and extended directions as will be practical to the ordinary non-professional student. These exer- cises need, of course, to be abundantly illustrated, and thoroughly enforced by constant and protracted drill. Most of the passages quoted throughout the book, in illustration of rhetorical principles, may also be used to enforce the elements of vocal culture. Parts of the chapter on Vocal Technique may be studied before taking up the work as a whole, in order to secure a better basis for drill in voice culture. In that case it should be carefully reviewed when reached in its connection ; and the parts that were at first omitted should now be thoroughly studied, that the student may see the true relations between the physical and the psy- chical. Vocal culture is introduced after expressional PREFACE. xi analysis, in the systematic treatment of expression, for a definite reason. It is believed that the physical side of the work can be studied most profitably after the psychical. This is not a work on orthoepy. The elements of the language are supposed to have been mastered, so far as a student in college needs them; and for the use of teachers there are abundant and valuable works on this subject. . Gesture is not fully treated here. Others have devel- oped, and are developing, that department of the work. Assuming some technical practice on the basis of other text-books, or of instruction accompanied by living ex- ample, this book contents itself with the discussion of Descriptive Gesture given in Part II. On some points fuller explanations have been given, and additional ideas suggested in notes appended to the chapters. Some of these may, at the discretion of the teacher, be used in connection with the main text. In the preparation of such a work many sources of help and inspiration must be acknowledged. The author desires to make special mention of two of his teachers : the late Madame Seiler, whose personal instruction in the singing voice has been of the greatest assistance in formu- lating the technique of speech; and Professor S. S. Curry, Ph.D., of the School of Expression, Boston, whose class-room expositions of the Delsarte philosophy are very helpful, especially in applying the principles of panto. xii PREFACE. mimic training to rhetorical delivery. Mention should also be made of Professor G. L. Raymond's work, entitled The Orator's Manual. The chief inspiration, however, has been drawn from those for whom, especially, this work has been under- taken. The author's students have been his best critics and most efficient helpers. He deems it only just to mention among these Rev. C. K. Swartz and Professor R. H. Stetson, whose thorough scientific, philosophical, and literary training, together with their especial interest in this subject of study, qualified them to render most valu- able assistance by their sympathetic suggestions and, in some cases, careful and detailed criticism. To these gen- tlemen the author's thanks are sincerely and affectionately returned. X It is not supposed that the present edition is free from defects, nor is it thought that the subject has here at- tained a complete and symmetrical, or even a wholly self- consistent, development. The last word on this broad and deep theme of expression will never be uttered. It is hoped, however, that there is here presented a ra- tional, comprehensible, and .fairly consistent method of expressional analysis, which may serve to stimulate more successful study in this most fruitful field. w. B. c. July, 1897. PREFACE TO PART II. IN the preparation of the following pages I have en- deavored to render the usual introduction unnecessary. There remains, therefore, only to acknowledge a debt of which for many years I have desired to make public acknowledgment. To Mr. Alfred Ayres, whose bold attacks upon affecta- tion and artificiality have accomplished more good than, I fear, he will ever receive credit for, I wish to express the deepest gratitude. His writings came to me at a time when I needed them most ; and while we may differ in some details, I yet feel that to him I can look as to the source of my artistic inspiration. The works of Professor George Lansing Raymond, of Princeton University, have been frequently drawn upon in these pages. Professor Raymond deserves the grati- tude of all students of expression, and I take advantage of this opportunity to express my indebtedness to him. To Dr. Richard Green Moulton, of the University of Chicago, I owe a greater debt than I can repay. The in- spiration I have derived from his books, classes, and kindly advice is such that without it I doubt that my share of this work could ever have been written. S. H. C. THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. Different kinds of students require different treatment, but the authors suggest that work begin with such exercises as will be most likely to attract attention and retain inter- est. Hence, except under peculiar circumstances, drills in breathing, articulation, and so forth, should be postponed until a somewhat later period, to be decided upon by the teacher. The work may well begin with the sections on "Earnestness," pages 253 to 272. The following suggestions are the result of the authors' classroom experience, and while many of them may apply equally well to other chapters, it is deemed advisable to introduce them at the outset in the discussion of "Earnest- ness ": N 1. Each student should be required to commit a para- graph under this head, and to render the same with spirit and directness. To train him to impress his thought and feeling upon the audience should be the object of this drill. 2. From six to eight lessons should be devoted to " Earnestness." 3. Students should learn a new extract for at least every other lesson. The first time he recites the teacher should have him understand what is expected and give him a very brief but pointed criticism. At the next session the sfctfdfent should be expected to show some results of this criticism. xv xvi SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. The teacher should refrain from lengthy discussions, other- wise he will not be able to hear every member of his class at 6ach meeting. 4. Teachers should avoid criticism of detail for fear of restricting the pupil, but should not hesitate to correct flagrant errors that might lead to serious faults and man- nerisms. The more advanced the pupil, the more detailed may the criticisms become. 5. Even in large classes (twenty-five should be the limit) an endeavor should be made to -hear each student at each recitation. 6. It is not to.be expected that the object for which the drill in earnestness is given will be attained in a few weeks. Nevertheless it is best to pass on to the next stage before the student finds the work irksome. It is to be borne in mind that earnestness is a feature of subsequent work throughout the course. 7. Drill in vocal culture and in the rudiments of gesture should not begin until the end of the third or fourth week. This postponement is advised on the ground (1) that the student will be more in-terested in speaking from the floor than in mere drill work ; (2) under the impulse derived from the desire to speak, he will be less restricted vocally and gesturally, and hence will more nearly present his true self to the teacher. As a result, when the time arrives for the technical drills, the teacher will be in a better position to prescribe what the pupil most needs. 8. After three or four lessons, attention should be directed to the Introduction, pages 1 to 8, and to "Para- phrasing," pages 10 to 26. Portions of these chapters should be assigned to individual students for extempore dis- cussion before the class. This method has been found very helpful in developing earnestness. Sufficient time should be spent in paraphrasing for expression, especially on the SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. xvii " Subjective" and the "Expansive" paraphrase; because these features will be found absolutely necessary to the best results in all stages of the work. Chapters III, IV and V, of Part I, should next receive attention simultaneously with- the corresponding exercises of Part II, pages 209 to 223. It must be insisted upon that much more time is required to master the practical than the theoretical, and hence the exercises of the second part should not be discontinued until definite, if not the best, results are attained. The study of Chapter VI, together with illustrative matter, pages 224 to 252, should occupy three weeks' at least, although this time is not sufficient for the full mastery of even the theoretical chapter, which should be constantly referred to throughout the rest of the course. Attention is especially directed to the discussion of "The Central Idea," pages 237 and 238. At this stage the chapter on "Transitions," page 396, may be studied to advantage. The section on "Earnestness" has already introduced the student to the study of emotion. It is now advisable to take up the theory in Part I, pages 79 to 98, together with the exercises of Part II, pages 272 to 295. It is profit- able to dwell for some time on this chapter, especially on "Normal" and on "Elevated" feeling; for some of the best results in vocal culture may be attained through such practice as is recommended in those sections. The chapter on "Volition," pages 99 to 115, and the notes accompanying the illustrative matter under this head in Part II, pages 296 to 315, require no enlargement. The chapters of Part I on "The Musical Properties of Speech" and on "Vocal Technique " may be drawn upon during the course of study already outlined, and may also be made the basis of a more advanced course in literary interpretation and artistic rendition. xviii SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. The remaining chapters of Part II should be referred to from time to time after the third or fourth month, as occa- sion requires. The chapter on "Descriptive Gesture " may be used even earlier, not with the expectation of complete mastery, but for its suggestiveness. "Climax " and "Con- trast " should be studied carefully after the student has obtained a good command of the fundamentals. To intro- duce them earlier may be discouraging. It may be stated that the course here outlined should occupy from sixty to seventy hours. It is understood that in those institutions where elocution is taught the classes meet on an average two hours a week during the school year, and our suggestions are made in accordance with that understanding. After this first year the student will study longer extracts. The teacher should offer fuller criticisms and constantly refer him to the chapters of the book deal- ing with those phases wherein the student is weak. It is here that Part I will be most helpful. At the outset many teachers and students are anxious for tangible results, and such are likely to find this part too detailed. But later, when the student has attained a certain degree of power, he will appreciate the necessity of careful, minute study, without which a mastery of the art is impossible. Theological students will find, as a rule, sufficient examples appended to the respective chapters of Part I. CONTENTS OF PART I. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. Thinning, 1 ; Communicating, 2 ; Hearing, 2 ; Elocution defined, 2 ; Rela- tions of Elocution and Rhetoric, 2 ; Suggestiveness of Tone, 3 ; Para- phrasing, 4 ; Cases illustrating the relation between Matter and Manner, 5 ; Requisites of Expression, 5 ; Purpose and Habit, 6 ; Mind and Body, 6; Practicality, 7. NOTES ON CHAPTER I. 1. James on Habit, 8; 2. Shakespeare and Browning on Relation of Mind and Body, 8. CHAPTER II. PARAPHRASING AS A PREPARATION FOR EXPRESSION. Interpretation the end in all expression, 9; Expressional paraphrasing compared with literary paraphrasing, 10; Objective or impersonal para- phrasing, 12 ; Subjective or personal paraphrasing, 12 ; Expansive para- phrasing, 13 ; Elliptical or parenthetical paraphrasing, 16 ; Condensative paraphrasing, 17 ; Prosaic paraphrasing, 19 ; Conscious intention and instinctive use, 21. NOTES ON CHAPTER II. 1. Manner not less important than matter, 23; 2. Example from Clay's speech on Greece, 23; 3. Musical composition analogous to expansive paraphrasing, 23. CHAPTER III. TYPES OF UTTERANCE. Purpose the basis of classification, 27; "Type" defined, 28; Classification with reference to Purpose, 28 ; Formulative, Discriminative, Emotional, and Volitional types described, 28, 29; Final and immediate purposes as governing analysis, 30 ; Sequence of Dominant Moods, 30. NOTE ON CHAPTER III. Bible passages suggested for study of types of utterance, 32. xix xx CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. CASES OF FORMULATION. Introduction as preparation, 34 ; Explanatory introduction, 35 ; Adaptive, 35 ; Conciliatory, 36 ; Incentive, 36 ; Movement in introductory matter, 37 ; Prepositional matter, 37 ; Formal proposition, 37 ; Definitive propo- sition, 38; Logically connected or weighty proposition, 38 ; " Quantity " in prepositional utterance, 39 ; Transition, 39. NOTES ON CHAPTER IV. 1. Suggestions for further study, 40; 2. Bible passages for classification and study, 40. CHAPTER V. GROUPING. Necessity, 42; Principle, 42; Heiidiadys, 43; Kinds of Pauses, 43; gram- matical, elliptical, prosodial, 42, 43. NOTES ON CHAPTER V. 1. Punctuation and grouping; a passage for experiment, 44 ; 2. Remarks on the reading of poetry, 45; 3. Rhythmic grouping in prose, 46; 4. Bible passages for study of various kinds of grouping and pauses, 46 ; 5. Scriptural passages, 47. CHAPTER VI. DISCRIMINATION . Compared with Formulation, 49 ; Relations of facts and ideas, 49 ; Inflec- tion, 50 ; Completeness and Incompleteness, 50 ; Assumption and Asser- tion, 66 ; Complex Relations, 70. NOTES ON CHAPTER VI. 1. A case of momentary completeness, 74; 2. Diagram showing degrees of pitch in rising inflections, 75 ; 3. How to decide when to assume and when to assert, 75; 4. "Assertion" technical use further explained, 75; 5. Continuative falling slide, 75 ; 6. Circumflex for comparison vs. circumflex for contrast, 76; 7. Bible passages suggested for discrimina- tive analysis, 76. CHAPTER VII. Relations of Emotion. 79; Means of expressior, 80: Normal feeling, 81; Pure tone, 82; Enlarged or deepened feeli ig, 83; Aspirated tone, 87; Oppressed or covered feeling, 88; Pectora; tone, 90; Stern or severe feeling, 90 ; Rigid or tense voice, 91 ; Agituted feeling, 93 ; Tremulous voice, 94. CONTENTS. xxi NOTES ON CHAPTER VII. 1. The purpose in the study of emotion, 97; 2. Suggestions for further study, 97 ; 3. Bible passages giving different kinds of feeling, 98. CHAPTER VIII VOLITION. Volitional paraphrasing, 99 ; Abrupt volition, 102 ; Initial stress, 104 ; Insist- ent volition, 104; Final stress, 107; Uplifting volition, 107; Median stress, 109; Mixed types, 110; Establishment, Violence, 110-112. NOTES ON CHAPTER VIII. 1. A final word of the Study of Volition, 114; 2. Bible passages giving different kinds of volitionality, 115. CHAPTER IX. MUSICAL PROPERTIES OF SPEECH. Movement, or Tempo, 117; Rhythm, poetic, prosaic, 121-125; Keys, 139; Melody, 142 ; Intervals, 143 ; Special tone-qualities, 146. NOTES ON CHAPTER IX. 1. "Euphony" and "harmony" in literary style compared with tone- color in speech, 157; 2. Bible passages illustrating movement, 158; 3. Hymns illustrating different kinds of poetic rhythm and substitu- tions of feet, 158; 4. Prose-rhythm, 159; 5. Change of key, 159; 6. Spe- cial qualities, or tone-color, 159. CHAPTER X. CRITICISM. Two kinds, 161; Individuality in reading and speaking, 162; Objective properties of delivery, 164; Subjective properties, 164; Purpose and paraphrase, 165. APPENDIX. VOCAL TECHNIQUE. Naturalness in speech, 168 ; Table of Vocal Exercises, 170-171 ; Functions and training of Chest, 172; Throat, 185; Jaw, 188; Tongue, 191; Oral Cavity, 192 ; Vocal Chords, 194 ; Articulating Organs, 197 ; Abdominal Muscles, 201 ; Summary, 206. CONTENTS OF PAET II. V CHAPTER I. STUDIES IN FORMULATION. Time, 209; Grouping, 216. CHAPTER II. STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. Completeness, Finality, Momentary Completeness, 224 ; Grammatical and Formal Incompleteness, Subordination, 226 ; Anticipation, 227 ; Implied Incompleteness, Negative Statement, Non-Affirmative Statement, 230; Doubt, 231 ; Interrogation Direct, 232 ; Supplication or Entreaty, Com- plex Relations, Comparison or Contrast, with Affirmation, 233; Com- parison or Contrast, with Incompleteness, Affirmation with Incomplete- ness, 234; The Central Idea, 237; Subordination, 247. CHAPTER III. STUDIES IN EMOTION. Earnestness, 253; Personation, 259; Normal Feeling, 272; Elevated Feel- ing, 276; Suppressed Feeling, 285; Stern, Severe, or Harsir Feeling, 287 ; Oppressed or Covered Feeling, 291 ; Agitated Feeling, 293. CHAPTER IV. STUDIES IN VOLITION. Energy of Abruptness, 296; Energy of Insistence, 304; Energy of Uplift, 309; Energy of Establishment, 313; Energy of Violence, 314. CHAPTER V. RECITATION AS ART 316 CHAPTER VI. THE RELATION OF LITERATURE TO RECITATION. Unity, 326 ; Principality, 331 ; Sub^rdlnatIon7-882T^f ovement, 336. xxii CONTENTS OF PART II. xxui CHAPTER VII. STUDIES IN PRINCIPALITY AND SUBORDINATION. ~~ * \/ Principality, 338 ; Subordination, 341 ; Note to Chapter VII., 342. i CHAPTER VIII. ATMOSPHERE 344 CHAPTER IX. CONTRAST 359 CHAPTER X. CLIMAX. Climax, 368; Gradation, 372. CHAPTER XI. INTERLUDE AND REPETITION. Diversion, or Interlude, 378 ; Repetition, 380. CHAPTER XII. TONE-COLOR 385 13oTES TO CHAPTER XII 393-395 CHAPTER XIII. TRANSITIONS 396 CHAPTER XIV. EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. Analysis of King Robert of Sicily, 415 ; Analysis of Mark Antony's Funeral Oration, 432. CHAPTER XV. DESCRIPTIVE GESTURE 452 CHAPTER XVI. PREPARATION OF RECITATIONS 468 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. RELATIONS OF VOCAL EXPRESSION TO PSYCHOLOGY AND RHETORIC, AND TO PHYSIOLOGY. Analysis. 1 Delivery is not a substitute for thought. Not en- tertainment, but the manifestation of thought-process, is the end to be sought. This end is attained by careful meas- urement of thought, both in its intrinsic properties and in its personal relations. Thought is viewed as in process of communication, and adapted to reception by the ear. Elocution is a study of thought-processes in their relation to utterance. Its connection with Rhetoric. Vocal Ex- pression is affected by and affects structure of sentences. Suggestiveness through symbolism of tone. Tone adds real meaning to spoken words ; suggests comparison ; inverts ; conveys emotionality. Tone effects are chiefly intuitive. Paraphrasing reveals accompanying mental pro- cesses. Relation between matter and manner is shown in conversation, in oral recitation, in legal testimony, in pop- ular address. Requisites for full expression are, a dis- position to communicate and open channels. Culture of habits. Interaction of psychical and physical. The train- ing is two-fold. Practical results are tested through criticism by a sensitive ear and a refined literary taste. Thinking. Elocution, or Oral Expression, presupposes some thought to be expressed. Delivery does not make 1 The analysis preceding each chapter is designed for both preview and review. The student will usually find it a help toward fixing in mind the contents of the chapter, 1 2 PRINCIPLED OF\Y$CAL EXPRESSION. thought, nor in any sense supply its place. Those enter- tainments which consist of a display of voice and gesture do not belong to that which is of first interest to thinking men with something to say. Agreeable sounds and com- binations of sounds are not the end in speech, even in the sense in which they may be such in music. Neither amusement nor aesthetic satisfaction meets the require- ments of rhetorical delivery. Communicating. Elocution views the thought as be- ing in the process of communication. In order to be com- municated, it must first be formulated in the mind of the thinker: i.e., prepared for statement, with regard always (a) to the intrinsic properties and relations of the sub- ject-matter ; (b) to the speaker's personal relation to the subject-matter, occasion, and audience ; and (c?) to his pur 5 pose to produce a given effect upon the minds addressed. It is a matter of judgment and of adaptation of means to end. Hearing. Vocal Expression regards the thought as addressed to the ear ; hence it employs as its media all the varied properties of tone through which the human mind can reveal itself, giving a wider range of means than writ- ing all that writing can give and much more. Definition. ^-Elocution, ^heri^ift-theHbest -sense, is the study of thought-processes in their relation to utterance. Rhetoric and Elocution. Observe two general ways in which vocalized thought differs from written thought. These will give a better notion of the relation between elocution and rhetoric. 1. Structure. Vocal Expression often demands a much simpler structure than writing. The listener is largely dependent upon the delivery ; and complexity of RELATIONS TO PSYCHOLOGY. 3 structure renders the reception more difficult. The study of Vocal Expression naturally favors a simple, conversa- tional style of composition. There are, indeed, great dangers connected with the "off-hand" style, dangers which a habit of careful writ- ing will avert. All that is claimed here is that the lim- ited receiving capacity of the ear reacts favorably upon the thinking, demanding clearness, conciseness, directness, logical sequence. If, on the other hand, the subject necessitates complicated thinking, delivery can manifest this by many means, such as grouping of words, sub- ordination of phrases and clauses, significant intonation, and variations in the rate of utterance. Good elocution will often thus compensate for an involved style of writ- ing. 2. Suggestiveness. Parts of the thought may be im- plied and virtually incorporated by the tones of the voice. This second effect is obtained chiefly by variations of inflection. The tones thus assist both in the interpreta- tion of what we hear, and in conveying fuller meaning when we speak. A few obvious cases are the follow- ing :- (a) Something added to the meaning of the words. A person quoting some strong utterance will often supply a part of the thought which, in the original utterance, was only implied by the intonation ; thus, " Beware the Ides of March." (For, Csesar, thy fate awaits thee then.) "My blessing season this in thee." (These are but words upon your ear, Laertes, but your father's admonition and affection are contained in them ; time and experience will justify them to your own thought.) (/>) The force of the words may be weakened, as in 4 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. rendering a compliment tardily or indifferently; thus, " He spoke very well " (considering). (c) The tone may suggest comparison, as, " This is my view" (I don't know what you think). (d) The meaning of the words may be actually inverted \ by the tone, as in irony. "They are honorable men." (The last time Antony uses the expression in the funeral oration, Julius Ccesar, III. ii.) (i) The tone may imply an emotional significance, as "Do not leave me here ! " (Oh, can't you stay with me?) We thus add to our conception of the subject-matter as contained in the words some estimate of the speaker's personal relation to the matter and to his listener. This significance, which we thus attach to tones, is fo T the most part recognized intuitively. There is also, per- haps, a small percentage of effect resulting from meanings which men have conventionally agreed upon. However 1 derived, these effects of tone are real parts of the thought. Such additions, direct and parenthetical, if written in full \ would quite swamp the thought of any ordinarily sugges- tive paragraph. In a reasonably expressive style of speech, as many words will be implied, on an average, as are spoken. These implied additional words impart to those spoken a fullness of significance which can scarcely be realized in any other way. Paraphrasing. The measurement of these mental pro- cesses, and the noting of them in suggestive hints accom- panying the text, constitute paraphrasing for the purposes of expression, which will be developed in connection with many parts of this book. RELATIONS TO PYSCHOLOGY. CASES ILLUSTRATING THE RELATION BETWEEN MATTER AND MANNER. (1) The most obvious proof of the vital connection between matter and manner is found in the familiar fact that we ordinarily feel satisfied as to a person's real mean- ing only after conversing with him. (2) An oral recitation, if freed from embarrassment and other disturbing influences, will give the most satisfac- tory exhibition of a student's knowledge of the subject. (3) In an important law-case the manner of the wit- ness is a factor in determining his fitness to testify and the accuracy of his knowledge. (4) Many a popular lecture, address, or sermon would lose a very large portion of its significance by being printed; and yet the speaking of it is not an illusion or a cheap device. Presence and voice give a real, and in many cases an essential, part of the thought. With all reverence, we may refer to the Perfect Teacher. He left no written treatise, nor ever, so far as we know, read a lecture or a sermon. He made the great addition to the written law by personal intercourse with men. Requisites. In order to have free and full expression, two things are necessary. 1-. One must have something to say, and have the dis- position to communicate. 2. The channels of expression must be so prepared that a minimum of energy shall be expended in the mere means of communication. The first requisite sustains an intimate relation with the second. The relation is one of mutual assistance, of 6 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. interdependence. It is as true that the opening of the channels for communication affects the thought that shall be uttered, as it is true that the thought in the mind pro- vides a way for such utterance. Purpose and Habit. The capability of forming habits with definite purpose to utilize the habitual action, is one of the distinguishing powers of man. And the cultivation of those conditions and habits from which desired action shall proceed spontaneously, is the end in the larger part of all the physical exercises connected with the prepara- tion for speech, isee NOTE i.j Broadly speaking, then, every movement of the body, whether directly volitional or only habitual, is domi- nated by the purposes of the mind. On the other hand, physical habits once induced, greatly affect the action of the mind itself; hence the vast importance of correct physical habits, even in the light of purely intellectual activity and achievement. Mind and body so react upon each other, that we may not say, This part is only physi- cal ; that, simply mental. Each throb of feeling, though its cause be only spiritual, moves sensibly some portion of the physical frame. It shows itself in quickened pulse, in heated brain, or starting perspiration, or contracting muscle. [NOTE 2.] Mind and Body. A twofold training of the man is thus contemplated in the study of Oral Expression. It includes (a) the measurement of thought as in process of communication, or the analysis of the expressional ele- ments of thought; (6) the mastery of the physical means of expression. Both of these the mental and the physi- cal training together constitute the technique of expres- sion. RELATIONS TO PSYCHOLOGY. 7 The relation of the two elements in this technical de- velopment will appear as we proceed in the study. Let it here suffice to say that the mental must lead. Judg- ments must be made first; and, secondly, we must find what properties of tone and action naturally fit and rep- resent these processes of thinking. And yet these two departments are not separated, nor is either of them made matter of mere mechanical analysis or dissection. The physical and the mental elements of technique are continually interwoven in the processes of actual expres- sion. [NOTE 3.] This book is concerned more especially with what may be called mental technique, or the mental side of tech- nique. In this, as in all technical development, the true object is the establishment of normal conditions, out of which rational expression shall come with spontaneity, ease, and precision, because both mind and body are work- ing most economically ; that is, in conformity with ascer- tained laws of nature. Natural habits, both physical and mental, once started, tend to acceleration ; and they move on with a self-devel- oping momentum. Practicality. All work with an artistic aim finds its ultimate justification in practical use ; and this will be fully tested only by thorough criticism. Many of the di- visions and subdivisions made in the expressional analysis may at first seem to be more nice than wise. Experience has proved, however, that the theoretical discriminations are not more minute than are the corresponding properties of tone which are demanded by a sensitive ear and a re- fined literary taste. PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. NOTES ON CHAPTER I. NOTE l. The student will do well to read at this point Professor James's discussion of "Habit" in his Psychology, Briefer Course, Chapter 10. The physical basis of habit in its practical effects and psychological importance is in nothing more. essential and vital than in the study of Expression and the formation of the technique of utterance. NOTE 2. The world's great poet has said: And when the mind is quicken'd, out of doubt, The organs, though defunct and dead before, Break up their drowsy grave, and newly move With casted slough and fresh legerity. SHAKESPEARE, Hen. F., I. NOTE 3. What is he but a brute Whose flesh hath soul to suit, Whose spirit works lest arms and legs want play ? To man, propose this test, Thy body at its best, How far can that project its soul on its lonely wa^ ?,+ Let us not always say, " Spite of this flesh to-day I strove, made head, gained ground upon the As the bird wings and sings, Let us cry, "All good things Are ours; nor soul helps flesh more, now, than flesh helps soul." BROWNING, Rabbi Ben Ezra. CHAPTER II. PARAPHRASING AS A PREPARATION FOR EXPRESSION. Analysis. Interpretation is the end in all expression. A kind of translation ; Expressional paraphrase adds im- plied comments, and compels absorption of thought; A disciplinary study ; Serves to make thought clearer Ob- jective ; and to reveal speaker's attitude toward the thought Subjective ; Objective gives fuller content, Subjective manifests the intent ; Expansive paraphrase amplifies the thought ; Elliptical or parenthetical paraphrase shows im- plied connected matter ; Condensative paraphrase abridges, giving salient points, and preventing the dissipation of atten- tion ; Prosaic paraphrase assists in sharpening intellectual impressions dulled by conventional renderings, and obscured by poetic diction ; No antagonism between instinct and rea- son ; Expressional paraphrase brings to consciousness for a time i,L >se thought-processes which are present in fresh, su^o-estive speech; it cultivates the instinct for expres- si- Ii -ti^ Cation is the true purpose in all jsxpressive readirqr. This word "read," in its original significance, indicates translation. All attempts at interpretation rest upon the essential principle of translating or carrying over into one's own realm of experience, observation, and coniv munication, things that are found in some less familiar realm. When ideas or thoughts are translated into language other than those in which they are originally found, the process is called literary paraphrasing ; when translated into bearing, attitude, and gesture, the process might be 10 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. called pantomimic paraphrasing : translation into tone becomes vocal paraphrasing, or vocal expression. Expressional paraphrase should include all the essen- tial elements of literary paraphrase, and should add such comments as will reveal the author's purpose in the utter- ance, and the relations of the speaker or reader to the thought, to the occasion, and to the audience. That is, expressional paraphrase adds to the words the personal, subjective elements of thought, or the effect of the reader's personality. This process of paraphrasing, broadly treated, constitutes a large part of the general mental preparation for expressive utterance. It should accompany the analy- sis by types or moods, and should be employed freely, even before the different moods of utterance are taken up in detail. Some of its connections with the various processes of formal rhetoric may be noted. It will largely employ syn- onyms, but not directly for the purpose of technical study of words ; synonymous expressions will be employed, both to test the student's grasp of the thought and to compel an absorption of the thought. Paraphrasing in its more prominent application will be found similar and sup- plemental to some of the fundamental processes of com- position and analysis. Thus, condensative paraphrasing corresponds to outlining and paragraphing, and the test- ing of the unity of thought. Expansive paraphrase, or the expansion of the thought, is a practical application of the process of amplification, though much more rapid and economical. Elliptical paraphrasing is one of the finest practical tests for the property of suggestiveness, which is one of the most important factors in all rhetori- cal problems. PARAPHRASING FOR EXPRESSION. 11 As a disciplinary study, pursued in this way, its value is certainly not second to that of ordinary rhetoric. It is superior in so far as it demands the practical application, and ultimately the spontaneous assimilation, of rhetorical principles. Purpose. The most economical way of testing the use of words, especially as to the intonation they shall receive, is to state to one's own mind explicitly and definitely the purpose with which he speaks. This principle, applied broadly, as to the motive or end in a sermon or platform address as a whole, would be t^uite obvious. It is not quite so clear when applied to the shorter portions of speech. In regard to these, it is often assumed that the expression must be unconscious. To choose means of expression as to movement, inflec- tion, etc., by arbitrary standards, or by imitation, would surely result in stiffness, shallowness, and affectation in delivery. The utterance always must be the reader's or speaker's own measurement of the thought. To secure this individual, independent interpretation, and to insure a fresh realization, at the moment, of the significance and bearings of what one is saying this is to prepare for genuine expression. And for this nothing is a greater help than an expressional paraphrase. [NOTE 1.3 In connection with each of the types of utterance, we shall apply this principle of paraphrase. Two reasons may justify such changes in the words : - tion, the thought contained in the words from the personality of the speaker. (2) To show more fully the speaker's attitude and rela- tion toward the thing said or toward the person addressed. 12 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. The first of these two purposes will give rise to what we may call objective paraphrasing; the second will occa- sion that which is subjective. Objective or Impersonal Paraphrasing. The objective is more explanatory, more intellective, dealing more with the reason of the case, and less with any emotion or en- thusiasm in the utterance. In the following passage Brutus is represented as ex- panding the thought of the first clause in a soliloquy which very coolly reasons upon' the proposed death of his friend Caesar, setting forth to his own mind causes, conditions, and results. This is almost a typical case of objective expansion made by the poet himself. . In many cases similar amplification must be mentally made by the reader or speaker in order to realize the full force of a brief condensed sentence. Objective paraphrasing gives the fuller content of the thought. BRUTUS. It must be by his death : and, for my part, I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general. He would be crown'd: How that might change his nature, there's the question. It is the bright day that brings forth the adder; And that craves wary walking. Crown him? that; And then, I grant, we put a sting in him, That at his will he may do danger with. Julius Ccesar, II. i. Subjective or Personal Paraphrasing. - - This is such comment, explanation, or accompaniment as reveals the intent of the speaker. Take a sentence like the above : "It must be by his death." One may assume on the part of the speaker an attitude of query, doubt, hesi- tation ; and this interpretation may be expressed in an FOR fiXPRfiSSlON. 13 expansion which shall distinctively emphasize that mental state. For example, Must it be? No, I cannot bear to think of it ! He is my friend. Yet I must face it, for he is my country's enemy. He has no grievous personal fault, but he is dangerous to the State. Yet, can I be sure that his death is the only means of safety? I cannot tell. Or, in the same words, assume a clear discrimination between his death and the death of some other, or between the death of Caesar and his recognition as emperor. Again, assume the interpretation of decision, emphasizing " must," and expand somewhat as follows, We have hesitated long enough. We have already incurred more danger than we ought. As Romans, we must rouse ourselves and meet the emergency. Let us be prompt, decided, bold ! Let us do our duty. And still other interpretations might be as- sumed, which, in order to be justified to the speaker's own mind, would need to be paraphrased chiefly by expan- sion in such a way as to bring out the speaker's personal relation to the thought. Expansive Paraphrasing. According to the laws of rhetorical amplification, a brief, compact expression may be made to seem more real by dwelling on it for a mo- ment. But a manufactured slowness is far from being a suggestive deliberateness. In order to make a slow deliv- ery truly amplify the thought, the speaker must actually have in his own mind those considerations, added facts, reflections, allusions, etc., which he wishes to hint to his hearers. The listener may not, indeed, receive precisely the same accompanying thoughts that the speaker has in mind, but "like will beget like." Either the same thoughts or others as good in the same line will be sug- gested to the sympathetic listener, provided a sensitive 14 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. and trained soul, logical, imaginative, and emotional, is allowed to play upon a flexible and sensitive voice. " To be, or not to be," in the marvelous soliloquy of Hamlet, is thus expanded through the thirty lines that follow : To be, or not to be, that is the question : Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them ? To die, to sleep, No more ; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep ! perchance to dream ! ay, there's the rub ; Thus conscience does make cowards of us all ; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought ; And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. Hamlet, III. i. Now, the act of mentally, silently, recalling all these accompanying thoughts, and so expanding the compact expression, enables one to put into the brief uttered words that significance which logically and rightfully belongs to them, without an affected or mechanical slow- ness. The slow rate becomes truly suggestive and eco- nomical. See examples of this in Psalm cxxxix. Here we have fine cases both of the anticipative and of the conclusive or retrospective expansion. The first verse of the Psalm evidently implies the thoughts which are expanded in the following five verses : PARAPHRASING FOR EXPRESSION. 15 1. O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2. Thou knovvest my downsitting and mine uprising ; thou under- standest my thought afar off. 3. Thou compassest my path and njy lying down, and art ac- quainted with all my ways. 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. C. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me ; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Now observe the retrospective expansion in the last two verses of this Psalm : - 23. Search me, O God, and know my heart : try me, and know my thoughts. 24. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. During the utterance of these closing words, the intel- ligent, genuine reader must have in his mind some such reflective expansion of the thought as this, Thou Omnis- cient, Omnipresent One, who takest account of my every act, and notest every purpose and imagination of this heart, thy marvelous creation, thou knowest that, while I sincerely hate all evil ways, I may myself be false and erring. Oh, seek out the lurking sin within me, bring it plainly before me, let me forsake it, and go with thee in ways of safety, peace, and life forevermore ! This is called an expansive paraphrase, because it really does expand or unfold more fully the meaning which is condensed into the words. Its vocal symbol will consist in a slow rate, with pauses well marked, but not abrupt ; and full quantity, which Avill be saved from becoming mere prolongation of sound by the subtle, sympathetic, 16 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. suggestive quality imparted by the reflections and com- ments that momentarily fill the mind. Take these two lines from Longfellow's Hiawatha : "O the long and dreary Winter I" Paraphrase objectively. "O the cold and cruel Winter!" Paraphrase subjectively. In such cases a sensitive prolongation of the words will be indispensable to the full utterance. [NOTE 2.] Elliptical or Parenthetical Paraphrasing. This differs from the expansive in that.it supplies suggested and re- lated matter connected with the text, rather than unfolds ideas plainly enwrapped in it. Expansion unfolds what is infolded. It spreads out what is compact or condensed, but what is really contained in the passage. Ellipsis, on the other hand, suggests what may be received with the thought. It verges more upon the mood of discrimina- tion. Its vocal expression will employ the rhetorical pause, rather than grammatical pause and quantity. With the pause there will also be some suggestive inflection, or intonation. This will be plainer after the study of dis- crimination, but must be somewhat anticipated here. Take these sentences from Elaine's Eulogy of G-arfield, and expand them elliptically : " Not alone for the one short moment in which, stunned and dazed, he could give up life, hardly aware of its relinquishment, but through days of deadly languor, through weeks of agony, that was not less agony because silently borne, with clear sight and calm courage, he looked into his open grave. " Gently, silently, the love of a great nation bore the pale sufferer to the longed-for healing of the sea, to live or to die, as God should will, within sight of its heaving billows, within sound of its mani- PARAPHRASING FOR EXPRESSION. 17 fold voices. With wan, fevered face tenderly lifted to the cooling breeze, he looked out wistfully upon the ocean's changing wonders ; on its far sails, whitening in the morning light ; on its restless waves, rolling shoreward to break and die beneath the noonday sun ; on the red clouds of evening arching low to the horizon ; on the serene and shining pathway to the stars. Let us think that his dying eyes read a mystic meaning which only the rapt and parting soul may know. Let us believe that in the silence of the receding world he heard the great waves breaking on a further shore, and felt already upon his wasted brow the breath of the eternal morning." Condensative Paraphrasing. In this the purpose is the opposite of that in expansive paraphrasing. The de- sign here is to abridge the expression for the purpose of grasping its salient points. This prevents the attention from being scattered by the great number of words, or of subordinate clauses, often necessary to the full writing of the thought. The condensing may be done either by sifting out a few of the words employed by the author, or by substituting some briefer expression equivalent in sense. Short and simple examples of this would be such cases as the following, John ix. 14 : " Now it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes." Here the words u made the clay, and opened his eyes " are simply equivalent to ; did this ; the thing done being explicitly stated before. So in the twenty-fourth verse of the same chapter: " So they called a second time the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give glory to God : we know that this man is a sinner." The words " the man that was blind " are equivalent to ; him. In the second chapter of Romans, verses 2-16 will be more intelligently read by first condensing the whole thought into a brief sentence or two, thus, Canst thou 18 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. justify thyself before God, who will at last award to every man his true deserts ? Now, it is not at all meant that this condensative paraphrasing should antagonize the idea of the expansive ; the two are complemental parts of the same process. By as much as the brief, condensed expression enables one better to grasp the thought as a whole, by so much is he the better prepared to expand without losing the unity of the thought. Take this passage from Julius Ccesar : I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, As well as I do know your outward favor. Well, honor is the subject of my story. I cannot tell what you and other men Think of this life; but, for my single self, I had as lief not be as live to be In awe of such a thing as I myself. I was born free as Caesar; so were you: We both have fed as well; and we can both Endure the winter's cold as well as he: And this man Is now become a god ; and Cassius is A wretched creature, and must bend his body, If Caesar carelessly but nod on him. Ye gods, it doth amaze me, A man of such a feeble temper should So get the start of the majestic world, And bear the palm alone. Julius Ccesar, I. ii. The speech as a whole may be better understood by first condensing its principal thought into some single sen- tence, as, Is it not absurd that so weak a man as Csesar should lord it over you and me ? This will leave the PARAPHRASING FOR EXPRESSION. 19 mind at liberty to notice every suggested idea in the full mental amplification, without losing sight of the central purpose for which Cassius speaks. At this point the student should practice for several lessons making condensative paraphrases of strong pas- sages. Take, for example, scenes from Shakespeare, and condense long speeches into a line or two. Take orations, essays, descriptions, criticisms, in short, any good ma- terial used for ordinary literary or rhetorical analysis, and condense the thought of each paragraph into a single sentence. This condensative paraphrasing for vocal ex- pression is the counterpart of the testing of rhetorical unity in the paragraph. The reduction to a single sen- tence should, however, not be a mere abstract of the thought as given, but should be the reader's measurement of the aim and purpose in that thought. For this purpose those selections will be the best which reveal something of the personality of the writer, and which contain a real human interest. No text-book will afford so many rich examples for this work as the Bible. Condense the para- graphs of the Sermon on the Mount, those of Luke xv., of John iii. and iv., of Rom. viii., of 1 Cor. xv., almost any of the Psalms, many passages in the Prophets, many in the narrative portions of the Old Testament. Prosaic Paraphrasing. In this, the purpose is to re- duce poetry to prose as nearly equivalent in meaning as possible. It serves to correct the cantish, sing-song style so prevalent in the reading of poetry ; and, deeper than this, to regain the impression, which the poetic form, especially in familiar selections, is likely somewhat to dull. The student need not be disturbed by the fact that the 20 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. paraphrase will often be intrinsically inferior to the poetry. This temporary loss will be far more than balanced by the permanent gain realized by compelling one's mind to analyze the thought, and so to receive a fresher and more vivid impression. The translation, here offered, of Tennyson's Bugle Song is one of a number of possible interpretations. It is helpful to the reader to adopt some definite, self-con- sistent interpretation that will open to his own mind the depth and beauty of the poem. To assume to offer as an equivalent any paraphrase one might make, would of course be an affront, not only to the author, but, as well, to every appreciative reader ; to prepare one's own mind more fully to express Tenny- son's words, by thus first bringing them down to the read- er's own level, is quite another thing. " The splendor falls on castle- walls And snowy summits old in story : The long light shakes across the lakes, And the wild cataract leaps in glory. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Blow, bugle ; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. O hark, O hear ! how thin and clear, And thinner, clearer, farther going ! O sweet and far from cliff and scar The horns of Elfland faintly blowing ! Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying : Blow, bugle ; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. O love, they die in yon rich sky, They faint on hill or field or river; Our echoes roll from soul to soul, And grow forever and forever. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying." PARAPHRASING FOR EXPRESSION. 21 The mellow, brilliant light now glorifies the turrets and arches cf yon ancient fortress, and tints the historic peaks of the hoary moun- tains towering above us. The westering sun sends slanting rays, which shimmer on the water ; and the free, glad stream, rejoicing in the fullness of its life, gives itself to its destined course with confi- dent abandon, throwing out its glorious torrents resplendent in the smile of heaven. And while we gaze, hark to that floating strain of melody! Oh, let the bugle tones awake the echoes from hill and valley ! Listen ! how the sounds grow fainter, fainter, but still mu- sical, and liiigeringly sweet ! Hark again ! how thrillingly resonant, and yet how airy and dreamlike, as it seems to leave us, throw- ing back its soft " good-bye ! " How transporting come those en- chanting melodies, refined from all the noises of the earth below, and, like the airy peaks that buoyantly re-echo them, upraising fancy to ideal heights, where spirit dwells, unmixed with baser mat- ter ! Let these sprite voices once again remind us of that higher spirit-life whose peaks of pure affection reach, as these hill-tops do, far into heaven. My love, these mellow sounds, and those rich colors in our sky, stay but a moment ; we turn our ear to catch the last reverberation, and it sounds no more ; we search the purpling sky for those bright tints we saw but now they gleam no longer. Not like them is our love. It only swells the fuller, as chord awakens answering chord in our responsive souls. There is no tendency in love-tones to grow feeble, nor in love-lighted skies to pale and darken. The song of love is but enhanced with each reverberation, and so its volume and its sweetness shall increase to all eternity. Then let the glad-voiced horn once more sound forth the notes that feebly tell our spirits' quivering, trembling, yet exultant joy; and as its tones, reflected, die away, let our souls repeat, yet once again, that truer spirit-song, whose echoes never cease. [NOTE 3.3 Conscious Intention and Instinctive Use. A passage, or a form of words, long familiar to one, ceases to have for him the freshness of a lately discovered truth; the habit of freely paraphrasing necessitates that freshness and vividness of impression which is indispensable to a 22 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. genuine delivery. It forms that part of elocutionary train ing which is most closely connected with what we call the instinct for expression. When we speak of the ex- pressional instinct or the logical instinct, the discrimina- tive instinct or the imaginative instinct, we do not, of course, mean that man speaks blindly or unintentionally. Our human instincts are regulated by reason. To say that a man has done a thing unthinkingly is not to say that he has done it accidentally, or in accordance with no law. The purpose in all training for expression, as in every other department of education, is to subordinate automatic action to genuine purpose or intention. The fact that most of our daily acts are performed automati- cally simply emphasizes the truth that the human mind is capable of a great mastery over itself and the delicate machinery which it operates. Professor James says: - There is no material antagonism between instinct and reason. Though the animal richest in reason is also the animal richest in instinctive impulses too, he never seems the fatal automaton which a merely instinctive animal must be. Psychology, Briefer Course, p. 398. The end of expressional paraphrasing is, therefore, to bring to consciousness for a time those thought-processes which must be present in vivid, fresh, suggestive vocal interpretation. By making these thought-processes, tem- porarily, a matter of conscious attention, and even of minute analysis, we become able to regulate, diversify, and enrich the instinct for expression. PARAPHRASING FOR EXPRESSION. 23 NOTES ON EXPKESSIONAL PARAPHRASING. NOTE 1. It is acknowledged scholarship to choose words definitely and pur- posely, even though such painstaking choice should retard, for the time, the spontaneous " flow " which should characterize good writing. Is it any less disciplinary or any less useful to choose the manner of uttering words? Not only is it true that "manner is matter ;" it is also true that very often manner is much more important than matter ; i.e., it makes much more difference how one speaks than what one speaks. NOTE 2. The following passage from Clay is a notable example of expansion on the ideas contained in "Lord and Savior," and "United States." What the orator here uttered in words might often, perhaps ordinarily, be held in thought, as a mental expansion, a subjective, inward com- ment, giving color and significance to the fewer words : " What appearance, sir, on the page of history, would a record like this make : ' In the month of January, in the year of our Lord and Savior, 1824, while all European Christendom beheld, with cold, un- feeling apathy, the unexampled wrongs and inexpressible misery of Christian Greece, a proposition was made in the Congress of the United States almost the sole, the last, the greatest repository of human hope and human freedom, the representatives of a nation capable of bringing into the field a million of bayonets while the free men of that nation were spontaneously expressing its deep-toned feeling, its fervent prayer, for Grecian success ; while the whole continent was ris- ing, by one simultaneous motion, solemnly and anxiously supplicating and invoking the aid of heaven to spare Greece, and to invigorate her arms; while temples and senate-houses were all resounding with one burst of generous sympathy ; in the year of our Lord and Savior that Savior alike of Christian Greece and of us a proposition was offered in the American Congress to send a messenger to Greece to inquire into her state and condition, with expression of our good wishes and our sympathies, and it was rejected !' ' NOTE 3. The musical setting of a deep and beautiful thought affords an in- stance of expansive paraphrasing which may well illustrate the general principle. In this connection, indeed, it is something more than illus- tration ; it is really a finer and more elaborated application of the same 24 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. principle. It is, moreover, a use of paraphrasing that appeals to the consciousness of most thoughtful people. We may legitimately borrow the suggestion from the twin art of musical expression. Let us take an example. The Golden Legend, by Longfellow, affords a good case. It is a simple story in its plot. A prince is stricken with a dread disease, which is pronounced ''not to be cured, yet not incurable." . . . ' The only remedy that remains, Is the hlood that flows from a maiden's veins, Who of her own free will shall die, And give her life as the price of yours." In a pious peasant's home in the forest, whither the prince has be- taken himself to suffer in seclusion, is found a maiden so self-forgetful and so generous that she is willing to give her life for that of the prince. Such is the prose of the pretty story; such is the bare situation, which is not even fact. And yet there is a fact, or rather a truth, in this; for self-denial, the willingness to die for others, is not a legend or a myth. And so the poet, with a deeper insight than that of a mere story- teller, puts into Elsie's mouth that wondrous prayer, beginning: "My Redeemer and my Lord." The poet has carried the germinal idea of self-denial through one stage of its development. It is now the office of the musician to carry forward the development through another stage. Dudley Buck employed selections from this Golden Legend as the text of a cantata which is full of musical gems. In this prayer of Elsie's, Buck discovered the separate yet blending moods of reverence, simplicity, humility, longing, and earnest entreaty. These moods or phases of the thought he has embodied in a beautiful tone-paraphrase, translating and amplifying Longfellow's thought in Elsie's prayer. The pleading is expressed in long, high notes with cres- cendo and diminuendo, and, usually, with descending cadence, the nat- ural symbol of the soul's reach and aspiration. In shorter, broken phrases is expressed the eager, almost panting desire to be like Him who gave His life for all; while the allusion to His " bleeding wounds " is made in a changed theme, wherein the upper voices give a gently un- dulating melody, and an inner voice gives a trembling agitated motion PARAPHRASING FOR EXPRESSION. 25 suggesting a quivering thrill, portraying the emotion of a soul deeply stirred by the pathos of the scene. The tenor in the accompaniment gives the effect of a tremulous feeling, showing intense agitation. "Scourged and mocked and crucified" is given by the hard and usually uiimelodic interval of the augmented second, followed by a long, high note with a descending octave, a wail of sympathetic anguish : "And in the grave hast thou been buried." Two simple chords, a hush; and the singer's voice descends in gentle, mellow cadence, the language of reverent pity. Then comes, in another key, a simple, almost childlike melody ac- companying the words: "If my feeble prayer can reach Thee." This grows fuller, bolder, with the return of the pleading element, which culminates in the intense desire : " Let me, bleeding as thou bleedest, Die, if dying I can give Life to one who asks to live, And more nearly, dying thus, resemble Thee." With these last words the song subsides into a fully prepared, com- plete cadence, giving that sense of repose and satisfaction which por- trays an earnest soul at perfect peace. When one has absorbed the fuller expansion of the scene in Buck's setting of it, he sees no longer a sick prince and a sentimental girl. What if the story, but a myth at first, does lose its tragedy, and end in common love-tale fashion ? It is not the fate of the girl Elsie that has grown upon you, but the sense of faith, humility, power, self-denial, strong spiritual aspiration, which are ever the veriest of all true things. It is this interior meaning which is brought out through the medium of tone. It is not too much to claim that an artistic literary rendition of Longfellow's lines might become possible through a mental absorption a subjective expansion quite similar to that given by the musical interpretation. The fact that the musical rendering is more definite and tangible makes it one of the most helpful means of realizing the essentially identical end in case of a vocal artist who attempts the equally subtle and practically more useful task of interpretation through speech. 26 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. The student will find illustrations of similar tone-paraphrasing in many songs, especially those of the romantic school. Good examples are: "The Two Grenadiers," by Schumann; "The Wanderer" and " The Linden Tree," bv Schubert; " Bid me to Live," by Hatton; " A Name in the Sand, ' by Tours; " The Creole Lover's Song," by Buck; and very many cases of recitative, the form of musical composition in which song and speech come perhaps the nearest together. CHAPTER III. TYPES OF UTTERANCE. Analysis Purpose is the basis of classification. The For- mulative type is concerned with perception, and is mani- fested by composure and ease in action, and by the tone element of time. The Discriminative addresses the rea- soning powers, showing relations of thought, and is revealed by antithetic gesture and by inflection. The Emotional addresses the sensibilities, and is manifested by sensitive changes in movement and tension, and by tone-color. The Volitional addresses the will, seeking to dominate, and is symbolized by force or pressure in the action and in the tone. Final purpose dominates the article as a whole; Special purpose, the paragraph or sentence. The Special determines the momentary utterance, but is influenced by the general. Sequence of dominant moods is usually ob- served in well-ordered speech, especially in oratory. The usual order is the same as here given, illustrated by Mark Antony's funeral oration. As we have already seen, there are two departments in the study of vocal expression, the psychical and the phys- ical. The logical order is, first, the thought viewed in the light of the purpose for which it is to be communi- cated ; then, the means of accomplishing that purpose ; the processes of thinking or conceiving first, afterward expression in tone and action. Purpose is made the basis of classification, analysis, and practical study, because it^is regarded as the regulating principle in all communication. By " type of utterance"" is meant, on the part of the speaker, the purpose to pro- 27 28 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. duce a given effect in the mind of the listener. In the utterance itself it is that property which expresses this purpose. The special business of criticism upon delivery is to point out the agreement or disagreement between the thought as conceived and the thought as expressed. L CLASSIFICATION WITH REFERENCE TO PURPOSE IN UTTERANCE. The Formulative Type, addressing the faculties of perception, and aiming primarily to present thought-units discretively, not in connections or relations. Composure, ease, and firmness are the general proper- ties of action expressing formulation. They express self- possession, with a -readiness to open and unfold ideas. The gestures are less frequent, less varied, less intense, than in other types of utterance. Gestures most natural for this type are those which indicate, open, reveal, pre- sent. They are unimpassioned, simple, and small. In the limited use of gesture which is appropriate to the formu- lative type, the position of the body becomes specially important. This should, as a rule, be reposeful, or mod- erately animated. The tone element which is the special symbol of for- mulation is Time, measured both in rate of movement and in the grouping of elements. 2. The Discriminative Type, addressing the reasoning powers, and aiming to show relations of thought. This type deals with parts, as formulation deals with wholes./ Discriminative gesture usually consists in opposition or contrast of movement. This is the natural symbol of antithesis, which underlies most discriminative utterance. TYPES OF UTTERANCE. 29 Gestures of discrimination are likely to include indication, detection, and especially contrasted affirmation and nega- tion. f The tone symbol is Pitch, in the form of inflection. \ 3. The Emotional Type, addressing the sensibilities, and seeking to excite feeling. The bodily expression of emotion is both too broad and too subtle to be given in any single term. It consists generally in changes of posture, and in special positions of the different parts of the body, especially of the face, shoulders, and hands. It reveals itself also through changes of tension, or de- grees of contraction, in the muscles concerned in the expression. Definite attitudes, such as animation, antag- onism, and recoil, in varying degrees, are often effective elements in the expression of emotion; so are such ges- tures as those of caressing, assailing, rejecting. The vocal exponent of this type is Quality, or " color " of tone, which results from the general conditions indi- cated above. 4. The Volitional Type, addressing the will, and at- tempting to persuade or dominate. Volition is expressed through gesture by directness, strength, and rapidity of action, always proportional to the degree of energy as required by the thought and indicated by the voice. General force, or that which applies to the thought as a whole, is expressed more by strength of posture and carriage of head and chest ; stress, or the more particular application of energy, is shown more by specific gesticula- tion. Gestures of affirmation will prevail. Vocally, volition is indicated by the element of Force, or pressure, in the tone. Different purposes will often mingle at the same in- 30 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. stant ; and the ground purpose may change sometimes with great rapidity. But however frequent the changes, or however complex the motive may be at any instant, there must be in rational thought at every moment some predominant purpose. This the intelligent speaker always knows in the case of his own thought. And to discover it in the case of quoted or written thought is the business of the intelligent and sympathetic reader. Final and Immediate Purposes as Governing Analysis. In determining these types it is often necessary to con- sider their extent. In this view purpose may appear as final or immediate. 1. The general, or final, purpose is that which domi- nates the article as a whole. 2. The special, or momentary, purpose is that which measures the direct and immediate motive in separate portions, as paragraphs or sentences taken by themselves. The momentary will usually be decided in the light of the final, which must be determined first. The immediate purpose, as modified by the final, gov- erns the utterance at each point, because the present effect upon the hearer is to be produced by directly addressing at each moment one faculty or another. The habit of determining the purposes, both in their types and in their extent, is of the first importance in the study of Expression. This analytic process, if continued until the mind works with some freedom and spontaneity, will effectually prevent imitation, and will do much to secure individuality and genuineness in interpretation. Sequence of Dominant Moods. Orderly thinking will usually manifest itself in a logical sequence of dominant purposes. The most natural order, especially in oratory, TYPES OF UTTERANCE. 31 is : first, presentation of facts and truths ; next, discernment of relations, reasoning on the thoughts presented ; then, excitation of feeling by presenting facts and proofs in their emotional bearings ; lastly, the focalizing of thought and feeling upon some practical end, reaching the climax of soul-action in volition. Take, for example, Mark Antony's funeral oration over the body of Caesar. Consider all the circumstances, and see the need of these different elements at different stages of the address. At first he must simply state to the ex- cited populace the reasons for his appearing before them, mentioning his personal relation to the dead man, without any excitation of passion in the crowd. It is plain, sim- ple statement of facts. This is the type of Formulation. Soon, however, he finds it necessary to present ideas in distinct relations, in the discussion of Caesar's alleged " ambition." This is done so adroitly that you scarcely see at first the entrance of another motive or purpose, but soon you discover momentary predominance of Dis- crimination. When he appeals to the popular love for Csesar, it is with evident intent to affect their feelings. Hence we merge into the Emotional type, the immediate momentary purpose being to manifest his own feeling (by pretending to conceal it), and to awaken similar emotion in his auditors. But the orator has not finished yet. Facts, relations of facts and truths, even deep feeling, do not exist for themselves, but for some ultimate use to be made of them. There is something to be done. The will must be aroused and guided, either directly or indirectly. This evident intent to move the audience to some voluntary attitude 32 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. or outward action characterizes and names the Volitional type. Thus Antony, by addressing in turn every faculty of his hearers, has accomplished the greatest feat possible to mortals, the moving of an antagonistic will. He has shown himself an orator. But it is not alone in what is technically called oratory that the skillful use of these types of utterances may be discerned. Essays, letters, any form of communication, may embody them. An analysis of the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians will reveal similar progression of thought through these different types, demanding in turn the varying properties of utterance. Verses 1-11 are predominantly formula- tive; verses 1223 partake more of discrimination, giving relations of ideas ; the same will be found to predominate in verses 35-49 ; emotion appears as the leading charac- teristic in such passages as verses 55-57 ; while the closing verse of the chapter is plainly volitional, being designed to bear upon the will, and to move to definite action. The simple types must be studied separately before their combinations can be definitely or rightly considered. The student needs to practice for some time on this broader analysis by types before taking up the study of different types in detail. This earlier stage of the work corresponds to outlining in written rhetoric. Decide as to type of utterance in the following passages : 1. General. 2 Sam. xii. 1-14; 1 Kings xi. 9-10, 22, 29-43; Job xxxiii. ; Ps. xc. ; Isa. xi. ; Matt, v-vii., xiii., xxv. ; Luke xv.-xvi. ; John vi., viii., x. ; Acts vii. ; Rom. viii. ; 2 Cor. xii. ; Eph. i.-vi. ; Heb. i.-xii. TYPES OF UTTERANCE. 33 X 2. Special. 2 Sam. xii. 1-4; 1 Kings ii. 9-10, 22, 29; Job xxxiii. 6-7, 15-17, 31, 33; Amos vii. 1, 14-16; Luke xvi. 13; John viii. 21-22; John ix. (in detail by verses); Acts vii. 51-53; 1 Cor. xv. (by paragraphs) ; Col. fii. (by paragraphs) ; 2 Cor. xii. 8-9; Eph. iv. 9-10; Phil. iv. 7. These are only ordinary suggestive examples. Add chapters, or even whole books, of the Bible for analysis as to the general types of utterance. Abundance of examples illustrating the special will be found incidentally. CHAPTER IV. CASES OP FORMULATION. Analysis Introduction is designed to prepare. The Explan atory starts de novo. The Adaptive recognizes the situa- tion. The Conciliatory induces genial or companionable feeling. The Incentive awakens the attention and im- presses with the importance of the thought to follow. Movement in introductory matter is medium tending to- ward slow. Prepositional matter presents principles or truths. Formal proposition is the simplest, most like in- troduction. It is open, steady, moderately full'arfd- slow. Definitive partakes of Discrimination, denning, particular- izing. It is thinner and sharper. Weighty is compre- hensive, logically connected, conclusive."' This is fuller, deeper, larger. Expansive paraphrase helps in apprehen- sion and presentation. Transition connects foregoing with following. It has lighter tone "and tiibre rapid Movement, with change of body in earlier part, growing stable as *he transition merges into the following proposition. I. INTRODUCTION. Preparation is the general purpose in all forms of intro- duction. As preparatory, the introductory sentence or pas- sage serves to place before the mind some fact or truth which is to be received as a basis or as a point of depart- ure '.for other thoughts that are to follow. The strictly introductory element is, thus, matter of perception, and belongs distinctively to the formulative type of utterance. Various kinds of introductory matter will, however, be found to differ from each other in their secondary, or 34 CASES OF FORMULATION. 35 modifying, elements. We shall thus find our special types of introduction classified according to the differ- ences in secondary purpose, and corresponding to the four general types of utterance. 1. Explanatory Introduction is the purest type ; since it is usually nothing but a placing before the listener of simple fact in anticipation of some further use to be made of such matter, or of related -thoughts to which this may lead. The purely formulative nature of such introductory matter is seen in the fact that it appeals to nothing but the intelligence. Examples. It sometimes happens on certain coasts of Brittany or Scotland, that a man traveler or fisherman walking on the beach at low tide, far from the bank, suddenly notices that for several minutes he has been walking with some difficulty. The strand beneath his feet is like pitch ; his soles stick to it : it is sand no longer, it is glue. The beach is perfectly dry; but at every step he takes, as soon as he lifts his foot, the print which it leaves fills with water. HUGO. John Maynard was well known in the lake district as a God- fearing, honest, and intelligent pilot. He was pilot on a steamboat from Detroit to Buffalo. One summer afternoon at that time those steamers seldom carried boats smoke was seen ascending from below. GOUGH. 2. Adaptive Introduction naturally employs some dis- crimination, since comparison is almost necessarily prom- inent in adaptation. Yet this discriminative element is plainly subservient to the formulative purpose of calling attention to the thing to be said or done. Example. Fellow-Citizens : It is no ordinary cause that has brought together this vast assemblage. We have met, not to pre- pare ourselves for political contests ; we have met, not to celebrate 36 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. the achievements of those gallant men who have planted our victori- ous standards in the heart of an enemy's country ; we have assem- bled, not to respond to shouts of triumph from the West ; but to answer the cry of want and suffering which comes from the East. PRENTISS. 3. Conciliatory Introduction will be tinged with emotion ; yet, as an introduction, its main purpose is to present con- siderations to the understanding. It is, therefore, truly formulative. Examples. Against the prisoner at the bar, as an individual, I cannot have the slightest prejudice ; I would not do him the small- est injury or injustice. WEBSTER. I think myself happy, king Agrippa, that I am to make my de- fense before thee this day touching all the things whereof I am accused by the Jews : especially because thou art expert in all cus- toms and questions which are among the Jews ; wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. Acts xxvi. 2, 3 : See also Julius Ccesar, III. ii. ; Acts xvii. 22 and xxiv. 2. 4. Incentive Introduction is designed to move the will, but this is subordinate to the deliberative purpose of ga^in- ing the attention. Otherwise it is not truly introductory. Examples. This, my lords, is a perilous and tremendous mo- ment. CHATHAM. Soldiers, if I were leading into battle the army which I had in Gaul, I should have had no need to address you ; for what encourage- ment would be needed by those horsemen who had so gloriously con- quered the enemy's cavalry on the Rhone, or by those legions with whom I pursued these very enemies and in their retreat and refusal of battle received their confession of defeat ? Now, since that army, enrolled for the province of Spain, is wa- ging war by my direction under the command of my brother Cnseus Scipio in that land where the Senate and Roman people wished it to fight, and since that you might have a consul as your leader against Hannibal and the Carthaginians I have voluntarily offered CASES OF FORMULATION. 37 myself for this conflict, the new general must say a few words to his new soldiers. SCIPIO to the Romans. Medium Movement is usually required in introductory matter. It tends to be slow rather than fast, because the thought is presumably new, not apprehended. The atti- tude is usually that of " repose ; " action, slight, little or no gesture. Exception is, of course, made in the last type, the incentive, where considerable energy of action may appear. II. PROPOSITION. Prepositional Matter is whatever lays down or places before the mind that which has some weight in itself. It differs from introduction in that introduction leads to something following, while proposition is the thing to which the thought has been led. There is an element of finality in it a settled, substantial character not found in any other form of deliberation. It appeals to the in- telligence with the greatest force. It typically presents a principle to be discussed or a truth to be received. It includes : - 1. Formal Proposition, giving the purest type of for- mulation. This lies nearest to introduction. Its pure type is the statement of a subject? to be discussed. It is well illustrated by the simple "revealing" gesture. Its tone is open, steady, moderately full and slow. Examples. " The principle involved is that of individual liberty." " A straight line cannot meet the circumference in more than two points." " The principle of free governments adheres to the American soil." " Our history hitherto proves that the popular form of government is practicable." 38 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. 2. Definitive Prepositional Matter is perceptibly tinged with Discrimination. It is separative, indicative, specify- ing, particularizing, or amplifying, and is illustrated by gestures that "define" or " indicate," rather than "re- veal." Its tone, likewise, is thinner and more pointed than that of formal proposition. Example. " Rhythm must be distinguished from meter." 3. Logically Connected, Weighty, or Conclusive Thought. This class may be divided thus : (a) Comprehensive or generalized thought, character- ized by breadth, fullness, a large suggestiveness. Example. " What, then, is the true and peculiar principle of the American Revolution, and of the systems of government which it has confirmed and established ? " (6) Logically connected thought, blending the elements of transition, definition, and weight. Its pure type is found in a chain of reasoning. Example. It need not surprise us, that, under circumstances less auspicious, political revolutions elsewhere, even when well intended, have terminated differently. It is, indeed, a great achievement, it is the master-work of the world, to establish governments entirely popular on lasting foundations; nor is it easy, indeed, to introduce the popular principle at all into governments to which it has been altogether a stranger. It cannot be doubted, however, that Europe has come out of the contest in which she has been so long engaged, with greatly superior knowledge, and, in many respects, in a highly improved condition. Whatever benefit has been acquired is likely to be retained, for it consists mainly in the acquisition of more enlightened ideas. And although kingdoms and provinces may be wrested from the hands that hold them, in the same manner they were obtained ; although ordinary and vulgar power may, in human affairs, be lost as it has been won ; yet it is the glorious prerogative of the empire of knowledge, that what it gains it never loses. On CASES OF FORMULATION. 39 the contrary, it increases by the multiple of its own power ; all its ends become means; all its attainments, helps to new conquests. Its whole abundant harvest is but so much seed wheat, and nothing has limited, and nothing can limit, the amount of ultimate product. WEBSTER. (tf) Conclusive or summarizing thought. Example. Thus the great principle of your Revolutionary fathers, and of your Pilgrim sires, was the rule of his life the love of liberty protected by law EVERETT on Lafayette. This type (3) is colored with emotion, or energy, or both. Its pantomimic representation is the attitude of force in repose, animation, or physical support, accom- panied often by the double "revealing," the "affirming," or the "supporting" gesture. Prepositional matter requires slow movement to typify the graver importance and weight. The voice is the strongest, fullest, deepest, most suggestive of ellipsis, and of recapitulation, condensation, and hearty appreciation of the thought. The vocal element of " quantity " - prolongation of sounds is here of especial use. Expansive Paraphrasing will be helpful in these differ- ent types of prepositional matter, since they are in them- selves condensative rather than amplifying. III. TRANSITION. In Transitional Matter is included whatever merely connects one division, paragraph, or sentence with another. Connecting the two thoughts between which it stands, it assumes at least one of them, usually the first, to be al- ready in the mind. Hence more rapid movement and a 40 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. lighter tone will be allowable, especially in the first part of the transition. Toward its close the transitional pas- sage will often merge into prepositional, as it approaches newer or more important matter. There will generally be a change in the attitude of the body, often in the position on the floor. This change typifies the transition in thought, and occurs during the transitional words. The body in its position and movements should indi- cate the attitude of the mind and the progress of the thought. NOTES ON CHAPTER IV. CASES OF FORMULATION. NOTE 1. The student should analyze and classify many cases of Introduc- tion, Proposition, and Transition. Abundant material may be found in classic and modern literature, especially in the works of the great ora- tors. More important still is the noting of effects in actual speaking as heard by the student from platform, pulpit, bar, and, as well, in intelli- gent and purposeful conversation. NOTE 2. The following passages from the Bible are especially commended to theological students and ministers. They may, however, be used with equal profit by the general student. 1. INTRODUCTION. Classify the following introductions according to the types described, and read aloud, noting the differences in tone required by the different types : Gen. i. 1-2, xviii. 1-3, xxiv. 35; Deut. i. 5-8, xxxi. 2, 14; Jud. viii. 2-3, ix. 7; 2 Sam. xii. 1, xiv. 5-7; Isa. i. 2, x. 5; Jer. xi. 1, 2; John i. 1-18, iii. 1-2, vi. 2-6, vi. 26 ; Acts i. 16, ii. 14, v. 35, vii. 2, x. 35, xiii. 16, xv. 7, 14, xvii. 22-23, xx. 18, xxi. 20-22, xxii. 1, xxiii. 1, 26-27, xxiv. 2, 10. Classify the introductions to all the Epistles. CASES OF FORMULATION. 41 2. PROPOSITION. Classify according to the types described, and read carefully : Matt. v. 2-11, x. 24, 37, xv. 11, xvi. 25, xix. 9; John i. 1, 6-7, 37, iii. 3, iv. 24, v. 25, 26, vi. 29, 35^0, viii. 12, ix. 31, x. 1 ; Acts ii. 29-36, iii. 22-25, v. 39, x. 34-35. Find and classify the propositional matter in Rom. i.-x. and in Heb. i.-xi. 3. TRANSITIONS. Note transitions between the propositional pas- sages cited above, and read aloud, carefully observing changes in move- ment and in volume of tone. CHAPTER V. GROUPING. Analysis Necessity of grouping to secure clearness of state- ment. Elements must be separated. The thought unit is not necessarily coincident with the grammatical unit. The test is in mind's reception. Different kinds of pauses, corresponding with kinds of groups, simple and complex. Hendiadys is important. Grammatical, elliptical, and prosodial pause. Euphonic groupings in prose give effects similar to meter in poetry. Necessity of Grouping. Clearness of statement is largely effected by the measurement of the words in phrases or groups. Every element in the sentence must be sepa- rated appreciably from the other elements, the length of pause being dependent on the length and importance of the elements. " Element " here means a though trunit. It may, or it may not, coincide with the grammatical unit. The test is found in the mind's reception of the ideas, images, thoughts, or inferences conveyed. What constitutes an element may often be determined by inquiring whether the thought is here presented for the first time or not. Matter that is repeated, resumptive, or easily taken for granted, will admit of much larger and freer groupings than that which is new or explanatory. Principle of Grouping. Grouping is effected by pauses or momentary cessations of sound between elements. 42 GROUPING. 43 1. Elements that are simple, and placed close together, have the slightest pause separation. 2. Elements somewhat complex, or slightly separated in the structure, require somewhat greater pause. 8. Elements very complex, or widely separated in the sentence, must have longer pause. , Hyphens might be used to indicate that the words between which they are placed form together a single ele- ment, like a compound word. Example. " The wisdom of the advice he has given ' Count- ten-before-venting-your-anger ' is most obvious." Hendiadys is an important case. When several ele- ments are joined together, the first point to be determined is whether each one is to be received as a separate item, or whether a single image or thought is to be conveyed through the combined terms. Thus : - " I should not see the sandy hour-glass run, But I should think of shallows and of flats." Here "shallows and flats" probably constitute the double name of a single object. " In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up [grows flourish- ingly] ; in the evening it is cut down and withereth [dies]." Kinds of Pauses. 1. G-rammatical ; merely marking the grouping of words into constituent elements of the sentence. This is the most mechanical of all, being a mere cessation of speech. 2. Rhetorical or Elliptic ; affording space for the more positive elements of expression to accomplish their work. These are suggestive pauses. 44 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. 3. Prosodial : (a) The pause occurring between feet. These require, for the most part, suspension of the voice, a slight linger- ing on the last syllable of the poetic foot. (6) The csesural pause. This occurs at or near the middle of the line, between words. Sometimes it may come between the syllables of a poetic foot. (e) The verse pause. This occurs at the end of the line. It is always to be observed, if the poetic form of the composition is to be expressed. 4. Euphonic or Rhythmic Groupings in Prose. These are semi-poetic. The same or similar elements of imagi- nation, emotion, dignity, and nobility demand similar regu- larity of movement in poetic prose as in poetry itself. Find and make examples of all kinds of pauses. [See, also, NOTES on this chapter for illustrations.] NOTES ON CHAPTER V. ON GROUPING. NOTE 1. Grouping will be found to be affected, directly or indirectly, by nearly every principle of Rhetoric. The few cases given here are enough to show that punctuation depends on the logical grouping quite as much as grouping depends on the punctuation; and that the most solid basis for criticism of punctuation is just such analysis of the thought as is required for intelligent vocal interpretation. Rewrite the following passage, dividing it into paragraphs, adding punctuation, and indicating the vocal grouping. " Our opponents have charged us with being the promoters of a dan- gerous excitement they have the effrontery to say that I am the friend of public disorder I am one of the people surely if there be one thing in a GROUPING. 45 free country more clear than another it is that any one of the people may speak openly to the people if I speak to the people of their rights and indi- cate to them the way to secure them if I speak of their danger to monopo- lists of power am I not a wise counselor both to the people and to their rulers suppose I stood at the foot of Vesuvius or ^Etna and seeing a hamlet or a homestead planted on its slope I said to the dwellers in that hamlet or in that homestead you see that vapor which ascends from the summit of the mountain that vapor may become a dense black smoke that will obscure the sky you see the trickling of lava from the crevices in the side of the mountain that trickling of lava may become a river of fire you hear that muttering in the bowels of the mountain that muttering may become a bel- lowing thunder the voice of a violent convulsion that may shake half a continent you know that at your feet is the grave of great cities for which there is no resurrection as histories tell us that dynasties and aristocracies have passed away and their names have been known no more forever if 1 say this to the dwellers upon the slope of the mountain and if there comes hereafter a catastrophe which makes the world to shudder am I responsible for that catastrophe I did not build the mountain or fill it with explosive materials I merely warned the men that were in danger so now it is not I who am stimulating men to the violent pursuit of their acknowledged con- stitutional rights the class which has hitherto ruled in this country has failed miserably it revels in power and wealth whilst at its feet a terrible peril for its future lies the multitude which it has neglected if a class has failed let us try the nation that is our faith that is our purpose that is our cry let us try the nation this it is which has called together these countless numbers of the people to demand a change and from these gatherings sub- lime in their vastness and their resolution I think I see as it were above the hilltops of time the glimmerings of the dawn of a better and a nobler day for the country and for the people that I love so well." Let each student compose a passage, and another punctuate it. NOTE 2. The student should at this point practice, under competent guid- ance, Prosodial Groupings, taking especial pains to locate caesura in long lines: (a) "Though the mills of God grind slowly, || yet they grind exceed- ing small, Though with patience He stands waiting, || with exactness grinds He all;" and to mark expressively the verse pause in the case of " run on lines : '' (6) "And the stately ships go on To their haven under the hill." 46 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. REMARKS: 1. It is not needful to make falling slide at verse pauses, nor to make an abrupt break. The verse can be marked by a slight prolongation, or suspension, of voice, as well as by an actual stop. 2. The musical element is the first thing in poetry. Otherwise the thought would have been expressed in prose. 3. The truly poetical reading of verse never necessarily interferes with intellectual rendering of the thought. The elements of inflection, stress, and quality have their full force, as in prose. Pauses are, for the most part, arranged for by the very structure of the poetry. NOTE 3. RHYTHMIC GROUPING JN PROSE. Examples. I appeal to you by the graves in which our common ancestors repose .... in many an ancient village church yard, where daisies grow on the turf-covered graves, and venerable yew trees cast over them their solemn shade. HALL. Loud shouts of rejoicing shall then be heard .... when the tri- umphs of a great enterprise usher in the day of the triumphs of the cross of Christ. GOUGH. A mighty cry of joy went forth through all the sky. DICKENS. REMARKS. 1. Observance of this rhythmic element in reading will favorably react on diction. 2. Exaggerated dignity is never to be sought by this means. 3. " Sing-song," or scanning, is not to prevail. 4. Avoid too much prolongation and swell. 5. Evenness and dignity form the essence of this property. NOTE 4. Find cases of Hendiadys in the following passages. When possi- ble translate the hcndiadys into a single term: Gen. i. 2, ii. 24, xiv. 19, xxv. 34, xxviii. 12, xxxv. 11, xxxix. 20, xliii. 8, xlvi. 31; Ex. iv. 4, ix. 1; Lev. xi. 3; Num. xxii. 7, xxx. 15; Deut. xxxi. 1, xxxii. 44; Josh. vii. 2, xiii. 1; Judg. ix. 50, xv. 8; Ruth iii. 15; 1 Sam. vii. 6; 2 Sam. vi. 2; 1 Kings vii. 13; Ps. vii. 15, xl. 1, Iv. 8, xc. 6; Jer. ii. 2, vi. 21; Mark iv. 27, v. 38, ix. 27, xi. 4; Luke v. 18, vii. 36, x. 25; John iv. 35, ix. 7, x. 12; Acts xiii. 16; 1 Cor. xv. 24. Find other cases. Examples of kinds of Pauses. 1. Grammatical Pause. Gen. xxii. 3; Ex. xi. 6, xxxv. 22; Judg. xiii. 6; Ruth ii. 19; Is^ vi 4, xxi. 13, xxv. 5, xxvii. 1, xxxiii. 21, xli. 7; Jer. xvii. 25, Ii. 24; Ezek xl 9; Hos. vii. 16; Amos iv. 6, v. 3, ix. 3, 15; Jonah ii. 2; Mic. iv. 4; Zepb GROUPING. 47 iii. 12; Matt. ii. 19, x. 15, xii. 45, xxi. 23; Luke vi. 15, 22, viii. 5, 12, ix. 39; Acts v. 12, ix. 7; Rom. iv. 11-12, 1 Cor. x. 13, xv. 3; 2 Cor. iv. 2; Eph. iii. 16; Heb. v. 7, vii. 18-22. 2. Rhetorical or Elliptical Pause. Supply the Ellipses. Gen. xxxvii. 31, xlv. 3; Ex. xxxii. 32; Judg. xi. 35; 1 Kings xviii. 21, xix. 4, 10; Esth. iv. 17; Ps. viii. 3-4; Eccl. xii. 8; Isa. i. 2, 24, viii. 19, x. 5, xliii. 1, Ix. 2, Ixvi. 1; Matt, xxiii. 38, xxvi. 38-39; John vii. 27, xi. 43; Kom. vii. 24 1 Cor. vi. 2-3, xii. 19, xv. 13; 2 Cor. xi. 1. Find other examples. NOTE 5. Ministers and theological students will find many of the finest poetic examples in the language in any good hymn-book. Cases of grouping for prose rhythm will be found in many passages of the Old Testament history, in the Psalms and Prophets, and not less in many emotional passages in the New Testament, particularly in the Epistles and the Revelation. A few cases may suffice for illustration. Note the semi-poetic grouping. 1 Chron. xxix. 11-19; Job xxxviii.; Ps. xc.-civ. ; Isa. xl.; 1 Cor. xiii. ; 1 Thess. iv. 13-18; Heb. xiii. 20-21; 1 John iii. 1, 2; Jude, 24, 25; Rev. iv. 10, 11, v. 11-14, vi. 10-17, xx. 11-15, xxii. 17-21. CHAPTER VI. DISCRIMINATION. Analysis Discrimination compared with Formulation. It deals with relations of facts and truths. It is expressed by inflection, Jvvhich is an intentional variation of tone dur- ing the utterance of an element. Completeness: Finality, conclusiveness, wide intervals. Momentary completeness, expressing importance of an idea or elliptical construction; small interval and pause. The Loose sentence is a typical case ; Incompleteness : subordination a " matter of course," small intervals ; Anticipation, a matter of curiosity ; rising third. The Periodic sentence is a typical case. Completeness and Incompleteness are best paraphrased by reconstruction : Implied forms of Incompleteness ; Neg- ative or non-affirmative statement, including concession, inability, unwillingness, triviality, obviousness, and antici- patory member of antithesis. Implied negation is paraphrased by translating into grammatical negative. Doubt or uncertainty ; expressed by the bodily attitude of hesitation and by suspended voice. Doubt is paraphrased expansively by showing balancing motives : Interrogation, direct and literal, symbolized by a rising fifth; indirect or figurative, usually by a falling slide. Supplication, weakness looking up to strength, or fear to protecting power ; shown by a sensitive voice and by a rising slide with slight swell. Cases of affectionate entreaty belong to supplication. Assumption is really a negative element. Assertion pro- duces distinctive emphasis in connected relations, and is shown by the Continuative falling slide. Assumption and Assertion are paraphrased by inversion. Complex relations ; double motive, double motion. Comparison or contrast with affirmation shown by falling circumflex. Comparison or contrast with incompleteness, shown by wave. Affir- 48 DISCRIMINATION. 49 mation with incompleteness, shown by rising circumflex. Complex Relations may be paraphrased by separating com- plex elements into their component parts. DISCRIMINATION has much in common with formula- tion. Both are prevailingly intellective ; both, therefore, naturally precede the emotional and volitional. In practical analysis both are intima^efy connected, especially by the analogous and closely related elements of grouping and inflection; expressional grouping being the especial symbol of formulation, as inflection is of discrimination. Formulation and discrimination together give the outline of the thought, the facts, the truths, which must form the basis for all emotion and volition. The intellective element is to the imaginative, emotional, and volitional what form is to color in painting. Form is the chief requisite for expression ; and all coloring that ig- nores the form, or is inconsistent with it, becomes not only expressionless, but disappointing and misleading. Formulation deals properly with larger or smaller wholes; discrimination is concerned rather with the rela- tions of parts. Discrimination deals with the logical properties of the subject-matter ; and the study of it is designed to develop logical properties of thinking as concerned in utterance. Relations of facts and ideas are emphasized in discrimi- native utterance. Subjectively, then, this type of utter- ance indicates the speaker's purpose to cause the listener to discern such relations ; objectively, it is that property in the utterance which serves to express them directly or by implication. These relations are chiefly completeness or incomplete- ness of thought, comparison and contrast. 50 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. Inflection is the vocal means of expressing discrimina- tion. Inflection may be defined as a variation in- pitch occurring upon single words or phrases, and recognized by the ear as distinctive slides or circumflexes. Inflection is thus distinguished from melody, which belongs to sen- tences and paragraphs. Inflection is an intentional variation of tone designed to call particular attention to the relation of the element on which it occurs. After movement and grouping, treated under Formula- tion, the expressive factor of inflection is the most vital to the intellectual and logical properties of utterance. I. O<8iflIJjjENESS AND INCOMPLETENESS OF THOUGHT. These are the most logical and practical relations gov- erning intonation. 1 . Completeness. This Includes : (a) Finality, or the end of thought. It gives more or less of conclusive force, gathering up, or summarizing, preceding facts or thoughts, and some- times forming climax. Example. The party of Freedom will certainly prevail. It may be by entering into and possessing one of the old parties, filling it with its own strong life ; or it may be by drawing to itself the good and true from both who are unwilling to continue in a political com- bination when it ceases to represent their convictions ; but, in one way or the other, its ultimate triumph is sure. Of this let no man doubt. SUMNER. ' (5) Momentary Completeness. This applies to any clause, phrase, or even word, which has, for any reason, enough separate force to constitute, at the moment, an en- DIS C HIM IN A TION. 5 1 tire thought, and to call for a separate affirmation of the mind. This may arise, (1) From its logical importance, requiring a strong affirmative emphasis. (2) From an elliptical construction one in which each part could be reasonably expanded into a complete proposition. Example of (1) would be this sentence from Webster : " It comes, if it come at all, like the outbreaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with sponta- neous, original, native force." Here the ideas of spontaneity, originality, nativeness, are each so important to the thought that the mind is called upon to make a separate affirmation upon each one. Examples of (2) are found in some of the connected clauses in this passage from Byron's Dream of Darkness. " I had a dream, which was not all a dream. The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars Did wander, darkling, in the eternal space, Rayless and pathless, and the icy earth Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air Morn came and went and came, and brought no day, And men forgot their passions in the dread Of this their desolation ; and all hearts Were chilled into a selfish prayer for light." The "loose" sentence presents a typical case of mo- mentary completeness, each added clause or element giv- ing a separate, subjoined thought. In the following cases the period mark inclosed in bracket, [.], indicates the place at which the sentence might close ; and the words in parenthesis are those which might be supplied in constructing separate complete prop- ositions. The reconstruction suggests the probable process of thought. 52 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. " The next day he voted for that repeal [.], and he would have spoken for it too [.], if an illness had not prevented it." " The Englishman in America will feel that this is slavery that it is legal slavery, will be no compensation, either to his feelings or his understanding." The Englishman in America will feel that this is sla- very [.]. (The mere fact) that it is legal slavery will (in his estimation) be no compensation (at all). (It will not be (in any degree) satisfactory) either to his feelings or his understanding. Completeness is marked in the voice by a falling slide ; that indicating finality usually descends at least a fifth (from sol down to c?o), and is preceded by a more or less distinct rising melody. This cadential melody may carry the voice so high in pitch that the falling slide will be as great as an octave. The indication of momentary com- pleteness is also a falling slide, varying in extent from a third to a fifth, but not so marked as that of finality, and usually not preceded by any special rising melody. In the following example note momentary completeness on u man," "woman," "child," and finality on the climac- teric word "beast." Thus: They saw not one man, not one woman, not one child, b footed e four a one & not t. It is especially important to study the relation of momentary completeness in connection with dependent clauses. As a rule, a definitive clause does not stand in the relation of momentary completeness, but in that of DISCRIMINATION. 53 subordination or anticipation. A supplemental clause, on the other hand, is distinctively complete. This relation is not always shown, either by the punctuation, or by exact use of relative pronouns. In strictness, who and which, as already said, should always mark supplemental relations ; that, definitive. Considerations of euphony, however, often overrule grammatical and rhetorical principles. The prob- lem in regard to dependent clauses is; to decide whether the subordinate clause contains additional thought, or only modifying thought. The best practical test will be found in paraphrasing. If a dependent clause is truly definitive, it may be reduced to a brief element, often to a single word, which may be incorporated in the first clause. Example. Lafayette was intrusted by Washington with all kinds of services . . . the laborious and complicated, which requires skill and patience ; the perilous, that demanded nerve. EVERETT. In this example it is obvious that the clause introduced by "which" and the one beginning with "that" stand in precisely the same relation, the change being made for euphony. It is obvious also that both dependent clauses are supplemental rather than definitive. In both of these clauses, therefore, there is an added thought, and this gives the relation of momentary completeness at the words " complicated " and " perilous." The ear, under the guidance of the logical and rhetori- cal insight, gives a much more sensitive and more accurate punctuation than can be indicated by printer's marks or grammarian's rules. Not the words, nor the grammatical elements, nor the customary and traditional rendering, de- termine grouping or inflection, but rather the speaker's immediate purpose at the moment of the utterance. 54 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. The principle of momentary completeness is strikingly exemplified in the case of a " division of the question " in parliamentary proceedings. Division is called for because each item is considered as separately important enough to demand the entire attention. The same is often true in the announcement of a proposition containing several different elements, or of a text of Scripture suggesting many sepa- rate thoughts. 2. Grammatical and Formal Incompleteness. This in- cludes the unfinished and the unassertive. The mind of the speaker is viewing the thought that is, for the moment, before his attention, either as obviously connected with something to follow, or as being incapable or unworthy of a full affirmative statement. Some obvious cases of incom- pleteness are the following : - (a) Subordination, grammatical and rhetorical. When the subordinate element precedes the emphatic part, it is expressed by a slightly rising slide, usually about that of a musical second. For example : " I cannot, by the progress of the stars, give guess how near to day." "It never rains but it pours; we got more than we asked." This type of incompleteness covers many cases of mere enumeration, or of the most obvious pointing forward, or opening of ideas, in which the thought simply leads on to something that is to follow. Its vocal symbol is a rising slide, but only slightly rising, to point the attention onward rather than upward ; just as the arrow-head or finger on a guide-board points the way. It is usually accompanied by a somewhat rapid, easy grouping, which indicates that there is nothing in the individual phrases or clauses to call your attention or delay your progress. DISCRIMINA TION. 55 Rhetorical subordination has been partly anticipated in the previous chapter under groupings. It is that which is taken for granted, coming as a matter of course, some- thing well understood. The relation of subordination is not that of triviality, and need not produce an accelerated movement nor a much thinner tone. It should promote clearness of inter- pretation, and should secure a better rhythm, a gliding and connecting movement, which will allow the principal ele- ments to stand out full and distinct. Many clauses and elements that are really subordinate follow, rather than precede, the emphatic elements. These appended, or supplemental, subordinate elements will not usually take rising slides. Often they will have no dis- tinct slides of their own ; but will be attracted into the general melody of the sentence, which will be determined by the emphatic parts. Paraphrase will often reveal the subordination, and in- dicate the proper inflection. (5) Anticipation, or Condition ; different from subor- dination by giving a somewhat more distinct and definite preparation. Anticipation implies more of animation, or possibly even of eagerness. Subordinate thought is a matter of course ; anticipative thought is a matter of curiosity. For exam- ple : " But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, I say unto thee, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thy house." "I hold that he who humbly tries To find wherein his duty lies, 56 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. And finding, does the same, and bears Its burdens lightly, and its cares, Is nobler, in his low estate, Than crowned king or potentate." Most " periodic " sentences employ this form of incom- pleteness, which gives them their character of "suspense." " If you are apprehensive that the concession recommended to you, though proper, should be a means of drawing on you further but unreasonable claims, why then employ your force in support- ing that reasonable conception against those unreasonable demands." This relation of anticipation is expressed by a some- what sharper rising slide than that which marks- subordi- nation. Anticipation usually employs the rising third. Paraphrase. Anticipation, when obscure, can usu- ally be made to appear in paraphrase by translating verbs into participles, putting apparently independent clauses into plainly dependent relations, using more subordinate connectives, or changing the punctuation ; e. g., Arising take up thy bed ; or, Arising and taking up thy bed go unto thy house ; or, Arise. Taking up thy bed, go unto thy house. Either is a possible interpretation of the sentence. Whether the items in a series are to be viewed in rela- tion of subordination or anticipation, or in that of com- pleteness, will often be well tested by the reader's asking himself this question : Do I, in beginning the series, look forward to the end, and do I think of each one of these items in its relation to the others ; or, does each one come separately, receive my attention, and then drop from notice ? In paraphrasing for discrimination, one of the most im- DISCRIMINATION. 57 portant devices will be that reconstruction and amplifica- tion of the text which will reveal and justify the relation we have called " momentary completeness." The reason for this is found chiefly in the fact that the prevailing tendency, brought largely from the primary school, is to "keep the voice up till you come to a period." But nothing can be more obvious than that many phrases and clauses marked only by a comma, and frequently by no punctuation whatever, are still momentarily complete. Authors differ greatly in the matter of punctuation. Victor Hugo, for example, inclines to punctuate largely with periods, thus announcing to the reader the separate- ness and completeness of each element in the thought. Notice this paragraph : ." He sinks in two or three inches. Decidedly he is not on the right road ; he stops to take his bearings ; now he looks at his feet. They have disappeared. The sand covers them. He draws them out of the sand; he will retrace his^&teps. He turns back, he sinks in deeper. The sand-eonies up to his ankles ; he pullsTiiTnself out and throws himself to the left _the sand half -leg deep. He throws himself to the right ; the sand comes_u|)_to. his shins. His forehead decreases, a little hair flutters above the sand; a hand comes to the surface of the beach, moves and shakes, disappears. It is the earth-drowning man."" The earth filled with the ocean be- comes a trap. It presents itself like a plain, and opens like a wave." Now contrast with t^his a not dissimilar passage by Dickens : "I wrapped myself in my clothes as quickly as I could, and ran into the street, where numbers of people were before me, all running in one direction, to the beach. I ran the same way, outstripping a good many, and soon came facing the wild sea. Every appearance 58 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. it had before presented bore the expression of being swelled; and the height to which the breakers rose, and bore one another down, and rolled in, in interminable hosts, was most appalling." . . . A comparison of these two passages shows that the punctuation is neither definite nor quite self-consistent in either case. The final decision as to what constitutes a complete or incomplete element in the thought, must, after all, be made by the reader. Study this passage from Charles Sprague, on the American Indian : - " As a race they have withered from the land. Their arrows are broken, their springs have dried up, their cabins are in the dust. Their council-fire has long since gone out on the shore, and their war-cry is fast fading to the untrodden West." Each item amplifying the idea that the race has died out might be a complete sentence, or even a paragraph. It is evident that if the clauses marked by the commas were read as incomplete, much of the force would be lost. Their completeness may appear thus : - Their arrows, the weapons with which they defended themselves, and the means by which they procured their livelihood in their native forests, lie scattered and broken. The native springs, at which they quenched their thirst, have been exposed by the wood- man's ax, and their sources have been dried up. You may search for their council-fires. You will not find one upon any shore. You may listen for their war-cry. Its wild sound echoes no more. Poetry has perhaps more cases of momentary complete- ness ; and here the danger of obscuring the sense by failing to observe relations of completeness and incom- pleteness is vastly greater, because the rhythmic force of the verse is likely to carry the mind over many compact DISCRIMINATION. 59 expressions. Observe this relation in the following from The Launching of the Ship, by Longfellow : " We know what master laid thy keel, What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, What anvils rang, what hammers beat, In what a forge and what a heat Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!" Here we have nothing but the comma, and sometimes not even that, to separate elements which are momentarily complete. To express this momentary completeness the passage might be paraphrased somewhat as follows : - We are well assured of the masterly architecture which has planned thy structure. We know well what diligent and capable hands have fashioned together the different parts of thy wondrous mechanism. We know what minute attention has been given to every mast. The overseeing eye has not failed to note the shape and strength of each separate sail. Minute inspection has been given to the strength of every rope. In our imagination we hear the ringing of the anvil. As we listen, we catch the beat of the hammer; we feel the fervid flame in the forge. We know that all these forces were combined to give thee thy perfected shape. Incompleteness, on the other hand, may often be em- ployed, even when we have full punctuation, with comma, semi-colon, or period ; as in these sentences : " Mahomet still lives in his piratical and disastrous influence in the East ; Napoleon still is France, and France is almost Napoleon ; Martin Luther's dead dust sleeps at Wittenberg, but Martin Luther's accents still ring through the churches of Christendom ; Shake- speare, Byron, and Milton all live in their influence for good or evil. The apostle from his chair, the minister from his pulpit, the martyr from his flaming shroud, the statesman from his cabinet, the soldier in the field, the sailor on the deck, who all have passed away to 60 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. their graves, still live in the practical deeds that they did, in the lives they lived, and in the powerful lessons that they left behind them." Now rearrange this paragraph. See whether the thought might not be expressed as justly, or even more so, by changing the punctuation, and readjusting relations of completeness and incompleteness. 3. Indirect and Inferential Forms of Incompleteness. (cT) Negative or Non-Affirmative Statement. This is the introductory dismissal of a thought, as being apart from the present purpose ; it is the exclusion or removal of unnecessary or irrelevant matter a clear- ing of the ground for something positive, which is to be added, or which is implied. It is not the assertion or the maintenance of a denial, as the arguing of the " negative " side in a debate. Particular cases are Negative Statement. Positive Statement. 1. Concession, vs. Affirmation. 2. Inability to assert, vs. Knowledge or Conviction. 3. Unwillingness to assert, vs. Desire to state, (" non-committal " attitude), (self -declaration). 4. Sense of Triviality, vs. Sense of Seriousness or Impor- tance. 5. Obviousness or Familiarity in vs. Indication of that which is thought, New or Unrecognized in the thought or in its application. 6. The Anticipatory or Negative vs. The Conclusive or Positive member of an Antithesis, member of an Antithesis. Examples. There are other methods ; I do not claim that this is the only one. No, of course no one believes that. DISCRIMINATION. 61 " It was not Moses that gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread out of heaven." I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.". By a natural paradox this rhetorical negation may he- come the strongest kind of affirmation ; as, " We know that this is our son." , Here the parents of the blind man consider the fact of his relation to them as so indisputable that it is not worth their while to make an affirmation concerning it ; so do the neighbors, who said, " This is he." But when his identity had been disputed by some of the bystanders, it then became necessary to make an affirmation, and so the man himself declares, with falling slide, " I dm he." John ix. 9, 20. The vocal symbol of this negative relation is a rising slide, of about a fourth ; the more serious negation is somewhat prolonged, and the more trivial is given with a quicker, lighter toss. The interval is in either case essentially the same. Paraphrase to Reveal Negation. A thought that is essentially negative, but formally or grammatically posi- tive, can almost always be translated into a sentence that is technically, or grammatically, negative ; thus : - " I grant that there is some truth in that " = I do not deny that. " I know that he shall rise in the resurrection " = I am not doubting the fact of the resurrection. " We know that this is our son " = We could not, of course, mis- take our own son. (6) Doubt. This includes hesitation, uncertainty, any degree of bewilderment or confusion; and represents the 62 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. mind as attempting to balance or decide between ideas. For example : I may find it necessary. You do not really think it possible. I believe I mailed that letter on Saturday. If thou consider rightly of the matter Caesar hath had great wrong. The bodily attitude of " hesitation " is the natural pan- tomimic expression of doubt. The vocal symbol of doubt or uncertainty is a suspen- sion of voice, rather than a distinct rising slide, though there may be a slight tendency upward. It typifies the mind held in suspense or abeyance. Expansive Paraphrasing best reveals doubt, hesitation, or uncertainty, when obscure. This will put into words the hidden thoughts that give this color to the utterance. Thus, when you say, "I may find it necessary," fill out somewhat like this : I wish I could see some other way my personal feeling holds me back but duty seems to move me to it but not decisively as yet let me reflect etc. The substance of the mood is a nearly equal drawing in opposite directions, leaving the mind for the time quite balanced between them. (c) Interrogation, Direct, answerable by " yes " ot "no." The mind is pictured as unformed in reference to the main thought, either confessing or professing ignorance, and as looking up to superior intelligence for the antici- pated information. This is emptiness or incompleteness. For example : Is this your sdn ? Did he say n6 f DISCRIMINA TION. t>3 The natural symbol in this direct and literal interroga- tion is a rising slide, almost invariably of a fifth. Rhetorical or figurative interrogation usually has the purpose of a strengthened affirmation. This purpose may be effected either by obviously asserting in tone what is asked in words, or by pretending ignorance in regard to that which is well known. The latter expects a needless answer, the former only demands the attention ; the latter employs a rising slide, like a real question; the former, a falling slide, like an ordinary assertion, or stronger. For example : - Do you deny this ? This may convey either of two purposes : - (1) Really or apparently to gain information. It will then be expressed by a rising slide. (2) Strongly to assert the opposite of that expressed in the question : That is ; you do not, cannot deny it. This, of course, will be given with a positive falling slide. The intonation will depend on whether the speaker wishes or judges it best to assume the attitude of de- manding, challenging, dominating ; or that of leading the interlocutor to state for himself the fact or truth to be impressed upon him. " Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ? " " Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves ? " These are figurative interrogations, but their strongly discriminative and conversational character seems to give them the tone of literal questions. Strong emotion and energy tend to use falling slides in interrogation. Paraphrase. In literary interpretation, as in conversa- 64 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. tion, it is often a delicate and most important task to de- cide whether the interrogative phraseology really conveys the purpose of a literal question, i. e., to gain information, or of a figurative, to assert or challenge. The real intent may best be realized by restating, especially by changing to declarative form ; thus : Who does not know this = Every one knows it. Do you not see that it is true = You must see. (d) Supplication or Entreaty. This may seem to be- long rather to Emotion than to Discrimination. Though arising in an emotional state, it as distinctly represents a relation of the two minds as does Interrogation, and as truly reveals essential incompleteness on the part of the speaker as does Negation : May I speak to you a moment ? Please listen to my statement. This is not "supplicatory." The same is true of many prayers ; they simply indicate the desire of the speaker, and the expectation of the promised answer or blessing : " Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that sittest upon the cherubim, shine forth." Words of real supplication, on the other hand, express an intense pleading, which looks upward as weakness to strength ; fearfulness or despair to protecting power : - " Will the Lord cast off forever ? and will he be favorable no more? Is his mercy clean gone forever? Doth his promise fail forever more? " In this the purpose is not primarily to gain information, but rather to express the intense pleading, the uplifted, be- seeching attitude here intended by the term "supplication." DISCRIMINATION. 65 And literature, especially the drama, contains many such examples : " O Hubert, save me from these bloody men ! " "Kneel not, gentle Portia." A fine form of supplication or entreaty is found in the solicitude or tenderness of friendship and of love. Deli- cate consideration may prevent the use of definite, formal entreaty in the diction ; yet the real motive impelling the utterance, and suggesting its intonation, is often of this nature. Paraphrase. In such cases the true intent may best be revealed, and the expression indicated, by translating into phraseology containing imperatives and words distinctively pleading or entreating. Examples : You look not well. Signior Antonio, Merchant of Venice, I. i. equivalent to I do entreat you not to kill yourself with grief. You have too much respect upon the world ; They lose it that do buy it with much care. Hid. Suggesting, Now don't make that mistake I pray you. " Your worth is very dear in my regard." This element of entreaty is, no doubt, the reason for the delicate rising slide so often heard in an affectionate or cordial " Good-by." Give me your hand, Bassanio ; fare you well ! Grieve not that I am fall'n to this for you. Merchant of Venice, IV. i. 66 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. In such a scene it seems an affront to the sacredness of human feeling to translate into words the tender entreaty which is to be heard, or rather felt, in the lingering caress of the tone ; yet, it would be heartless to render the thought without such interpretation, virtually and some- what definitely made. When once this habit of interpre- tation by translation or paraphrase is fairly started, it will apply itself, in most cases, more delicately and more effec- tively in the unuttered translation which the mind learns to make. This relation is symbolized by a rising slide, variable in extent from third to octave. It is usually, and almost necessarily, accompanied by a perceptible swell. ASSUMPTION AND ASSERTION. Another of the implied forms of incompleteness, and one of exceeding importance in practical work, is the case of Assumption and Assertion. Both represent relations of incompleteness, though usually not formal or self-evident. Nice discrimination is required in the determining of these relations. Assumption is the taking for granted of that which may be supposed to be already in the mind of the listener, either from having been previously mentioned or strongly implied, or because it is a matter of common information. Assumption is thus a form of negation resembling "ob- viousness." (Case 5, p. 60.) The difference between them is that obviousness usually applies to a sentence or clause as a whole, whereas assumption properly applies to a word or phrase in its relation to other words in the same sentence. [NOTE 4.] DISCRIMINA TION. 6 7 Assertion as here used means distinctive or discrimina- tive emphasis in connected relations (without separation). It recognizes the relative importance, rhetorically and logi- cally, of elements whose grammatical position or whose connection might tend to hide their true significance, bear- ing or force. Such assertive elements are usually found near the beginning or the middle of a clause or sentence, where no indication of emphasis is given by punctuation. It becomes therefore a matter of interpretation to recog- nize the logical and expressional prominence of such ele- ments when left in grammatically subordinate positions. Assumption and Assertion are thus correlative terms, each implying the other. Whenever we say in this study that one element of a sentence or one part of a thought is "assumed," we imply that some other thing is " asserted," and vice versa. The question is one of discrimination as to the relations between different parts of a thought, and of corresponding differences in the utterance of the words that stand for those parts of the thought respec- tively. [NOTE 5.] Inversion is usually the best way of paraphrasing to reveal assumption and assertion. Attention is thus called to the relations of the elements, and the mind of the reader or speaker is compelled to decide as to what shall be asserted and what assumed. The assertive word or phrase should, in the paraphrase, be assigned to that posp tion in the sentence which will give it greatest prominence ; as a rule it will come at the end; the beginning is the next most emphatic place. Changes of grammatical form will also help in para- phrasing. In general the relation of assumption may be indicated by participial and prepositional phrases and by 68 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. dependent clauses ; that of assertion by separate proposi- tion, or by inversion. " Assumed " substantives may often be translated into pronouns, indicating the reference to the person or thing previously mentioned or implied : e.g., in Mark v. 34, " plague ' (already in mind) may be thought of as "this" or -'it." Are not you moved, when all the sway of Earth Shakes like a thing unfirm ? O Cicero ! I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds Have rived the knotty oaks ; and I have seen Th' ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam, To be exalted with the threatening clouds : But never till to-night, never till now, Did I go through a tempest dropping fire. Julius Ccesar, I. iii. In the first sentence, supposing the "sway of earth" and the " shaking " to be assumed, taken for granted, and the "you" to be asserted, these relations would be expressed by paraphrasing, thus, In all this swaying and shaking of the earth does nothing move you ? In the fol- lowing lines, supposing the words "tempests," "oaks," " ocean," and " clouds " to be assumed, we might manifest this assumption in a concessive clause ; as, Though I have seen raging tempests, and scolding winds that could split the oaks, and have seen the heaving ocean rise even to the clouds, yet never until to-night, etc. On the other hand, suppose that the same words are to be asserted, or particularized ; then this might be expressed by separating the clauses thus : I have, in my day, seen horrible tempests ; I have seen winds that would sever the toughest oak; I have seen manifestations of power in the ocean ; I have known it toss the spray in its fury, until it seemed as if the waters would reach even to the clouds. DISCRIMINATION. 69 Take these examples from First Cor. xv. : - Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The principal assertions are upon the pronoun "this," and the phrase "flesh and blood." Both of these asser- tions may be revealed thus, Now the point of the argu- ment, brethren, is this : The spiritual kingdom cannot be inherited by mortal bodies. Verse 20 of the same chapter is often misinterpreted : But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the first fruits of them that are asleep. The chief assertion is upon the verb " hath been raised ; " and in this verb the distinctive part is the auxiliary " hath," which represents the action as already completed. The attention does not need to be called to the idea of rais- ing. The question is as to whether Christ's resurrection is now an accomplished fact. To reveal this, the first clause might be paraphrased thus : - But now the resurrection of Christ has taken place. Verse 35, also, is easily misread : - But some man will say, How are the dead raised, and with what manner of body do they come ? The emphasis is often placed upon the words " raised " and " come ; " but evidently the idea contained in " raised " has been so many times stated or distinctly implied in the preceding verses that it is now simply taken for granted, or assumed ; and the word " come " contains no essential significance, being merely the commonplace filling out of the sentence. The true emphasis will be revealed by par- 70 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. aphrasing, thus, But some man will say, This raising of the dead is done how ? And when the dead rise, they will have what sort of body? The same is clearly shown in this sentence from the ninth chapter of John : - They say, therefore, unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him in that he hath opened thine eyes ? Here the chief assertion is not upon the last word, but upon " thou ; " and to reveal and justify this relation we may invert the words of the text, making it read somewhat as follows, So they say again to the blind man, Consider- ing the fact that he has opened your eyes, what do you say of him, yourself? COMPLEX RELATIONS. Completeness, incompleteness, assumption, and asser- tion are usually simple in their nature. We have also many cases of composite or combined relations, expressing in the same word or phrase different simultaneous notions. Such complex relations often need some special symbol in the intonation ; and for this use the circumflexes are natu- rally adapted. The double motion of the voice upon a single sound or group of sounds is an instinctive symbol of the double purpose in the speaking mind. We recognize three distinct types, or varieties, of com- posite relations. 1. Comparison or Contrast with Affirmation. This supposes two elements in the thought, and usually implies, rather than states, the holding of the two before the atten- tion at the same moment. Its vocal symbol is the falling circumflex (A). DIS CRIMINA TION. 1 1 Example. " This is not the only reason." When we say " This is not the only reason," the other reasons that might be named are suppressed, and the word " only " must imply the contrast. This will need the circumflex. When both members of the antithesis or of the com- parison are separately and fully expressed, and when the parts stand close together, they usually take contrasted slides instead of condensed, or circumflex inflection ; as : - " I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him : " 2. Comparison or Contrast with Incompleteness. - This is rendered still more complex by the addition of an element of subordination, negation, interrogation, or some other type of incompleteness. Its symbol is the wave [^>-/|. Could I but know this now ! Here the contrast between knowing and only surmising is joined with anticipation, doubt, or uncertainty. I do not like your faults. This plainly implies a contrast, with negation or con- cession. The fact of their involved double significance renders these forms especially useful in sarcasm, raillery, wit and humor. They often express surprise, which is really a contrast between what was expected and what is seen. They are legitimately used whenever it is most economical to imply double relations of thought, rather than explicitly to state both of the combined ideas. 3. Affirmation with Incompleteness. This joins with a strong subjective attitude an interrogation, a negation, an entreaty, or some one of the more distinctly expressive 72 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. types of incompleteness. It is thus essentially double in its significance, combining a positive and a negative ele- ment of thought; typically, an assertion and an appeal. This double significance appears plainly in such expres- sions as : You won't go, when it means, You will not go, will you ? You don't believe that, meaning, You do not believe it, do you ? As in this case, so usually, the twofold thought could be made more apparent by separating the elements which are packed into one briefer form. The vocal symbol of this double relation is the rising circumflex (V). The office of the inflection in the interpretation of such twofold expression is, most economically to suggest the hidden or implied element. The two motions of the voice, united in one, naturally symbolize the two motives in the mind combined in one. We must not regard the phrase- ology alone, but must seek to find all that is naturally implied, considering the context and the circumstances of the utterance. Paraphrase for Complex Relations. These, as already seen, are cases of combined ideas, expressed by composite motions of the voice, called circumflexes. In order to justify such double motion of the voice, the mind of the reader needs to recognize the combination implied in the words. He will make himself surer of this by analyzing, or separating into its component parts, each composite idea. " Be not too tme neither." DISCRIMINATION. 73 Here is a plain implication of one member of the antithesis ; and it might be expanded thus, As you are not to be too extravagant in your expression, so you are not to be too quiet. This combination of separable elements might be illus- trated by diagram, thus : Here the negative, or anticipatory, clause is, in the con- densed form, suggested by the negative, or rising, part of the circumflex ; the positive clause, by the falling part of the tone. In a similar way. two separate elements, both of which are verbally expressed, may be combined in one elliptical or complex clause ; e.g., I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. Inverting clauses, - Caesar, but I praise S N. come to ) Interrogation. /(-I) Negation. -(3) Anticipation. -(2) Subordination. -(1) Doubt. Supplication takes, according to the degree of intensity, almost any degree of elevation. NOTE 3. As to what may be assumed and what needs to be asserted, the speaker must always consult the intelligence of his audience, the cir- cumstances, and occasion, and especially Jhe particular connection and bearing of the sentence in question. Too much assumption renders the delivery weak and inadequate, because too commonplace; too much assertion is an insult, as it underestimates the intelligence of the audi- ence. ^\ XOTB 4... ' " Assertion:*' may possibly be ambiguous at first. The word is here appropriated to a technical use "which seems justifiable and necessary, It is not to be confused with Affirmation. It is distinctly to be under- stood as the mefe antithetic of Assumption. "Assertion " uses the continuative falling slide, the voice moving downward and onward at the same time. It is a convenient way of marking that which is usually called the "emphatic" word of a sentence, viewed in its connections. It is well shown in transferred emphasis; as, / gave him those keys. I gave him those keys. I gave him those keys. I gave him those keys. The "continuative" falling slide is marked thus, (!_). Examples. |I gave him those keys. I g|ave him those keys. I gave h|im those keys. I gave him th|ose keys. 76 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. Assertion, as here used, is not designed to suggest relations of " mo- mentary completeness" in the final interpretation, nor to indicate that the common falling slide accompanied by pause should mark the asser- tive word. The continuative slide ( j ) shows that the element is not to be separated, but is to have its force in its connections. With our uninflected language, it is often impossible to secure perfect adjustment of emphasis, and " assertion " is a great corrective. It is this connective nature of the assertive element, as it appears in actual rendition, that justifies the classification of "Assertion" with other cases of implied incompleteness. NOTE 6. Comparison usually takes the interval of about a third and return ; Contrast about a fifth. Comparison more easily carries over the thought from one thing to another, while Contrast sets one thing sharply up against the other. Comparison may be marked [/-N], Con- trast [A]. Comparison. John, too, has come. That is, John came, as well as Charlie. Contrast. It is open, I say. That is, it is open instead of closed. NOTE 7. The following passages are specially favorable for discriminative analysis : John ix. ; 1 Cor. xv. 35-54; Matt. v. 23, 28, 6-26, 15-27; Mark ix. 23; John iv. 16-18, 25, 42. Hamlet, Act I. Scene i. lines 1-60. Hamlet, Act I. Scene i. lines 160-260. Hamlet, Act V. Scene i. whole scene. I. COMPLETENESS. 1. FINALITY. Matt. v. 17, xxii. 14; Rom. vii. 25, viii. 38-39, ix. 16, 18, xi. 32; 1 Cor. iii. 23, viii. 4; Heb. iii. 19. 2. MOMENTARY COMPLETENESS : Test by translation into separate sen- tences. Ex. xx. 16, 17; Deut. xxv. 14-15; Job xxviii. 27, 28; Ps. viii. 1, Ivii. 6; Isa. v. 18-19, vi. 3, xl. 12-31, Iv. 6, 7; Jer. xlv. 4, 5, 1. 17, li. 15, DISCRIMINATION. 77 21, 22; Ezek. xxxiv. 13-14; Dan. ix. 5-6; Hos. xiv. 3-7; Hab. iii. 2-10; Matt. v. 2-13, x. 5-10, xiii. 3-5, xvi. 2-3, xxiii. 23; Luke v. 13, vii. 8; John i. 1-4, v. 10, xvi. 1-2; Acts xvii. 28; Rom. viii. 38-39; 1 Cor. xiii. 4-7; Phil. iv. 8; Heb. xi. 32-38; Rev. i. 8, vii. 12. II. GRAMMATICAL AND FORMAL INCOMPLETENESS. 1. SUBORDINATION. Matt. v. 26, xxv. 44; John iii. 7, iv. 53, ix. 14-18; Acts ii. 30; 1 Cor. xv. 15. 2. ANTICIPATION. Gen. iii. 17; Deut. iv. 25, vii. 1-2, xi. 13-22, xvii. 1-2, xxx. 1-2; 1 Kings iii. 14, viii. 46-47; Esther iv. 14; Luke xxi. 20; Acts xvii. 24; Rom. ix. 10-11; Heb. ii. 2, x 19-20. III. INDIRECT AND INFERENTIAL FORMS OF INCOMPLETENESS. 1. NEGATIVE ; Decide. 1. Concession : Deut. xxix. 19; Luke xviii. 4-5; Phil. iii. 12; Heb. vi. 9; James ii. 14. 2. Inability to assert: Esther iv. 14; Eccl. xi. 6; John ix. 25; 1 Cor. i. 16 ; 2 Cor. xii. 2, 3. 3. Unwillingness to assert : John ix. 20, 29, xi. 24. 4. Triviality : Hab. iii. 17 ; 1 Cor. xv. 11, 32, 37. 5. Obviousness : John ix. 33 ; 1 Cor. xv. 50. 6. Negative in Antithesis : 1 Cor. xv. 42^4. 2. DOUBT: Paraphrase. Gen. xxvii. 22; 2 Sam. xvi. 12; 1 Kings xxii. 6; Matt. xi. 3; Luke xxiv. 21 ; John i. 46, iii. 4, iv. 9, vi. 42, vii. 26, 31, 41. 3. RHETORICAL INTERROGATION : Translate into declarative or impera- tive form. Gen. iv. 9; Num. xvi. 10; 1 Sam. xvii. 43, xxv. 10; 2 Kings viii. 13; Job xxi. 15, xxxviii. 2, xli. 14; Ps. Iii. 1, Iviii. 1, cvi. 2; Prov. xxiv. 12; Eccl. ii. 25; Isa. v. 4, xiv. 10, 16-17, xli. 26; Matt. v. 13; Mark iv. 13; Rom. ix. 20-21, x. 14 ; 1 Cor. iii. 16, xiv. 17. 4. SUPPLICATION. Gen. xviii. 23-32, xxvii. ?4, 38, xliv. 18-34; Num. xii. 11-13; 1 Sam. i. 11 ; 2 Sam. vii. 18-29; 1 Kings iii. 6-9, viii. 23-53, xviii. 36-37 ; 2 Kings xix. 15-19; Ps. vi. 1-7, xiii., xliii., Ixx., Ixxxiii., Ixxxvi., cii., cxliii. ; Lam. v.; Hos. xiv. 1-2; Hab. iii. 2-3; Matt. viii. 2, 6; Mark ix. 22, 24; Luke xviii. 38, 39, 41; Acts vii. 59-60; Heb. iii. 7-8. CASES OF ASSUMPTION AND ASSERTION. Analyze and paraphrase. See pp. 67-70. Ps. i. 4-6; Prov. iii. 2, 22, x. 1, xii. 16; Isa. i. 3-4; Dan. vi. 13-14, 28; Matt. v. 27-28, 44, ix. 15-17, x. 24-25, xi. 11, xxi. 43-44; Mark ii. 1- 78 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. 4, v. 25-34; John iii. 1-8, 19, 32, 30, iv. 21-23, v. 30-38, vi. 32-35, 63, viii. 28, 39, 44^7, x. 25, 32, 33, 37, xiii. 11, 19, 28, 37, 38 ; Acts vii. 5, 10, 11, 19, 24-26, 33, x. 44, 47, xv. 7-11 ; Rom. viii. ; 1 Cor. xiv. 7, 11, 16, 18, 26, 34. In the following passages find cases of "complex relations." De- cide on special form, and paraphrase by separating into simple ele- ments a sentence or a clause for each of the component parts. See pp. 72-74. 2 Sam. xii. 7 ; 1 Kings ii. 22, viii. 19, xi. 1 ; Job i. 6, viii. - xi., xii. 2 ; Ps. xx. 7, xc. 10; Isa. xxx. 15, Jer. vii. 19, xli.-8;.Dan. iv. 9, vii. 13; Matt. v. 17, ix. 16, xx. 12, 28, xiii. 16; Luke xi. 31-32, 45, xv. 31-32; xvii. 15-17, xix. 42, xxi. 1-4, 29-31, xxiii. 41; John x. 10-15, Acts ii. 27; 1 Cor. xiii. 1-4. Find all cases in John ix., 1 Cor. xv., Galatians. CHAPTER VII. EMOTION. Analysis Emotion is connected with the intellectual and the volitional ; symbolized by sensitive pantomimic conditions and resultant tone color ; ^Normal feeling ; Simple, healthy ; Repose and elasticity. Pure quality secured by physical and vocal exercises, singing and chanting, reading musi- cally. Enlarged feeling expressive of the grand, noble ; Expansion of frame, depth and volume of tone, chest vi- brations predominating; Expansive subjective paraphrase. Suppressed feeling, tenderness, weariness, secrecy, inten- sity ; varying pantomimic conditions, aspirated quality ; Best types are modifications of the normal; Oppressed or covered feeling expressing solemnity, awe, and the like ; Practical forms, reverence, compassion, wonder, medita- tion ; Bodily attitude tending toward recoil ; Pectoral quality. Stern or severe feeling more or less abnormal ; Pantomimic condition approaching antagonism; Tone tense; Paraphrased by interjected remarks and exclama- tion. Agitated feeling, merriment or grief; quiver of nerve, tremble of voice, " vibrato.; " Spirit and method in the study of Emotionality. Relations of Emotion. Of necessity many elements enter into the full measurement of emotion, because emo- tion itself is complex, and is dependent upon many con- ditions and relations. The cause of the feeling must usually be apparent ; and especially must the relations of ideas, out of which the feeling grows, be obvious. Hence the elements of formulation and discrimination are pre- supposed. 79 80 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. On the other hand, feeling, in most cases, tends directly toward action ; it generally leads to, and justifies, some distinct form of volition. Means of Expression. The expression of emotion can- not be fully given until all the elements of thought and utterance have been analyzed. We may, however, note here its two principal features, which are bodily bearing, and tone-color, or quality. All emotional states are most directly symbolized by the general condition of the body ; including, - (a) The bearing; () The attitude ; () is its vocal exponent; that is, a form of utterance in which the full impulse of the tone is felt at the beginning. It is not always explosive or vio- lent; it may be gently prompt. Quickness of touch is essential for expressing this element of suddenness. The degree of loudness is not important ; the tone may range all the way from very soft to very loud. Quick Pulse in gesture, especially of palm and finger, - usually " horizontal front," - will be the expression of abruptness. We can scarcely exaggerate the importance of securing flexibility, elasticity, and vigor in the hand itself. Strength of gesture depends much more upon the quality, as affected by the action of the hand, than upon the extent, produced by the swing of the arm. II. INSISTENT VOLITION. This is a stronger form of volition. It is less impul- sive than abruptness. It is less emotional ; the will comes into more direct and immediate connection with the intel- lect. It is preeminently the expression of conviction. It represents the self-controlled, the consciously powerful ; it is the deliberate pressure, or bearing, of one will upon another. Generically, it is domination. Insistence in all its types will usually have been VOLITION. 105 prepared and colored by emotions of dignity, firmness, sternness ; and will employ mild forms of the tense or rigid quality. Cases of it are : 1. Settled Determination. Examples. "Come one, come all; this rock shall fly From its firm base as soon as I." Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye ; for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Acts iv. 19, 20. Here I stand ; God help me : I cannot do otherwise. LUTHER. I appeal unto Caesar. Acts xxv. 11. "Nothing but truth could give me this firmness ; but plain truth and clear evidence can be beat down by no ability." I speak with great confidence. I have reason for it. The min- isters are with me. They at least are convinced that the repeal of the Stamp Act had not, and that no repeal can have, the conse- quences which the Honorable Gentleman who defends their meas- ures is so much alarmed at. To their conduct I refer him for a conclusive answer to his objection. I carry my proof irresistibly into the very body of both Ministry and Parliament; not on any general reasoning growing out of collateral matter, but on the con- duct of the Honorable Gentleman's Ministerial friends on the new revenue itself. BURKE. 2. Authoritative Utterance, Dignified Reproof, or Offi- cial Statement. Examples. " Verily, verily, I say unto you." " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ? " " Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God." " He shall do this ; or else I do recant The pardon that I late pronounced here." 106 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. " You wronged yourself to write in such a case." " Thy money perish with thee." " Do you forget that, in the very last year, you stood on the pre- cipice of general bankruptcy ? " "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish." " Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." You are therefore at this moment in the awkward situation of fighting for a phantom ; a quiddity ; a thing that wants, not only a substance, but even a name ; for a thing, which is neither abstract right, nor profitable enjoyment. . . . Upon the principles of the Honorable Gentleman, upon the principles of the Minister himself, the Minister has nothing at all to answer. lie stands condemned by himself, and by all his associates, old and new, as a destroyer, in the first trust of finance, of the revenues ; and in the first rank of honor, as a betrayer of the dignity of his country. BURKE. " Make room, and let him stand before our face ! " " How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering none ? " " Upon my power I may dismiss this court." And this notable conclusion of Edmund Burke's im- peachment of Warren Hastings : - " Therefore, it is with confidence that, ordered by the Commons of Great Britain, I impeach Warren Hastings of high crimes and misdemeanors. " I impeach him in the name of the Commons of Great Britain, whose national character he has dishonored. " I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whose laws, rights, and liberties he has subverted. " I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whose prop- erty he has destroyed, whose country he has laid waste and desolate. " I impeach him in the name of human nature itself, which he has cruelly outraged, injured, and oppressed, in both sexes. . . . VOLITION. 107 " And I impeach him in the name and by virtue of those eternal laws of Justice which ought equally to pervade every age, condition, rank, or situation in the world." Without official authority, an utterance may express so strong and settled conviction, and may so appeal to the listener by the weight of its own evident truth, that it amounts to authority. For example : - Ah, gentlemen, that was a dreadful mistake. Such a secret can be safe nowhere. The whole creation of God has neither nook nor corner where the guilty can bestow it and say it is safe. ... It must be confessed; it will be confessed; there is no refuge from confession but in suicide, and suicide is confession. WEBSTER. Final Stress (<) is the vocal symbol of this form of volition. It is a deliberate gathering up, a cumulation of force. Beginning moderately, it typifies the calm, assured attitude of a mind that is so confident in its position that it does not need to assert itself. The pressure typifies the resistlessly gathering conviction ; the ending with full tone indicates the completeness of conviction. The final stress is usually accompanied by falling slide. Increasing Force in Gesture with slow preparation, often descending front, expresses this form of volition. As most of the words of a sentence serve to prepare the way for the one or two words that contain the heart of the assertion, so most of the time occupied in the final stress gesture is in preparation for the ictus, or stroke. Adapt care- fully the preparation and ictus. Let the hand lead the voice. HI. UPLIFTING VOLITION. The Stimulus of ennobling thought is here represented together with the sense of insistent or cumulative force; 108 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. we also have more noticeable emotion mingled with the volition. It is adapted to the utterance of any sentiment that elevates and fills the speaker's soul, and at the same time seeks to impress and move the soul of the listener. Without this element of insistence, it would be simply emotional ; with this it becomes a buoyant pressure, or an elevated impulse, originating in the speaker's conception of the noble, but seeking to make the listener realize the same, and act upon it. Four types can be clearly distinguished : 1. Encouragement, or stimulation to something good and noble. Examples. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Cor. xv. 58. Hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown. Rev. iii. 11. Praise ye the Lord; for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant ; and praise is comely. The Lord doth build up Jerusalem : he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; he giveth them all their names. Ps. cxlvii. 1-4. "Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State, Sail on, O Union, strong and great." 2. Adoration, with purpose to uplift the listener into the same state. Example. Ye living flowers that skirt th' eternal frost! Ye wild goats, sporting 'round the eagle's nest! VOLITION. 109 Ye eagles, playmates of the mountain storm ! Ye lightnings, the dread arrows of the clouds ! Ye signs and wonders of the elements ! Utter forth "God!" and fill the hills with praise! COLERIDGE. 8. Admiration, joined with the purpose to make others admire. Example. How beautiful she is! how fair She lies within those arms, that press Her form with many a soft caress Of tenderness and watchful care. LONGFELLOW. 4. Joy or Exultation, with the purpose to lead others to rejoice. Example. Sing aloud unto God our strength : Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Ps. Ixxxi. 1. Median Stress ( <> ), expressing generically a " swell," is the vocal expression for this form of volition. It is usually accompanied by a slight rise and fall in the pitch, similar to the falling circumflex, but not heard as in- flection. Study the swell with pure tone, and allow the feelings to be elevated with the increase of tone. Expansibility and fullness of voice are the means for the expression of this property. . A large motion is the gesture for median stress, curv- ing, often "ascending oblique," with expanding, stretch- ing palm, frequently employing both hands. Practice gesture with swell on the vowels. Never allow the tone to become hard or rough. Full swell should produce full resonance. 110 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. IV. MIXED TYPES. 1. ^Establishment. Dignity and Weight characterize utterances of this type. The impression is made, not so much by insistence or cumulation, as by the display of an even, firm, and elevated property, typifying the greatest possible appre- ciation of nobility and resistless strength. It will be accompanied by emotional conditions belong- ing under either " enlargement " or " sternness " in its nobler varieties. Examples. And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the lane 1 of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Ex. xx. 1, 2. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead! In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man, As modest stillness, and humility: But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger; Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, Disguise fair nature with hard-fa vor'd rage: Then lend the eye a terrible aspect; Let it pry through the portage of the head, Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it, As fearfully as doth a galled rock O'erhang and jutty his confounded base, Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean. Now set the teeth, and stretch the nostril wide; Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit To his full height! On, on, you noblest English, Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof! The game's afoot; Follow your spirit: and, upon this charge, Cry God for Harry ! England ! and Saint George ! Henry the Fifth, III. i. VOLITION. Ill Thorough Stress ( ), expressing, generically, sus- tained force, is the symbol of this form of volition. It is approximately equal throughout the phrase or passage so emphasized. This quality of force will tend to produce also monotony of inflection ; both together will give the stateliness, the staid and solid effect, which this type of volition requires. The tone is to be prepared by first singing and chanting with full voice, then practicing pas- sages with the " calling tone," sustaining the force as nearly equal as possible throughout the passage. In drill- ing on this form of volition it will often be useful to employ prolonged or repeated gesture, oblique, horizontal, or ascending. Full extension of arm will usually be suit- able, accompanying the thorough stress. Paraphrase for Prolonged Enforcement. -- This type of energy, in its more rhetorical use, is well exemplified in the even, sustained dignity of such passages as the follow- ing from the Psalms : - " The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all." Expand by interlining considerations that will help you to realize the elevation and grandeur of the thought. the Eternal One, the Self Existent; He who is the The Lord same yesterday, to-day, and forever, from all hath prepared eternity, or ever the earth was, by his established decrees, which shall know no change while time endures, eternal and his throne immutable as himself where he dwelleth, whence in the heavens 112 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. his commands go forth to all the universe, thus and his kingdom established on a sure foundation, unshaken, immovable, destined completely to triumph over all opposing forces, with eter- ruleth nal power and grace both those who gladly accept his domin- over ion and those who weakly try to resist his power: all alike shall feel and own the eternal supremacy of the righteous King, all. 2. Violence. Perturbation of mind is always present in this form of volition. The will acts in a more or less interrupted or spasmodic way, under conflicting motives to suddenness and to insist- ence. There is an impulse toward abruptness, but not simply the abruptness of surprise, impatience, or uncon- trolled feeling; it is rather that of deep and tumultuous passion, mingled with the sense of pressure or weight. It is found in strong natures under powerful emotions which they are able only in part to control. The emotions are of the " agitated " class. Find examples of this in the Closet Scene of Hamlet, Act III. Scene iv. ; and in Julius Ccesar, Act I. Scene i. Compound Stress (><) is the form of vocal energy expressing this mood. It produces a double shock. This tone can scarcely be given with the voice alone. It must be practiced with gesture, which will frequently be given with clenched fist or strong pulse of palm and fingers, fre- quently with repeated stroke, or shake. The compound stress is quite analogous to compound inflection, representing a double motive or impulse in the mind. Usually the two impulses which combine to form VOLITION. 113 this composite effect may be revealed by analysis, which will show the reason for the presence of the two elements in the thought. Paraphrase for Violence. Here, evidently, emotion will be more apparent, and will form a larger percentage of the expressional power. The interlineations will be such as to reveal a disturbed, violently moved, shocked condition of the sensibilities, together with an impetuous, unrestrained, and yet powerful, insistent action of the will. Let this attitude be illustrated by the following passage from The Vision of Don Roderick by Scott : " But conscience here, as if in high disdain, Sent to the monarch's cheek the blood lie stayed his speech abrupt and up the prelate stood. ' O hardened offspring of an iron race ! What of thy crimes, Don Roderick, shall I say ? What alms, or prayers, or penance can efface Murder's dark spot, wash treason's stain away ! For the foul ravisher how shall I pray, Who, scarce repentant, makes his crime his boast ? How hope almighty vengeance shall delay, Unless, in mercy to yon Christian host He spare the shepherd, lest the guileless sheep be lost.' " Observe that the first three lines quoted hint at the pantomimic condition and expression, which justifies the following speech. The tense, disturbed, abrupt action will of course be expressed in the paraphrase by a violent exclamatory utterance, interjected between the words of the text ; thus : - cruel, conscienceless, defiant, brazen O hardened offspring 114 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. hard-hearted, relentless, overbearing of an iron race tell me, speak, answer! horrible, revolting, blood- What of thy crimes, curdling, who can name them, who can describe Don Roderick, them? what tongue can portray them? shall I say ? What alms, or prayers, or penance [here the amplification by repetition seems to be done for us] the horrible blot, the dastardly mark, can efface Murder's dark spot, revealing your foul soul in its hideous uncleanness, wash treason's ay, treason, blackest crime, beyond murder; most impious! most reck- less ! most defiant ! how can I bring stain away I For the foul ravisher myself, how can you expect me ? Oh, why should any man be called to intercede for such ! how shall I pray ? NOTES ON CHAPTER VIII. NOTE 1. A Final Word on the Study of Volition. It is vital to observe two things, and in their proper order : First, Try to measure the kind and degree of volition note carefully the attitude of the speaker's will at the moment of utterance, as bearing upon the will of the addressed. Do not be content with simply saying, "There is volition demanded here;" see what kind of volition. Second, Learn carefully and practi- cally each kind of stress; train the voice to these different apportion- ments of power, until the vocal symbol instantly and instinctively adapts itself to your mind's conception of the variety of volition required. Practice verifying the significance of these different types of voli- tion by listening critically to voices in conversation and in public discourse. Do not confuse stress with inflection; practically they may unite VOLITION. 115 scientifically we are to separate them; and in the drill stage they must be thought of as distinct. Practice vowels and numerals in all forms of stress, always associat- ing the rhetorical significance, and mentally adapting sentences requir- ing different kinds of stress; then take actual sentences, speak them with different kinds of stress, and note the differences in significance. Do not overdo the matter of stress. Like all vital elements in expression, it must be used moderately in order to be effective. Never allow mere impulse to decide the form or degree of stress. Effective utterance is always dominated by the intelligence and the will. Whatever particular form of volition is studied, the utterance must be justified to the reader or speaker by such mental expansion, com- ment, and restatement as could be expressed in writing. This will, indeed, fall short of complete expression, and is intended to be only an aid to such expression; but such aid is needed. The things to be kept constantly in mind are these: First, that volitional attitudes and actions must be justified by their relations to the intellectual and emotional conditions which introduce them; and, Second, that they may be mentally intensified by such repetitions and additional expressions as, if fully written, would quite overload the verbal expression. In addition to those already given, find or make typical examples of abruptness, insistence, uplift, establishment, and violence. Write in between the lines and between the words such amplifying matter as you think will legitimately express the accompanying thoughts and impulses of the speaker's mind, and thus give force and point to these different types of volition. NOTE 2. In the following passages decide on the form of volition implied. Translate declarative, interrogative, or exclamatory forms into impera- tive. See pp. 100-102. Gen. xl. 1; Ex. xiv. 15, xv. 1-8, xx. 1-2; Josh. x. 12; 1 Sam. xvii. 44, xx. 30-31 ; 2 Sam. xii. 5-17, xix. 5-7 ; 1 Kings xii. 16 ; Ezra i. 2-4, iv. 3, vi, 6-12; Esther iv. 13-14, vii. 9; Ps. xxxvii. 3, xlvii. 1, Ixviii. 7-8, Ixxxi. 1-3, Ixxxix. 6-8, xc. 1-5, xcvi. 1-C, xcvii. 1-4, cxxi., cxxv. 1-2, cxl. 9-10; Isa. xxv. 1-4, xxx. 1-5, xl. 12-18, li. 9-11, lii. 1-2, Iv. 1, Ix. 1-5, 17-22, Ixii. 1-3; Ezek. xxxvi. 22-24; Matt. ii. 13; Mai. iii. 10; Matt. xix. 28-29; Luke xxiii. 21, xv. 6; John iii. 16-18, vii. 37, xii. 13; Acts ii. 36, iv. 19-20, vii. 49-50, 51, 53, xiii. 41, xxiii. 3, xxv. 11, xxvii. 22-25 ; 1 Cor. xv. 58, xvi. 13; Eph. vi. 10-17; Heb. i. 10-12, xi. 3, 32-34, xiii. 6; Rev. iii. 11. CHAPTER IX. MUSICAL PROPERTIES OF SPEECH. Analysis More general application; Movement or tempo; Slow gives gravity ; Fast gives lightness or intensity. Movement in its relation to different types of utterance. Rhythm of speech : Significance of different types of po- etic rhythm ; Corresponding types of prose-rhythm ; abrupt, insistent, gliding, weighty ; Analogous to different forms of stress ; Prose-rhythm is more dependent upon the reader's interpretation ; Examples of different kinds of prose-rhythm. Hamlet's advice to the players analyzed rhythmically ; Key denned ; Effects of high keys, of me- dium, of low. Keys in different voices. Melody defined. Effects of smaller diatonic intervals, of larger,. of chro- matic, of minor, of unusual. Emphatic elements in the sentence set the trend of melody. Melodies discriminative and emotional. Illustration from musical recitatives, arias, and songs. Melodic analysis of the Erl-King. Special qualities of tone due to the overtones ; Effects of different types of vowels; Mr. Swartz's analysis of different vowel qualities. Rhythm and melody as subtler means of ex- pressing thought. THUS far we have considered the more minute and par- ticular applications of the properties of tone to special purposes in the utterance. These general properties of utterance are approached from the physical side rather than from the mental; and for this reason they should be studied only after formal and thorough analysis of thought properties. The particular applications of tone-properties, as quan- tity, inflection, stress, serve to single out some word or 116 MUSICAL PROPERTIES OF SPEECH. 117 phrase as the center of the expression, and as that which gives character to the utterance. All the general applica- tions, as movement, key, melody, general force, and general quality, give character to the thought as a whole, and not with special reference to any one central word or phrase. The general both affects the particular and is affected by it. The general should always lead, and subordinate to it- self the particular. Thus, e. g., " general force " is deter- mined by the consideration of the kind of energy implied in the passage as a whole; when thus determined, "particu- lar force," or " stress," will naturally follow, applying itself to the central words in each assertion or appeal. The em- phasis thus secured will not have the undue pointedness or jerky effect sometimes heard in young speakers. It was necessary at first to study force in the form of stress, to reach a specific idea of the different kinds of volition. So, inflection is more easily understood than melody; and pause and quantity, than movement. These different ele- ments, once apprehended in connection with the smaller divisions of speech, become a guide and illustration to the larger divisions, which in turn react upon the particular elements. We study, as "musical properties," Movement, Rhythm, Melody, Quality, and Force. These are called musical properties because they impart to speech in a marked de- gree the characteristics of sensuous beauty and poetic ideality, which inhere typically in music itself. I. MOVEMENT, OR TEMPO. Movement, as an element of expression, is distinguished from pause and quantity mainly by this feature of general 118 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL application; that is, while pause or quantity is heard upon a single element of a sentence, and for the uses of that element, except in case of the oratorical pause, general movement, or rate, is heard as affecting the whole passage, division, or discourse. Movement in speech corresponds to tempo in music ; pauses correspond to rests, and quantity to the relative length of tones. The movement, or tempo, gives the general effect of the thought as a whole. Movement either measures the rapidity of the mind's action in the thought which is uttered, or suggests the amount and nature of unuttered but implied thought. Slow Movement is a part of the expression of thought- fulness, seriousness, solemnity, tenderness, doubt or mis- giving, in the mind of the speaker; and adapts itself to the description of scenes, incidents, etc., that are slow- moving or grave. In short, slow movement means gravity. Examples. CAESAR. Would he were fatter! but I fear him not: Yet, if my name were liable to fear, I do not know the man I should avoid So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much; He is a great observer, and he looks Quite through the deeds of men: he loves no plays, As thou dost, Antony ; he hears no music : Seldom he smiles; and smiles in such a sort As if he mock'd himself, and scorn' d his spirit That could be moved to smile at any thing. Julius Ccesar, I. ii. BRUTUS-. . . . What you have said, I will consider; what you have to say, I will with patience hear; and find a time Both meet to hear and answer such high things. Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this: MUSICAL PROPERTIES OF SPEECH. 119 Brutus had rather be a villager Than to repute himself a son of Koine "Under these hard conditions as this time Is like to lay upon us. Julius Ccesar, I. ii. " ' Prince of Peace.' Note that name. When kings rule in that name, and nobles, and the judges of the earth, then they also, in their narrow place, and mortal measure, receive the power of it." " God bless us every one ! " said Tiny Tim, the last of all. lie sat very close to his father's side, upon his little stool. Bob held his withered little hand in his, as if he loved the child, and wished to keep him by his side, and dreaded that he might be taken from him. DICKENS. Fast Movement is a part of the expression of triviality, lightness, merriment, cheer, boldness, prompt decision, enthusiasm (when not seriously assertive) ; and objec- tively, it fits the description of scenes or events that move rapidly. In a word, fast rate means either lightness or intensity. Examples. BRUTUS. Ride, ride, Messala, ride, and give these bills Unto the legions on the other side: [Loud alarum. Let them set on at once; for I perceive But cold demeanor in Octavius' wing, And sudden push gives them the overthrow. Ride, ride, Messala: let them all come down. [Exeunt. Julius Ccesar, V. ii. SALARINO. Not in love neither ? Then let's say you're sad, Because you are not merry ; and 'twere as easy For you to laugh and leap, and say you're merry, Because you are not sad. Merchant of Fem'ce, I. i. LAUNCELOT. Well, well ; but, for mine own part, as I have set up my rest to run away, so I will not rest till I have run some ground. 120 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. My master's a very Jew : give him a present ! give him a halter : I am f amish'd in his service ; you may tell every finger I have with mv ribs. Merchant of Venice, II. ii. It will be seen that rate helps to express either of the four principal types of utterance. 1. Formulation, in its various offices, is recognized chiefly by this element, the different kinds of formulative matter being marked mainly by differences in movement. The relation between movement and the varieties of formu- lation has been partly developed in Chapter IV. 2. Movement also assists Discrimination in the broader sense, as marking the difference between one general scene or thought and its opposite, or between a general negative idea and its antithetic positive. Negatives, as being lighter, usually move faster, assumed matter faster than asserted; subordination faster; doubt more slowly. This broader discrimination is not wholly dependent upon in- flection. Slides and circumflexes indicate discrimination between words or phrases ; and by the same natural prin- ciple of opposition, the differences between one general thought and another, occupying each a paragraph or a division of the discourse, must be expressed by those elements which are naturally adapted to the use of the larger divisions of language ; and one of these elements is Rate, or Movement. Example. I will not attempt to describe that battle. The cannonading ; the landing of the British ; their advance ; the cool- ness with which the charge was met ; the repulse ; the second attack : the second repulse ; the burning of Charlestown ; and, finally, the closing assault, and the slow retreat of the Americans, the history of all these is familiar. WEBSTER. MUSICAL PROPERTIES 'OF SPEECH. 121 3. Again, Emotion will most sensibly affect the rate. Whatever awakens feelings of cheerfulness and merri- ment, or of intensity and rage, will quicken the rate ; while that which deepens, ennobles, or oppresses the feel- ings will show itself in slower movement. For examples of Emotion affecting movement, refer to Chapter VII. 4. So, too, the different kinds of Energy, as applied to whole passages, will affect the rate, and be affected by it. Stress and movement will react mutually. For example : Abruptness will generally tend to rapidity ; insistence or enlargement, to slowness. For examples, refer to Chapter VIII. H. RHYTHM OF SPEECH. Nothing is more vital to speech than the due propor- tion of light and shade, or of accented and unaccented elements in sentences. Regular recurrence of accent pro- duces poetic rhythms, or scansion. It is not our purpose here to go into the minutise of this subject. The student is advised at this point to review Prosody. We are to study here prose-rhythms, which only approximate the regularity of scansion, and which may even seem to pre- sent no real resemblance to it. That there is, however, a more or less regular flow of impulses, is proved by the fact that we find real difficulty in either speaking or hear- ing a succession of words lacking this property. In calling attention to this matter of prose-rhythm, there is no intention to induce a droning or "sing-song" style of reading or speaking, neither is it the object to produce an exaggerated or a mechanical measurement of accents ; exactly the opposite effects result from a due regard for the rhythm of speech. 122 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. 1. The common poetic rhythms are a good illustration and basis : (1) Trochaic. Here the foot consists of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented ; as, " Sing, O I Song of | Hiawatha, Of the | happy | days that | followed." " Know, my | soul, thy | full sal | vation." (2) Iambic verse. The foot consists of a " short " syl- lable, or unaccented, followed by a "long," or accented; as, The mel | anchol | y days | are come, The sad | dest of j the year. BliYANT. (3) Dactylic verse. The foot consists of an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables, giving a gliding, and often a somewhat tripping movement ; as, Clear was the | heaven and | blue, || and | May with her cap crown' d with I roses. . . . LONGFELLOW. (4) Anapestic verse. In this the foot consists of two unaccented syllables followed by an accented. The Assyr | ian came down | like a wolf | on the fold, And his co ( horts were gleam | ing with pur | pie and gold. BYRON. (5) Amphibrachic. Each foot here consists of an un- accented, an accented, and another unaccented syllable ; or, short, long, short. " The Lord is | my shepherd, | no want shall J I know." (6) Spondaic. In this both syllables of the foot are accented, and are approximately equal in their volume and force. Such feet come in usually as exceptions, and for MUSICAL PROPERTIES OF SPEECH. 123 special emphasis. They detain by increased quantity; as, . . . And the | wind and the | brooklet Murmured | gladness and | peace God's \ peace with | lips rosy I tinted. LONGFELLOW. The significance of these different kinds of meter or verse lies deeper than the mere form. It is not simply a question of symmetry, or agreeable succession or colloca- tion of syllables. There is in each kind of meter a certain spirit and expressiveness. Thus, the trochaic gives more of promptness, incisiveness, spring, and boldness than does the iambic. The trochaic is better suited, therefore, to the utterance of the cheerful, the buoyant, the abrupt ; it is somewhat analogous to the initial stress. The iambic, beginning light and ending heavy, is quite like the final stress, and is more insistent in its nature ; it becomes, therefore, the natural expression of the more serious and grave sentiments. The trisyllabic kinds of verse give, in their nature, more of the gliding or springing effect. This is due, primarily, to the fact that each foot has twice as much light sound as heavy. There is a certain elastic re- bound upon the unaccented syllable. This is more particu- larly noticeable in the dactylic measure. The amphibrach has a sort of rhythmic surge or plunge or dash, which fits it for many bold measures, like that in Lochinvar^ by Scott: " O, young Lochinvar is come out of the west, Through all the wide border his steed is the best." Or this, from Robert Browning : "I sprang to the stirrup, and Jori I galloped, Dirck galloped, we gi It may give also the uplift of encouragement "I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris and he, I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three." 124 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. The anapestic will have a happy combination of full or buoyant flow, or of a broader and more dignified sweep, to- gether with a certain insistence and weight. This is well illustrated in the Destruction of Sennacherib by Byron ; for example, this passage : - " For the Angel of Death spread his wings o'er the blast, And breathed on the face of the foe as he passed." Suppose now these two lines were reconstructed so as to present essentially the same picture, but in iambic verse. We should still retain something of the insist- ence ; but, by removing one of the short syllables from each foot, we have diminished the breadth and dignity of the verse. We have taken out its majesty and sweep. Try it, thus: - "The Angel, Death, came on the blast, And breathed on face of foes he passed. A comparison of the two will show that it is not simply nor mainly the less complete logical or grammatical, or even pictorial properties in which the iambic form is in- ferior to the anapestic. The strength and the nobleness of the anapestic movement itself, with its full and flowing and far-reaching energy, is the essential, the vital element in Byron's magnificent stanzas. The general significance of these different types of rhythm may be better kept in mind by noting the follow- ing mnemonic epithets, which are at least suggestive : - Poetic Khythm. Trochaic ( ^) springy, cheery, prompt. Iambic (^ ) more grave, insistent, firm. Dactylic (-^^) sprightly and musical. Amphibrachic (^-^) with stronger uplifting. Anapestic (^^-) with a full, buoyant sweep. ^ Spondaic ( ) full sound, even. MUSICAL PROPERTIES OF SPUECH. 125 It must be borne in mind that the effects here indicated are the usual and normal ones. They are subject to many modifications. The thought contained in the poetry is often modified or supplemented, rather than emphasized or directly expressed, by the movement of the verse. 2. Prose-Rhythms. The same element of effective- ness which we feel in the rhythm of poetry, becomes, in a modified form, a vital element in expressive prose. There is not, of course, the regularity of verse, but there is an approximation to it in the proportion and arrangement of accents. All prose has some rhythm. Prose-rhythm is the apportioning of time by accents, or impulses; and the movement thus produced indicates the speaker's mood or purpose in the utterance. Prose-rhythm differs from poetic rhythm chiefly in these two respects : - (1) It is less regular. (2) It is much more determined often almost wholly so by the reader's or speaker's interpretation, and not by the formation of the line. It will be sufficient for our use to make four classes of prose-rhythms, which we shall name Abrupt, Insistent, Gliding, and Weighty. Some help may be gained by considering the analogy of prose-rhythms to poetical, and of the latter to the rhythms of music. We may say that all the varieties of rhythm are derived from two primal types, two-pulse measure and three-pulse measure. The simplest form of two-pulse measure in music is that which fits trochaic verse. It is expressed thus : I J J J II 126 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. Abrupt Rhythm is the analogous effect in prose. The rhythm depends upon succession of accents, and these accents occur at regular intervals of time. The rhythm will be essentially the same if the even notes rep- resenting the accented and unaccented portions of the measure should either or both of them be subdivided. The rhythm is a matter of the apportionment of time, marked by accents, or vocal stresses, in the utterance. Suppose the accented note to be divided into two eighth- notes ; thus : I / / J J / / the rhythm is essentially unchanged. Suppose, again, that the unaccented part should be di- vided into three, or even into four ; so long as the portions of time occupied by accented and unaccented parts of the measure remain the same, the rhythm is unchanged. Now, even in music and in poetry these equal portions of the measure are often thus subdivided, giving variety and flex- ibility to the rhythm. In prose-rhythms there is still more variety, and two, three, or even four essentially unaccented syllables may occupy one time-portion of the phrase or grouping, which if it were in verse we should call the foot; or in music, the measure. Take this example from Dickens's David Copp er field : " I wrapped myself in my clothes as quickly as I could." Here we shall fail to catch the sense of the rhythm if we attempt to scan the syllables according to meter. The rhythm must express the rapidity of movement demanded by the scene ; and the accents must fall upon the emphatic words, "wrapped," "clothes," and "quickly," or "could." MUSICAL PROPERTIES OF SPEECH. 127 The personal pronoun " I " will not form any essential part of the measure, being unemphatic, undiscriminative, assumed as a part of the verb, as it is in Latin; it might be considered in a musical notation as a sort of grace note, or appoggiatura, in connection with the tone given to the word " wrapped." The syllables " myself in my " may be considered to occupy together the unaccented part of an abrupt group, like a trochaic foot; so may the four sylla- bles "as quickly as;" the second U I" is likewise treated as an essential part of the verb, and is not given any noticeable place in the rhythm. The line might be ap- proximately represented in its rhythm by the following notation : J -t>: r . f *?==^ I I F=E=^= EH Let them now de - scend. Here the minor third in the first phrase conveys a sense of repression, as of reverence blending almost into awe. The wider interval of the fifth in the second phrase gives something more of strength, as the soul of the prophet begins to kindle into righteous indignation ; and the rapid ascent of the octave, followed (as it would be in speech) by a swift falling slide of the octave on the last syllable of " descend," gives the full climax of majesty and irresis- tible power. 148 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. 5 Z | : == -fr~ if~ g g f - b c i f 1 |- tfp --; 1 1 L .... K. Take all the prophets of Baal, and let not 13 one of them es - cape you, Bring them down to Kishon's -f2- brook, and there let them be slain. Note in this example the effects of openness, boldness, and a dash of vindictiveness, given mainly by the inter- vals. It is more human than the foregoing more of the earth, earthy. Notice similar contrasted effects in the two following examples : Adagio. -==rr tz It is e - nough, O Lord,nowtake a -way my nr* m j cres. r^-N- 5 ^ -^ ft :t =t r r ** : ~~i: =t =t =- -=; =4- : P The difference in expressiveness resides both in the keys, with their consequent intervals, and in the rhythms. MUSICAL PROPERTIES OF SPEECH. 149 life, for I am not bet- terthanmy fa-thers! 5 * * * . 1 litn^-g-^Mt: allegro vivace. $ - - F^Efi v ! v ^0 I have been ver - y jeal - ous for the S if -^- -- 11 Lord, for the Lord God of Hosts. -J- =r 150 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. Note the tenderness and pathos given by chromatic in- tervals in the following example : m Sing ye praise, all ye re-deem -ed of the nfe: E3 V Lord, Re-deem-ed from the hand of the foe, From your distress-es, from deep af- flic-tions. The following from the Erl-King, by Schubert, shows a different effect secured by chromatic intervals ; namely, great intensity, that of' fear or dread. O fa - ther, the Erl-King now puts forth his arm, Fa - ther, the Erl - King has done me harm. The cessation of the chromatic effect and the return to wide intervals descending by a fifth to the key-note, indi- cates the suspension of the terror, and the acquiescence of weakness, submitting to the inevitable. The effect is that of finality, with sadness and gloom. Another example of chromatic interval giving great intensity, in this case that of pointed energy with surprise, MUSICAL PROPERTIES OF SPEECH. 151 was heard by the writer 'in a most effective rhetorical ren- dering of a sentence from G rattan : " He has charged me with being connected with the rebels." The melody of speech was precisely that of the ascending chromatic scale, closing with the interval of an octave, discrete, or staccato, between the two syllables of the last word ; thns : - He has charged me with be- ing con-nect- ed with the reb-els. Much valuable suggestion, especially for advanced stu- dents, may be gained as to the significance of melodies, by analyzing recitatives in their connection, entire songs, es- pecially of the more poetic or romantic type, and choruses that are especially dramatic. Such forms will give the most of direct and positive light upon speaking melodies, because they have most of obvious analogy. Many the- matic songs and choruses will also suggest the germs of melodies as truly and as helpfully. The Erl-Kiti(j is especially commended as fruitful in its suggestions of melody. "Who rideth so late through the night wind wild?" This is given in easy, didactic intervals ending with a rising fifth. "It is the father with his child." This line follows in similar intervals, putting "father" at the highest point in the melody, and ending the phrase on the key note with descending fifth, like affirmation. " He has the little one well in his arm, He holds him safe, and he folds him warm." 152 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. The melody here has gentle, caressing, falling slides, giving the last words the close interval which marks the minor cadence, expressing tenderness, an inward glow and fervor. "My son, why hidest thy face so shy?" The question is asked with plain, open intervals, rising gently to the last as if in tones of tenderness and solici- tude. "Seest thou not, father, the Erl-King nigh?" Here the intervals suddenly become wide, the relative length of the notes greater, and the whole has compara- tively a startled and strained effect. " The Erlen-King with train and crown." Here is introduced a chromatic interval, the minor second, giving oppression and terror. " ti is a wreath of mist, my son." We find here a lower range of tones, with simple, small intervals, as if by quiet and commonplace utterance the father would restore the confidence of his terrified child. " Come lovely boy, come go with me, Such merry plays I will play with thee. Many a bright flower grows on the strand, And my mother has many a gay garment at hand." All this is given in the major key, with open intervals of the most airy, easy, gliding, alluring nature. The child again bursts out in the strained expression of closely oppressed chromatic intervals : - " My father, my father, and dost thou not hear What the Erl-King whispers in my ear?" MUSICAL PROPERTIES OF SPEECH. 153 And the father again, with open and smoothly gliding intervals, answers : " Be quiet, ah, be still, my child, Through withered leaves the wind howls wild." Again comes the bewitching melody of the "sprite," in wide, dancing, flitting intervals. "Come lovely boy, wilt thou go with me? My daughters fair shall wait on thee, , My daughters their nightly revels keep ; They'll sing, and they'll dance, and they'll rock thee to sleep." Again the frightened child calls out in the same constraint of narrow interval, but this time in a higher key. " My father, my father, and seest thou not The Erl-King's daughters in yon dim spot?" Once more the lower tones, large intervals, with prevail- ingly descending melody, express the assurance, quiet, and depth of confidence, with which the father seeks to still the child. Now comes a different element in the melody. The important words take longer notes, the melody glides downward in beseeching and caressing form, but at the last assumes the positive, bold, almost angular effect of the open fifth. "I love thee! thy beauty has ravished my sense, And, willing or not, I will carry thee hence. " For the last time comes the shriek of alarm and despair, in the same constrained, forced utterance of chromatic , but this time at the very top of the scale. " O father, the Erl-King now puts forth his arm, Father, the Erl-King has done me harm." 154 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. Now the narrative proceeds in the intervals of the minor scale, giving oppression, gloom, weirdness, pathos, and intensity, on the word "shudders; " the grace note, or appoggiatura, conveying much the same significance as the agitated or tremulous quality in the speaking voice. " The father shudders ; he hurries on ; And faster he holds his moaning sou." The denouement is most pathetically given by modula- tion to another key, with intervals which seem strange and unexpected, and leave the mind in an unfinished, almost bewildered state, picturing most effectively the broken ties, the disappointment, the desolation of the scene. " He reaches his home with fear and dread, Lo! in his arms the child was dead." Let these be expressively sung, with accompaniment; and then let them be as expressively read, in melodies similar to those of the music, but not stiffly copying them. Many less pointedly formative, but not less definitely sug- gestive, may be found. Indeed, it is not so much those which definitely resemble the melodies of speech, as those which give a germinal thought in the theme, that offer most of real suggestion as to the nature and significance of speech melodies. IV. SPECIAL QUALITIES. Different shapings of the mouth cavity produce varying overtones, and impart different qualities, even with the same fundamental voice action. Hence, aside from the leading kinds of quality already mentioned, we recognize MUSICAL PROPERTIES OF SPEECH, 155 some special qualities. Of these there are six distinctly recognizable, corresponding to as many definite shapes of mouth, and represented each one by a characteristic vowel. It is a well-known fact that vowels are simply quali- ties. Hence, to each vowel attaches a distinct emotional significance. Thus oo is soothing ; e is intense ; a (better represented by the German i i-5 c4 CO * 10 50 r-5 fe^^H bo >>jao3 fe* C ? g ^ *Q s SrS f s i -ii c5"2- rr ob w EXERCISES FOR SECURING. M-m-m. !Oo-oo-oo, as in foot, o-o-o, as in bold, u-u-u, as in tub. a-a-a, as in far. Koo-koo, alternating with oo, o, a. Exercise in thirds. Exercise in fifths and thirds, with skips. Passages of a flexible and sprightly nature. Lip stroke for labials : pa, ba, ma, fa. Lip motion for iv, wai-wo-we-wah. Teeth and lip stroke for/, fo-fa-fa. T, t, r, s, ch,j (tongue stroke, tip) ; exercise ; ra-sa ; pa-ba-ma-fa-ta-la-ra-sa ; staccato and with varied rhythms. K, koo-koo. Varied rhythms. Tongue stroke Passages for difficult and rapid articulation. Slow, full inspiration, with abdominal muse relaxed ; abdominal muscles passive. Slow expulsion by contracting Abdomen and u Note feeling of indrawn Abdomen. Abdoi cles active. Lyingon back, or sitting in reclining posture. a. Depressing Diaphragm and Abdomen. b. Contraction of abdominal muscles, all< phragm to relax, with staccato ah, oh. c. Contraction of Diaphragm, allowing Abdi lax, with staccato notes. d. Silent contraction of muscles, first sepa then together. e. Simultaneous contraction of all, singing Standing and singing vowels, syllables, and pi Singing tone held : a. During breath. b. Up and down scale. Calling-tone in vowels, syllables, and sentence Passages Full and Sustained. J d co^co i-5 c4 eo ** in o ^ ci W!u5 ' i a u 1 A g bb jj H I 1 1 o- 1 1 S H < PQ -5 O2 bo * 8 "2 S H 1 S : o J 5 H S / K W* fa o to >q ) Prepositional Matter. Here there is more of weight and volume in the utterance. As we have seen, it is not volitional in the technical sense ; that is, it does not bear directly upon the will, and especially it does not re- veal any purpose on the part of the speaker to move the will. The intensity and fullness of the utterance, there- fore, must be of this automatic and unobtrusive kind. The listener must feel that the thought is weighty in itself, and not that the speaker is attempting to make it such. Now this measurement of the thought as prepositional may be in the speaker's mind, and yet his design may be utterly thwarted by a forced, mechanical, laborious utter- ance. It is absolutely vital to the true rhetorical interpre- tation of propositional matter, that the body of the tone itself be such as to give a sense of weight and importance. It must have an easy and spontaneous fullness. (c) Transitional Matter. The rhetorical significance of a transition indicates always some change in the weight of the thought, that which merely connects being always less important than the things connected. Here a right government of breath and of the volume of tone depending thereon will obviously be the technical requisite for ex- pressive utterance. Recur to the examples in the chapter on formulation, and practice them with special reference to the control of breath through the chest conditions here described. Add many other examples, original and selected. Carefully VOCAL TECHNIQUE. 181 measure the fullness and volume of the tone ; and be very sure to avoid mechanical effort in any case of formulative matter. 2. Discriminative Matter. In the broadest sense, dis- crimination, as we have seen, is the pointing out of re- lations, particularly of contrasts. While inflection is the agent in particular and minute applications, every other element in the utterance may, in its place, assist in the ex- pression of discrimination. Differences of volume, depth, and intensity, may often be the most effective means of opposing one element to another. This is notably true in antithesis, when a negative idea is opposed to a positive, the negative member naturally taking a lighter and thinner tone ; the positive, a fuller and deeper. Refer to exam- ples under Discrimination, and, in connection with the proper inflections, study this element of volume, as devel- oped in the chest exercises. 3. Emotion. Emotion is directly and most sensitively connected with chest conditions. This fact led the ancients to place the soul, or seat of emotions, in the region of the dia- phragm. This seems Nature's automatic gauge of emotion. (a) Simply Normal feeling will express itself with a reasonably full, and not greatly distended, chest, and will employ an action that is the result of previous expansions, rather than the attendant of a present effort to expand. (ft) Enlarged, ennobled, or deepened feeling will be attended with a present, and often conscious, expansion of the chest, and seemingly of the whole frame. The philos- ophy of this is hinted at in our word " aspiration." When one aspires to something high and worthy, his soul is filled with the appreciation of that object, and instinctively he fills his breast, as if drawing into himself, or breathing in, 182 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. the thing to which he aspires. This is doubtless the fact underlying many expressions of the sacred writers ; such as the following : - I opened my mouth, and panted : for I longed for thy com- mandments. Ps. cxix. 131. As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God : When shall I come and appear before God? Ps. xlii. 1-2. In the last example, the figure of thirst further illus- trates this point. As the satisfaction of thirst fills one deeply and exhilaratingly, so does the gratification of a cherished desire, or the imagined enjoyment of a noble and lofty exercise. All this indicates the vital connection between the rhetorical spirit in its noblest exercise and the thoroughly trained physical exponent of the same. (e) Abnormal feeling. Suppression, oppression, se- verity, tremulousness, are all vitally connected with the breathing-apparatus. While the physical action that ex- presses these abnormal mental states is itself the result of an abnormal condition, still such deviation for purposes of expression can be safely and effectively made only after the natural action is understood and mastered. Perfect technical control of the breath will be found as necessary in these abnormal types as in the normal. For example, suppression is illustrated, rhetorically, by the figure of breathing out; as: - Saul yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. Acts ix. 1. Shylock, hissing out his hatred, illustrates this when he says, aside : - These be the Christian husbands. Merchant of Venice, IV, i, VOCAL TECHNIQUE. 183 Here, obviously, we have uncontrolled breath, physi- cally speaking ; but rhetorically it must be managed from the point of control. Again, take oppressed feeling, as in the muffled or shuddering sound of the pectoral quality. This also, in order to be rhetorical^ expressive, must first be techni- cally mastered ; and the chief element in the technical control will be full, deep breathing. The stern or hard tone, as previously said, does not depend alone upon the changed condition of the throat. Severity may be mingled with a certain nobility of self- respect ; in that case we must have the full and well-con- trolled breath to support it. In meaner or more malicious uses, there will be corresponding changes in the breath element. The tremulous or agitated tone will depend princi- pally upon the condition of the breath. Physically, a laugh and a sigh are closely akin. In either case, there is an interrupted action of the breathing-muscles. These agitated feelings can never be fully expressed without the right condition of the breathing-apparatus. For artistic uses there must be the ability to hold a full column of air, and yet allow the diaphragm and all parts of the chest to partake in the thrilling, shivering, throbbing, or bubbling character of the emotion. For illustrations of abnormal feeling, recur to Chapter VI. 4. Volition. All the types of volitional communica- tion will easily be seen to have direct connection with the control of breath. (#) Abrupt. The prompt, decided, sudden action must have well-controlled breath, else it will lose all dig- 184 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. nity and effect. Moreover, without a good support of breath, the suddenness of initial stress will prove weari- some, and injurious to the vocal organs. (6) Insistent. Here the cumulation of power essen- tial to the rhetorical expression will absolutely demand a full supply of breath. If the chest is exhausted, or is poorly controlled, there can be no full final stress. (c) Uplifting. Like the emotion of nobility, of which it largely partakes, this phase of volition will .demand such full breathing as to support and swell the tone. (d) Volition of Establishment. This will require the fullest chest, most evenly held. There must be no jerky, thumping motion, else the dignified and exalted effect will instantly be destroyed. The best mechanical preparation for this type of energy may be secured by counting the numerals in a full and evenly sustained tone. (e) Violent or Perturbed Volition. While this seems to demand uncontrolled breath, its artistic use implies a control. The rider's horse may, indeed, rear and plunge ; but he is curbed by the skilled hand of his master. Study all types of volition through examples given in Chapter VII., with special regard to the control of breath. Artistic Study. Art being the combination of mental measurements with physical control, it becomes obvious that full expression can be prepared only by keeping in mind both of these elements, and by focusing them upon the rendering of varied passages. Let there be, first the accurate and sensitive measurement of the significance of the passage ; then consider nature's means for portraying or symbolizing that meaning ; then, keeping the thought uppermost, sensitively and perseveringly measure in your own voice the physical symbol of that spiritual conception. VOCAL TECHNIQUE. 185 The most gratifying results and the most practical out- come of the study will be just at this point, at which the mental and physical perfectly unite. The union of these two elements has been specially emphasized in connection with breathing, because this comes first in our scheme of technical study, and may thus illustrate what is true, in a measure, of all the other elements. Another reason for specially developing the thought here is this : the breath is, of all the vocal ele- ments, most expressive, and most immediately connected with the rendering of thought. The breath is more posi- tive, other elements more negative ; the breath produces the effect in proportion as the other organs present no hindrance or obstruction. We shall speak of the remain- ing elements of vocalization somewhat more briefly, assum- ing that all which has been said of the harmonious action of mind and body in the matter of breath is to be applied in large measure to all the following elements. II. Throat. As all vibration starts with the action of the vocal chords, they themselves, and all their immediate connections, must be rendered flexible, and be prepared for easy, prompt, and vigorous action. To secure this, practice constantly the following list of exercises : - 1. Relaxation of Neck Muscles. Sit, leaning well for- ward ; drop the head until the chin rests upon the chest ; raise it ; now slowly draw it down, slightly stiffening the muscles of the neck ; again raise it. Now by contrast see what the condition of the neck muscles is when the head is perfectly "surrendered to gravity," that is, given up. u Let go" the neck. Do not draw the head down, but allow it to drop. Test the condition of the neck muscles, both by the general feeling of the neck, and by the sense 186 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. of touch. Laying the hand upon the sides of the neck, you can easily detect the difference between the partially contracted and the wholly relaxed condition of the mus- cles. Now rise and stand at ease, or walk leisurely, re- taining the same relaxed condition of the neck. Count numbers, speak conversational sentences, and sing easy passages, being careful to keep the same relaxation of muscles. Utter sentences and passages in different moods, preserving the same general condition of relaxation and ease. 2. While rocking the head and neck, loosely shake the larynx. This will be done by moving the back of the tongue upward, and allowing it to fall. There should be a soft, jelly-like condition of all the sides of the neck, which may easily be perceived by the tips of the fingers. The larynx should oscillate freely, as a passive hand would be shaken by taking hold of the cuff with the other hand, and flinging it up and down. 3. Make the sound of initial k ; that is, of k without the emission of any breath. It is a simple mechanical movement, striking the back of the tongue upon the soft palate. Do this in different rhythms, as if beating a tattoo with the back of the tongue. 4. Sing the syllable koo in even notes ; thus : do, re ; do, re ; do, re ; do, re ; do. The first eight are short notes, the last one a long note, which is to be held smoothly and evenly. Accent slightly the lower note each time. Practice this up and down the scale. do, re, do, re, do, re, do, re, do. VOCAL TECHNIQUE. 187 fa, etc., up the scale. 5. Sing koo in triplets; thus: do re do; re do re ; re mi re ; mi re mi ; mi fa mi ; fa mi fa ; fa sol fa ; sol fa sol ; sol la sol ; la sol la ; la si la ; si la si ; do. The last tone, " do," may be a whole note with a hold on it, if there is sufficient breath left. Koo, koo, koo; Koo, koo, koo; etc. -^ 3 Take all these singing exercises at easy, natural pitches. The best average for all voices will be about the key of A or B flat. Bass and alto voices might begin as low as G, or even F. Tenors or high sopranos need not practice them higher than C or D. 6. Passages in different rhythms, especially poetry in different meters, will be best to practice first. Use espe- cially the lighter and more flexible movements, as dactylic and anapestic verses. Among many that will easily be found, the following may be named ; Lochinvar by Scott ; How They Brought the Grood News, by Robert Browning ; The Battle o by Macaulay; The Boys, by Holmes. 188 PEINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION DRILL FOR FLEXIBILITY. Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee Jest, and youthful Jollity, Quips and Cranks and wanton Wiles, Nods, and Becks, and wreathed Smiles, Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, And love to live in dimple sleek ; Sport that wrinkled Care derides, And Laughter, holding both his sides. Come, and trip it as you go On the light fantastic toe. MILTON. Has there any old fellow got mixed with the boys ? If there has, put him out without making a noise. Hang the almanack's cheat and the catalogue's spite Old Time is a liar ! we're twenty to-night. We're twenty! we're twenty! Who says we are more? He's tipsy young jackanapes; show him the door. Gray temples at twenty ? Yes, white if you please ; Where the snow-flakes fall thickest, there's nothing can freeze. HOLMES. I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris and he ; I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three. "Good speed!" cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew; "Speed!" echoed the wall to us galloping through; Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest, And into the midnight we galloped abreast. ROBERT BROWNING. III. The Jaw. One of the greatest hindrances to easy and effective utterance is a stiff and inflexible jaw. Tt must first be liberated mechanically, and then be taught to move in flexible, elastic, but not extravagant action, and in all sorts of rhythm. For this the following simple order of exercises is suggested : 1. Sit leaning forward, as in preparation for throat exercises ; drop the head, allowing the jaw to hang down, VOCAL TECHNIQUE. 189 "as if falling asleep." Repeat this until you can feel a slight "sense of weight" in the lower jaw, as you can feel in the fingers when you draw the hand and arm up, allow- ing the fingers to hang down. When this slight sense of weight is perceived, then 2. Shake the jaw by the head and by the hand, moving it vertically and laterally. The important thing is, to gain such flexibility as shall insure prompt, elastic action. Re- laxation is the prerequisite of elasticity. Having thus secured a mechanical freedom, or liberation, 3. Sing fo, fa, fa, up and down the scale; then fo, fa, fa, fa; then in triplets, fa, fa, fa; three triplets to each degree of the scale. fo, fa, fa, fo, fa, fa, etc. fo, fa, fa, fa, fo, fa, fa, fa, etc. Pro,ta, ta,ta, ta,ta, ta, ta,ta, ta,ta, ta, la, la, la,etc.(frontl.) Take every rhythm you can remember or devise ; al- ways allowing the jaw to hang and vibrate with perfect freedom. Remember it is not essential to pull the jaw down as far as you can. The point we are seeking is flex- ibility, rather than wide opening. Sing up and down the scale the syllables, do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, do, and the numerals, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, pronouncing all to each degree of the scale. do, I, re, mi, fa, 3, etc. sol, la, do, 190 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. do,re,mi, etc. I, 2, 3, etc. This exercise can be coupled with the breathing exer- cises, by singing an entire scale, or even both the ascent and descent of the scale, to a single breath. 4. Practice Selections. Let these be chiefly those of a glib and spirited nature, with varied rhythms. The following will be found helpful : The Falls of Lodore, by Southey ; " Old Fezziwig's Ball," from the Christmas Carol, 'by Dickens ; the auctioneer passage in Cheap Jack, by Dickens; the list of subscribers in Father PhiVs Col- lection, by Samuel Lover. Such passages as the following will be good for flex- ibility of jaw. Let them be given very freely and rapidly : " I don't know what to do ! '* cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath ; and making a perfect Laocoon of himself with his stockings. " I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken /man. A merry Christmas to everybody ! A happy New Year to all the world ! Hallo here ! Whoop ! Hallo ! . . . I don't know what day of the month it is. I don't know how lonf I have been among the Spirits. I don't know anything. I'm quite a baby. Nevermind. I don't care. I'd rather be a baby. Hallo! Whoop! Hallo here ! " He was checked in his transports by the churches ringing out the lustiest peals he had ever heard. Clash, clash, hammer; ding, dong, bell. Bell, dong, ding ; hammer, clang, clash ! Oh, glorious ! glorious ! Running to the window, he opened it, and put out his head. No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping VOCAL TECHNIQUE. 191 for the blood to dance to ; Golden sunlight ; Heavenly sky ; sweet fresh air ; merry bells. Oh, glorious ! Glorious ! DICKENS. IV. Tongue. This must be trained to keep out of the way, and yet to come to its place at every spot in the mouth where articulation shall demand it, and to act always with promptness, flexibility, and ease. The first thing to secure is what we have called, on the chart, a " yielding " condition. 1. Place the tip of the tongue against the lower front teeth ; let it lie loosely, but it must stay there. 2. Place the finger and thumb under the chin, about ah inch back from the front ; bear down, not by the jaw, but by the hypoglossal muscle, upon your finger and thumb. 3. Keeping the same conditions, lift the uvula and soft palate. Promptness and elasticity in these organs will greatly conduce to the curing of nasality and the pro- duction of clear, pure, resonant tone. This is one of the most important but most delicate points in vocal culture. A mirror will be needed until one becomes familiar with the sensation. Be careful also that in lifting the uvula the tongue does not draw back ; let it, rather, press lightly forward and downward. Now, observing these conditions, yawn fully, expanding the whole oral and pharyngeal cav- ity. After full yawning, 4. Sing the vowel ah up and down the scale gradually, keeping this depressed condition of the tongue, which should all the time be in the shape of a trough, or of a spoon right side up. 5. Unite the tongue exercises with those of the jau\ sing- ing, fa, fa, etc., with flexible jaw and depressed tongue. 192 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. V. Oral Cavity. Under this head are included all the air-chambers above the larynx. They are the pharynx, the nasal passages, and the mouth cavity. When we speak of opening the mouth freely, we do not mean there should be a nervous working of the facial muscles, nor a jerk- ing or spreading of the exterior mouth. We mean the free opening of all those interior cavities in which the vowels are tuned, and in which the voice as a whole re- ceives the shaping that gives it true resonance and carry- ing power, as well as agreeable and expressive qualities. 1. Placing the tongue down and yawning, as in the previous exercise, quietly close the lips over the parted teeth and delicately hum. Represent this sound by the letter m rather than Am, because there is to be no percep- tible escape of breath. By the direct act of the will the vocal chords will start the vibration, which is communi- cated to all the air-chambers, and which will be felt, when the lips are closed, most perceptibly through the bones of the face at the one extreme, and against the diaphragm at the other. Test the relaxation of all the neck muscles ; test also, by thumb and finger, the depression of the tongue, as before described. Keeping all these conditions, hum, at first lightly, then with delicately increasing swells, up and down an octave in the middle of your voice. When the humming exercise is mastered, - 2. Add, in order, these vowels : 00, as in food, which will be made by the slightest parting of the lips at the renter, all other parts remaining as they were; ii, as in the German word/#M; a, as in great, but better represented in the German 6 as in schon; 1, as in high, wide, bright; o, as in noble; a, as in far. VOCAL TECHNIQUE. 193 i m - oo - ii - 6 - ai - o - a m - oo -]ii - 6 - ai - o - a, etc. e, a, I, oh, ah. These are not, indeed, all the vowel sounds ; but they are typical ones, and give, with sufficient exactness for vocal culture, all the elements needed. Practice these up and down the scale ; also in the speaking voice, with all sorts of rhythm. 3. In connection with this drill on the vowel elements take the following on semi-vowel consonants : Hum first the m in every case ; then, in alphabetic order, all these consonants, 5, 6?, #, j\ ?, m, n, ng, r, s (as z), th, v, w, y, prolonging the sound considerably, and adding in each case a word, line, or sentence containing the consonant. The diphthong ou will be specially favorable ; thus : DRILL FOR SEMI VOWEL ELEMENTS. 6 &ound .Bow down thine ear. d down Deep calleth unto deep. g ground O grreat is the depth ! j JJ Rejoice, again I say, rejoice. I loud Lift up your heads, and be ye lifted up. m mount They shall mount up on wings. n now No one of these shall fail. ng ringr He is the King of glory. r round Let the sea roar and the fullness thereof, s resound The floods have lifted up their voice. th thon T/ane, O Lord, is the greatness. v vow His voice as the voice of many waters. w wound There's a wideness in God's mercy. y you. In Him is the ?/ea. Add such lines as the following, rich in semi-vowel elements : 194 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. "Helon!" The voice was like the master-tone Of a rich instrument, most stransrefy sweet. WILLIS. By JVebo's lonely mountain, on this side Jordan's iwaue, In a va,le in the la,nd of J/oa6, Mere lies a lonely gra,ve. MRS. ALEXANDER. 4. Read lines of poetry in different meters and with different types of feeling the calm, the deep, the gentle, the bright, the lofty. Use also prose of a dignified and noble nature. It is not to be thought that good expression requires absolutely the maximum of vocal fullness in every syl- lable. These exercises are given rather as a means of developing the whole capacity of the voice in this respect, any part of which is to be used in any given utterance, according to a wise and moderate judgment as to effects. The thing to be studiously avoided is any approach toward mouthing. All the vowels are to be free, pointed, easy, round, resonant. In practice considerable prolonga- tion may be required on each vowel and semi-vowel ele- ment, in order to measure the sound, as well as the sensation accompanying the action which produces it. The student will need to be specially careful that school- room prolongation does not become, in practice, an affected or elocutionary drawl. Such as the following will be serviceable for technical practice in cultivating purity and resonance : The Day is Done, by Longfellow ; Thanatopsis, by Bryant; The Vision of Sir Launfal, by Lowell, especially the " preludes," and Part First. Refer also to Chapter VI. VI. Vocal Chords. The generating source of vibra- tion can itself be trained. The elastic action of the vocal VOCAL TECHNIQUE. 195 chords constitutes what is technically called the " touch " of the tone. Upon this depend the purity, ease, elastici- ty, and, in some measure, the fullness of sound. 1. With the oral cavity well opened and teeth slightly parted, but lips loosely closed over them, repeat the hum in short, detached impulses, but with no emission of breath *EJfeEE^EEE| m, m, m, m. oo, u, 6, a, oo, u, 6, a. The vibration should be felt, as before, in the face and against the diaphragm ; and while each impulse is to be short and instantaneous, there is to be no pressure to pro- duce it. It starts with no perceptible mechanical action. The vocal chords by sheer act of the will, stimulated by the thought of the tone, and perhaps acting in "reflex" connection with the diaphragm, approach each other, clos- ing the glottis, and so give the beginning of vibration. This is the vital element in the touch. The automatic contraction of the lung-cells, which have been distended in the act of inhalation, will be sufficient to support this beginning of the tone, called the " touch." If all the other conditions are observed, especially those of the chest, there will thus result what seems a merely auto- matic action of the voice. In its finest working, there will be no sensation except that which results from the vibration of the air-chambers. 196 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. In a healthy voice the vocal chords have almost no sensation. At all events, the jar given to the air-cham- bers, and communicated to the more sensitive parts of the frame, so greatly transcends any feeling in the vocal chords themselves, that the latter is practically nothing. Practice these exercises most diligently, as upon this depend the ease, elasticity, and freedom which should characterize the great bulk of our conversational utterance. 2. Use the vowels oo, as in foot ; o, as in bold; u, as in tub ; a, as in far, as shown in (b) of the last exercise. Take these in all possible rhythms, the air-chambers being held quiet. , A lighted match held before the mouth should not flare, even when these vowels are given with full, strong sound. 3. Alternately with (2) give the Jcoo-koo exercise, to insure liberation of all the neck muscles in connection with the prompt action of the vocal chords. Koo,koo,etc. oo, u, 6, Koo,koo, etc. o, li, a. Sing in thirds : do, mi, re, fa, mi, sol, fa, la, sol, si, la do, si, re, do ; mi, do, re, si, do, la, si, sol, la, fa, sol, mi, fa, re, do. Also this exercise, which employs different skips : sol, do, mi, sol, fa, la, re, fa, mi, sol, do, me, re, fa, si, re, do. (Seiler.) (a) \J. L- U Z. 1.1 do, mi, re, fa, etc. oo, ii, 6, a, -V v- VOCAL TECHNIQUE. 197 sol, do, mi, sol, fa, la, re, fa, mi,sol,do, mi, re, fa, si, re, do. koo,koo,6, a, etc. In connection with each of these, and with similar ex- ercises which you can find or invent, put in promiscu- ously the humming note (w), and the different open vowels, as 00, w, o. After you can give it as a whole, and with an easy rhythmic flow, slip in first one and then another of the different tests for the touch or stroke of the vocal chords. Such alternation will prevent the stiffen- ing of throat and. jaw, which might result if the attention were kept simply upon the action of the vocal chords. VII. Articulating Organs. These, of course, must be elastic and vigorous in their action, to secure distinctness of speech. They must not, however, be so strained or laborious as to call attention to their action. This would divert attention from the thing said to the mechanical means of saying it. One of the worst forms of elocution- ary pedantry is a labored or noticeable articulation. The sounds are chiefly formed, as above described, in the oral cavity. They are shaped and communicated to the outer air by the assistance of the articulating elements ; and these must be heard in connection with the vocal ele- ments, and not seem to be a thing outside of the voice : they are a part of the voice. Each element of articulation must be prepared by in- dividual, independent, free action, and must then be as- sociated with its vowels in such a way that it shall help to shape and point those vowel elements, rather than cover or displace them. This makes it truly consonant, that is, sounding with the vowels. 198 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. 1. The Lip Stroke for Labials. Holding the breath quite still, tightly press the lips at the center, then let them suddenly open, making a slight popping sound. 2. Lip Stroke for w. This is made, not at the center, but at the sides of the mouth. Put the lips forward, con- tracted as for a whistle : hold the breath perfectly quiet, and instantly draw the lips backward. If you do it rightly, you will hear a suction of the air, which consti- tutes the test. It may sound somewhat like the dropping of water into a deep can. When the technical action is secured, sing up and down the scale such syllables as wai, wo, we, wah. Any blowing upon these syllables will vitiate the whole effect. (Staccato.) ^ 1 (Legato.) ff-fj jv tf N ]S .N N i ! /i _! g| f g 2 *-4- 9 1^ i 1 wai, wo, we, wah; wai, wo, wee, wah. I 3. Stroke for f. Here the upper teeth are placed upon the lower lip, and suddenly parted as in the element p. Practice here the exercises given under development of jaw action. 4. The stroke of the tip of the tongue. Place the tongue firmly against the gum just over the upper front central teeth. Holding the breath, quite strongly press the tongue against the gum, and instantly draw it back. The test will be a. hollow, popping sound, somewhat like those given by p and w, though more pointed, and perhaps stronger. 5. Initial 1. Put the tip of the tongue well up on the gum, as in t, but instead of drawing it back, move it quickly down, as if removing a sliver from between the VOCAL TECHNIQUE. 199 front teeth. If the breath is held quiet, you will hear a slight impulse in the air. 6. The front, or lingual, r. This is almost exactly the reverse of I; the tongue placed loosely against the front upper teeth moves quickly upward against the gum, as if lapping-in the air. Here there will be more danger of blowing than upon the other elements. In order to secure the clean action of the initial r, the breath must be held still; neither must there be any vocalization. You are to hear only a little flap, the beginning of a trill. 7. Combine the above motions in the following list of syllables : pa, ba, ma, fa, ta, la, ra, sa. These syllables may be taken at first staccato, and quite widely separated, but with no expense of breath upon them. Afterward they may be taken legato, and quite rhythmically. The rhythms may be varied at pleasure. Finally, practice se- lections containing many sharp and strong consonants. Controlling the breath perfectly, make the consonant ele- ments very precise, very clear, and very elastic. Combine great rapidity and perfect ease. (a) Staccato. pa, ba, ma, fa, ta, la, ra, sa. ( same syllables.) 8. Find or make different combinations of syllables, seeking especially those that may present any peculiar dif- ficulties. First conquer the difficult element by slow, sepa- 200 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. rate movements of the organ needed to produce that element, centering the will upon that definite, precise, and slow motion; then, keeping the attention upon that element, repeat it more rapidly; and finally in rhythms of all sorts, until, as a separate element, there is no longer any difficulty in producing it in any form, and with any degree of rapidity. Next couple this with other elements. Any good treatise on elocution or voice culture will have abundance of such exercises, and it is not thought necessary to give extended examples here. The matter of consonant action has been thus men- i tioned, first to show its place in the general scheme of voice culture, and secondly to remind the student that the rhetorical spirit is violated equally *by a slovenly and by a laborious articulation./ DRILL FOR ARTICULATION. And gleaming and streaming and steaming and beaming, And rushing and flushing and brushing and gushing, And flapping and rapping and clapping and slapping, And curling and whirling and purling and twirling, Retreating and beating and meeting and sheeting, Delaying and straying and playing and spraying, Advancing and glancing and prancing and dancing, Recoiling, turmoiling and toiling and boiling, And thumping and plumping and bumping and jumping, A^nd dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing, And so never ending, but always descending, Sounds and motions forever and ever are blending, All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar; And this way the water comes down at Lodore. SOUTHEY. At Aerschot, up leaped of a sudden the sun, And against him the cattle stood black every one, To stare through the mist at us galloping past; And I saw my stout galloper Roland at last, VOCAL TECHNIQUE. 201 With resolute shoulders, each butting away The haze, as some bluff river headland its spray; And his low head and crest, just one sharp ear bent back For my voice, and the other pricked out on his track; And one eye's black intelligence ever that glance O'er its white edge at me, his own master, askance; And the thick heavy spume-flakes which aye and anon His fierce lips shook upward in galloping on. So we were left galloping, Joris and I Past Looz and past Tongres, no cloud in the sky; The broad sun above laughed a pitiless laugh, 'ISeath our feet broke the brittle, bright stubble like chaff; Till over by Dalheim a dome-spire sprang white, And "Gallop," gasped Joris, "for Aix is in sight!" ROBERT BROWNING. VIII. Abdominal Muscles. These may be trained to a strong and most flexible action. The importance of the abdominal muscles in vocalization is often overestimated. Perhaps it would be truer to say that their real office is generally misunderstood. As here used, the term refers to the strong muscles surrounding the abdomen. The prin- cipal of these are : (1) the right abdominal muscle, the contraction of which may be observed about the median i line of the body ; (2) the oblique abdominal muscles, con- necting the ribs and the inside of the hip-bone, the action of which may be plainly perceived by laying the hand upon the side, the fingers pointing downward in front of the hip; and (3) the transverse abdominal muscle, whose action may be perceived in connection with that of the other two, by placing the hands across the abdomen, the fingers touching, and the wrists lying across the hip- bones. These different muscles in the abdomen may be some- what trained separately, but practically they work together. 202 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. In vocalization their action is required usually for one of two reasons : 1. To make what is popularly called a "support" of the tone. The value of this support is seen thus : when the diaphragm is contracted, as above described, it moves downward, and becomes more tense, serving as part of the resonance apparatus, reinforcing the vibrations started by the vocal chords, much as the lower drumhead, reverberat- ing, augments the vibrations produced by playing upon the upper drumhead. Now, in order that the diaphragm may be held so firmly in its place as to assist in the vibra- tion, there must be a somewhat firm condition of all the parts below it. If the whole abdomen were absolutely relaxed, there would be a muffy and unresonant action. The degree of contraction in the abdominal muscles neces- sary for this support is not so great as that required for the violent expulsion of air, as in a cough or sneeze ; nev- ertheless, the more moderate action required in vocaliza- tion may best be secured by first training these muscles to quite full and vigorous action, and then allowing only the needed part of their strength to be employed. 2. The other vocal uses of abdominal muscles are: () To give a sudden and harsh impulse to the voice. Both of these uses (2, a and >) are very infrequent in normal utterance. The first use, that of giving a reason- ably firm support to the tone, is in almost constant demand. It constitutes a part of the general condition indicated by the term " active chest." There is a flexible and yet firm condition of the muscles of the entire trunk. VOCAL TECHNIQUE 203 It must be distinctly understood that the abdominal muscles are not to be used to pump the tone out of the chest, nor to give, ordinarily, any explosive, nor even ex- pulsive, movement to the tone. They are usually to be so managed as to assist in the deep, full, sonorous, and musi- cal vibration of the voice. The following list of exercises will be sufficient for the development of this part. Some of these exercises can be practiced most profitably in private, rather than in class. 1. Take slow, full inspiration, the abdominal muscles being as completely relaxed as possible, while the dia- phragm and the rib muscles (intercostals) contract as strongly as possible. The purpose here is to deepen and broaden the thoracic cavity, or the chest proper. Just at this stage we give the entire attention to the filling of the lungs, and for the moment disregard the action of the ab- dominal muscles, except to relax them, and let them be crowded out of the way by the diaphragm. 2. Slowly expel the air by first contracting the ab- cLominal muscles. This may be felt very perceptibly by laying the hands upon the parts previously described. Toward the end of the expiration, the upper chest itself may be allowed to diminish in size, the ribs falling in upon the lungs. If the expiration has been complete, the whole trunk will have a shrunken or collapsed appear- ance ; but the chest muscles (intercostals and diaphragm) will be passive, and the abdominal muscles will be strongly active, that is, the chest will have fallen in, and the abdo- men will have been drawn or pushed in. Repeat these two exercises in alternation many times, observing and measuring by sensation the action of both inspiratory and expiratory muscles. 204 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. (3) Lie upon the back, or sit reclining easily. (a) Depress the diaphragm and abdomen, the diaphragm muscle being active, and the abdominal muscles passive. (5) Contract the abdominal muscles, allowing the dia- phragm to relax; (6) will exactly reverse the action of (a). Repeat (6), this time singing or speaking a staccato note, ah or oh. You will perceive that with the contraction of abdominal muscles and relaxation of diaphragm you have produced a breathy and unsubstantial sound. (tf) Contract the diaphragm muscle, allowing the abdo- men to relax as in (a), this time singing or speaking a staccato note, ah or oh. Now you will observe that the breathiness has departed from the tone, and yet the sound is not so firm and resonant as it might be. (d) Silently contract the muscles, first separately, that is, diaphragm and ribs being active, while abdominal muscles are passive, and vice versa ; and second, contract both together, that is, let there be a firm holding-down of the diaphragm and holding-out of the ribs, and at the same time a moderately firm contraction of the abdominal mus- cles, not amounting, however, to a rigid or violent action. This united effort of pectoral and abdominal muscles will give the best condition for firm and easy vibration of tone. (e) Sing and speak vowels, oh, ah, a, e, ai, ou, etc., keep- ing the simultaneous contraction of the thoracic and abdom- inal parts. If this is done moderately, it will soon induce a most comfortable condition of the whole body ; a condition combining a healthful, animated, reasonably active state, with a sense of quiet and repose. The recumbent or reclining position has been assumed for the purpose of more minute and separate study of the muscles of the trunk ; as the attention can be directed to VOCAL TECHNIQUE. 205 these parts best when all the other parts of the body are perfectly relaxed. Now, having learned the delicate meas- urement of all these muscles, 4. Stand, or walk quietly, singing and speaking the tones as above directed. Add short sentences in different moods, but always within the sphere of normal utterance. Carefully measure the general sensation accompanying this consentaneous action of all the parts. 5. Hold the singing tone during one breath. Run up and down the scale to one breath. Sing all the syllables, do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, do, on each degree of the scale, ascending in one breath and descending in another. Now try all these eight syllables upon each of the sixteen notes ; that is, ascend and descend to one breath. This will give sustaining power for long passages. 6. Practice the " calling tone."" - -Use words of military command and other shouting passages. In this be very careful that there is no straining or grating upon the throat. The action of the voice must be just as easy as in mild conversational utterance. There will be only fuller and broader action of the chest and abdomen. This broader action will give you somewhat the feeling of comfortably stretching the muscles. There will be no jerking, no vio- lent contortions. 7. Practice full and sustained passages. Make the voice carry, during long periods, as if you were speaking to an outdoor audience, or to a person across a field. In this, avoid monotony of inflections and of cadences. Let the intonation be natural. The voice must be evenly sustained, deeply sonorous, and somewhat slower than in ordinary speech. It must be remembered in connection with all the ex- 206 PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. ercises suggested in this chapter, that each element is first to be separately mastered, and then employed in connec- tion with the other elements of vocal action. During the process of separate study and mastery, there will often seem to be an exaggeration of the element under consider- ation. Do not be disturbed by this. In actual use, one part will so balance and supplement another that the united effect will be simply normal, comfortable, and easily effi- cient. To sum up, then, we would say, To have the perfection of action in his instrument, the speaker must have a promptly and generously opening chest, working noise- lessly and comfortably, supported and reinforced by firm abdominal action, a loose throat, a promptly dropping chin, a quickly yielding tongue, lips sensitive and nervy, deli- cate but strong ; and, finally, he must so train all the parts as to gain the maximum of vibratory, focusing, and tuning power, with the minimum of muscular and nervous effort ; and especially that he must know and learn to feel the relations of the delicate and spiritually powerful ele- ment of resonance to the more homely and practical muscular part. Above all, the speaker needs a quick- ened, exalted appreciation of the real significance, and the natural symbolism, of vibratory action. MENTAL TECHNIQUE AND LITEEAEY INTEEPEETATION MENTAL TECHNIQUE AND LITEEAEY INTEEPEETATION. CHAPTER I. STUDIES IN FORMULATION. I. TIME. If "The relative time apportioned to a word indicates the mind's meas- / urement of it, represents the speaker's judgment as to the amount of meaning or importance that it conveys." THE above quotation from Raymond's Orator's Man- ual is a succinct statement of the principles underlying " Formulation." In the following examples, and in the chapter on " Cases of Formulation " in Part I., will be found ample opportunity to test the principles set forth in the above extract. The succeeding passages will have a prevailingly slow movement. Let the student measure the thought care- fully, and think the expansive paraphrase. These drills are not to train him to read slowly (for any one can do that), but to think largely. The movement will take care of itself. It is further urged that the student give con- siderable attention to this part of the subject ; for the time so spent will be valuable not only in so far as it results in expressive movement, but because it is only through medi- 209 210 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. tation that the fullest insight into the meaning of a passage can be attained. Hence, dwelling for a long period upon a phrase or sentence gives opportunity for the enkindling of the imagination and emotion. It has been frequently found that where a student's movement was out of har- mony with the sentiment of the passage, his emotional rendition was equally poor. A careful further study of the text to improve the movement has generally resulted in the improvement of the emotional expression. " Mr. Speaker : The mingled tones of sorrow, like the voice of many waters, have come unto us from a sister State Massachusetts weeping for her honored son. The State I have the honor in part to represent once endured, with yours, a common suffering, bat- tled for a common cause, and rejoiced in a common triumph. Surely, then, it is meet that in this the day of your affliction we should mingle our griefs.' 1 u Search creation round, where can you find a country that pre- sents so sublime a view, so interesting an anticipation ? Who shall say for what purpose mysterious Providence may not have designed her ! Who shall say that when in its follies or its crimes, the Old World may have buried all the pride of its power, and all the pomp of its civilization, human nature may not find its destined renova- tion in the New ! When its temples and its trophies shall have mouldered into dust, when the glories of its name shall be but the legend of tradition, and the light of its achievements live only in song, philosophy will revive again in the sky of her Franklin, and glory rekindle at the urn of her Washington." "Often have I swept backward, in imagination, six thousand years, and stood beside our great ancestor, as he gazed for the first time upon the going down of the sun. What strange sensations must have swept through his bewildered mind, as he watched the last departing ray of the sinking orb, unconscious whether he should ever behold its return. " Wrapped in a maze of thought, strange and startling, he suffers STUDIES IN FORMULATION. 211 his eye to linger long about the point at which the sun has slowly faded from view. A mysterious darkness creeps over the face of Nature ; the beautiful scenes of earth are slowly fading, one by one, from his dimmed vision." 'You think me a fanatic to-night, for you read history, not with your eyes, but with your prejudices. But fifty years hence, when Truth gets a hearing, the Muse of History will put Phocion for the Greek, and Brutus for the Roman, Hampden for England, La Fay- ette for France, choose Washington as the bright, consummate flower of our earlier civilization, and John Brown as the ripe fruit of our noonday, then, dipping her pen in the sunlight, will write in the clear blue, above them all, the name ol the soldier, the states- man, the martyr, Toussaint L'Ouverture." " Figure to yourself a cataract like that of Niagara, poured in foaming grandeur, not merely over one great precipice of two hun- dred feet, but over the successive ridgy precipices of two or three thousand, in the face of a mountain eleven thousand feet high, and tumbling, crashing, thundering down with a continuous din of far greater sublimity than the sound of the grandest cataract. The roar of the falling mass begins to be heard the moment it is loos- ened from the mountain ; it pours on with the sound of a vast body of rushing water ; then comes the first great concussion, a booming crash of thunders, breaking on the still air in mid-heaven ; your breath is suspended, and you listen and look ; the mighty glittering mass shoots headlong over the main precipice, and the fall is so great that it produces to the eye that impression of dread majestic slow- ness of which I have spoken, though it is doubtless more rapid than Niagara. But if you should see the cataract of Niagara itself com- ing down five thousand feet above you in the air, there would be the same impression. The image remains in the mind, and can never fade from it; it is as if you had seen an alabaster cataract from heaven. The sound is far more sublime than that of Niagara, because of the preceding stillness in those Alpine solitudes. In the midst of such silence and solemnity, from out the bosom of those glorious, glittering forms of nature, comes that rushing, crash ing thunder-burst of sound ! If it were not that your soul, through the eye, is as filled and fixed with the sublimity of the vision as, 212 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. through the sense of hearing, with that of the audible report, methinks you would wish to bury your face in your hands, and fall prostrate, as at the voice of the Eternal." "How lovely are thy dwellings fair! O Lord of Hosts, how dear The pleasant tabernacles are Where thou dost dwell so near! My soul doth long and almost die Thy courts, O Lord, to see, My heart and flesh aloud do cry, O living God, for thee. There even the sparrow, freed from wrong, Hath found a house of rest; The swallow there, to lay her young, Hath built her brooding nest; Even by thy altars, Lord of Hosts, They find their safe abode; And home they fly from round the coasts Towards thee, my King, my God." The following will illustrate fast movement. Let there be no attempt to accelerate the speed, but let the thought and emotion govern that entirely. No examples are given to illustrate moderate time, since the student gets sufficient practice of this kind in almost everything he reads. " Gloriously, Max ! gloriously ! There were sixty horses in the field, all mettle to the bone ; the start was a picture away we went in a cloud pell-mell helter-skelter the fools first, as usual, using themselves up. We soon passed them first your Kitty, then my Blueskin, and Craven's colt last. Then came the tug Kitty skimmed the walls Blueskin flew over the fences the colt neck- and-neck, and half a mile to run at last the colt balked a leap and went wild. Kitty and I had it all to ourselves she was three lengths ahead as we breasted the last wall, six feet, if an inch, and a ditch STUDIES IN FORMULATION. 213 on the other side. Now, for the first time, I gave Blueskin his head Ha, ha ! Away he flew like a thunderbolt over went the filly I over the same spot, leaving Kitty in the ditch walked the steeple, eight miles in thirty minutes, and scarcely turned a hair." " Nice clothes I get, too, traipsing through weather like this ! My gown and bonnet will be spoiled. Needn't I wear 'em, then ? Indeed, Mr. Caudle, I shall wear 'em. No, sir ! I'm not going out a dowdy to please you or anybody else. Gracious knows ! it isn't often that I step over the threshold." " Before a quarter pole was pass'd, Old Hiram said, * He's going fast.' Long ere the quarter was a half, The chuckling crowd had ceased to laugh; Tighter his frightened jockey clung As in a mighty stride he swung, The gravel flying in his track, His neck stretched out, his ears laid back, His tail extended all the while Behind him like a rat-tail file! Off went a shoe, away it spun, Shot like a bullet from a gun; The quaking jockey shapes a prayer From scraps of oaths he used to swear; He drops his whip, he drops his rein, He clutches fiercely for the mane; He'll lose his hold, he sways and reels, He'll slide beneath those trampling heels! The knees of many a horseman quake, The flowers on many a bonnet shake, And shouts arise from left and right, 'Stick on! stick on!' 'Hould tight! hould tight! Cling round his neck; and don't let go, That pace can't hold, there! steady! wh\>a!'" Then methought I heard a mellow sound, Gathering up from all the lower ground; Narrowing in to where they sat assembled, Low voluptuous music winding trembled, Wov'n in circles. They that heard it sigh'd, 214 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. Panted hand-in-hand with faces pale, Swung themselves, and in low tones replied; Till the fountain spouted, showering wide Sleet of diamond-drift and pearly hail. Then the music touch' d the gates and died; Rose again from where it seem'd to fail, Storm'd in orbs of song, a growing gale; Till thronging in and in, to where they waited, As 'twere a hundred-throated nightingale, The strong tempestuous treble throbb'd and palpitated; Ran into its giddiest whirl of sound, Caught the sparkles, and in circles, Purple gauzes, golden hazes, liquid mazes, Flung the torrent rainbow round. Then they started from their places, Moved with violence, changed in hue, Caught each other with wild grimaces, Half-invisible to the view, Wheeling with precipitate paces To the melody, till they flew, Hair, and eyes, and limbs, and faces, Twisted hard in fierce embraces, Like to Furies, like to Graces, Dash'd together in blinding dew. Till, kill'd with some luxurious agony, The nerve-dissolving melody Flutter'd headlong from the sky. TENNYSON, The Vision of Sin. Let it not be supposed that any one of the foregoing extracts is to be read in uniformly slow or uniformly fast time ; that will change with each variation in the impor- tance of the thought. Without attempting to force any interpretation upon the student, an illustration is appended in which he may note how the relative importance of the ideas affects the rate of movement in the various phrases. Med. *' Wherefore rejoice ? What conquest brings he home ? Med. What tributaries follow him to Rome, Fast, To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels ? STUDIES IN FORMULATION. 215 Slow. You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things ! Very slow. O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome, 5 Med. and fast. Knew you not Pompey ? Many a time and oft Fast. Have you climb' d up to walls and battlements, Fast. To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops, Med. . Your infants in your arms, and there have sat Med. The livelong day, with patient expectation, 10 Med. To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome : Med. And when you saw his chariot but appear, Fast. Have you not made an universal shout, Fast. That Tiber trembled underneath her banks, Fast. To hear the replication of your sounds 15 Fast. Made in her concave shores ? Slow. And do you now put on your best attire ? Med. And do you now cull out a holiday ? Med. And do you now strew r flowers in his way, Fast. That comes in triumph over Pompey' s blood ? 20 Begone ! Med. Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, Slow. Pray to the gods to intermit the plague Slow. That needs must light on this ingratitude." 24 It must be apparent that it is very difficult to suggest by a word the rate of speed at which one would render a given line. Fast and slow are relative terms. Certain speakers would consider slow reading what another would consider moderate. Yet there is on the whole a pretty general agreement as to the use of these terms. With this statement we may proceed to an analysis of the selec- tion to justify the marking. The citizens of Rome have just declared to the Trib- unes, enemies of Caesar, why the people are making holi- day: " We make holiday to see Caesar, and to rejoice in his triumph." Whereupon Marullus, one of the Tribunes, begins the speech, endeavoring to impress upon the mob that there is absolutely nothing Caesar has done to merit this ovation. After the word " tributaries " the time is 216 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. accelerated for the reason that all that follows, to the end of the query, is virtually repetitious, being included in the idea of tributaries. The indicated marking of lines four and five needs no justification. " Knew you not Pompey ? " is a question containing reproach. The latter element will tend to retard the movement. " Many a time and oft " is repetitious; he is simply reminding them of well-known facts. When the speaker reaches "yea, to chimney-tops," the importance of the idea is at once manifest in the slower time, which continues to "arms," when it again changes to medium and fast. The student may find it a good drill to examine the remaining lines, to see whether he agrees or differs with the time-markings. n. GROUPING. Let the student study carefully the following extract, and then read it aloud : " But when the gray dawn stole into his tent, He rose, and clad himself, and girt his sword, And took his horseman's cloak, and left his tent, And went abroad into the cold wet fog, Through the dim camp to Peran-Wisa's tent." He will notice a tendency to break up the sentence into groups of varying length. This tendency is more or less instinctive ; and while there may be some difference of opinion as to the number of groups, yet it must be con- ceded that there is a definite underlying principle, which admits of no exception. For instance, one might read the fourth line as if it were but one group ; another, with vir- tually the same idea in mind, might divide it into two STUDIES IN FORMULATION. 217 groups at the word "abroad." On the other hand, no one would read like this : " And went abroad into the '" "cold wet fog through" -"the dim camp to Peran- Wisa's tent." Read the following sentences aloud carefully, and it will be noticed that the same principle of grouping ob- tains : " The star of Napoleon was just rising to its zenith as that of Washington was passing away." " The name and memory of Washington will travel with the Sil- ver Queen of Heaven through sixty degrees of longitude, nor part company with her till she walks in her brightness through the Golden Gate of California, and pa&ses serenely on to hold midnight court with her Australian Stars." The reading of these shows that grouping is entirely independent of punctuation. It is true that the spoken group may coincide with the grammatical group, but that is merely an accident. We group as we do, not because of punctuation marks, but for more fundamental and less conventional reasons. The function of the punctuation mark is to assist the reader in getting the author's thought. The following example will illustrate this : " The slaves who were in the hold of the vessel had been cap- tured in Africa." It is plain that the clause introduced by "who" is a restrictive one, and implies that there were other slaves on the vessel besides those mentioned. If we now insert commas after "slaves " and "vessel," the sentence becomes equivalent to, The slaves, and they were all in the hold of the vessel, had been captured in Africa. 218 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. Note, again, how the sense would be obscured if the au- thor had omitted the comma after " all " in this extract : - " For we are all, like swimmers in the sea, Poised on the top of a huge wave of fate." To prove that grouping is independent of punctuation, let the student read aloud the following illustrations : - "But, look you, Cassius, The angry spot doth glow on Caesar's brow." " I saw Mark Antony offer him a crown ; and, as I told you, he put it by once ; but, for all that, to my thinking he would have had it ... and, for mine own part, I dare not laugh." The object of these illustrations has been to free the student from a very common misconception that the group is determined by the punctuation mark. It has been shown that this is not the case. The punctuation will make the sense clear wherever such help is necessary, but after that the student need give it 110 further attention. In order to avoid carelessness, the student should prac- tice grouping in the following extracts, which will afford him excellent exercise : - "So every bondman in his own hand bears The power to cancel his captivity." "And as the greatest only are, In his simplicity sublime." " The first object of a free people is the preservation of their liberty ; and liberty is only to be preserved by maintaining consti- tutional restraints and just divisions of political power." " Soon after William H. Harrison's nomination, a writer in one of the leading administration papers spoke of his 'log cabin ' and his use of ' hard cider,' by way of sneer and reproach. . . . It did hot happen to me to be born in a log cabin, but my elder STUDIES IN FORMULATION. 219 brothers and sisters were born in a log cabin, raised amid the snow- drifts of New Hampshire, at a period so early that, when the smoke rose from its rude chimney and curled over the frozen hills, there was no similar evidence of a white man's habitation between it and the settlements on the rivers of Canada." The following example is an excellent one to illustrate the necessity of paying careful attention to grouping : " Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, Sing, Heavenly Muse, that on the secret top Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed, In the beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth Rose out of Chaos." Note that the spirit did not teach the shepherd " in the beginning," but " how the Heavens and Earth rose " in the beginning, u out of Chaos." IP. THE PAUSE AS AN EXPRESSIVE ELEMENT. In the study of grouping the student has noticed that the groups were separated by pauses of varying duration. It may be said that the pauses were the results of the grouping rather than that the grouping was the result of the pauses. In other words the pause could hardly be called expressive. We are now to study the pause as an expressive ele- ment. No definite rule can be laid down for pausing ; that is determined, to a large extent, by the temperament, the nature of the thought, and the occasion. It must be 220 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. borne in mind, however, that the pause is not mere silence. A very little observation will show the student that while the voice ceases the thought continues to manifest itself in pantomimic expression. What is it, then, that determines the pause? The answer has already been given in the treatment of formulation. It remains now simply to state that the pause is made as the result, to a greater or less degree, of collateral thinking. In other words, any given idea calls up another train of thought, with which the mind engages itself, and such engagement finds actual ex- pression in the pause. It must be remembered that the collateral thinking may take the mind backward or for- ward. According to the amount of this collateral think- ing will be the duration of the pause. An extract from the play of Julius Ccesar will illustrate this point. In the fifth act Brutus and Cassius have taken their "everlasting farewell," and Brutus ends the interview with these words, Why then, lead on. O, that a man might know The end of this day's business, ere it come! But it sufficeth, that the day will end, And then the end is known. The first four words of this speech are addressed to the onlookers. The word "on" takes the mind of the thoughtful and considerate leader to the battlefield where the fate of Rome is to be decided. He perceives that the future of his beloved city hangs trembling in the balance. The appearance on the preceding night of the ghost of Caesar warning him that it will see him at Philippi, fills Brutus with apprehension. And then, how many of his followers, now so ready to do battle under his standard, STUDIES IN FORMULATION. 221 will, ere night, lie cold in death upon the bioody field ! All this and more passes through his mind, and his solici- tude and apprehension manifest themselves in his features and in his body. Then .even the stoical Brutus cannot repress his anxiety, which we note in the words, " O, that a man might know." This extract, therefore, well illus- trates what w^as said above, that the pause, as we here consider it, is not mere silence, but cessation of voice while the expression continues in the body. In the second place, it is plain that the collateral thinking determines the length of the pause. Another element that determines the duration of the pause is the distance apart of the thoughts separated by the pause. Let us illustrate this : " If this law were put upon our statute books there would not be, five years from to-day, a dissenting voice raised against it from the Atlantic to the Pacific." Let it not be understood that there are no occasions when the phrase " from the Atlantic to the Pacific " would not be uttered with scarcely any pause after Atlantic. This phrase, and others like it, may have become a mere com- monplace to describe extent; but in such a passage as the above, where the speaker is hyperbolically expressive, he no doubt intends to convey the idea that not one objec- tion would be heard even in all the three thousand miles between the oceans. If the student will stop for a mo- ment to analyze his own consciousness while uttering this sentence, he will scarcely fail to see the vast extent of territory separating the two oceans. Many writers on the subject have given emotion as a 222 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. reason for the pause. Strictly speaking, however, emotion, as distinct from thinking, seldom or never is the cause of the pause, unless it completely chokes the utterance. In the example quoted above from Julius Ccesar, there is no doubt considerable emotion during the pause ; but it is the thought, and not the emotion arising out of it, that leads to the silence. " and there were drawn Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women Transformed with their fear, who swore they saw Men all in fire walk up and down the streets." " And the complexion of the element In favor's like the work we have in hand, Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible." u He were no lion, were not Romans hinds." " Those that with haste will make a mighty fire Begin it with weak straws." u A piece of work that will make sick men whole." " Danger knows full well That Caesar is more dangerous than he. "We are two lions litter'd in one day, And I the elder and more terrible." curs'd be thou ; since against his thy will Chose freely what it now so justly rues. Me miserable ! which way shall I fly Infinite wrath, and infinite despair ? Which way 1 fly is Hell ; myself am Hell ; And in the lowest deep a lower deep Still threatening to devour me opens wide To which the Hell I suffer seems a Heav'n." But say I could repent and could obtain By act of grace my former state, how soon Would height recall high thoughts, how soon unsay What feign' d submission swore." This knows my punisher ; therefore as far From granting he, as I from begging peace." STUDIES IN FORMULATION. 223 " No more in soldier fashion will he greet With lifted hand the gazer in the street." " Before the starry threshold of Jove's court My mansion is, where those immortal shapes Of bright aerial spirits live inspher'd In regions mild of calm and serene air." " Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?" " And the sunset paled and warmed once more With a softer, tenderer afterglow ; In the east was moonrise with boats off-shore ; And sails in the distance drifting slow." Having studied these two elements of Formulation, Movement and Pause, the student will have perceived that the time is affected in two ways ; i.e., by the quan- tity of the syllables, and by the pause. For instance, one might utter the words of a sentence rapidly, and, by mak- ing frequent and long pauses, consume a good deal of time in the rendition of that sentence. The philosophy of for- mulation will explain this. When one dwells upon a syl- lable, he is thinking the thought while giving it utterance ; when he reads rapidly, with long pauses, he is doing his thinking between the words or groups. The student, for practice, may read any of the preceding passages in both ways. The prosodial pauses have been treated at sufficient length in the first part of this work. CHAPTER II. STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. Completeness includes : I. FINALITY. Let the student, in the following examples, aim to assert his arguments or his principles so that there shall be no doubt of his interest in the subject. I honestly and solemnly declare, I have in all seasons adhered to the system of 1766 for no other reason, than that I think it laid deep in your truest interests ; and that, by limiting the exercise, it fixes, on the firmest foundations, a real, consistent, well-grounded authority in Parliament. Until you come back to that system, there will be no peace for England. BURKE. Let our object be, our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country. Arid, by the blessing of God, may that country itself become a vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, but of Wisdom, of Peace, and of Liberty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration for ever ! WEBSTER. The party of Freedom will certainly prevail. It may be by entering into and possessing one of the old parties, filling it with our own strong life ; or it may be by drawing to itself the good and true from both who are unwilling to continue in a political combination when it ceases to represent their convictions ; but, in one way or the other, its ultimate triumph is sure. Of this let no man doubt. SUMNER. II. MOMENT AEY COMPLETENESS. The purpose of the following drills is not to train the student in the manner of making inflections, but rather to 224 STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 225 impress upon his mind the fact that rhetorically a sentence may be complete even though the point of completion be not marked by a full stop. In other words, the drill is one in mental, rather than vocal, technique. The student must determine the purpose in every case, and then trust his voice to manifest that purpose. "Hence! home, 1 you idle creatures, get you home." "Speak, what trade art thou?" " Where is thy leather apron, and thy rule ? " "You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things." "Many a time and oft Have you climb' d up to walls and battlements, To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops. Your infants in your arms, and there have sat To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome." " Be gone! Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, Pray to the gods to intermit the plague That needs must light on this ingratitude." "Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your passion; By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations." " I was born free as Ccesar, so were you ; We both have fed as well, and we can both Endure the winter's cold as well as he." " His coward lips did from their color fly, And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world Did lose his lustre." "Ye gods, it doth amaze me, A man of such a feeble temper should . . . bear the palm alone." 1 The falling inflection may properly be given on the italicized words ; but the latter are not therefore necessarily to be emphasized. 226 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. "Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonorable graves." ** Let me have men about me that are fat, Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights." "Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort, As if he mocked himself." " Such men as he be never at heart's ease Whiles they behold a greater than themselves, And therefore are they very dangerous." " Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf, And tell me truly what thou think'st of him." " Why, there was a crown offered him ; and, being offered him, he put it by with the back of his hand, thus." " I can as well be hanged as tell the manner of it ; it was mere foolery, I did not mark it." " You look pale, and gaze, And put on fear, and case yourself in wonder, To see the strange impatience of the heavens." "Stand close awhile, for here comes one in haste." "How that might change his nature, there's the question." "But when he once attains the upmost round He then unto the ladder turns his back, Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees By which he did ascend." " . . . let us not break with him, For he will never follow anything That other men begin." Grammatical and Formal Incompleteness. I. SUBORDINATION. "What India and France wanted, and that is what we want to-day, was live men." STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 227 " This globe, once a mass of molten granite, now blooms almost a paradise." Clive, ill and exhausted as he was, undertook to make an army of this undisciplined rabble, and marched with them to Covelong. A shot from, the fort killed one of these extraordinary soldiers ; on which all the rest faced about and ran away, and it was with the greatest difficulty that Clive rallied them. On another occasion, the noise of a gun terrified the sentinels so much that one of them was found, some hours later, at the bottom of a well. Clive gradually accustomed them to danger, and, by exposing himself constantly in the most perilous situation, shamed them into courage. He at length succeeded in forming a respectable force out of his unpromising ma- terials. Covelong fell. Clive learned that a strong detachment was marching to relieve it from Chingleput. He took measures to pre- vent the enemy from learning that they were too late, laid an am- buscade for them on the road, killed a hundred of them with one fire, took three hundred prisoners, pursued the fugitives to the gates of Chingleput, laid siege instantly to that fastness, reputed one of the strongest in India, made a breach, and was on the point of storming, when the French commandant capitulated and retired with his men. MACAULAY. But scarce again his horn he wound, When lo ! forth starting at the sound, From underneath an aged oak That slanted from the islet rock, A damsel guider of its way, A little skiff shot to the bay, That round the promontory steep Led its deep line in graceful sweep, Eddying, in almost viewless wave, The sweeping willow twig to lave, And kiss, with whispering sound and slow, The beach of pebbles bright as snow. SCOTT. II. ANTICIPATION. " Antonio, I am married to a wife, Which is as dear to me as life itself; But life itself, my wife, and all the world, 228 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. Are not with me esteem' d above thy life: I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all Here to this devil, to deliver you." " But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, I say unto thee, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thy house." " I hold that he who humbly tries To find wherein his duty lies, And finding, does the same, and bears Its burdens lightly, and its cares, Is nobler, in his low estate, Than crowned king or potentate." "Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself." " To prevent this, and secure the independence of the judges, after the English Revolution of 1689, it was fixed by the Act of Settlement, as it is called, that the King should not have the power to remove judges, but that they should hold their offices 'during good behavior.' " "Now, gentlemen, looking on the face of this, it would be naturally inferred that notwithstanding his 'good behavior,' and without alleging any violation of it, a judge could, nevertheless, be removed by address." " Standing as we do to-day in the presence of this fearful evil, surrounded on all sides by the enemies of law and good government, with factions within our own ranks striving in selfish ways each to attain its own ends, nothing can save us but honesty, integrity, and magnanimity." There are many occasions when there is reasonable room for a difference of opinion in the rendition of certain passages. For instance, in the last of the extracts under " Momentary Completeness," one might consider the sen- tence as momentarily complete at "anything." The stu- STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 229 dent may render it both ways, determining the meaning in each case. One should be very careful in deciding this question. Where there is a preponderance of momentary complete- ness, the delivery will appear too emphatic and have the effect of dogmatism ; and furthermore, the sign of momen- tary completeness, when used too frequently, will make so many ideas emphatic that there will be no perspective, no proportion. Here are excellent examples for practice. One mast was broken short off, six or eight feet from the deck, and lay over on the side, entangled in a maze of sail and rigging ; and in that ruin, as the ship rolled and beat, which she did with a violence quite inconceivable, beat the side as if it would stave it in. Some efforts were being made to cut this portion of the wreck away ; for as the ship, which was broadside on, turned toward us in her rolling, I plainly descried her people at work with axes espe- cially one active figure, with long curling hair. But a great cry, audible even above the wind and water, rose from the shore ; the sea, sweeping over the wreck, made a clean breach, and carried men, spars, casks, planks, bulwarks, heaps of such toys, into the boiling surge DICKENS. Down the rivers, o'er the prairies, Came the warriors of the nations, Came the Delawares and Mohawks, Came the Choctaws and Camanches, Came the Shoshonies and Blackfeet, Came the Pawnees and Omahas, Came the Mandans and Dacotahs, Came the Hurons and Ojibways, All the warriors drawn together By. the signal of the Peace-Pipe, To the Mountains of the Prairie, To the great Red Pipe-stone Quarry. LONGFELLOW. " The seed sown in life springs up in harvests of blessings or harvests of sorrow, whether our influence be great or small, whether 230 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. it be good or evil ; it lasts, it lives somewhere, within some limit, and is operative wherever it is. The grave buries the dead dust; but the character walks the world, and distributes itself as a bene- diction or a curse among the families of mankind." Implied Incompleteness. I. NEGATIVE STATEMENT. "I do not claim this is the only method." "I cannot promise definitely, but I think you may rely upon getting it." " I shall wait for you in the lobby, if you don't tarry too long." " It doesn't look like rain, does it ? " II. NON- AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENT. A. Concession. " There are some arguments in its favor, but they are not weighty." " No, nobody claims that." " I grant I may have taken the honorable gentleman by surprise." B. Inability to Assert. " I cannot tell what you and other men Think of this life, but, for my single self, I had as lief not be as live to be In awe of such a thing as I myself." 0. Unwillingness to Assert. " I do not charge the gentleman with willful misstaternent, but 1 would rather say he is a great economizer of the truth." " I do not like to think that the opposition is purposely delaying the vote on this question." "Never fear that: if he be so resolved, I can o'ersway him." STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 231 D. Sense of Triviality. " It would be idle to base an opinion on any argument of Mr. Webster." " O, that is of no consequence ; you don't believe that." " It is hardly necessary for me to go over the charges of the at- torney for the plaintiff ; they are trivial and unimportant." JE. Obviousness or Familiarity in Thought. " It goes without saying that you know the early history of thes w people." " There are very few who haven't a bowing acquaintance with this subject." "You know me well, and herein spend but time To wind about my love with circumstance." F. The Anticipatory or Negative Member of an Antith- esis. " Not that I loved CaBsar less, but that I loved Rome more." " It is not that I doubt the gentleman's honesty, but that I question his authority." " It was at the end of the war that this incident occurred ; not at the beginning." III. DOUBT. Uncertainty, confusion, hesitation, and other forms of doubt, are really questions, the mind seeking solution of difficult and perplexing problems. " I wish I could find some way out of this, but" " There ought to be some other method of solving this difficulty : let me see, let me see." " I would I had been there." 232 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. IV. INTERROGATION DIRECT, answerable by "yes " or " no." " Are you the owner of this house ? " " Can you tell me what time it is ? " Care must be taken not to confuse this form of Inter- rogation with Figurative Interrogation. The latter is often strongly assertive. For instance, " God of battles, was ever a battle like this in the world before ? " This is equivalent to asking a question and answering it at the same time. It asks in words, u was ever?" It answers in inflection, "there never was." Grammatically, then, it is a question; rhetorically, it is an exclamation. Here is another form of Figurative Interrogation, " Are you going out?" (No answer.) "Are you going out?" (I demand an answer.) In this case the second question becomes a demand. The speaker cares for an answer not so much because of any interest in it as such, but because he desires his authority respected. The following examples of Figurative Interrogation should be carefully studied : - " Is there a single atrocity of the French more unprincipled and inhuman than that of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, in Poland ? " " Did he not know that he was making history that hour? Did he not know this, T say." " If I were to propose three cheers for Washington, is there a single man, woman, or child in this vast audience who would refuse to lift his voice?" STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 233 " Have you, gentlemen of the jury, considered the price the state asks the prisoner to pay for what is only an indiscretion at most? I repeat, have you considered the price?" " Has the gentleman done ? Has he completely done ? " A very interesting psychological question arises in con- nection with Figurative Interrogation. It has been shown how the grammatical question becomes an oratorical as- sertion ; but there is a point in assertion beyond which it may pass and become intense emotional question. In this sentence, " Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? " we have an illustration. There are three possibilities here. First: A simple question looking for information. Second : An exclamation equivalent to, Who does not know that the Judge of all the earth shall do right? Third (with considerable emotion) : Is it possible that any one would deny that the Judge of all the earth shall do right? V. SUPPLICATION OR ENTREATY. "You won't leave me, father." " Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up to such a sudden flood of mutiny ! " " O, Hamlet, speak no more." " Pity the sorrows of a poor old man." Complex Relations. I. COMPARISON OR CONTRAST, WITH AFFIRMATION, " Not inferior to this was the wisdom of him who resolved to shear the wolf. What, shear a wolf! Have you considered the danger of the attempt? No, says the madman, I have considered nothing but the right." 234 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. " What do we understand to have been the conduct of this mag- nanimous hero? He let loose his soldiery on the miserable, un- armed people. And for what? Because they had dared to join in a wish to improve their Constitution. And such is the hero upon whom the cause of ' religion and social order ' is to repose ! And such is the man whom we praise for his discipline and his virtue, and whom we hold out as our boast and our dependence." II. COMPARISON OR CONTRAST, WITH INCOMPLETE- NESS. " Oh, no I He wouldn't accept a bribe ; of course not." " You meant no harm : oh, no : your thoughts are innocent." " It isn't the secret I care about ; it's the slight, Mr. Caudle." III. AFFIRMATION WITH INCOMPLETENESS. " I would rather be the follower if I had my choice." HAMLET. I pray you. GUILDENSTERN. Believe me, I cannot. HAMLET. I do beseech you. GUILDENSTERX. I know no touch of it, my lord. HAMLET. It is as easy as lying [as you have been doing] : gov- ern these ventages with your fingers and thumb, give it breath with your mouth, and it will discourse most eloquent music. Look you, these are the stops. GUILDENSTERX. But these cannot I command to any utterance of harmony ; I have not the skill. HAMLET. Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me ! You would play upon me ; you would seem to know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mystery; you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass : and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ ; yet cannot you make it speak. 'S blood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe f Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me. Hamlet, Act III., Sc. ii. STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 235 The following selections will afford the student excel- lent practice in the various kinds of complex relations : CASSIUS. A friend should bear his friend's infirmities, But Brutus makes mine greater than they are. BRUTUS. I do not, till you practice them on me. CASSIUS. You love me not. BRUTUS. I do not like your faults. CASSIUS. A friendly eye could never see such faults. BRUTUS. A flatterer's would not, though they did appear As huge as high Olympus. Julius Ccesar, Act IV., Sc. iii. HAMLET. Now, mother, what's the matter? QUEEN. Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended. HAMLET. Mother, you have my father much offended. QUEEN. Come, come ; you answer with an idle tongue. HAMLET. Go, go ; you question with a wicked tongue. QUEEN. Why, how now, Hamlet ! What's the matter now ? Have you forgot me ? HAMLET. No, by the rood, not so: You are the Queen, your husband's brother's wife ; And would it were not so ! you are my mother. Hamlet, Act III., Sc. iv. " My brave associates, partners of my toil, my feelings, and my fame 1 can Rolla's words add vigor to the virtuous energies which inspire your hearts ? No ! You have judged, as I have, the foul- ness of the crafty plea by which these bold invaders would delude you. Your generous spirit has compared, as mine has, the motives which, in a war like this, can animate their minds and ours. They, by a strange frenzy driven, fight for power, for plunder, and ex- tended rule : we, for our country, our altars, and our homes. They follow an adventurer whom they fear, and obey a power which they hate : we serve a monarch whom we love a God whom we adore. Whene'er they move in anger, desolation tracks their progress ! Whene'er they pause in amity, affliction mourns their friendship. They boast they come but to improve our state, enlarge our thoughts, and free us from the yoke of error ! Yes ; they will give enlightened freedom to our minds, who are themselves the slaves of 236 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. passion, avarice, and pride ! They offer us their protection : yes, such protection as vultures give to lambs covering and devouring them ! They call on us to barter all of good we have enhanced and proved, for the desperate chance of something better which they promise. Be our plain answer this : The throne we honor is the people's choice ; the laws we reverence are our brave fathers' legacy ; the faith we follow teaches us to live in bonds of charity with all mankind, and die with hope of bliss beyond the grave. Tell your invaders this ; and tell them, too, we seek no change, and, least of all, such change as they would bring us I " " But, Mr. Speaker, we have a right to tax America. Oh, inesti- mable right ! Oh, wonderful, transcendent right ! the assertion of which has cost this country thirteen provinces, six islands, one hun- dred thousand lives, and seventy millions of money ! Oh, invalu- able right ! for the sake of which we have sacrificed our rank among nations, our importance abroad, and our happiness at home ! Oh, right, more dear to us than our existence, which has already cost us so much, and which seems likely to cost us our all ! Infatuated man ! miserable and undone country ! not to know that the claim of right, without the power of enforcing it, is nugatory and idle. We have a right to tax America, the noble lord tells us, therefore we ought to tax America. This is the profound logic which comprises the whole chain of his reasoning. " How wonderful that a nation could be thus deluded ! But the noble lord deals in cheats and delusions. They are the daily traffic of his invention ; and he will continue to play off his cheats on this house, so long as he thinks them necessary to his purpose, and so long as he has money enough at command to bribe gentlemen to pretend that they believe him. But a black and bitter day of reck- oning will surely come ; and whenever that day comes, I trust I shall be able, by a parliamentary impeachment, to bring upon the heads of the authors of our calamities the punishment they deserve." In concluding these exercises in Discrimination atten- tion may be drawn to another statement in the Orator's Manual, by Professor Raymond. " The melody of the STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 237 movement taken by the voice represents, therefore, like the melody in music, the mind's motive, indicates its purpose in using the particular phraseology to which the melody is applied ; and because pitch, through the kinds of inflections and melody chosen, reveals the motives, we shall find that the use of this element in ordinary conver- sation is constantly causing precisely the same phraseology to express entirely opposite meanings." The importance of this principle can scarcely be over-estimated. A study of Discrimination in the first part of this volume, and of the exercises, must have made clear the necessity of de- tailed and thoughtful analysis in order to arrive at the exact meaning. The slightest change in the inflection affects the melody, and where that is not right it means loss of power. False cadences, " ministerial " tones, mono- tony, melodic driftings, are all the result of a lack of per- ception, at the moment of speaking, of the proper motive. The Central Idea. A little reflection must make it manifest that every sentence, or even phrase, has a cen- tral idea. When this idea is brought out in vocal expres- sion it is by means of some form of emphasis, such as inflection or force or time, and so forth. The exact form of the manifestation need not concern us here. The student is urged to study the text carefully in order that he may be sure that he is in possession of the central idea. Perhaps there is no more severe test of the student's apprehension of the meaning than his emphasis using that term in its broadest sense. Determining the central idea is essentially a logical process ; the stu- dent weighs and determines the value of every word, and by a process of elimination finally fixes upon the exact 288 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. thought to be conveyed. The study of the central idea is, then, a part of Discrimination. Rules for emphasis so commonly given are, compara- tively, of little value. If the student has the thought, his emphasis may be trusted to take care of itself ; where he has not, the rules are confusing and misleading. Mr. Alfred Ayres says facetiously but truly, " There is only one rule for emphasis Gumption." It is understood that emphasis has a much wider mean- ing than that of merely making a word stand out distinctly by means of force ; it includes any manner of making a thought prominent. What we are here studying is simply that form of emphasis which is manifested by inflection or force or both. The central idea in colloquial utterance is generally made significant through force ; but by far the most suggestive method, when occasion requires, is through inflection. Of course, these two are very, often combined in various proportions. In the following illustrations two classes of examples will be noticed. In the first, the student will find the central ideas indicated by means of italics and capitals. It is not claimed that some other interpretation might not be possible ; but that suggested is at least justifiable. The student will study these examples carefully with the ob- ject of determining the reason for the marking. In the second list of illustrations the student himself will deter- mine the central idea, and manifest it through his rendition. It is to be regretted that we have no recognized sym- bols for showing shades and degrees of emphasis. The student for whom this work is intended will no doubt be able to determine for himself whether the element of force or that of inflection predominates. STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 239 STUDIES IN CENTRAL IDEA. 1 There on the dais sat another king Wearing his robes, his crown, his SIGNET-RING. LONGFELLOW, King Robert of Sicily. Note that " his " and " robes " are of about equal im- portance, the former perhaps weighing a little heavier than the latter. In the next phrase the inflection on " his " is much narrower than on the first " his," while the "crown" becomes more important. Finally, the last "his" has no emphasis, while the climax of thought and emotion is reached on "signet-ring." And do you NOW put on your best attire? And do you NOW cull out a HOLIDAY ? And do you now STREW FLOWERS in HIS way That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood ? Julius Ccesar, Act I., Sc. i. Note the climax : " best attire " is weaker than " holi- day," and it than the strewing of flowers. Conversely, the emphasis on " now " diminishes at each repetition. The context should be carefully digested. I rather tell thee what is to be feared Than what I fear. Ibid., Act I., Sc. ii. An actor (?) was once heard to read the above passage, putting his emphasis on " thee " and the second " I." How illuminating ! 1 The sources of most of the following excerpts are given in order that the Student may refer to the context when necessary. - 240 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. If 'twere done when 'tis done, then 'twere well It were done quickly. Macbeth, Act I., Sc. vii. The above is a fine illustration of the claim that the study of the "Central Idea" is essentially a logical pro- cess. I believe that any other .emphasis is puerile, and yet every other emphasis is heard except this. Let us look a little closer. The passage beginning with this line resolves itself into this : I am hampered with doubts and fears ; I can find no rest by day or night until I kill the king or resolve to abandon the attempt. But if I can be assured that there shall be no after consequences here, I'll risk the life to come. Hence, the following paraphrase is the equivalent of the first line : If it [the murder] were out of people's minds, if it were blotted out of recollec- tion, consigned to oblivion, when it is committed [when I do the murder], then the sooner it is done the better for my peace of mind. In a word, if it is all over when it is committed, " then 'twere well it were done quickly." Many purposely avoid repeating the emphasis on " done " be- cause they believe the two "dones" are identical in mean- ing. Nothing could be farther from the truth, as I have tried to show above. The truth is, this line is one of those grim plays upon words in which Shakespeare is so prolific. I need hardly add that when properly read the sense will be made clear by keeping in mind the para- phrase just given. The result will be that the first " done " will be read with a very decided falling inflec- tion (" Momentary Completeness "), and the second with a circumflex inflection ("Contrast with Incompleteness:" the mind looking forward at the end to the conclusion of STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 241 the sentence). Perhaps to the sensitive student of litera- ture there is another argument. Shakespeare's vocabu- lary would indeed have been very limited if he had found it necessary to use three " dones " in the opening line of a most important soliloquy. To one who is alive to aesthetic effects, the very fact that Shakespeare does use them suggests a more careful analysis, and one soon discovers the cause. The play on the words makes the salient idea more striking. And flood upon flood hurries on never ending; and it never will rest nor from travail be free. SCHILLER-LYTTON, The Diver. MACBETH. I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none. LADY MACBETH. What beast was't then That made you break this enterprise to me ? When you durst do it, then you were a man, And, to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place Did then adhere, and yet you would make both , They have made themselves, and that their fitness now Does tmmake you. Macbeth, Act I., Sc. vii. ... it becomes The throned MONARCH better than his CROWN. The Merchant of Venice, Act IV., Sc. i. Why is " better " not the most significant word Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime. LONGFELLOW, Psalm of Life. Why not emphasize " we " ? Perchance to dream; ay, there's the rub! For in that sleep of death what dreams may come. Hamlet, Act III., Sc. i. 242 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. " What " is equivalent to what horrible or awful CASSIUS. I may do that I shall be sorry for. BRUTUS. You have done that you should be sorry for. Julius Ccesar, Act IV., Sc. iii. It is the bright day that brings forth the adder, And that craves wary walking. Julius Ccesar, Act II., Sc. i. And, since the quarrel Will bear no color for the thing he is, Fashion it thus ; that what he is, AUGMENTED, Would run to these and these extremities. Ibid. This reading brings out most clearly the rationale of Brutus' attitude. The soliloquy should be studied in its entirety. Give me that man That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him In my heart's core, ay, in my HEART of heart, As I do thee. Hamlet, Act III., Sc. ii. This example is used in Fulton and Trueblood's Prac- tical Elocution. The authors state, and I think justly : - " It has been a question with the actors which word of the phrase heart of heart should receive the chief emphasis, some claiming the reading should be ' heart of heart,' others l heart of heart,' still others ' heart of heart.' The first seems to us the preferable reading, for if the lines read, ' I will wear him in my heart's core, ay, in the center of it,' the case would be clear. Here ' center ' stands in the place of the first ' heart.' " She looked down to blush and she looked up to sigh, With a smile on her lip and a tear in her eye. SCOTT, Lochinvar. There are those who argue that "lip" and "eye" STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 243 should not be emphasized. This is a serious error. The phrases " on her lip" and "in her eye" are elaborative, and hence the emphasis is distributed over the entire phrase. If this is wrong, we must blame the writer for tautology. But literature has many similar examples. Here is another: - Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him : and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. Luke xv. 22. There is a rule telling us to emphasize words in antith- esis. In many cases we do so ; but these cases would emphasize themselves, so to speak. There are, however, many cases of rhetorical antithesis where it interferes with the sense to emphasize both members of the antithesis, and here the rule steps in to lead astray the pupil. Let me illustrate : " I am going to town to-morrow, but you need not go until the day after"' 1 Mr. A. Melville Bell has put this very clearly. In his Essays and Postscripts on Elocution, he says : " The emphasis of contrast falls necessarily on the second of a contrasted pair of words, but not necessarily on the first. The first word is emphatic or otherwise, according as it is new, or implied in preceding thoughts ; but it is not emphatic in virtue of subsequent contrast. A purposed anticipation may give emphasis to the first word, but such anticipatory emphasis should not be made habitual." " If the bright blood that fills my veins, transmitted free from godlike ancestry, were like the slimy ooze which stagnates in your arteries, I had remained at home." Is it not clear that anticipatory emphasis on " my " is not only unnecessary, but would, if given, weaken the force of the succeeding phrase ? 244 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. " I have nothing more to say, but the honorable gentleman will no doubt speak for hours." " What could I do less ; what could he do more." The following examples are to be prepared by the stu- dent in accordance with the plan previously outlined: Enter TITINIUS, with MESSALA. MESS ALA. It is but change, Titinius; for Octavius Is overthrown by noble Brutus' power, As Cassius' legions are by Antony. TITINIUS. These tidings will well comfort Cassius. MESSALA. Is not that he that lies upon the ground ? TITINIUS. He lies not like the living. Oh my heart! MESSALA. Is not that he ? TITINIUS. No, this was he, Messala, But Cassius is no more, O Setting Sun ! As in thy red rays thou dost sink to-night, So in his red blood Cassius' day is set; The sun of Rome is set! Our day is gone; Clouds, dews, and dangers come; our deeds are done! Mistrust of my success hath done this deed. Julius Ccesar, Act V., Sc. iii. "Change" is an example of "Contrast with Affirma- tion." It is evident that the speakers have been convers- ing about the two parts of the battle, and Titinius has told his friend that Cassius has been overthrown. To this Messala replies comfortingly, " Affairs are balanced, then," etc. The entire extract needs and will amply repay most critical study. It would be hard to find one containing more difficulties. BASSANIO. This is no answer, thou unfeeling man, To excuse the current of thy cruelty. SHYLOCK. I am not bound to please thee with my answer. BASSANIO. Do all men kill the things they do not love? SHYLOCK. Hates any man the thing he would not kill? STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 245 BASSAXIO. Every offense is not a hate at first. SHYLOCK. What! wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice ? Merchant of Venice, Act IV., Sc. i. DUNCAN. Go, pronounce his present l death, And with his former title greet Macbeth. Ross. I'll see it done. DUNCAN. What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won. Macbeth, Act. I., Sc. ii. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none. Macbeth, Act I., Sc. iii. MACBETH. The thane of Cawdor lives : why do you dress me In borrow' d robes ? ANGUS. Who was the thane, lives yet. Ibid. LIGARIUS. What's to do? BRUTUS. A piece of work that will make sick men whole. LIGARIUS. But are not some whole that we must make sick ? Julius Caesar, Act. II., Sc. i. When beggars die, there are no comets seen ; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. Julius Ccesar, Act II., Sc. ii. BRUTUS. He hath the falling sickness. CASSIUS. ?^o, Caesar hath it not ; but you and I, And honest Casca, we have the falling sickness. Julius Ccesar, Act I., Sc. ii. Romans now Have thews and limbs like to their ancestors, But, woe the while! our fathers' minds are dead, And we are govern' d by our mothers' spirits. Julius Ccesar, Act I., Sc. iii. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous; What you would work me to, I have some aim; How I have thought of this, and of these times, I shall recount hereafter; for this present, I would not, so with love I might entreat you, Be any further mov'd. What you have said, I will consider; what you have to say, 1 I.e., instant. 246 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. I will with patience hear, and find a time Both meet to hear, and answer such high things. Julius Cce.sar, Act L, Sc. ii. Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Julius Ccesar, Act II., Sc. ii. FLAVIUS. Thou art a cobbler, art thou ? CITIZKN. Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl. Julius Ccesar, Act I., Sc. i. SIR PETER. Very well, ma'am, very well ! So a husband is to have no influence no authority ! LADY TEAZLE. Authority ? No, to be sure ! If you wanted authority over me, you should have adopted me, and not married me; I am sure you were old enough! SHERIDAN, The School for Scandal. We live in deeds, not years; in thought, not breath; In feelings, not in figures on a dial; We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives, Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. BAILEY, Festus. "I must be cruel, only to be kind; Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind." "Our new heraldry is hands, not hearts." " He jests at scars that never felt a wound." " Friendship was in their looks, but in their hearts there was hatred." " Oh ! the blood more stirs To rouse a lion than to start a hare." " You will find it less easy to uproot faults than choke them by gaining virtues." " A maiden's wrath has two eyes one blind, the other keener than a falcon's." " The storm that rends the oak uproots the flower." " But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue." STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 247 " They follow an adventurer whom they fear, and obey a power which they hate ; we serve a monarch whom we love, a God whom we adore." "I feel the impulse yet I do not plunge, > I see the peril yet do not recede ; And my brain reels and yet my foot is firm.' 1 " It was midnight when I listened, And I heard two voices speak; One was harsh, and stern, and cruel, And the other soft and weak." Subordination. The analysis for determining the Central Idea must have led the student to discern subor- dinate ideas. As a rule, the reading of these will not be difficult, but there are certain phases of subordination that require special study. We shall now examine extracts in which the main current of thought is interrupted by phrases, clauses, and exclamations of more or less importance. These interrup- tions are by no means to be classed as unnecessary. Their value must be determined in each case by the student. There may be coordinate clauses, ejaculations, and paren- theses ; but it is useless, as well as misleading, to set down any definite method as to the manner in which these shall be read. We are all acquainted with the time-honored advice concerning the manner in which one should read words in parentheses : Lower the voice and read faster. It is not to be denied that the average parenthetical thought is expressed in that way, but there are many examples where the injunction will not apply. Hence it is better to pay no attention to this rule. The main result to be obtained in this chapter is the training of the student's mind in apprehending thought- modulation ; to enable him to weigh the thought in order 248 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. that he may perceive more clearly the relative values of the various phrases. This perception leads in expression to that most desirable phase of utterance, modulation. " In what school did the worthies of our land the Washing- tons, Henrys, Franklins, Rutledges learn those principles of civil liberty?" " Next to the worship of the Father of us all the deepest and grandest of human emotions is the love of the land that gave us birth." " I am not I need scarcely say it the panegyrist of England." " I have returned, not, as the right honorable member has said, to raise a storm, I have returned to discharge an honorable debt of gratitude to my country." " May that God (I do not take his name in vain), may that God forbid it." "One day shall I forget it ever? ye were present I had fought long and well." " I was about to slay him, when a few hurried words rather a welcome to death than a plea for life told me he was a Thracian." " One raw morning in spring it will be eighty years the 19th of this month Hancock and Adams were both at Lexington." " And are we to speak and act like men who have sustained no wrong ? We ! Six millions of what shall I say ? citizens ? " " Among the exploits of marvelous and almost legendary valor performed by that great English chieftain who has been laid aside uncoroneted, and almost unhonored because he would promote and distinguish the men of work in preference to the men of idleness among his achievements not the least wondrous was the subjugation of the robber tribes of the Cutchee Hills in the north of Scinde." " But if there is one man here I am speaking not of shapes and forms, but of feelings if there is one here that feels as men were wont to feel, he will draw the sword." STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 249 "And you you, who are eight millions strong you, who boast at every meeting that this island is the finest which the sun looks down upon you, who have no threatening sea to stem, no avalanche to dread you, who say that you could shield along your coast a thousand sail, and be the princes of a mighty commerce you, who by the magic of an honest hand, beneath each summer sky, might cull a plenteous harvest from your soil, and with the sickle strike away the scythe of death you, who have no vulgar history to read you, who can trace, from field to field, the evidences of civilization older than the Conquest the relics of a religion far more ancient than the Gospel you, who have thus been blessed, thus been gifted, thus been prompted to what is wise and generous and great you will make no effort you will perish by the thou- sand, and the finest island that the sun looks down upon, amid the jeers and hooting of the world, will blacken into a plague spot, a wilderness, a sepulcher." " In his early manhood, at the bidding of conscience, against the advice of his dearest friends, in opposition to stern paternal com- mands, against every dictate of worldly wisdom and human prudence, in spite of all the dazzling temptations of ambition so alluring to the heart of a young man, he turned away from the broad fair highway to w r ealth, position, and distinction, that the hands of a king opened before him, and, casting his lot with the sect weakest and most un- popular in England, through paths that were tangled with trouble, and lined with pitiless thorns of persecution, he walked into honor and fame, and the reverence of the world, such as royalty could not promise and could not give him." " No one venerates the Peerage more than I do ; but, my Lords, I must say that the Peerage solicited me, not I the Peerage. Nay, more, I can say, and will say, that, as a Peer of Parliament, as Speaker of this right honorable House, as keeper of the great seal, as guardian of his Majesty's conscience, as Lord High Chancellor of England, nay, even in that character alone in which the noble Duke would think it an affront to be considered, but which charac- ter none can deny me, as a MAN, T am at this moment as respec- table I beg leave to add I am as much respected, as the proudest Peer I now look down upon." 250 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. " Hear the parable of the Sibyl, for it conveys a wise and whole- some moral. She now appears at your gate, and offers you mildly the volumes the precious volumes of wisdom and peace. The price she asks is reasonable ; to restore the franchise, which, with- out any bargain, you ought voluntarily to give. You refuse her terms her moderate terms she darkens the porch no longer. But soon for you cannot do without her wares you call her back. Again she comes, but with diminished treasures ; the leaves of the book are in part torn away by lawless hands, in part defaced with characters of blood." " Fresh as the flower, whose modest worth He sang, his genius ' glinted ' forth, Rose like a star that touching earth, For so it seems, Doth glorify its humble birth With matchless beams." "The piercing eye, the thoughtful brow, The struggling heart, where be they now ? Full soon the aspirant of the plow, The prompt, the brave, Slept, with the obscurest, in the low And silent grave." "True friends though diversely inclined; But heart with heart and mind with mind, Where the main fibers are entwined, Through Nature's skill. May even by contraries be joined More closely still." " The tear will start, and let it flow ; Thou 'poor Inhabitant below,' At this dread moment, even so Might we together Have sate and talked where gowans blow, Or on wild heather." " Sighing I turned away ; but ere Night fell, I heard, or seemed to hear, Music that sorrow comes not near, A ritual hymn, STUDIES IN DISCRIMINATION. 251 Chanted in love that casts out fear By Seraphim." "Too frail to keep the lofty vow That must have followed when his brow Was wreathed ' The Vision ' tells us how With holly spray, He faltered, drifted to and fro, And passed away." "For as victory was nighest, While I sang and played, With my lyre at lowest, highest, Right alike, one string that made * Love ' sound soft was snapt in twain Never to be heard again." Would that the structure brave, the manifold music I build, Bidding my organ obey, calling its keys to their work, Claiming each slave of the sound, at a touch, as when Solomon willed Armies of angels that soar, legions of demons that lurk, Man, brute, reptile, fly, alien of end and of aim, Adverse, each from the other heaven-high, hell-deep removed, Should rush into sight at once as he named the ineffable Name, And pile him a palace straight, to pleasure the princess he loved ! BROWNING, Abt Vogler. And as a hungry lion who has made A prey of some large beast a horned stag Or mountain goat rejoices, and with speed Devours it, though swift hounds and sturdy youths Press on his flank, so Menelaus felt Great joy when Paris, of the godlike form, Appeared in sight, for now he thought to wreak His vengeance on the guilty one, and straight Sprang from his car to earth with all his arms. The Iliad. In the illustrations that follow, the student will note three distinct degrees of importance of thought ; in other words, there is the main idea, its modifier, and the modi- fier of the modifier. The vocal expression of these illus- trations will be modulated just to the extent the student appreciates the value of the different phrases. 252 MENTA L *fCimiQ UE^ **f. * " At Atri in Abruzzo, a small town Of ancient Roman date, but scant renown, One of those little places that have run Half up the hill, beneath a blazing sun, And then sat down to rest, as if to say, 'I climb no farther upward, come what may,' The Re Giovanni, now unknown to fame, So many monarchs since have borne the name, Had a great bell hung in the market-place." "It is my purpose, therefore, believing that there are certain points of superiority in modern artists, and especially in one or two of their number, which have not yet been fully understood, except by those who are scarcely in a position admitting the declaration of their conviction, to institute a close comparison between the great works of ancient and modern 'landscape art." Many students who find no difficulty while silently reading such extracts as the above, will often fail in their vocal expression because of the fact that the latter is more deliberate, and consequently they may lose the trend of the main thought while rendering the explanatory and parenthetical portions. To overcome this difficulty they are advised to read the sentence, omitting all but the most essential idea ; then let them add one idea after another to the main idea, until the sentence is read correctly in its entirety. In the last example quoted, the main idea is, "It is my purpose ... to institute a close comparison between the great works of ancient and modern landscape art." Read this three or four times, until the idea is clearly apprehended. Now read the sentence, omitting "and especially in one. or two of their number," until this larger thought is grasped; after which let the sentence be read as a whole. CHAPTER III. STUDIES IN EMOTION. Earnestness. In the F xamples under this head, only those are chosen in which the student is not called upon to go very far out of his own personal experience. In other words, he is not called upon to do much persona- tion. He can very easily grasp the situation ; and hence his task is simpler than if he were asked to represent more complex emotions, which would at once greatly in- crease the difficulty, and perhaps discourage him. He should learn two or three selections by^ heart, and recite them frequently, until a certain degree of directness, vi- tality, earnestness, and freedom is acquired. Until that point is reached, he should not proceed with the more complex emotions. Sir, it matters very little what immediate spot may have been the birthplace of such a man as Washington. No people can claim, no country can appropriate him. The boon of Providence to the human race, his fame is eternity, and his residence creation. Though it was the defeat of our arms, and the disgrace of our policy, I almost bless the convulsion in which he had his origin. If the heavens thun- dered and the earth rocked, yet, when the storm had past, how pure was the climate that it cleared ! how bright in the brow of the fir- mament was the planet which it revealed to us! CHARLES PHIL- LIPS, The Character of Washington. I am amazed at the attack which the noble Duke has made on me. Yes, my Lords, I am amazed at his Grace's speech. The noble 253 254 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. Duke cannot look before him, behind him, or on either side of him, without seeing some noble Peer who owes his seat in this House to his successful exertions in the profession to which I belong. Does he not feel that it is as honorable to owe it to these, as to being the accident of an accident? To all these noble Lords the language of the noble Duke is as applicable, and as insulting, as it is to myself. But I do not fear to meet it single and alone LORD THURLOW. They tell us, sir, that we are weak, unable to cope with so for- midable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year ? Will it be when we are totally dis- armed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house ? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the desti- nies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone ; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery ! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston ! The war is inevitable ; and let it come ! I repeat it, sir, let it come ! It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace ! but there is no peace. The war is actually begun ! The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms ! Our brethren are already in the field ! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be pur- chased at the price of chains and slavery ? Forbid it, Almighty God ! I know not what course others may take ; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death! PATRICK HENRY. STUDIES IN EMOTION. 255 One raw morning in spring it will be eighty years the 19th day of this month Hancock and Adams, the Moses and Aaron of that Great Deliverance, were both at Lexington; they also had " obstructed an officer " with brave words. British soldiers, a thou- sand strong, came to seize them and carry them over sea for trial, and so nip the bud of freedom auspiciously opening in that early spring. The town militia came together before daylight, " for train- ing." A great, tall man, with a large head and a high, wide brow, their captain, one who had " seen service," marshaled them into line, numbering but seventy, and bade " every man load his piece with powder and ball. I will order the first man shot that runs away," said he, when some faltered. " Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they want to have a war, let it begin here." Gentlemen, you know what followed; those farmers and me- chanics " fired the shot heard round the world." A little monument covers the bones of such as before had pledged their fortune and their sacred honor to the Freedom of America, and that day gave it also their lives. I was born in that little town, and bred up amid the memories of that day. When a boy, my mother lifted me up, one Sunday, in her religious, patriotic arms, and held me while I read the first monumental line I ever saw " Sacred to Liberty and the Rights of Mankind." Since then I have studied the memorial marbles of Greece and Rome, in many an ancient town ; nay, on Egyptian obelisks, have read what was written before the Eternal roused up Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt; but no chiseled stone has ever stirred me to such emotion as these rustic names of men who fell " In the Sacred Cause of God and their Country." Gentlemen, the Spirit of Liberty, the Love of Justice, was early fanned into a flame in my boyish heart. That monument covers the bones of my own kinsfolk ; it was their blood which reddened the long, green grass at Lexington. It was my own name which stands chiseled on that stone ; the tall Captain who marshaled his fellow farmers and mechanics into stern array, and spoke such brave and dangerous words as opened the war of American Independence, the last to leave the field, was my father's father. I learned to read out of his Bible, and with a musket he that day captured from the foe I learned also another religious lesson, that " Rebellion to 256 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. Tyrants is Obedience to God." I keep them both, " Sacred to Lib- erty and the Rights of Mankind," to use them both, "In the Sacred Cause of God and my Country." THEODORE PARKER. Hamelin Town's in Brunswick, By famous Hanover city; The river Weser, deep and wide, Washes its walls on the southern side; A pleasanter spot you never spied; But, when begins my ditty, Almost five hundred years ago, To see the townfolk suffer so From vermin, was a pity. Rats! They fought the dogs, and killed the cats, And bit the babies in the cradles, And ate the cheese out of the vats, And licked the soup from the cook's own ladles, Split open the kegs of salted sprats, Made nests inside men's Sunday hats, And even spoiled the women's chats, By drowning their speaking With shrieking and squeaking In fifty different sharps and flats. BROWNING, The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Those evening bells those evening bells How many a tale their music tells Of youth, and home, and that sweet time When last I heard their soothing chime. Those joyous hours are passed away, And many a heart, that then was gay, Within the tomb now darkly dwells, And hears no more those evening bells. And so 'twill be when I am gone; That tuneful peal will still ring on, While other bards shall walk these 'dells, And sing your praise, sweet evening bells. MOORE. Oh! young Lochinvar is come out of the West! Through all the wide Border his steed was the bf%t- STUDIES IN EMOTION. 257 And save his good broadsword he weapon had none; He rode all unarmed and he rode all alone. So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war, There never was knight like the young Lochinvar. SCOTT. When Freedom from her mountain height Unfurled her standard to the air, She tore the azure robe of night, And set the stars of glory there: She mingled with its gorgeous dies The milky baldric of the skies, And striped its pure celestial white With streakings of the morning light; Then, from his mansion in the sun, She called her eagle-bearer down, And gave into his mighty hand The symbol of her chosen land. DBAKE. Hurrah! the foes are moving ! Hark to the mingled din Of fife, and steed, and trump, and drum, and roaring culverin! The fiery Duke is pricking fast across Saint Andre's plain, With all the hireling chivalry of Guelders and Almayne. Now, by the lips of those ye love, fair gentlemen of France, Charge for the golden lilies now, upon them with the lance ! A thousand spurs are striking deep, a thousand spears in rest, A thousand knights are pressing close behind the snow-white crest, And in they burst, and on they rushed, while, like a guiding star, Amidst the thickest carnage blazed the helmet of Navarre. MACAULAY, The Battle of Imy. John Day, he was the biggest man Of all the coachman kind, With back too broad to be conceived By any narrow mind. The very horses knew his weight, When he was in the rear, And wished his box a Christmas-box, To come but once a year. Alas! against the shafts of love What armor can avail ? 258 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. Soon Cupid sent an arrow through His scarlet coat of mail. The barmaid of " The Crown " he loved, From whom he never ranged; For, though he changed his horses there, His love he never changed. One day, as she was sitting down Beside the porter pump, He came and knelt, with all his fat, And made an offer plump. Said she, "My taste will never learn To like so huge a man; So I must beg you will come here As little as you can." But still he stoutly urged his suit, With vows, and sighs, and tears, Yet could not pierce her heart, although He drove the "Dart" for years. In vain he wooed in vain he sued, The maid was cold and proud, And sent him off to Coventry While on the way to Stroud. He fretted all the way to Stroud, And thence all back to town; The course of love was never smooth, So his went up and down. At last, her coldness made him pine To merely bones and skin; But still he loved like one resolved To love through thick and thin "Oh, Mary! view my wasted back. And see my dwindled calf! Though I have never had a wife, I've lost my better half ! " Alas! in vain he still assailed, Her heart withstood the dint ; Though he had carried sixteen stone, He could not move a flint! STUDIES IN EMOTION. 259 Worn out, at last he made a vow, To break his being's link, For he was so reduced in size, At nothing he could shrink. Now, some will talk in water's praise, And waste a deal of breath; But John, though he drank .nothing else, He drank himself to death. The cruel maid, that caused his love, Found out the fatal close, For looking in the butt she saw The butt end of his woes. Some say his spirit haunts "The Crown," But that is only talk ; For after riding all his life, His ghost objects to walk. THOMAS HOOD, The History of John Day. Personation. We have so far been considering that form of emotion which we may term Earnestness. The aim of the practice on the previous selections has been simply to charge the student with the necessity of im- pressing his thought upon the audience. The emotions in these selections were chiefly simple as far as that term can be applied to any form of emotion. Perhaps a better expression than simple emotion would be single emotion. We are now to enter the more complex realm of expres- sion, wherein the emotion is more intense, and instead of being a single emotion, is a blend of many. Take, for ex- ample, the trial scene from The Merchant of Venice. There are many speeches of Shylock that might illustrate our point, and we shall take the first that presents itself. The Duke of Venice has been urging Shylock to abandon his suit, whereupon the latter replies, 260 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. "I have possessed your grace of what I purpose; And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn, To have the due and forfeit of my bond." What emotions does Shylock portray ? There is the emo- tion of hatred of Antonio ; the feeling of obstinacy ; and there is, further, the sense of wrong that has been heaped upon his race in general, and himself in particular. It would be useless to discuss how far each of these elements is an emotion. It is sufficient for our purpose to have shown that these three mental conditions are present vir- tually at one time in the brain of the speaker. Now, if any one of these elements (to say nothing of others that might be mentioned) is omitted, the characterization will lack truthfulness. There is another element in complexity of expression that needs a moment's attention. The emotion itself may be a simple one, but the character we aim to represent may be so far removed from our own that one must assume or take on many attributes. For instance, if one were por- traying old Adam in As You Like It, he would be com- pelled to manifest the weakness of old age in body and voice. Now, when the old man says, " Dear master, I can go no further; O, I die for food," it is not sufficient for the reader to portray simply the pathos of the line, but his expression becomes more complex in so far as it must manifest both the pathos and the weakness. We have now to make clear what we mean by com- plexity in emotion. The latter word is here used to des- ignate not merely several emotions blended together, but; also a simple emotion as it would be expressed by the par- ticular individual. It may be asked whether there is a place for such STUDIES IN EMOTION. 261 discussion as this in a book intended mainly for the devel- opment of public speakers. A little reflection will dem- onstrate that the public speaker has much need of powers of personation. Almost any typical oration contains quo- tations from literature which call for ability along the lines above mentioned, to say nothing of anecdotes and stories. Furthermore, no one can effectively read the Bible with- out more or less power in this direction. Perhaps the most potent reason of all is the psychological one : The practice of personating the great characters of literature reacts upon the mind of the student, and thereby leads him to a higher plane of thought and feeling. If it is urged as an objection against this argument that the baser emo- tions are equally likely to react, the reply is that the stu- dent can and does exercise his choice in the matter, and can reject any influence that he fears may be detrimental to his character. In preparing to present the emotions in the following extracts it is well for the student to study carefully the nature of the thought, the emotion, and the character separately, and conceive of each of the simpler emotional elements by itself. If he is representing, let us say, pathos and dignity, let him hold dignity before his mind until the whole being responds ; then let him conceive pathos by itself, and, finally, let him conceive pathos and dignity, and endeavor to present them. This process will not be necessary in all cases ; for there are those who can con- ceive these more complex conditions with one effort, as it were. But unless the student has this ability the preced- ing process should be followed. And even when a student has the necessary ability to conceive the complete expres- sion at once, he is very likely to lose some of what might 262 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. be called the ingredients of a composite emotion. For in- stance, in representing the strong language of one who might be said never to lose his anger, the student who is particularly choleric by nature is very likely to forget the -dignity. He may be reminded of his error by recalling dignity to his mind, and at once the natural temperament of the speaker will be modified by the new stimulus. In closing, it might be well to consider another reason for the practice of these illustrations. Many students are temperamentally restricted and shy, and others have be- come so through training and environment. Before these can hope to become effective public speakers, there must be a certain amount of genuine abandon. Hence, even if a student may never have any use for the ability to imper- sonate, the practice here recommended will prove to be one of the best, surest, and quickest methods of bring- ing him out of himself. The abandon thus gained will stand him in good stead in any effort he may be called upon to make as a public speaker. Let it be remembered that niceties of form are not to be expected for a long time. If the student's aban- don is developed, that is all that should be expected. In the following speech the student must never forget that Othello is a warrior, one accustomed to command, and of large heart. His dignity, therefore, must be mani- fest throughout the address. Most potent, grave, and reverend signiors, My very noble and approv'd good masters, That I have ta'en away this old man's daughter, It is most true; true, I have married her; The very head and front of my offending Hath this extent, no more. Rude am I in my speech, STUDIES IN EMOTION. 263 And little bless' d with the soft phrase of peace; For, since these arms of mine had seven years' pith, Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used Their dearest action in the tented field; And little of this great world can I speak, More than pertains to feats of broil and battle, And therefore little shall I grace my cause In speaking for myself. Yet, by your gracious patience, I will a round unvarnished tale deliver Of my whole course of love; what drugs, what charms, What conjuration, and what mighty magic, (For such proceeding I am charg'd withal,) I v/on his daughter with. Her father lov'd me ; oft invited me ; Still question' d me the story of my life, From year to year ; the battles, sieges, fortunes, That I have passed. I ran it through, even from my boyish days, To the very moment that he bade me tell it: Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances, Of moving accidents by flood and field, Of hair-breadth 'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach; Of being taken by the insolent foe, And sold to slavery ; of my redemption thence, And portance in my travel's history. These things to hear, Would Desdemona seriously incline: But still the house-affairs would draw her thence, Which ever as she could with haste dispatch, She'd come again, and with a greedy ear Devour up my discourse: which I observing, Took once a pliant hour; and found good means To draw from her a prayer of earnest heart, That I would all my pilgrimage dilate, Whereof by parcels she had something heard, But not intentively: I did consent; And often did beguile her of her tears, When I did speak of some distressful stroke That my youth suffered. My story being done, She gave me for my pains a world of sighs; She swore, in faith 'twas strange, 'twas passing strange, 264 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. 'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful; She wished she had not heard it; yet she wish'd That heaven had made her such a man; she thank' d me, And bade me, if I had a friend that lov'd her, I should but teach him how to tell my story, And that would woo her. Upon this hint, I spake: She loved me for the dangers I had passed, And I lov'd her that she did pity them. This only is the witchcraft I have used. Othello, Act I., Sc. iii. Another excellent extract for practice is the following speech of Cassius from the first act of Julius Ccesar. Note the dignity, the sarcasm, the ridicule, the contempt, and the sense of triumph. I cannot tell what you and other men Think of this life; but, for my single self, I had as lief not be, as live to be In awe of such a thing as I myself. I was born as free as Caesar; so were you: We both have fed as well, and we can both Endure the winter's cold as well as he: For once, upon a raw and gusty day, The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores, Caesar said to me, "Barest thou, Cassius, now Leap in with me into this angry flood, And swim to yonder point ? " Upon the word, Accoutred as I was, I plunged in, And bade him follow; so indeed he did. The torrent roared, and we did buffet it With lusty sinews, throwing it aside And stemming it with hearts of controversy; But ere we could arrive the point proposed, Caesar cried, "Help me, Cassius, or I sink!" I, as - ultimate pur- pose is. In the cases cited above, we munt agree that the repetition is most suggestive ; and without actually obtrud- ing it upon the audience, we must take advantage of all legitimate means to bring out the effect intended. Repetition is also used to produce artistic monotony. We are well aware that when the name rhythm runs on, line after line, or the same word or series of words is repeated, the effect becomes monotonous. Because of this psychological fact, many authors, when they desire to pro- duce a monotony, take advantage of this principle. The INTERLUDE AND REPETITION. 383 opening lines of Tennyson's Lotos Eaters afford an illus- tration. They are as follows : "'Courage !' he said, and pointed toward the land, 4 This mounting wave will roll us shoreward soon,' In the afternoon they came unto a land In which it seemed always afternoon." The careless reader, in his endeavor to avoid monotony, is likely to throw his greatest stress upon " always " in the fourth line. This is plainly an artistic blemish. As was stated above, when the artist repeats, he has a purpose. Now, the purpose here is to impress upon us the perennial " afternoonness " of this land of the Lotos. Therefore to emphasize only "always" would be to give the passage a cold, calculating effect. Both "afternoons," and espe- cially the second, need to be emphasized. Let the student who may not agree with this rendition read the lines a dozen times or more, after a careful study of the poem, as here suggested, and there is no doubt that his artistic nature will soon realize the force of this reading. Grant- ing (which I do not) that the emphasis only on " always " would be correct, there is ye t a higher law which, for any one of poetic sensitiveness, must prevail. One of the most interesting examples is found in Tennyson's Revenge : 44 And the sun went down, and the stars came out far over the sum- mer sea, But never a moment ceased the fight of the one and the fifty-three. Ship after ship, the whole night long, their high built galleons came, Ship after ship, the whole night long, with their battle-thunder and flame ; Ship after ship, the whole night long, drew back w r ith her dead and her shame. 384 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. For some were sunk and many were shattered, and so could fight us no more God of battles, was ever a battle like this in the world before?" What is the poet's intention in repeating " ship after ship, the whole night long " ? Plainly not to emphasize the idea of "ships," but to impress upon us the feelings of un- relieved strain of the narrator, as during that interminable night ship after ship of the Spanish navy came to the attack. The purpose of the study of_Repetition is to impress upon the student that great artists have a definite purpose in every effect. Using the last illustration as an example, we see that the repetition arises from the emotion of the speaker as he contemplates that apparently never-ending struggle. What the reader will then manifest is not the "ship after ship" idea, as such, but through the monotony of melody and 'significant quality of voice, the spirit of the speaker. CHAPTER XII. , TONE-COLOR. ALL singers and speakers have been more or less con- scious that certain sounds are better adapted than others for the expression of particular emotions. It is the pur- pose of this chapter to discuss this phase of literary art and of vocal expression. We have virtually to prove that artists in language prefer one element of speech to another because of the sound. If this be proved, it will certainly have great value for the student of vocal expression. Two points must be remembered: Firsts that we have many more sounds in the language than letters. Each of these ^sounds is called an element, and we shall use that word instead of letter throughout this discussion. In the second place, it must be borne in mind that although an artist may prefer one element to another, there is no excuse forjiie__aa n rifi^ ^f ^^^ f.n armnrl No combina- tion of sounds without sense can possibly be literature. Yet, on the other hand, there are many words with which to express one's meaning; and all poetry affords illustration that the poet, for a reason which we shall show later, makes more or less conscious choice between these words because of their sound. The form of literature is not an arbitrary thing, " Of the soul the body form doth take;" and tone -color is one of the elements of the form manifest- ing the spirit of literature. [NOTE 1.3 385 _ 386 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. Literature contains two elements, the intellectual and the emotional. The intellectual part is that which deals with facts, for in the most ethereal poetry there must be a substantial basis. The intellectual side of literature deals with particulars, details. The contemplation of facts stimulates, under certain conditions, the poet's ima- gination ; and that in turn stimulates his emotions. Now, the stirring of the poet's imagination is manifested in the language, style, and form in which his thought is clothed. Hence, it is our purpose to analyze literature in order that we may show that particular sounds or elements are uni- formly used to express particular emotions. If we can show this, the reader has certainly a most subtle yet sure cue for emotional rendition. Poetry is written to be read aloud. The poet listens to his verse as it rises in his brain, and his poetic insight and artistic training teach him that certain sounds are better avenues of expression for given emotions than are others. One might say that tone-color is the avenue along which the emotion passes in its prog- ress from within outward, or from the poet to his hearer. The mere fact is expressed by the words ; the emotion is expressed by the various qualities of the voice, and these qualities may be more surely and easily manifested on cer- tain elements than on others. Read aloud the following excerpts, and mark how the vocal expression is assisted by the italicized elements: " Harry to f/arry shall, hot //orse to //orse, Meet, and ne'er part, till one ofrop down a corse." " The feast little delicate curve in aqu/line nose." " So slender Sohrab seem'd, so softly rear'd." " The fields between Are dewy fresh, browsed by deep-uddered kine, TONE-COLOR. 387 And all about, the forge lime feathers /ow, The lime, a summer home of murmurous wings." " A gleam in the gloom." " ZJear back, both friend and foe." The preceding examples were chosen to illustrate the fact that the emotion finds easier egress through the avenues of certain elements than it could have done if the author had chosen different ones. But there is another class of tone-color words to be examined before we pro- ceed farther. We know that there are certain words in our language that are purely imitative ; such words as buzz, hiss, hjrnv - whiny bang^boom. These words are simply the result of an attempt of early man to convey a given picture through his powers of imitation. But emotional tone-color, while it may include onomatopoeia, is a great deal more than that. Tone-color manifests the emotional effect- upon the poet of that which he contem- plates. Certain effects move him to emotion, and tone- color is the avenue for the expression of that emotion. This is most significant; for failure to grasp this prin- ciple has led to a great deal of misunderstanding in the discussion of this subject. W^-_jna,y__define tone-color, then, as the inherent quality of vowels and consonants that adapts them for the vocal presentation of thought andjjmotion. Tone-colorjs^simply an elocntionaryjxissi- bility. It would be foolish to claim that every letter has some settled meaning every time it is uttered ; but it is to be noted that when one desires to convey a given emotion, certain combinations of vowels and consonants are better adapted for that expression than any others the author could find. [NOTE 2.3 388 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. An objection frequently urged is that tone-color is subjective, not objective ; that it is not apparent except the reader make Tt~soT"that it has not the definiteness of language itself. It is held as an objection that if one utters the word " tree," the audience understands what is meant, and would never mistake "tree" for "house;" but an audience does not understand t and k and m and o. One answer to this has already been anticipated. It was stated above that tone-color was simply an elocution- ary possibility. We can all agree that m lends itself to the expression of quiet and calm better than do t and k and p, but it is not claimed that m always indicates calm- ness and tranquillity. There are other answers to the objection above cited : First, poetry is written to be read aloud, or to be heard in imagination ; hence, rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, and so forth. If rhyme is not to strike the ear, why do we rhyme? If rhythm is not to be heard, one might as well write in prose as in verse. It is perhaps useless to enlarge upon this any farther. The man who is born deaf must necessarily miss many of the graces of poetic art; and to him who has never de- veloped himself to appreciate the aesthetics of sound, much of literature is a closed book. Hence, we may con- clude, in the second place, that those who do not hear as well as see lose a large element of pleasure in reading poetry, and often of the author's intention. In the third place, if there is nothing in tone-color, how can we account for the regular predominance of particular sounds in nearly all poetry where like emotions are expressed ? It seems to me that this is an insuperable argument. Of course tone-color is subjective ; but so is rhythm, and no one denies that rhythm is a tangible element of verse TONE-COLOR. 389 structure. Tone-color is tangible quite as much as rhythm when one's ears are open. It seems to me that the ap- preciation of poetry must grow out of the study of poetry. We cannot arbitrarily say that there is no such thing as tone-color when we find evidence of it in all poetry. Burns, in his little poem on the alphabet, addresses the vowel o, saying, - " O, thou wailing minstrel of despairing woe ; " and Holmes speaks of the velvety r's. I should be willing to rest the whole case on the line from Burns. What does that line mean? That every o wails? By no means ; but that o is the -best vowel through which pity, pathos, etc., may find expression. This is the kernel of the whole argument. If one were to utter the word " slow " in such a sentence as, " He drives a slow horse," we should not expect much wailing ; but in the line, " Sad and slow, Let the long, long procession go," the o is the author's choice of avenue along which the tender emotion of pity and regret passes from reader to hearer. The following sonnet from Milton affords an sxcellent illustration of the use of o : '* Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold : E'en them who kept thy truth so pure of old, When all our fathers worshiped stocks and stones Forget not : In thy book record their groans Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold Slain by the bloody Piedmontese that roll'd Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans The vales redoubled to the hills, and they 390 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. To Heav'n. Their martyr'd blood and ashes sow O'er all the Italian fields, where still doth sway The triple tyrant ; that from these may grow A hundred fold, who having learnt thy way Early may fly the Babylonian woe." It will be observed that eleven of the fourteen lines have an o in the rhyming word. We are well aware that in most stanzas this would be an artistic blemish. We object to this in English poetry because we claim it is monotonous. No poet was more keenly alive to the melody of verse than Milton : then, why did he apparently violate this canon of his art? To any one who under- stands Milton's religious beliefs, and can catch the spirit of the poem, the answer is clear: It is a wail from begin- ning to end. And what possibility for the portraying of that agony of spirit is given to the reader in the last words, " Babylonian woe/' Another word than Baby- lonian might have expressed the author's meaning, but the reproduction of the o's was the expression of the author's intense emotion as he contemplated the fearful slaughter of God's saints. Enough has been said to show the meaning of tone- color. Let the student now read aloud the subjoined extracts until he appreciates the aid to emotional expres- sion he receives from the tone-color. But, be it remem- bered, the effects are not so much imitative as suggestive of emotion. "Like bright white mice at moonlight in their play, Or. sunfish shooting in the shining bay, The swift feet shot and glitter'd in the dance." " Hear the sledges with the bells, silver bells ; What a world of merriment their melody foretells ! TONE-COLOR. 391 How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night! While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens, seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, hells, hells, bells, bells, From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells." " Hop and Mop and Drop so clear, Pip and Trip and Skip that were Fib and Tip and Prick and Pin, Tick and Quick and Jill and Jin, Tit and Wit and Wat and W T in, The train that wait on her." " I have seen it when its crags seem'd frantic, Butting against the mad Atlantic." " The armaments which thunderstrike the walls of rock-built cities, Bidding nations quake, and monarchs tremble in their capitals ; The oak leviathans, whose huge ribs make their clay creator The vain title take of lord of thee, and arbiter of war, These are thy toys ; and as the snowy flake they melt into thy yeast of waves, Which mar alike the Armada's pride, or spoils of Trafalgar." "The moonlit solitude mild of the midmost ocean." " Making moan, making moan." " And let the mournful martial music blow." " Into the lovely land of Italy Whose loveliness was more resplendent made By the mere passing of that cavalcade." "Who passed forever in a glimmering land, Lit with a low large moon." " The waves come rolling, and the billows rose Outrageously, as they enraged were, 392 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. Or wrathful Neptune did them drive before His whirling chariot for exceeding fear." " There is sweet music here that softer falls Than petals from blown roses on the grass, Or night dews on still waters between walls Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass." " Out of my sight, thou serpent ; that name best Befits thee with him leagued, thyself as false And hateful; nothing wants but that thy shape Like his and color serpentine may show Thy inward fraud." "May my soul follow soon." " My good blade carves the casques of men." "Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds." "He spoke, and Rustum answer 1 d not, but hurl'd His spear ; down from the shoulder, down it came, As on some partridge in the corn a hawk, That long has tower'd in the airy clouds, Drops like a plummet ; Sohrab saw it come, And sprang aside, quick as a flash; the spear Hiss'd, and went quivering down into the sand. Which it sent flying wide ; then Sohrab threw In turn, and full struck Rustum' s shield ; sharp rang, The iron plates rang sharp, but turn'd the spear. And Rustum seized his club, which none but he Could wield." " Last, loneliest, loveliest, exquisite." " Our brows are wreathed with spindrift and the weed is on our knees, Our loins are battered 'neath us by the swinging, smoking seas. From reef and rock and skerry over headland, ness, and voe The Coastwise Lights of England watch the ships of England go. Through the endless summer evenings, on the lineless, level floors; Through the yelling Channel tempest where the syren hoots and roars By day the dipping house-fly and by night the rocket's trail As the sheep that graze behind us so we know them where they hail." TONE-COLOR. 393 NOTES TO CHAPTER XII. NOTE 1 The following excerpts from Professor Corson's Primer of English Verse make valuable reading in connection with this chapter: " The fusing or combining principle or agency of a verse is Melody. We often meet with verses which scan, as we say, all right, and yet we feel that they have no vitality as verses. This may, in most cases, be attributed to their purely mechanical or cold-blooded structure. They are not the product of Jeeling, which attracts to itself (a great fact) vocal elements, either vowels or consonants which chime well together and in accord with thejeeling ; but they are rather the product of literary skill. The writer had no song, no music in his s.oul, when he composed them, and he should have written, if he wrote at all, in straightforward prose. . . . "... The principles of melodious combinations of vowels have not yet been established, so far as it is within the possibilities of analysis to establish them. But any one with an ear for vowel melody can appre- ciate it in a verse, and could distinguish, perhaps, nice degrees of mel- ody in a number of given verses ranging through a pretty wide gamut. But he would not be able to set forth all the secrets of the different degrees of melody. Yet these secrets are, to some extent, within the possibilities of analysis. A noting of all the more musical lines of Shakespeare, and of a few other great authors, might lead to valuable results toward determining more of the secrets of melodious fusion than we yet possess. u The melody secured through consonants is, to the general ear, more readily appreciable, and can be more easily explained. Much of it has a physiological basis, depending on the greater or less ease with which the organs of speech articulate certain successive consonants. Though the vowel element plays the main part in the melody and harmony of verse (representing, as it does, the more spiritual element of form), all the great English poets from Chaucer to Tennyson make frequent and effective use of alliteration. It veins the entire surface of English poetry to an extent but little suspected by most readers. . . . "... The greater part of them may have been written uncon- sciously by the poet; his sense of melody often attracting words with the same initial or internal consonants, as well as assonantal words, all contributing, more or less, to the general melody and harmony. Feeling, according to its character, weaves its own vowel and conso- nantal texture. . , 394 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. "... But the use of vowels as a means of producing that musical accompaniment to thought, through which a poet voices his feelings and sympathies, and makes spiritual suggestions, demands a far subtler sense of spiritual affinities. This subtler sense was possessed, in an eminent degree, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge; and he has most strik- ingly revealed it in the First Part of his Christabel and in his Eubla Khan. In the former poem he has signally illustrated the truth of a marginal note which he wrote in a copy of Selden's Table Talk, on this sentence: 'Verses prove nothing but the quantity of syllables; they are not meant for logic.' ' True,' writes Coteridge, ' they, that is, verses, are not logic, but they are, or ought to be, the envoys and representatives of that vital passion which is the practical cement of logic, and without which, logic must remain inert. 1 A profound. remark. The following are notable examples : "'The lady sprang up suddenly, The lovely lady, Christabel ! It moaned as near, as near can be, But what it is she cannot tell On the other side it seems to be, Of the huge, broad-breasted, old oak-tree.' " The form of this stanza is quite perfect. Note the suggestiveness of the abrupt vowels in the first verse, the abatement required for the proper elocution in the second verse, the prolongable vowels and sub- vowels of the third, and then the short vowels again in the fourth. Then note how the vowels in the last verse swell responsive to the poet's conception ; and how incased they are in a strong framework of consonants." . . . NOTE 2. " ' Immediately the mountains huge appear, Emergent, and their broad bare backs upheave Into the clouds; their tops ascend the sky, So high as heaved the tumid hills, so low Down sunk a hollow bottom, broad and deep, Capacious bed of waters. Thither they Hasted with glad precipitance, up-rolled, As drops on dust conglobing, from the dry; Part rise in crystal wall, or ridge direct, For haste; such flight the great command impressed On the swift floods. As armies at the call Of trumpet for of armies thou hast heard Troop to their standard, so the watery throng, Wave rolling after wave, where way they found TONE-COLOR. 395 If steep, with torrent rapture, if through plain, Soft-ebbing : nor withstood them rock or hill ; But they, or underground, or circuit wide With serpent error wandering, found their way, And on the washy ooze deep channels wore.' Paradise Lost, vii. 285-303. Here the letters 6 and /*, not inaptly, mark the firmness and resistance of the earth, while w and r depict the liquid lapse of waters. "His blank verse abounds in open-mouthed, deep-chested a's anJ o's. Here is a passage in which their assonance is all the more remark- able from the absence of alliteration: "'Say, Goddess, what ensued when Raphael, The affable Archangel, had forewarned Adam, by dire example, to beware Apostasy, by what befell in Heaven To those apostates; lest the like befall In Paradise to Adam or his race, Charged not to touch the interdicted tree,' etc. Paradise Lost, vii. 40. The opening lines of Book II., the passage about Mulciber at the end of Book I., and the great symphonious period which describes the movement of the fallen angels ' to the Dorian mood of flutes and soft recorders,' all serve to illustrate the gorgeousness of Milton's asso- nance. In attempting to characterize the effect of these deep-toned vowels, it is almost necessary to borrow words from the art of colors, since what colors are to painting vowels are to verse. It would seem, after drinking in draught after draught of these intoxicating melodies, as if Milton, with unerring tact, had selected from the English lan- guage only such words as are pompous, full-sounding, capable of being wrought into the liquid architecture of articulate music. Discord, who is so busy in the lines of even mighty poets, stands apart and keeps silence here. That tenuity of sound and want of volume from which the periods of otherwise great versifiers occasionally suffer, never occurs in Milton. Like Virgil, he is unerringly and unremittingly harmonious. Music is the element in which his genius lives, just as light is th'e ele- ment of Pindar, or as darkness covers the ' Inferno ' like a pall." Blank Verse, JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS. CHAPTER XIII. TRANSITIONS. THIS feature of expression might appropriately have been treated under the head of emotion. All transitions are not necessarily emotional, and yet those most signifi- cant are certainly of this character. Let us first consider a few examples not strongly marked with emotion : - " ' Three quarters round your partners swing I ' ' Across the set!"* The rafters ring, The girls and boys have taken wing, And have brought their roses out ! 'Tis ' Forward six! 1 with rustic grace, Ah, rarer far than ' Swing to place ! ' Than golden clouds of old point lace, They bring the dance about/' In the foregoing we have a picture of the country dance. We hear the figures called out by the old fiddler, and see the ever-varying changes of The Money Musk. Study the lines so as to be able to bring out the calls clearly, noting the two distinct calls at the opening, and the abrupt break in the sixth line. The next extract presents a wife confiding to a friend the story of her courtship. Her husband is a true knight, and would perhaps resent it to have even his bravery form the subject of conversation. The story has reached its conclusion when the speaker says, 396 . TRANSITIONS. 397 "Our elder boy has got the clear Great brow ; tho' when his brother's black Full eyes show scorn, it" and she is probably about to add some such statement as 44 It behooves one to look out," when suddenly the hus- band appears on the scene. With a woman's ready wit she breaks off the sentence abruptly, saying, " Gismond here ? And have you brought my tercel back ? I was just telling Adela How many birds it struck since May." We might put into words what has passed through her mind. She was about to add something further con- cerning the eyes of her boy, when she hears the sound of feet along the walk. Expecting her husband, the conclud- ing words of her sentence pass from her mind as she turns to see the visitor. It is Gismond. He must not know that she has been speaking of him. The tercel in his hand gives her the opportunity of opening the conversa- tion, which she is quick to do, adroitly pretending that it was of that very tercel she and her friend had been con- versing before his arrival. One more illustration of this kind will suffice. A ten- der, loving woman is talking to her husband. He is a learned poet, and perhaps just a trifle of a pedant. He is most minute and exact in all he does, ever losing sight of the spirit in the letter. The wife is the true poet, caring nothing for the archaeology and the philology and the geography, but quick to perceive the inner meaning of the poetic. He has told her a story in the past, and she is going now to tell it back to him with a new moral. 398 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. Here is the first stanza : " What a pretty tale you told me Once upon a time Said you found me somewhere (scold me!) Was it prose or was it rhyme, Greek or Latin?" When the woman comes to " somewhere " she finds she has forgotten the source of the original story. That means so much to him ! It is so important ! With a quizzical look she pretends to rack her brains for the missing information, knowing all the time she will not find it, and knowing equally well that it makes no dif- ference in the story. Then with a coy expression and a look of mock humility on her face she lets fall her eyes, and meekly acknowledges her awful guilt, and stands prepared to accept her just punishment, saying, Scold me ! I deserve it. I have sinned ; my punishment is just. Many students find it no easy task to make these transitions naturally. Some do not make them at all, but run the two phases of thought or emotion together. Others anticipate the coming idea, and hurry the last two or three words before the break. The proper training is to write or think out the incomplete sentence, then let it more or less quickly vanish from the mind as the new conception grows clearer, without betraying the fact that one is con- scious of a coming interruption. For instance, in the second example, one must read up to and through " it " without the slightest suggestion of the coming of Gismond, and even think the conclusion of the sentence. Then hear or suddenly see Gismond just as the word "it" falls TRANSITIONS. 899 from the lips, and dismissing from the mind the former idea, conclude with the joyous, wifely welcome and ques- tion. It might be proper here to state that the same principle applies to the reading of dialogue. Except in rare cases the reader should not in any way anticipate the speech of one character while rendering the words of another. For those who do not intend to become readers, but who would be preachers or lawyers, the practice here rec- ommended will prove of great value. Too many speak- ers, in their excitement on the one hand and in their spiritlessness on the other, glide along line after line in one monotonous drift. A study of these exercises will teach the necessity of transition^jj^LJamn-4ft-4he con- troj_ojL-4ke' menial action m-tbi^-j:gard, a control ante- cedent to that most important requisite, variety. After almost every paragraph or stanza there is more or less change in the thought, and the apprehension of this change will be sufficient to modulate the vocal expression. Even where there is no abrupt change in the flow of ideas there is often a gradual transition from one emotion to another, and these transitions may occur several times within oiie_paragraphr Take the following excerpt from Websjter^s rej3ly_jta^Hayne^._ It is one paragraph; but it is divided into some smaller paragraphs, each of which is a marked " phase " of the thinking. Practice in the analysis of selections to determine these phases is the best and only rational training in transitions. But its 'value does not stop there ; for the student not only makes tran- sitions, but is led, through careful analysis, to discern shades of meaning and emotion he might otherwise over- look : 400 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. " Sir, the gentleman inquires why he was made the object of a reply. Why was he singled out ? If an attack has been made on the East he, he assures us, did not begin it ; it was made by the gentleman from Missouri. " Sir, I answered the gentleman's speech because I happened to hear it, and because I chose to answer that speech which, if unan- swered, I thought most likely to produce injurious impressions. " I did not stop to inquire who was the original drawer of the bill. I found a responsible endorser before me, and it was my pur- pose to hold him liable, and to bring him to his just responsibility without delay. " But, sir, this interrogatory of the honorable member was only introductory to another: He proceeds to ask whether I had turned upon him in this debate from the consciousness that I should find an overmatch if I ventured on a contest with his friend from Missouri." Transitions in emotion do not differ in principle from those we have been considering. The student must pur- sue the same method with them as with the others, ex- pressing the first emotion until he comes to the break, then making an elliptical paraphrase, and then presenting the new emotion. An excellent model is the following speech of King Lear. The aged monarch has, in a fit of rage, cast adrift his youngest child, and his eldest has turned him from her home. He turns in despair to his remaining daughter, assured that he will here receive a filial welcome. To his surprise, she refuses to meet him ; says she is tired, weary ; and his feeling finds vent in an uncontrolled explosion of passion : LEAR. Vengeance ! plague ! death ! confusion ! Fiery ? what quality ? Why, Gloucester, Gloucester, I'd speak with the Duke of Cornwall and his wife. GLOUCESTER. Well, my good lord, I have inform'd them so. LEAR. Inform'd them ! Dost thou understand me, man ? TRANSITIONS. 401 GLOUCESTER. Ay, my good lord. LEAR. The King would speak with Cornwall ; the dear father Would with his daughter speak ; commands her service : Are they inform' d of this? My breath and blood ! Fiery? the fiery Duke? Tell the hot Duke that No, but not yet : may be he is not well : King Lear, Act II., Sc. iv. and then proceeds to find excuses for her action, and that of her husband, the Duke of Cornwall. There is hardly a more pathetic incident in this most pathetic play than this, where the old man, past his eigh- tieth year, after holding undisputed sway through his long reign, is at last compelled to temporize. He is about to send a message to the Duke, the character of which is easily judged from his previous language. If that mes- sage had been sent, Lear would have been alone in the world. But suddenly his fearful position flashes upon him. The threat dies upon his lips, gradually blending into apology and conciliation. Examples of Emotional Transitions. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. You all do know this mantle : I remember The first time ever Csesar put it on ; 'Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent, That day he overcame the Nervii : Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through. Julius Ccesar, Act III., Sc. ii. He spoke ; but Rustum gazed, and gazed, and stood Speechless ; and then he utter'd one sharp cry : "O boy thy father!" and his voice choked there. And then a dark cloud pass'd before his eyes, And his head swam, and he sank down to earth. M. ARNOLD, Sohrab and Rustum. " Ferood, and ye, Persians and Tartars, hear I Let there be truce between the hosts to-day. 402 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. But choose a champion from the Persian lords To fight our champion Sohrab, man to man." As in the country, on a morn in June, When the dew glistens on the pearled ears, A shiver runs through the deep corn for joy So, when they heard what Peran-Wisa said, A thrill through all the Tartar squadrons ran Of pride and hope for Sohrab, w,hom they loved. But as a troop of peddlers from Cabool, Cross underneath the Indian Caucasus, The vast sky-neighboring mountain of milk snow ; Crossing so high, that, as they mount, they pass Long flocks of traveling birds dead on the snow, Choked by the air, and scarce can they themselves Slake their parch'd throats with sugar' d mulberries In single file they move and stop their breath, For fear they should dislodge the o'erhanging snows So the pale Persians held their breath with fear. M. ARNOLD, Sohrab and Rustum. Note how, after the words, " whom they loved," the atmosphere changes from that of joy to that of dread and scorn scorn at the cowardice of the Persians, and the dread that the speaker would sympathetically feel as he recounted the deed. " This too thou know'st, that while I still bear on The conquering Tartar ensigns through the world, And beat the Persians back on every field, I seek one man, one man, and one alone Rustum, my father ; who I hoped should greet, Should one day greet, upon some well-fought field, His not unworthy, not inglorious son. So 1 long hoped, but him I never find. Come then, hear now, and grant me what I ask. Let the two armies rest to-day ; but I Will challenge forth the bravest Persian lords To meet me man to man ; if I prevail, Rustum will surely hear it ; if I fall Old man, the dead need no one, claim no kin. TRANSITIONS. 403 Dim is the rumor of a common fight, Where host meets host, and many names are sunk ; But of a single combat fame speaks clear." M. ARNOLD, Sohrab and Rustum. Studies in " Phases" This extract from Tennyson's Charge of the Heavy Bri- gade contains five distinct phases, or strata, ending respec- tively with the words, "fight," "close," u then," "thou- sands," and "Brigade." " The trumpet, the gallop, the charge, and the might of the fight ! Thousands of horsemen had gather'd there on the height, With a wing push'd out to the left and a wing to the right, And who shall escape if they close ? but he dasli'd up alone Thro' the great gray slope of men, Sway'd his saber, and held his own Like an Englishman, there and then ; All in a moment follow' d with force Three that were next in their fiery course, Wedged themselves in between horse and horse, Fought for their lives in the narrow gap they had made Four amid thousands ! and up the hill, up the hill, Gallopt the gallant three hundred, the Heavy Brigade." As when a boar Or lion mid the hounds and huntsmen stands, Fearfully strong, and fierce of eye, and they In square array assault him, and their hands Fling many a javelin ; yet his noble heart Fears not, nor does he fly, although at last His courage cause his death ; and oft he turns, And tries their ranks ; and where he makes a rush The rank gives way ; so Hector moved and turned Among the crowd, and bade his followers cross The trench ' The Iliad. Hector, thou almost ever chidest me In council, even when I judge aright. I know it ill becomes the citizen To speak against the way that pleases thee, 404 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. In war or council, he should rather seelc To strengthen thy authority ; yet now I will declare what seems to me the best : Let us not combat with the Greeks, to take Their fleet ; for this, I think, will be the end, If now the omen we have seen be meant For us of Troy who seek to cross the trench ; This eagle, flying high upon the 'left, Between the hosts, that in his talons bore A monstrous serpent, bleeding, yet alive, Hath dropped it mid our host before he came To his dear nest, nor brought it to his brood ; So we, although by force we break the gates And rampart, and although the Greeks fall back, Shall not as happily retrace our way ; For many a Trojan shall we leave behind, Slain by the weapons of the Greeks, who stand And fight to save their fleet. Thus will the seer, Skilled in the lore of prodigies, explain The portent, and the people will obey. The Iliad. And then, apart, They mustered in five columns, following close Their leader. First, the largest, bravest band, Those who, with resolute daring, longed to break The rampart and to storm the fleet, were led By Hector and the good Polydamas, Joined with Cebriones, for Hector left His chariot to the care of one who held An humbler station than Cebriones. Paris, Alcathous, and Agenor led A second squadron. Helenus, a son Of Priam, and Deiphobus, a youth Of godlike form, his brother, took command Of yet a third, with whom in rank was joined The hero Asius, son of Hyrtacus, Whose bright-haired coursers, of majestic size, Had borne him from Arisba and the banks Of Selleis. ^Eneas led the fourth, The brave son of Anchises ; and with him Were joined Archilochus and Acamas, TRANSITIONS. 405 Sons of Antenor, skilled in arts of war. The band of Troy's illustrious allies Followed Sarpedon, who from all the rest Had chosen, to partake in the command, Glaucus and brave Asteropseus. These He deemed the bravest under him ; yet he Stood foremost of them all in warlike might. The Iliad. And thus King Priam supplicating spake : "Think of thy father, an old man like me, Godlike Achilles ! On the dreary verge Of closing life he stands, and even now Haply is fiercely pressed by those who dwell Around him, and has none to shield his age From war and its disasters. Yet his heart Rejoices when he hears that thou dost live, And every day he hopes that his dear son Will come again from Troy. My lot is hard, For I was father of the bravest sons In all wide Troy, and none are left me now. Fifty were with me when the men of Greece Arrived upon our coast ; nineteen of these Owned the same mother, and the rest were born Within my palaces. Remorseless Mars Already had laid lifeless most of these, And Hector, whom I cherished most, whose arm Defended both our city and ourselves, Him didst thou lately slay while combating For his dear country. For his sake I come To the Greek fleet, and to redeem his corse I bring uncounted ransom. O, revere The gods, Achilles, and be merciful, Calling to mind thy father ! happier he Than I ; for 1 have borne what no man else That dwells on earth could bear, have laid my lips Upon the hand of him who slew my son." He spake : Achilles sorrowfully thought Of his own father. By the hand he took The suppliant, and with gentle force removed The old man from him. Both in memory Of those they loved were weeping. The old king, 406 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. With many tears, and rolling in the dust Before Achilles, mourned his gallant son. Achilles sorrowed for his father's sake, And then bewailed Patroclus, and the sound Of lamentation filled the tent. At last Achilles, when he felt his heart relieved By tears, and that strong grief had spent its force, Sprang from his seat ; then lifting by the hand The aged man, and pitying his white head And his white chin, he spake these winged w r ords : " Great have thy sufferings been, unhappy king ! How couldst thou venture to approach alone The Grecian fleet, and show thyself to him Who slew so many of thy valiant sons? An iron heart is thine. But seat thyself, And let us, though afflicted grievously, Allow our woes to sleep awhile, for grief Indulged can bring no good. The gods ordain The lot of man to suffer, while themselves Are free from care. Beside Jove's threshold stand Two casks of gifts for man. One cask contains The evil, one the good, and he to whom The Thunderer gives them mingled sometimes falls Into misfortune, and is sometimes crowned With blessings. But the man to whom he gives The evil only stands a mark exposed To wrong, and, chased by grim calamity, Wanders the teaming earth, alike unloved By gods and man. So did the gods bestow Munificent gifts on Peleus from his birth, For eminent was he among mankind For wealth and plenty ; o'er the Myrmidons He ruled, and, though a mortal, he was given A goddess for a wife. Yet did the gods Add evil to the good, for not to him Was born a family of kingly sons Within his house, successors to reign. One short-lived son is his, nor am I there To cherish him in his old age ; but here Do I remain, far from my native land, In Troy, and causing grief to thee and thine. TRANSITIONS. 407 Of thee, too, aged king, they speak, as one Whose wealth was large in former days, when all That Lesbos, seat of Macar, owns was thine. And all in Phrygia and the shores that bound The Hellespont ; men said thou didst excel All others in thy riches and thy sons. But since the gods have brought this strife on thee War and perpetual slaughter of brave men Are round thy city. Yet be firm of heart, Nor grieve forever. Sorrow for thy son Will profit nought ; it cannot bring the dead To life again, and while thou dost afflict Thyself for him fresh woes may fall on thee." The Iliad. A part of recitation in which many fail is the read- ing of description. If one will make a careful study of the "phases" he will find that his reading will become more interesting to his audience, because of the variety that will manifest itself. CHAPTER XIV. EXAMPLES OP LITERARY ANALYSIS. A QUESTION of serious import to the student of litera- ture and vocal expression often arises as to how far he may exercise his originality in interpretation. There is a very common error that the utmost liberty should be al- lowed in this direction. One often hears the remark that a teacher should not force any particular interpretation upon the student. Now, without following blindly the lead of any instructor in this regard, the student should appreciate the fact that there are certain indications to be found in all great literature of the exact intention of the author, and tb^rii'spnvpry nf this' intention is_a_matter of sei^fttinc__mej:hod. While it may be true that interpreta- tions may vary, yet it must be conceded that an author had but one interpretation in mind, and has, in all proba- bility, indicated it. To illustrate this, let us take a few examples. For many years, as annals of the stage show us, Lady Macbeth was regarded as the leading figure in the con- spiracy against the king. The attitude of the stage has changed in this direction of late, and we wonder why the former idea should have prevailed so long. The author is at special pains to show us the spirit that animated each of the leading characters in this play. Let us turn to the text, and examine it carefully. The point is to 408 EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 409 prove who is the leading spirit in the conspiracy. The answer is most certainly, Macbeth. The original sug- gestion of the murder came from Macbeth, and the idea had perhaps been often discussed between man and wife. This is evident from the text. In Act I., Scene vii., Mac- beth says, " I dare do all that may become a man ; Who dares do more is none ;" to which Lady Macbeth replies, "What beast was't, then, That made you break this enterprise to me?" This line, which stands uncontradicted, proves the point conclusively. In the second place, when did he break the enterprise ? Our answer is, before the opening of the play. If this answer is not correct we have a right to as- sert that there must be tangible evidence of the beginning of the plot in the scenes preceding the murder. If we can- not find it there we must then conclude that our answer is correct. Now, where might the idea have been suggested ? In the letter Macbeth writes to his wife, or after the arrival of the king at the castle of Macbeth. The letter, surely, does no more than vaguely hint at murder ; and even if it is contended that there is such a suggestion between the lines, that suggestion would mean nothing unless the mur- der had been planned beforehand, or at least had been broached. It can hardly be argued that since Lady Mac- beth reads but a portion of the letter (which is evident from the abrupt beginning), the plan might have been set forth in the unread part. Is it likely that Shakespeare would leave such an important fact open to discussion ? If 410 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. we are to believe that the murder is suggested in the un- read portion of this letter, then surely it would have been of sufficient importance to warrant Shakespeare in making his position clear. Again, is it likely that Macbeth would have suggested such a crime in a letter that might fall into hands other than those for which it was intended? There is now left the second possibility; i.e., that the murder was planned after the arrival of the king. This, too, is untenable. Lady Macbeth endeavoring to urge her husband to the murder says, Act I., scene yii. t "Nor time nor place did then adhere, And yet you would make both." In other words, When you first suggested this to me, the time for carrying our plot into action was not propitious, nor could we find a place where we might successfully carry out our scheme. Then she adds, " They have made themselves," which, paraphrased, clearly means, The king has now come under 'our very roof; this is the time, this is the place. Hence it must follow that when the assassination was first discussed, it must have been at some time previous to the arrival of the king. It may be said that this gives no positive direction as to recitation. Granting this point, the analysis given above may at least serve to show how a careful study of the text will ofttimes prevent flagrant misconceptions. But the knowledge of who is the leading spirit in the drama will very vitally affect the characterization of these two people. The Merchant of Venice affords another example, show- ing how a careful ^ aiialysis_of_the_text will reveal the au- thor's intention as to the manner in which a character EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 411 should be portrayed. The question often arises, How is it that a man of affairs, a man of the world such as Antonio, should enter into a compact with Shylock that is likely to cost the former his life? Shakespeare recognized that he had a difficult problem before him. The pound-of-flesh plot was not original with Shakespeare, but he saw in it a fine opportunity for dramatic effect. He recognized, also, that there must at least be probability in his story, and sought to justify himself in the following manner. He knew that Antonio, under normal conditions, would never have con- sented to such a bond, and therefore hangs over the head of the merchant a cloud of sadness and melancholy. The first line of the play (and it may be remarked in passing that the opening lines of Shakespeare's plays are often most significant) is put into the mouth of Antonio : " In sooth, I know not why I am so sad." The speeches of the others, Salanio and Salarino, while laying great stress upon the merchant's wealth, really serve the purpose, of bringing out the extraordinary sadness of the latter' s char- acter. Almost every speech of Antonio in this first scene serves the more to impress upon us the sadness of the man. How significant is this one: "I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano ; A stage where every man must play a part, And mine a sad one." The speech of Gratiano assists in bringing out the sadness in Antonio's character: *' You look not well, Signior Antonio ; You have too much respect upon the world : They lose it that do buy it with much care. Believe me, you are marvelously changed." 412 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. From this brief study of the first scene it is impossible not to learn that it was Shakespeare's intention that An- tonio should be presented as a taciturn, melancholy man ; and the purpose in so presenting him is to give the pound- of-flesh incident a degree of verisimilitude. Another very interesting example is found in the Trial scene from the same play. What is the author's pur- pose in inserting the two speeches of Portia and Nerissa, respectively, concerning the remarks of their husbands, in which the latter express a willingness that their wives should be sacrificed to save Antonio ? In another connec- tion we have discussed the meaning of these speeches, and the student is reminded of that discussion at this moment as an illustration of the point now under consideration. See page 331. Again, in most stage presentations of Julius Ccesar the short scene of the fourth act following the Forum scene is generally omitted. The ground of this omission is that this little scene is an anticlimax to the finale of the Forum scene. This is an interpretation one should not assume without careful study. If we regard the play simply as a story, then, perhaps, the scene would be out of place ; but there is a deeper interest in this tragedy than that of the life and death of Brutus and Caesar. The motive of this drama is the struggle between democracy and monarchy ; and it is a masterful touch of the poet that shows us the instability and weakness of the citizens of Rome, and hence the futility of the efforts of the conspirators. The Roman populace was incapable of self-government. From the be- ginning to the end of the play the poet adroitly brings out their vacillation. The mob that can be so moved as to kill Cinna the poet simply because he bears the name of EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 413 one of the conspirators against whom Antony had incited them to feelings of revenge, is the poet's most significant illustration of their utter irresponsibility. Hence for the deep student of the play this scene is the true climax of the act. Further, immediately after the Quarrel scene between Brutus and Cassius, Act IV., scene iii., there enters a poet who utters a few lines and then is unceremoniously ejected.. This part is invariably omitted in stage presen- tation. I ask again, Why did Shakespeare introduce the poet? His introduction at that particular point of the play is peculiarly striking. Shakespeare must have known this, and have had in mind some particular purpose. The poet utters two lines of doggerel as follows: "Love and be friends, as two such men should be, For I have seen more years, I am sure, than ye." Cassius, rejoicing in the fortunate outcome of his inter- view with Brutus, an interview that at one time threat- ened to terminate so seriously, bursts into laughter, and evidently enjoys the atrocious rhyme. But Brutus, usually so dignified, so thoughtful of the feelings of others, blurts out, "Get you hence, sirrah, saucy fellow, hence;" and then the impetuous, irascible Cassius pleads with Brutus, but to no avail. In an angry tone Brutus says, "I'll know his humor, when he knows his time : What should the wars do with these jigging fools?" and Cassius thrusts out the poet. " I did not think you could have been so angry," says Cassius. Then Brutus gives his explanation. " O Cassius, I am sick of many griefs." Here is the explanation. Brutus, usually so 414 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. self -controlled, so considerate, has griefs too great even for his stoic nature to bear. As we listened to the Quar- rel scene we asked ourselves again and again, Is this the Brutus whom we saw in the garden with his beloved' Portia? Is this the hero of Rome? Why this change? How can we understand the harsh and almost coarse arraignment of his friend? "By the gods, You shall digest the venom of your spleen Though it do split you ; for, from this day forth, I'll use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter, When you are waspish." This is not the Brutus whom we loved. Now the poet's art comes to Shakespeare's aid. If the intrusion of the " jigging fool " could so upset him, is it any won- der that the misdemeanor of Cassius could so completely change his nature ? Cassius says to him, "Of your philosophy you make no use, If you give place to accidental evils , " and then we learn the source of all his griefs when Brutus says, " Portia is dead." The death of Portia is the cause of the change that has come over the spirit of Brutus, which change is so marvelously impressed upon us by the simple and yet most artistic device of the introduction of the poet. All literature contains many examples such as these. My purpose in calling the student's attention to them is that he may be encouraged in a more careful study of the text, without which he must surely fall ofttimes into griev- ous error. The study of such cases will awaken within him an alertness that will often lead to the discovery of the author's intent, which in turn will add greatly to the EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 415 vocal and gestural interpretation of the characters, and will, moreover, prevent those erratic and incongruous interpretations so distasteful to the student of literature. I. Analysis of King Robert of Sicily. We are now to examine in detail a poem as an example of literary analy- sis. Let it not be supposed that it is claimed that there are no other interpretations of words and lines than are herein set forth. It is maintained, however, that unless the student arrives at some self-consistent interpretation, artistic rendition will be impossible. The poem is an allegory, having for its theme Pride and its Punishment. The story is divided into six acts, which may be respectively entitled, The Temptation, The Fall, The Punishment (with which the poem has most to do), The Repentance, The Confession, The Restoration, a perfect analogon of the Christian scheme of redemption. The opening lines introduce King Robert in the midst of regal splendor. This and his kinship with the Pope, Europe's religious sovereign, and with the Emperor of Al- lemaine, one of the most powerful military monarchs, are the source of his pride. It is the hour of evening prayer, when man, communing with his God, should feel his own insignificance and dependence. But Robert " at' vespers proudly sat And heard the priests chant the Magnificat." This suggests the keynote of the drama ; and how better could the author impress this upon us than by describing the King as proud at such a time. Over and over again the monks repeat portions of the Magnificat, until at last the King turns to his learned clerk to ask a transla- 416 MENTAL TECHM^UE. tion of the Latin text. His query reveals another aspect of Robert's pride. The brother of a Catholic Pope, the ruler of a Catholic kingdom, has not deigned to learn the sacred tongue of his church. And what do the words mean ? It happens (artistically) when for once the proud monarch show^s sufficient interest in the words of the reli- gious ceremony to ask that they be translated, that the monks are pronouncing what is virtually a judgment upon the sinful man. They are the solemn words of warning which, if he heed, may save him from his impending doom. To punish one for doing what he does not know to be sinful is not the way of Providence. King Robert, then, must be made aware of his iniquity, and hence the author puts the demand for a translation into his mouth. The clerk gives the meaning of these words in the Magnificat, thus bringing the King face to face with his sin. Then it is that Robert dares defy " th' Omnipotent to arms." He regards the words of the priests as a challenge. He asserts boldly his self-reliance and independence of all divine aid. Note how his arrogance is brought out by such phrases as "seditious words," "only by priests," and by the bold defiance with which his speech concludes : " For unto priests and people be it known, There is no power can push me from my throne." And then the proud King shows his utter disregard of the divine warning by yawning and falling asleep with the words of the Magnificat still ringing in his ears. The first words of the third act present King Robert in a new situation. He who has been accustomed to awake surrounded by his chamberlains and pages, opens his eyes to find himself alone in the darkness of the church, a EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 417 darkness that is made more terrible by the few dim tapers that light " a little space before some saint." Already the punishment has begun, although the King fails to recog- nize it : he regards his position as simply an accident. We can conceive his rage that he should upon awaking find himself thus unattended. His kingly dignity deserts him. He rushes hither and thither in his consternation, crying and shrieking, uttering oaths and imprecations. But the only answer he receives to his shouts for help are echoes of his own words, coming back to him as the ironical laughter of the dead priests whose religion he has mocked. This description gives us a hint as to the man- ner of King Robert's punishment. By degrees he comes to realize that he is divested of all the attributes of king- ship, until at last he is reduced to the position of a court jester. We may notice in this scene how, in the presence of the slightest mishap, the very essence of kingliness dig- nity has deserted him. And now the sexton, who has heard his cry, goes falter- ingly to investigate. To his question, "Who is there?" the King, half choked with rage, replies, "'Tis I, the King; " but so changed is his voice that it is no longer recognized by the sexton, who believes it to be that of some common vagabond. Here is another touch by which the author discloses the degradation of King Robert. That menial, who would have deemed it a special privilege to be al- lowed to prostrate himself in the dust before his King, characterizes his utterance as that of a drunken vagrant. But whoever he may be he must be released ; and so the portals open wide, and before our eyes appears the sorry figure of the King, whose fright and consternation are so 418 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. well depicted in the closing lines of the scene. King Robert's dignity is gone, and now his self-control deserts him. The opening lines of the third scene of this act remind us of the regal splendor in the midst of which we found the King at the opening of the poem , but we are reminded of this only that the contrast with his present condition may be the more striking. " Bareheaded, breathless and besprent with mire, With sense of wrong and outrage desperate," he rushes headlong to the palace, mounts the sound- ing stair, and reaches at last the banquet-room. But what a picture meets his eyes ! There, seated upon his throne, and wearing his robes, and crown, and signet-ring, is an angel, who has been sent down to punish the haughty monarch. Imagine the rage of Robert when, standing in his own halls, the angel demands of him who he is, and why he has come. With haughty pride he answers, " I am the King." He means not only that he is nominally King, but that his power is dependent upon no one. He reigns because he chooses to reign, and is accountable to none for his action. Forgetting that kingly sway is simply divine authority temporarily delegated to the mortal, King Robert dares to bid defiance to Almighty God himself. No sooner has the reply passed his lips than we note an- other step in his degradation. The courtiers, whose lives heretofore have been at the disposal of the King, grasp their swords in angry response to his bold challenge, whereupon the angel answers with unruffled brow, and how significant is the " unruffled brow " of the calm soul within, significant too, of the fact that God punishes not EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 419 in wrath, but in mercy, " Nay, not the King, but the King's Jester," and then pronounces the sentence upon the unfortunate man. And how appropriate is the punish- ment : To become a jester, and to have for his counselor an ape ! No one recognizes him ; and deriving rare sport from the action of this would-be King, the pages and the court attendants thrust him from the hall. Again we note the author's purpose as King Robert enters the dining-hall of the men-at-arms. The pages, we may suppose, have run on before, and told the story of this strange being who be- lieves himself to be their King ; and as he enters into their midst we see them rise, and hear them fill the hall with the mock toast, " Long live the King ! " Let us stop here a moment to note the stages of King Robert's degradation. He awakes to find himself alone; then his fright and consternation ; then his infuriate rage ; then his undignified escape from the church, as, afraid of being alone, he rushes like a madman to his palace, where he finds he is unknown ; then we note the question of the angel and King Robert's answer, which is followed by the uprising of the courtiers ; then the sentence and his igno- minious dismissal from the hall ; the tittering of the pages ; and last of all the climax in the sarcastic toast of the men- at-arms. Exhausted by the intense strain that he has under- gone, King Robert falls asleep upon his bed of straw. But dawn brings him no relief. As he opens his eyes the fearful trial through which he has passed flashes before his mind, and he endeavors to shake it off as if it were a nightmare. But the rustling of the straw upon which he lies brings him to the consciousness of his terrible plight, He sees the cap and bells, he hears the champing of the 420 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. steeds in the stable, and last, and most frightful of all, dis- cerns the revolting figure of the wretched ape, his coun- selor. Then in two lines the author sums up his story as far as it has progressed. The great world, the only world in which King Robert lived and believed, is turned to dust and ashes. As the hungry traveler on the shores of the Dead Sea plucks from the tree the apple which is to sat- isfy his hunger, but finds within the tempting exterior only decay and rottenness, so King Robert's world, that seemed to him so fair, turns to dust and ashes at his touch. Now, at last, King Robert recognizes his condition, and perhaps, too, begins to see that it is no accident that has brought him where he is. But his pride and obstinacy are stronger than ever ; and he determines that nothing shall humiliate him, nothing shall cause him to retract his sacrilegious words of defiance. We see truly that there is a power to push him from his throne, but he, blinded by pride, cannot or will not recognize it. We come now to the suggestive interlude that has already been commented upon. The calm, restful picture of prosperous Sicily conies aptly in to relieve the strain of the King's suffering, but the very prosperity of the island serves only to intensify his anguish. Mocked at and scoffed, the butt of every courtier, with his only friend the ape, he wanders a slave through those halls in which he had been wont to command. Day by day his pun- ishment becomes more unbearable, and yet his spirit is unbroken. For three long years his pride continues un- subdued. Day by day the angel meets him, and puts to him that suggestive question, " Art thou the King ? " and day by day, with undiminished rage and bitterness, King Robert lifts high his forehead, and haughtily answers EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 421 back, " I am, I am the King." This portion of the allegory is quite clear. God has so arranged his world that those who will may pursue the course of righteous- ness. God's eternal laws are saying to us every day, Art thou the King?" and it is only man's pride and selfishness that urges him to reply as King Robert did. We have but to conform to God's laws as we understand them to have peace and contentment. This is the lesson that Longfellow's allegory teaches us. The angel in this story need not necessarily indicate a special messenger sent forth to punish the king, but rather the laws of the universe against which King Robert had set himself in open revolt. When one adjusts himself to law he is like one swimming with the current, which to oppose is failure, ruin, heartbreak, death. Let us note that King Robert's suffering has become more and more intense as time has gone on. And here, again, the allegory stands out. The punishment for the violation of law becomes greater and greater as one per- sists in the violation. With humanity, as with King- Robert, the difficulty of freeing one's self from the thrall of evil-doing becomes harder and harder as time passes. We can easily imagine King Robert nursing his wrath with thoughts of vengeance. With each new indignity heaped upon him, we can imagine him saying to himself, The day of reckoning will come ; then woe betide ye who have put me to this shame. But to whom shall he turn? Every friend has deserted him, every arm upon which he has leaned has been drawn away. If he could but send intelligence of his condition to his brothers, then might he hope for recognition. Day after day he harbors these thoughts, when at last, into the darkness and gloom 422 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. of his life comes a ray of light. Messages have been sent summoning King Robert to meet his brothers in Rome. Again we have the interlude. We see before our eyes the gorgeous cavalcade as it passes on its way to the Holy City, and in the midst of it the dejected figure of the would-be King, sitting upon his piejbald steed, and behind him the chattering ape. But, thinks King Robert, At last the day of reckoning is come. As the Pope pro- nounces his benediction upon the visiting embassies, the Jester bursts through the throng.. It has already been shown how all have deserted Robert, how every earthly help has been taken from him, and we see now that his last chance has come. Without the slightest fear that his appeal may be in vain, the King rushes into the presence of the Pope, demanding recognition ; but to his impas- sioned words there is no response but the astonished gaze of bewilderment from his brothers. The poor man now realizes that his last hope is slipping from him. Where shall he turn if his final appeal be in vain? There stretches before him years and years of suffering and deg- radation, scorn and obloquy. For him who had held the scepter many years unchallenged, there is left now only servitude and despair. Think, then, of his anguish as he appealingly says, " Do you not know me ? Does no voice within Answer my cry and say we are akin ? " The Pope views him in silence. But what is the agony of King Robert when the hand that he had expected would reach out to him in brotherly love, thrusts him back with a laughing jest, EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 423 "It is strange sport To keep a madman for thy Fool at court.' And so the meeting that he had dreamt of and prayed for so long, the meeting that was to restore him to his position, only takes away his last hope, and leaves him reeling on the brink of madness. Here, again, the purpose of the allegory is manifest. Just so long as man opposes the inevitable, just so long does his punishment continue and grow harder and harder to bear. True liberty is not synonymous with license ; man is free only when he chooses to conform to the higher laws in the midst of which he lives. If King Robert had at any time in the course of the past three years condescended to submit to the inevitable, at that very moment the angel would have disappeared, and the King would have been restored to his own. So in life. The moment that one who finds himself out of harmony with God's laws chooses but to adjust himself to those laws, that moment brings peace. And now Easter Sunday gleams upon the sky. The Easter-tide, with its lesson of new birth, comes to the Holy City, and the story of the resurrection of the Christ fills with new fervor the hearts of men. King Robert comes at last to the consciousness of his sin. All earthly hope has passed, and to those eyes that pride has blinded for so long comes the vision of eternal love. To those ears deafened by arrogance and obstinacy comes the sound of the rustling garments of Him who brought peace and good-will to men. At last the suffering monarch recog- nizes his sin, and with the hot tears of repentance falling down his cheeks, he sinks upon the floor in prayer. Is not this the experience of all men ? For years and years 424 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. a man has endeavored with his feeble powers to swim against the current of eternal power, until at last the con- sciousness of the futility of his efforts dawns upon him, and he reverses his course, content to let himself be borne /n by the great stream of divine love. King Robert has now repented ; but repentance without confession is of no avail. The murderous king who has slain his brother Hamlet feels the anguish of remorse as he stands within his private chamber before the figure of the crucified Christ. He says, * My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go." King Robert perceives this great truth. His punishment has made him humble. He is willing to resign everything ; and when, once more, the familiar question of the Angel is heard, with most pathetic humility he says, " Thou knowest best. My sins as scarlet are ; let me go hence, And in some cloister's school of penitence, Across those stones that pave the way to heaven Walk barefoot till my guilty soul be shriven." No sooner has this condition of Robert's heart been manifested, than the whole palace is filled with the holy light of God's forgiveness, and once more the author brings in the chanting of the monks ; but how different is its significance now in the ears of King Robert. At the time the Magnificat was interpreted to him, it was the " Deposuit potentes " that applied to King Robert. He was one of the mighty, the mighty proud that God was to put down. Now he is one of the humble, and is to be raised up. Through the chanting of the monks one clear EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 425 note is heard, the note that explains to King Robert that it has been through God's love of the sinner that he has been made to undergo such fearful suffering, " I am an Angel, and thou art the King." The moment that one makes up his mind to conform to law he becomes himself. It is only when one sees himself as he really is that he becomes a true man ; and so the .last stanza of the poem shows us King Robert restored to his former place, and "all appareled as in days of old, With ermined mantle and with cloth of gold." The poem closes with a passage that presents him in strik- ing contrast to what he has been through the past three years. When the courtiers left King Robert he was sacri- legiously defying the mandate of the Almighty ; when they see him again as the King they find him and his atti- tude is the prophecy of his future life, - " Kneeling upon the floor, absorbed in silent prayer." KING KOBERT OF SICILY. H. W. LONGFELLOW.! ACTS I. AND II. THE TEMPTATION AND THE FALL. Connections Robert of Sicily, brother of Pope Urbane introduction And Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine, and Appareled in magnificent attire, With retinue of many a knight and squire, On St. John's eve, at vespers, proudly sat Surround- And heard the priests chant the Magnificat. ings And as he listened, o'er and o'er again Repeated, like a burden or refrain, 1 By permission of, and arrangement with, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 426 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. The Warn- ing The Fall He caught the words, " Deposuit potentes De sede, et exaltavit humiles ; " And slowly lifting up his kingly head He to a learned clerk beside him said, "What mean those words?" The clerk made answer meet, "He has put down the mighty from their seat, And has exalted them of low degree." Thereat King Robert muttered scornfully, " 'Tis well that such seditious words are sung Only by priests and in the Latin tongue ; For unto priests and people be it known, There is no power can push me from my throne! " And leaning back, he yawned and fell asleep, Lulled by the chant monotonous and deep Scene 1 : Punishment begins, but King Robert does not recognize his misfortune as punish- ment Loss of dignity Scene 2 Alienation ACT III. THE PUNISHMENT. When he awoke, it was already night ; Contrast The church was empty, and there was no light, Save where the lamps, that glimmered few and faint, Lighted a little space before some saint. He started from his seat and gazed around, But saw no living thing and heard no sound. He groped towards the door, but it was locked ; He cried aloud, and listened, and then knocked, And uttered awful threatenings and complaints, And imprecations upon men and saints. The sounds reechoed from the roof and walls As if dead priests were laughing in their stalls. Movement Movement J (continued) At length the sexton, hearing from without The tumult of the knocking and the shout, And thinking thieves were in the house of prayer, Came with his lantern, asking, "Who is there?" Half choked with rage, King Robert fiercely said, "Open: 'tis I the King! Art thou afraid?" The frightened sexton, muttering with a curse, " This is some drunken vagabond, or worse ! " 1 The attention of the student is here directed to the progress of the punisu muni from stage to stage to the end of Act III. EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 427 Loss of self- control Turned the great key and flung the portal wide; A man rushed by him at a single stride, Haggard, half naked, without hat or cloak, Who neither turned, nor looked at him, nor spoke, But leaped into the blackness of the night, And vanished like a specter from his sight. Scene 3 : Complete loss of dignity and self-control Scene 4 . Instrument of punish- ment Scene 5 , Robert of Sicily, brother of Pope Urbane Repetition And Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine, Despoiled of his magnificent attire, Bareheaded, breathless and besprent with mire, With sense of wrong and outrage desperate, Strode on and thundered at the palace gate Rushed through the courtyard, thrusting in his rage To right and left each seneschal and page, And hurried up the broad and sounding stair, His white face ghastly in the torches' glare. From hall to hall he passed with breathless speed; Voices and cries he heard, but did not heed, Until at last he reached the banquet-room, Blazing with light, and breathing with perfume. Contrast There on the da'is sat another king, Wearing his robes, his crown, his signet-ring King Robert's self in features, form, and height, But all transfigured with angelic light ! It was an Angel ; and his presence there With a divine effulgence filled the air, An exaltation, piercing the disguise, Though none the hidden angel recognize. A moment speechless, motionless, amazed, The throneless monarch on the Angel gazed, Who met his look of anger and surprise With the divine compassion of his eyes , Then said, " Who art thou ? and why com'st thou here?" To which King Robert answered, with a sneer, " I am the King, and come to claim my own From an impostor, who usurps my throne !" 428 MEN TA L TECIINIQ UE. And suddenly, at these audacious words, Alienation Up sprang the angry guests, and dre\v 'their swords ; The Angel answered, with unruffled brow, " Nay, not the King, but the King's Jester ; thou The sentence Henceforth shall wear the bells and scalloped cape, And for thy counselor shalt lead an ape ; Thou shalt obey my servants when they call, And wait upon my henchmen in the hall ! " Scene 6 Alienation Scene 7 Recognition of punish- ment Deaf to King Robert's threats and cries and prayers, They thrust him from the hall and down the stairs , A. group of tittering pages ran before, And as they opened wide the folding door, His heart failed, for he heard, with strange alarms, The boisterous laughter of the men-at-arms, And all the vaulted chamber roar and ring With the mock plaudits of "Long live the King !" Next morning, waking with the day's first beam, He said within himself, "It was a dream !" But the straw rustled as he turned his head, There were the cap and bells beside his bed ; Around him rose the bare, discolored walls, Close by, the steeds were champing in their stalls, And in the corner, a revolting shape, Shivering and chattering, sat the wretched ape. It was no dream ; the world he loved so much Had turned to dust and ashes at his touch ! Contrast emphasized There is a j>ower to push him from the throne t Scene 8 : Days came and went ; and now returned again To Sicily the old Saturnian reign ; Under the Angel's governance benign The happy island danced with corn and wine, Inte rlnde And deep within the mountain's burning breast Encelaclus, the giant, was at rest. EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 429 Scene 9 : Meanwhile King Robert yielded to his fate, Sullen and silent and disconsolate. Dressed in the motley garb that Jesters wear, Contrast With look bewildered, and a vacant stare, Close shaven above the ears, as monks are shorn, By courtiers mocked, by pages laughed to scorn, His only friend the ape, his only food Continued What others left, he still was unsubdued. and* 3 "" 8 And when the angel met him on his way, obstinacy And ha]f j n earnestj l ia lf i n j est , would Say, Sternly, though tenderly, that he might feel The velvet scabbard held a sword of steel, "Art thou the King?" the passion of his woe Burst from him in resistless overflow, And, lifting high his forehead, he would fling The haughty answer back, " I am, I am the King ! " Scene 10 ; Almost three years were ended; when there came interlude Ambassadors of great repute and name From Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine, Unto King Robert, saying that Pope Urbane By letter summoned them forthwith to come On Holy Thursday to his city of Rome. The Angel with great joy received his guests, And gave them presents of embroidered vests, And velvet mantles with rich ermine lined, And rings and jewels of the rarest kind. Then he departed with them o'er the sea an( 3 Into the lovely land of Italy, Whose loveliness was more resplendent made By the mere passing of that cavalcade, With plumes, and cloaks, and housings, and the stir Of jeweled bridle and of golden spur. And lo! among the menials, in mock state, Upon a piebald steed, with shambling gait, His cloak of foxtails flapping in the wind, The solemn ape demurely perched behind, 430 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. King Robert rode, making huge merriment Contrast In all the country towns through which they went. Scene 11 : Last hope Complete alienation The Pope received them with great pomp and blare Of bannered trumpets on St. Peter's square, Giving his benediction and embrace, Fervent and full of apostolic grace. While with congratulations and with prayers, He entertained the Angel unawares, Robert, the Jester, bursting through the crowd, Into their presence rushed, and cried aloud, 44 1 am the King ! Look and behold in me Robert, your brother, King of Sicily ! This man, who wears my semblance to your eyes, Is an impostor in a king's disguise. Do you not know me ? Does no voice within Answer my cry, and say we are akin ? " The Pope in silence, but with troubled mien, Gazed at the Angel's countenance serene ; The Emperor, laughing, said, " It is strange sport To keep a madman for thy Fool at court 1 " And the poor, baffled Jester in disgrace Was hustled back among the populace. ACT IV. REPENTANCE. In solemn state the Holy Week went by, And Easter Sunday gleamed upon the sky ; The presence of the Angel, with its light, Before the sun rose, made the city bright, And with new fervor filled the hearts of men, Who felt that Christ indeed had risen again. Even the Jester on his bed of straw, With haggard eyes the unwonted splendor saw, He felt within a power unfelt before, And, kneeling humbly on his chamber floor, He heard the rushing garments of the Lord* contrast Repentance Sweep t^ugh the silent air, ascending heaven- ward. Knowledge of sin Act Ji. EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 431 ACT V. CONFESSION. And now the visit ending, and once more Yalmond returning to the Danube's shore, Homeward the Angel journeyed, and again The land was made resplendent with his train, Flashing along the towns of Italy Unto Salerno, and from thence by sea. Repetition And when once more within Palermo's wall, And seated on the throne in his great hall, He heard the Angelus from convent towers, As if the better world conversed with ours, He beckoned to King Robert to draw nigher, And with a gesture bade the rest retire. And when they were alone, the Angel said, 14 Art thou the King ? " Then, bowing down his head, Contrast King Robert crossed both hands upon his breast, And meekly answered him: " Thou knowest best! My sins as scarlet are ; let me go hence, And in some cloister's school of penitence, Across those stones that pave the way to heaven, Walk barefoot till my guilty soul be shriven." The Angel smiled, and from his radiant face A holy light illumined all the place, And through the open window, loud and clear, They heard the monks chant in the chapel near, Above the stir and tumult of the street : Ke petition 44 He has put down the mighty from their seat, And has exalted them of low degree !" And through the chant a second melody Revocation Rose like the throbbing of a single string t of sentence UJ am an Angel and thou art tne King pi ACT VI. RESTORATION. King Robert, who was standing near the throne, Lifted his eyes, and lo ! he was alone But all appareled as in days of old, With ermined mantle and with cloth of gold ; 432 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. And when his courtiers came, they found him there, Kneeling upon the floor, absorbed in silent Contrast prayer. II. Analysis of Mark Antony's Funeral Oration. It is our purpose to analyze Mark Antony's, funeral oration as a study in oratorical tact. Whatever we may have to say concerning the legitimacy of Antony's methods, we must bear in mind that he was talking to an ignorant, vulgar mob ; that he fully appreciated this fact, and adjusted his style to his environment. What he was aiming at was the creation of a certain sentiment antagonistic to Brutus and Cassius and favorable to himself. As the great Irish ora- tor once remarked, " A fine speech is a great thing ; but the greatest thing is the verdict." Bearing this in mind, we may the better be prepared to appreciate the consum- mate art of Mark Antony. I shall take for granted that the student is tolerably familiar with the play of Julius Ccesar, and hence with the conditions leading up to the great Forum scene. Brutus has permitted Mark Antony to speak in Caasar's funeral, having extracted from him a promise that he would say nothing unfavorable to the conspirators. The day of the funeral is at hand. Brutus first addresses the citizens in a speech which is the consummation of what an oration should not be. Brutus makes his plea to the Roman peo- ple ; his remarks lack everything but honesty. In plain- est, bluntest fashion, paying no attention whatsoever to the simplest principles of popular oratory, he informs the citizens that he has killed CaBsar because he was ambitious. But what do the vulgar citizens care for such things? In our own time, two thousand years after Cassar, the political EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 433 boss can drive his henchmen to the polls to vote in any given way for a dollar or two a head. How much, then, can we expect in the days when the common citizens were little more than slaves ? Brutus is an altruist, and there- fore believes that the mob will regard the conspiracy as he does. Caesar fell by the sword of his dearest friend be- cause Rome's liberty was in danger. It was that these citizens, to whom Brutus now spoke, might continue to en- joy the freedom or partial freedom that was their present lot that Brutus joined the heinous conspiracy of Cassius. But note, not a word of this to the mob ; no attempt to show them that it was for their particular individual inter- est that Caesar died. As the speech of Brutus concludes, and Mark Antony with Caesar's bpdy appears upon the scene, Brutus remarks, " Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony, who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth; as which of you shall not ?" In other words, he throws into a parenthesis (and probably would not have uttered it at all had it not been that Antony appeared at this moment) his strongest argu- ment with these people. It was that every Roman citizen should have a voice and place in the commonwealth that Caesar died. This should have been the keynote of his whole oration. Mark Antony has but one argument with such a mob, and that is that Caesar loved each one of them as individuals, and this love is manifested in the will. All his oration is arranged to enhance the effect of this will, and it is our purpose now to examine in detail Mark Antony's method. As Brutus concludes his speech, the air is filled with 434 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. shouts and acclamations. " Bring him with triumph home unto his house," shouts one. " Give him a statue with his ancestors," cries another. And the death-knell of Brutus' hopes are sounded when the Third Citizen shouts, " Let him be Caesar!" These four words, introduced most natu- rally, and without apparent effort or strain on Shake- speare's part, are most significant as indicating the uttei futility of the oratory of Brutus. It was that Rome should have no Caesar that Brutus had dipped his hand in the blood of his friend ; and yet the conclusion of his speech in justifi- cation of his course is greeted by the shout, Let's have an- other Csesar ! Mark Antony notes the effect of the speech of Brutus, and the difficulty of his task appears to him the greater. One false step at the beginning, and his opportunity is lost. Let the student search all the records of oratory and he will find no more consummate exhibition of oratorical tact than is manifested in the opening words of Antony : " For Brutus' sake, I am beholding to you." His first words are a tribute to their newly erected idol and to the citizens themselves. Surely no one could take exception to that; and yet the Fourth Citizen, who has heard only the word "Brutus," bursts forth with, "What does he say of Brutus ? " and after he gets his answer, he says again, "'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here." The purpose of the poet is quite plain. He desires to show us in these few words the temper of the mob ; and the speech of Antony can never be understood in its completeness unless we study carefully the words and actions of the citizens. Mark Antony's purpose is to affect the mob; and unless we note them, how can we hope to understand the speech ? At last the Second Citizen pleads for peace, EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 435 for evidently the mob are very turbulent, and Antony begins again : " You gentle Romans " and there breaks off. What does the poet convey by this dash? The next few words tell us. Some citizens cry, "Peace, ho ! let us hear him." Thus we see that as Antony endeavored to speak, his voice was drowned. The mob are in no mood to listen to him, and it is only the fairmindedness of a few citizens that gets him a hearing at all. There is now a lull, of which Mark Antony proceeds to take advan- tage. He has no time for statuesque posing ; he has, per- haps, five seconds in which to place his whole case before the jury.; he must let them understand his attitude in this matter, and he states what pretends to be his whole case in nine words, " I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." His whole manner says, You need not fear me, friends ; I have nothing to say concerning Caesar. Brutus, the noble, the patriotic, the unselfish, has shown you that the assassination of Caesar was justifiable ; I shall say nothing to the contrary. No exception can be taken to this, and the mob now give him their attention. He continues, " The evil that men do lives after them ; The good is oft interred with their bones. So let it be with Caesar." In other words, I shall say nothing in extenuation of Caesar's course ; it is enough that he is dead ; let us bury him and forget him. The point we must bear in mind is that the citizens at the beginning are strongly antagonis- tic to Mark Antony. Before he can hope to do anything with them he must first get their attention, and, secondly, must relieve them of the tension of antagonism. They have been keyed up by the excitement of the past few 486 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. days, and none knows so well as Antony to what ex- tremes such a mob will go if opportunity is offered. When we remember that at the conclusion of Antony's speech the mob, made wild by his words, were ready to tear to pieces an innocent man simply because he happened to bear the same name Cinna J as that of one of the conspirators, we have some idea of the temper of that Ro- man horde. Antony resumes, " The noble Brutus hath told you Csesar was ambitious," and then virtually concedes that Brutus was right ; that there is no palpable doubt as to the justice of Brutus' verdict. The emphasis in the next line is not upon "if" or "were;" the words are almost slurred, and the tone and manner are concessive. Paraphrased, it means, I grant that he may have been am- bitious, and such ambition was a grievous fault. And here we note the introduction of a theme that forms one of the most striking melodies in this magnificent symphony. As was said before, the mob are strongly antagonistic, and Antony's endeavor must be to soften them. How shall he do it? He says, Caesar was ambitious, but O friends, see this prostrate form before us, and tell me if Caesar has not paid a fearful price for his ambition. He does not dwell too long on that theme, but passes on again to pay his respects to Brutus and the other conspirators. It is scarcely necessary to take in detail each line of this first part of the speech, but we must look closely at one or two important features. Of course, after what has been said, it would be needless to argue that there is no trace of sar- casm in the "honorable men." As a matter of fact, Antony uses that term to strengthen his position. But let us note in what connection this phrase is used. The first time Antony utters it, he is simply thanking the con- EXAMPLES OF LITERAEY ANALYSIS. 437 spirators, as it were, for the opportunity of thus speaking to the mob. The second time he says, u He was my friend, faithful and just to me," and then, " But Brutus says he was ambitious." Now, the student will remark that each time thereafter the incongruity between Mark Antony's argument and the phrase "honorable men" be- comes more and more significant, until at last, as we shall see, even upon the mind of this slow-thinking mob there dawns .the consciousness of Antony's purpose in using this phrase. Let us now note that Antony offers three or four arguments to disprove what Brutus spoke. A very important question must here be decided, Is the manner of Antony argumentative ? Is there anything in the text that may give us a hint as to Antony's method ? I think there certainly is. After every assertion to prove that Caesar was not at all ambitious, Antony remarks, " But Brutus says he was ambitious, And Brutus is an honorable man." It is incredible that Antony could have asserted his argu- ments with great strength, and then have followed them immediately with this modifying idea, so to speak. And then again, if it be argued that he utters the phrase " hon- orable men " in a manner evidently sarcastic, the text would disprove this interpretation. Two lines prove both points ; for Antony says, " Sure Brutus is an honorable man," and then says, " I speak not to disprove what Bru- tus spoke." It seems to me that Antony's arguments, for arguments they surely are, and arguments which do dis- prove what Brutus spoke, fall from his lips as if he were thinking aloud. He is content to get his evidence before 438 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. the jury without any apparent effort to do so without any desire to insist strongly upon it; his evidence is so concrete and tangible that he is content to let it sink into the minds of his audience of its own weight. Let us also observe that in this first part of the speech Antony's methods of touching their hearts are clearly developed. He moves them through pity for Caesar, and sympathy with himself. " Grievously hath Caesar answered it," is an example of his first method, and the lines which close the first part of the speech an example of the second. The noble Antony is so overcome by his feelings that his words choke him, and he must turn aside until he can recover his self-control. Whether or not his emotions have overcome him to the extent that Antony manifests, the result of his turning aside is the same. It gives the mob an opportunity to vent their feelings, and we can rest assured that Antony's ear is on the alert for a hint which shall determine his future course. He has no cut-and-dried speech as Brutus had ; he indulges in no oratorical flourishes, no euphuistic graces. He has a definite goal in view, and is content to reach it by any route, however circuitous, and that route is to be determined for him by his audience. It is plain from the conversation of the four citizens that Antony's words have not been without avail. There are but two speeches, however, that need particular notice. The Fourth Citizen already hints that there is some doubt in his mind as to Caesar's ambition, and, " He would not take the crown," says he ; " therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious." What music is this to the listening ears of Antony ! But more significant still is the remark of the First Citizen : " If it be found so, some will dear abide it." EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 439 This is the flame of mutiny, and is the second motive of the drama. And now Antony resumes, apparently taking no notice of the speeches of the citizens. Pity is again his theme : O friends, says he, only such a short time ago as yes- terday and Caesar ruled the world ; now not the basest serf will doff his cap in the presence of his corpse. This is a fine touch of human nature. We clamor for the arrest and execution of the assassin, but as he goes to the gal- lows, only the hard-hearted will refuse him pity. So no matter what Ceesar had done, according to Brutus, this appeal of Antony must go straight to their hearts. Then a new strain : " O masters, if I were disposed to stir Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage." Why bring in these words here ? What connection have they with the preceding lines? Apparently none. It is my belief that they constitute one of the most significant examples of oratorical tact found in all oratory. The First Citizen has remarked, If it be found that Caesar was not ambitious, somebody will suffer for his murder. It would not do for Antony to let his audience know that he had heard their remarks ; and, therefore, as he resumes his speech he appears to be utterly oblivious to them. But the flame that shall consume the entire conspiracy has been kindled, and Mark Antony with keenest insight now proceeds to fan it. " Some will dear abide it," rings in his ears and brain ; and now he says, " O masters, if I were disposed to stir Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage." 440 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. But having kept the flame alive, he leaves this theme to pay his tribute again to the " honorable men." Then he draws with apparent unconsciousness a parchment from the folds of his toga ; he tells them it is Caesar's will, and at once they are all attention, craning their necks and stretching out their hands in mute, appeal. Mark Antony notes their anxiety, and then feeds it by returning the will to his breast, as if he were afraid that if he read it he might be charged with an act of incendiarism. No, he says, friends, I must not read this will. Its contents would excite you. If you but knew how Caesar loved you, as is shown by this will, every hair of his head would be wet with your tears. Now let us look more closely at Shakespeare's art. The citizens have spoken after some particular order, first, second, third, fourth ; first, third, second s fourth, and so forth. No citizen has been the center of attention. Now look at the Fourth Citizen. From the time that Antony draws out the will, that Fourth Citizen is the only particular speaker among the mob. He leads the rest, shouting, " Read the will, Mark Antony ; " but he, knowing full well that delay will but add fuel to their passion, seems to put them off; he is compelling them to compel him to read the will. He says, If I should read this will to you it would make you mad. And again the Fourth Citizen leads the shout- ing : " You shall read us the will, Caesar's will." And again Antony says, " I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it." The next two lines of the speech of Antony are a master-stroke ; the term " honorable men " is set over against the phrase, " Whose daggers have stabbed Caesar." There is a challenge in this collocation ; there is a chal- lenge in the bluntness of those words, "Whose daggers EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 441 have stabbed Csesar." The explosive consonants and the harsh, flat a's are a challenge. That Antony is conscious of this is clearly manifest in the last four words of his short speech, "I do fear it." If the mob should resent the challenge, he has provided a way to retire : " I do fear it." If not, his course is clear. Once more the Fourth Citizen speaks: "They were traitors, honorable men," and for the first time into this phrase is injected the sar- castic inflection. It is from the lips of that citizen who at the beginning of the oration has said, " It were best he speak no harm of Brutus here," that we are first to hear the phrase " honorable men " used as sarcasm. That is why Shakespeare picks out this man, and makes him the central figure in the scene, in order that the effect of Mark Antony's speech may be the more apparent; this is the keystone of the arch ; the turning-point has been reached, and this turning-point has been made significant by Shake- speare's art in handling his fourth citizen. An impreg- nable argument in favor of this interpetation, is this : If Mark Antony has ever in the course of his speech uttered the words " honorable men " with sarcastic inflection, they have absolutely no meaning in their present connection. It is because they have been uttered as if meant, that the speech of the Fourth Citizen now has its force. The Second Citizen now takes up the cry. Antony with apparent re- luctance yields to their demands to read the will, and de- scends to take his place before the bier of his murdered friend. We see, then, that the anger of the citizens has abated. Their antagonism has been at least neutralized. Antony's purpose is to remold the now plastic material after his own fashion. Instead of reading the will, he adroitly turns aside to 442 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. remind the people of their former love and admiration of Caesar. This he does by showing the mantle that covers the body of the fallen hero. " You all" do know this mantle." Yes, many a time they have seen it infolding the body of Caasar, as he has driven victoriously through the streets of Rome. This touch /is truly human. It is of the many associations the mantle has for the mob that Antony would lead them to think. Then the speaker reminds them of the hour Caesar first put it on. And in what contrast stands out the picture of that day with its patriotic memories, as against the awful and sinister solemnity of the present occasion. Then follows the abrupt change. Through that garment made sacred by holiest memories u ran Cassius' dagger." What could be more dramatic than this contrast? From now on Antony seems to cast aside all restraint, as if hurried along by the intensity of his feelings. He is overcome by the base in- gratitude of Caesar's dearest friend, and raises his eyes to see those of the citizens suffused with tears, and then, with fine and yet well-concealed dramatic effect, he tears away the mantle from the face, and discloses the features of Caesar, "marred by traitors." As the people's gaze falls upon the face of their former idol, they vent their feelings in words of tenderest sympa- thy, until again we hear the strain of mutiny in the speech of the Second Citizen. " We will be revenged ! " The mob take up the cry, shouting : " Revenge ! About, seek, burn, fire, kill, slay, let not a traitor live !" and start to rush out. But they are brought back by one word from Antony, whom but a short while ago they had opposed and threatened. The average orator would have let them take theii EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 443 course. Not so Antony. He knows that it is pure ex- citement that moves them ; and he knows, too, that that may die out as quickly now as it has done since the speech of Brutus. There is no reason in their excitement. They have no personal cause to avenge Caesar's assassination. So Antony calls them back, knowing full well that the temporary restraint will in the end be an added incentive. In a manner entirely controlled, he disavows all inten- tion of stirring them to mutiny, which disavowal serves only, he well knows, to further stimulate them in that direction. He passes quickly from the idea of mutiny, and insinuates the true cause of the conspiracy. It was a " private grief," envy of Caesar, not love of the people, that led to his murder. We do not like to be led by the nose when we are aware of it, and so Antony how he knew human nature! tells the mob that he has not come to steal away their hearts ; that he is no orator ; and then leads them back again to the contemplation of Csesar's wounds. What a pathos there is in the collocation "sweet Csesar's wounds!" And what art there is in the manner in which the orator leads the minds of his audience back to the theme of mutiny : "But were I Brutus, And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue In every wound of Caesar, that should move The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny !" Again they would rush off, but again a word from Antony quiets them. Then comes the master touch the personal incentive to avenge Caesar. Antony implies that the murder of Caesar was a wrong done to the citizens. "Wherein hath Caesar thus deserved your loves?" He 444 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. virtually says, Caesar was your idol, your love, and died, not that Roman liberty, your liberty, was endangered, but to satisfy a cursed envy, spite, and hatred. And now he reads the will and proves his case, which Brutus did not. Brutus' statement that Caesar was ambitious was unsupported by any argument; Antony, by the tangible evidence contained in the will, shows that Caesar loved every Roman citizen, and they ask not, beyond that, whether he was ambitious. It is the concrete against the abstract; the tangible against the intangible. But An- tony's fact is more remarkable for the manner in which it is set forth. If he had flaunted the will in their faces at the outset, the chances are they would have snatched it from his hand, and torn it into a thousand pieces. The orator must know, not only what evidence is available and appreciable, but where it should be introduced. 1 So Antony first gains their attention by disclaiming all intention of defending Caesar, then insinuates the pos- sibility of mistake on the part of the conspirators ; then moves the mob to sympathy with himself and with his theme ; then excites their curiosity regarding the will , then gets the mob to charge the conspirators with treason, and so compel him to read the will ; then their antagon- ism turns to sympathy, and now they would turn their anger against Brutus and his associates. They are called back by Antony, and then he gives their emotion an addi- tional incentive by proving that Caesar loved them and 1 My father's comments on these orations [of Demosthenes] . . . were very instructive to me. He ... pointed out the skill and art of the orator how every thing important to his purpose was said at the exact moment when he had brought the minds of his audience into the state most fitted to receive it ; how he made steal into their minds, gradually, and by insinuation, thoughts which, if expressed in a more direct manner, would have roused their opposition. JOHN STUART MILL, Autobiography. EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 445 had nothing but their interests at heart. Brutus excited them, but gave them no incentive ; Antony moved them, but gave a permanency to their passion by putting back of it the consciousness that they had been wronged. No argument could offset that, and Antony's victory was won. And all the time there has been no faintest sign that he had any desire to move them. They were moved through their own imaginations, which Antony's art sent back into the past ; and when his speech is done, there is no power can turn them from their purpose. The con- spiracy is doomed ; and when the curtain falls upon the last scene, Cassius and Brutus lie dead, pierced with the swords that slew Csesar, and Octavius Csesar sits upon the throne. THE FORUM SCENE SHAKESPEARE. Enter BRUTUS and CASSIUS, and a throng of Citizens. CITIZENS. We will be satisfied ; let us be satisfied. BKUTUS. Then follow me, and give me audience, friends. Cassius, go you into the other street, And part the numbers. Those that will hear me speak, let them stay here : Those that will follow Cassius, go with him ; And public reasons shall be rendered Of Caesar's death. FIRST CITIZEN. I will hear Brutus speak. SECOND CITIZEN. I will hear Cassius; and compare their reasons, When severally we hear them rendered. [Exit CASSIUS, with some of the Citizens. BKUTUS goes into the pulpit.} THIRD CITIZEN. The noble Brutus is ascended. Silence ! BRUTUS. Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers ! hear me for my cause ; and be silent, that ye may hear : believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe : censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his. If then that friend demand, why Brutus 446 MENTAL TECHNIQUE arose against Caesar, this is my answer, Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men ? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him ; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it ; as he was valiant, I honor him ; but, as he was ambitious, 1 slew him. There is tears for his love ; joy for his fortune ; honor for his valor ; and death for his ambition. Who is here so base, that would be a bond- man ? If any, speak ; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude, that would not be a Roman ? If any, speak ; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile, that will not love his country ? If any, speak ; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply. ALL. Xone, Brutus, none. BKUTUS. Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is en- rolled in the Capitol ; his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offenses enforced, for which he suffered death. Enter ANTONY and others, with CAESAR'S body. Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony : who though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth ; as which of you shall not ? With this I depart, that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death. ALL. Live, Brutus ! live ! live ! FIRST CITIZEN. Bring him with triumph home unto his house. SECOND CITIZEN. Give him a statue with his ancestors. THIRD CITIZEN. Let him be Caesar. FOURTH CITIZEN. Caesar's better parts Shall be crowned in Brutus. FIRST CITIZEN. We'll bring him to his house with shouts and clamors. BRUTUS. My countrymen, SECOND CITIZEN. Peace I silence ! Brutus speaks. FIRST CITIZEN. Peace, ho ! BRUTUS. Good countrymen, let me depart alone, And, for my sake, stay here with Antony. Do grace to Caesar's corpse, and grace his speech. Tending to Caesar's glories, which Mark Antony, By our permission, is allowed to make. I do entreat you, not a man depart, Save I alone, till Antony have spoke. [Exit. FIRST CITIZEN. Stay, ho ! and let us hear Mark Antony. EXAMPLES OF LITER ART ANALYSIS. 447 THIRD CITIZEX. Let him go up into the public chair We'll hear him. Noble Antony, go up. ANTONY. For Brutus' sake, I am beholding to you. FOURTH CITIZEN. What does he say of Brutus ? THIRD CITIZEX. He says for Brutus' sake, He finds himself beholding to us all.- FOURTH CITIZEN. 'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here. FIRST CITIZEN. This Caesar was a tyrant. THIRD CITIZEN. Nay, that's certain : We are blessed that Rome is rid of him. SECOND CITIZEN. Peace ! let us hear what Antony can say. ANTONY. You gentle Romans, CITIZENS. Peace, ho! let us hear him. ANTONY. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears ; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them ; The good is oft interred with their bones ; So let it be with Csesar. The noble Brutus Hath told you, Caesar was ambitious : If it were so, it was a grievous fault ; And grievously hath Caesar answered it. Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest, For Brutus is an honorable man, So are they all, all honorable men, Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me : But Brutus says, he was ambitious ; And Brutus is an honorable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome, Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill : Did this in Caesar seem ambitious ? When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept ; Ambition should be made of sterner stuff : Yet Brutus says he was ambitious ; And Brutus is an honorable man. You all did see, that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse : was this ambition ? Yet Brutus says, he was ambitious ; And, sure, he is an honorable man. I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, 448 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. But here I am to speak what I do know. You all did love him once, not without cause . What cause withholds you then to mourn for him ? judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason ! Bear with me ; My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me. FIRST CITIZEN. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings. SECOND CITIZEN. If thou consider rightly of the matter, Caesar has had great wrong. THIRD CITIZEN. Has he, masters ? 1 fear, there will a worse come in his place. FOURTH CITIZEN. Marked ye his words? He would not take the crown : Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious. FIRST CITIZEN. If it be found so, some will dear abide it. SECOND CITIZEN. Poor soul, his eyes are red as fire with weeping. THIRD CITIZEN. There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony. FOURTH CITIZEN. Now mark him; he begins again to speak. ANTONY. But yesterday the word of Caesar might Have stood against the world: now lies he there, And none so poor to do him reverence. masters, if I were disposed to stir Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, 1 should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, Who, you all know are honorable men. I will not do them wrong ; I rather choose To wrong the dead, to wrong myself, and you, Than I will wrong such honorable men. But here's a parchment, with the seal of Caesar ; I found it in his closet, 'tis his will. Let but the commons hear this testament, Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read, And they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds, And dip their napkins in his sacred blood ; Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, And, dying, mention it within their wills, Bequeathing it, as a rich legacy, Unto their issue. FOURTH CITIZEN. We'll bear the will : read it, Mark Antony. ALL. The will, the will! we will hear Caesar's will. EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 449 ANTONY. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it , It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you. You are not wood, you are not stones, but men , And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar, It will inflame you, it will make you mad. 'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs ; For if you should, O, what would come of it ! FOURTH CITIZEN. Read the will ! we'll hear it, Antony , You shall read us the will, Caesar's will. ANTONY. Will you be patient ? will you stay awhile ? I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it. I fear I wrong the honorable men Whose daggers have stabbed Caesar ; I do fear it. FOURTH CITIZEN. They were traitors : honorable men ! ALL. The will ! the testament ! SECOND CITIZEN. They were vilfains, murderers : The will ! read the will ! ANTONY. You will compel me, then, to read the will ? Then make a ring about the corpse of Caesar, And let me show you him that made the will. Shall I descend ? and will you give me leave ? ALL. Come down. SECOND CITIZEN. Descend. THIRD CITIZEN. You shall have leave. [He comes down. FOURTH CITIZEN. A ring ; stand round. FIRST CITIZEN. Stand from the hearse, stand from the body. SECOND CITIZEN. Room for Antony, most noble Antony. ANTONY. Nay, press not so upon me ; stand far off. CITIZENS. Stand back ! room ! bear back ! ANTOXY. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. You all do know this mantle : I remember The first time ever Caesar put it on ; 'Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent, That day he overcame the Nervii : Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through : See, what a rent the envious Casca made : Through this, the well-beloved Brutus stabbed ; And, as he plucked his cursed steel away, Mark how the blood of Caesar followed it As rushing out of doors, to be resolved If Brutus so unkindly knocked, or no ; 450 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel : Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him ! This was the most unkindest cut of all ; For when the noble Caesar saw him stab, Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms, Quite vanquished him : then burst his mighty ( heart ? And in his mantle muffling up his face, Even at the base of Pompey's statua, Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell. O, what a fall was there my countrymen ! Then I, and you, and all of us fell down, Whilst bloody treason nourished over us. O, now you weep ; and, I perceive, you feel The dint of pity : these are gracious drops. Kind souls, what, weep you, when you but behold Our Caesar's vesture wounded ? *Look you here. Here is himself, marred, as you see, with traitors. FIRST CITIZEN. O piteous spectacle ! SECOND CITIZEN. O noble Caesar ! THIRD CITIZEN. O woful day ! FOURTH CITIZEN. O traitors ! villains ! FIRST CITIZEN. O most bloody sight ! SECOND CITIZEN. We will be revenged. CITIZENS. Revenge ! about, seek, burn, fire, kill, slay, let not a traitor live ! ANTONY. Stay, countrymen. FIRST CITIZEN. Peace, there ! Hear the noble Antony. SECOND CITIZEN. We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll die with him. ANTONY. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up To such a sudden flood of mutiny. They that have done this deed are honorable : What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, That made them do it : they are wise and honorable. And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you. I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts : I am no orator, as Brutus is ; But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, That love my friend ; and that they know full well That gave me public leave to speak of him. For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, EXAMPLES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. 451 Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech, To stir men's hlood : 1 only speak right on , I tell you that which you yourselves do know; Show you sweet Caesar's wounds, poor poor dumb mouths, And bid them speak for me : but were I Brutus, And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue In every wound of Caesar, that should move The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny. CITIZENS. We'll mutiny ! FIRST CITIZEN. We'll burn the house of Brutus! THIRD CITIZEN. Away, then ! come, seek the conspirators. ANTONY. Yet hear me, countrymen ; yet hear me speak. CITIZENS. Peace, ho ! Hear Antony, most noble Antony. ANTONY. Why friends, you go to do you know not what. Wherein hath Caesar thus deserved your loves ? Alas, you know not, I must tell you, then : You have forgot the will I told you of. CITIZENS. Most true ; the will : let's stay and hear the will. ANTONY. Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal : To every Roman citizen he gives, To every several man, seventy-five drachmas. SECOND CITIZEN. Most noble Caesar ! we'll revenge his death THIRD CITIZEN. O, royal Caesar ! ANTONY. Hear me with patience. CITIZENS. Peace, ho ! ANTONY. Moreover, lie hath left you all his walks, His private arbors, and new-planted orchards, On this side Tiber : he hath left them you, And to your heirs for ever, common pleasures, To walk abroad, and recreate yourselves. Here was a Caesar ! when comes such another ? FIRST CITIZEN. Never, never ! Come, away, away ! We'll burn his body in the holy place, And with the brands fire the traitors' houses. Take up the body. SECOND CITIZEN. Go, fetch fire ! THIRD CITIZEN. Pluck down benches ! FOURTH CITIZEN. Pluck down forms, windows, anything I [Exeunt Citizens, with the body. ANTONY. Now let it work : mischief, thou art afoot, Take thou what course thou wilt ! CHAPTER XV. DESCRIPTIVE GESTURE. IT is not the purpose in this work to treat of gesture ; but one phase of this subject is of so great importance that it has been deemed advisable to devote a chapter to it, especially as this aspect has never been treated at length in any work known to the author. It is understood, of course, that all gestures describe; but the term Descrip- tive Gesture, as used in this discussion, is intended to ap- ply only to such action as accompanies description. For example, if one should raise his arm over the head while reading the line, " The soldier raised his arm aloft and shouted vociferously," such action would be called de- scriptive gesture. Everybody has noted the ins tine* tive tendency to de- scriptive gesture in children. Nearly every piece of de- scription is acted out, and this habit follows us up to and through adult life. But the question for the artist is, When shall he use it ? Certainly he can claim that he has seen descriptive gesture in actual experience, and henc.e that he is artistic in using it in his reading ; but is there any principle that will assist him to choose among the many possibilities ? It is hoped to answer that question in this chapter. Starting with the child, let us note first that he often accompanies his descriptive gesture with such words as, 452 DESCRIPTIVE GESTURE, 453 " like this." For instance, he says, " I saw a woman scrubbing like this ;" and he acts out the scrubbing. This aspect need not to be dwelt upon, but the student must .be careful to keep this feature of the subject in mind. Sec- ondly, the child quite often u'ses descriptive gesture with- out the "like this." Now, why? Because there is in all of us a tendency, under certain conditions, to become what we describe, so to speak. Of these conditions the most important is a state of great interest in the object or objects described, an interest that at times leads to intense emotion. In childhood we are every day meeting many new experiences that hold our attention and often move us greatly. When we describe these experiences the ten- dency to act them out is almost irresistible, and then comes the descriptive gesture. The child says, " O mamma, I saw a horse running away ;" and he runs as fast as he can. Or, "I saw an elephant in the park;" and he gets down on all fours, and, swaying his head and body from side to side, shows us unconsciously that he has become the elephant. Let it be remembered that this action is unconscious ; the child, unless asked to show how the horse ran, is so stimulated by the sight that he does not imitate the horse, he becomes the horse. Further, he is not animated by all the attributes of the horse (for he runs on two feet, not four), but by that particular attri- bute of the animal which has most stimulated his imagi- nation, i.e., speed; in the case of the elephant, ponderous- ness. Now see what happens after these experiences become trite and familiar. Does the child continue to act them out? As a rule, not. They cease to stimulate as they did at first; and the descriptive gesture is (1) entirely 454 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. eliminated, or (2) reduced to a minimum, or (3) super- seded by manifestive gesture, or (4) is replaced by a combination of descriptive and manifestive gesture. Let us examine each of these possibilities. First. We ask the child what he 1 saw ; and he answers, " I saw a long procession, and after it passed one of the horses ran away." If the running away has been of fre- quent occurrence, or, let us say, the child is busy with his toys when he makes the remark, we can easily perceive that there will be no gesture. Second. If the child is nine or ten years of age he may, in uttering the same words, simply use a rapid sweeping movement of the arm. In this case the gesture is more of a suggestive action and less realistic. The details have disappeared. This is a sympathetic gesture. Third. But suppose the runaway killed a man, and the child was horrified at the sight. In telling of the accident the child may put his hands to his eyes, as if to shut out the sight, or make some other gesture equally expressive of the impression the sight has made upon him. This is the manifestive gesture. Fourth. He may make a sympathetic gesture of the arm, and accompany it by a turning of the head in the opposite direction, with a look of pain or loathing upon the face. There are other possibilities of course, such as moving the arm slowly, with a similar look upon the face. In the former case the arm moves in sympathy with the quick action of the horse, and the attitude and expression of the face manifest the child's feeling. In the latter instance the arm moves in sympathy with the progress of the animal, moves slowly as manifesting the awe or horror of the occasion, and the head turns for some such reason DESCRIPTIVE GESTURE. 455 as that above given. This form of action may be called the manifestive-sympathetic gesture. When we become older, the tendency to make literal descriptive gestures grows less and less. We now make fewer gestures, and those are of the other kinds. It may be well to repeat here that we are not discussing gestures in general, but only those that accompany description. There is, however, a certain class of literal descriptive gestures that are frequently met with. If we are describ- ing an object of peculiar shape, which shape it is of great consequence the audience shall bear in mind, or if it is of vital importance that the audience shall remember certain dimensions, then we note the tendency to act out such description literally. This may be called the gesture of definition. Another kind of imitative gesture is made when one desires to impress auditors with height, depth, extent, or position, where such are necessary to a complete under- standing of the story. For instance, under such circum- stances it is found that a speaker uses gestures to indicate the relative position of a person with regard to others. In this sentence, " The fellow stood with his back to the wall ; Fred was on his right, Charles on his left, and the other soldiers were in front," one often finds, I say, a speaker indicating right, left, and front. The gestures, translated into words, mean, There was a foe on the right, another on the left, and all hope of escape was cut off effectually by the others massed in front. We may safely assert that the gestures are not made to show which direction is right and which left, but to indicate the fact that the man was completely hemmed in. I would sug- gest that this gesture be called the gesture of stage setting. 456 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. We have thus far been considering the descriptive ges- ture as we find it in nature. Let us now turn to the art side. We may preface our study of this aspect by saying that, as a rule, descriptive gestures are greatly overdone. Most readers are prone to act out all, descriptions without regard to the laws of Principality and Subordination. The result is a complete obscuring of the central idea. It is often argued, as has been already stated in another con- nection, that such procedure is necessary in order that the audience may get the picture or idea. Just here lies the reason we should not act out the description. If we act out every description, we act out none. In fact, it were better not to make a gesture at all, for too much gesture is misleading and confusing. Another argument for the plenitude of descriptive ges- turing is that the speaker gesticulated as he felt. I have observed many orators, speaking extempore or memoriter, and have noted this tendency to overact description. After studying the matter carefully, and after conversation with many of these speakers, I have come to believe that the cause of this overdoing is that the speaker loses sight of the whole in the part. His imagination is too easily stimulated, very much like the young child who acts out all his experiences. By constantly yielding to these im- pulses, the habit of acting out every description regardless of proportions is formed, and so the speaker at last incor- porates these gestures as an important feature of his expression. I need hardly remind the student that the objections do not lie against descriptive gestures as such, but against their indiscriminate use. The first question, then, for the reciter to ask himself is not, Can I make a gesture here ? but, May I ? Not, Can I DESCRIPTIVE GESTURE. 457 act out this description ? but, Ought I ? In a word, never make a descriptive gesture of any kind if it can just as well be omitted. In the second place, if it is decided that the descrip- tive gesture is necessary, let the student determine what kind. It is not always easy to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion, but what has been said in the preceding part of this chapter of various aspects of descriptive gesture will be of much value in settling the question. In the third place, the student must be warned against confusion of tenses. Remember, he is speaking to an audience, and speaking now. But it sometimes happens that the past becomes so vivid that the reader actually makes a sympathetic or a manifestive-sympathetic ges- ture. This is perfectly proper at times as showing how intensely interested he is in his narrative. Here we must make an important observation. If the description is more than a sentence or two, in real life we pass alter- nately from a contemplation of the object described to the audience. Not once in a hundred times does one in actual experience become so engrossed in describing the past that he uses the sympathetic gesture without regard to the audience. Whenever it is done, it has a stagey effect. Therefore the simple device of accompanying the gesture with an occasional look at the audience gives the rendi- tion an appearance of truth. It must be noted that sometimes the description is in the historical present. Under such circumstances, when the descriptive gesture is not inappropriate for some of the reasons previously given, it is natural to make such gesture without looking directly at the audience. For instance, the sympathetic gesture is justifiable in describing the conclusion of Ben 458 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. Hur's Chariot Race. But it is ridiculous to pretend that the race is so vivid, and that one regards it so atten- tively, that he forgets his audience. The difference is apparently small ; but it is the difference between art and mechanics, nature and affectation. The same criticism ap- plies to those who pretend they are completely engrossed with the picture described in the following lines from Aux Italiens : " And I turned and looked : she was sitting there In a dim box over the stage ; and dress'd In that muslin dress, with that full soft hair, And the jasmine on her breast." It is true one might be justified in pretending to see the early love ; but the student should note the naturalness of turning occasionally to the audience in the course of read- ing the last two lines. In the fourth place, emotion tends to destroy detail. Suppose we are in the midst of a highly wrought descrip- tion of a battle, and we come to the words, " Having exhausted his ammunition, the brave fellow grasped the barrel of the gun with both hands, and, waving the butt over his head, brought it down with crushing force upon the head of his adversary." Can you not feel the fin- gers close around the imaginary gun ? Do you not feel the impulse to raise the arms and to bring them down with energy ? But let us remark that we do not hold the fingers as if they held a gun-barrel ; they are clinched. We do not wave the arms three or four times around the head, but simply bring them back over the head as if pre- paring to strike with the gun. And finally, we do not stop the arms when the gun strikes the imaginary foe, but continue until we reach the full extent of our blow. The DESCRIPTIVE GESTURE. 459 gestures are instinctive, and grow out of our sympathy with the feelings and actions of the character described. These gestures are not imitative, but the manifestation of a well-known psychological law by which in intense emo- tional description we become what we describe. Remem- ber, the sympathetic gesture is justified by emotion. It would be consistent to clinch the hand and strike out if one were reading such a passage as, " He struck the fel- low a fearful blow with his fist ; " but if for the " a fear- ful blow " we substitute " six fearful blows," it would be ridiculous to make six gestures. And why? (And here is the kernel of the matter.) Because to strike six blows re- quires one to count six , and that is a cool mental condi- tion, directly contradicting the gesture of sympathy which, as before stated, grows out of emotion. Fifthly, we must discriminate between pantomime and gesture accompanying words. In the former it is often necessary to go into detail in order to present the picture ; but in the latter the verbal expression in most cases is sufficient. For example, in the last illustration, if we were dumb we might indicate in gesture the fact that there were six blows ; but whether there were one, two, six, or ten, makes no particular difference. What moves us is the fact that the person struck blows, and it is that fact alone that our gesture expresses. Let the student practice a passage first in pantomime, and then in the usual manner, and he will soon discern how the detail of the former is eliminated in the latter. Sixthly, in farce and humor the effect is often created by reversing all the principles herein laid down. In fact, certain phases of humor are based upon the very exaggera- tion and reversal of natural laws. 460 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. Perhaps there is no better way to inculcate the lessons of this chapter than by the study of examples ; and we shall close our discussion of this very important feature of expression by a study of the following selections : STUDY I. " And when once more within Palermo's wall, And seated on the throne in his great hall, He heard the Angelus from convent towers, As if the better world conversed with ours, He beckoned 1 to King Robert to draw Higher, And with a gesture bade the rest retire 2 And when they were alone, the Angel said, 'Art thou the King ? ' Then, bowing down his head. King Robert crossed both hands upon his breast, 3 And meekly answered him : ' Thou knowest best ! My sins as scarlet are; let me go hence, And in some cloister's school of penitence. Across those stones that pave the way to heaven, Walk barefoot till my guilty soul be shriven.' The Angel smiled,* and from his radiant face A holy light illumined all the place, And through the open window, loud and clear, They heard 5 the monks chant in the chapel near, Above the stir and tumult of the street : ' He has put down the mighty from their seat, And has exalted them of low degree ! ' And through the chant a second melody Rose like the throbbing of a single string : ' I am an Angel and thou art the King ! ' " 1. A gesture here is useless. How he beckoned is of no consequence; and every useless gesture is inartistic, because it takes away from the effect of appropriate gesture. 2. Same principle as 1. The two lines are simply a preparation for what is to follow, and should not hold the attention of the audience to any extent. 3. Here we come to a very interesting and typical example of man- ifestive-sympathetic gesture. The head certainly does bow, and we feel the impulse to cross the hands ; but this is not in imitation of King Robert, but is an expression of our sympathy with the King's fearful sufferings. DESCRIPTIVE GESTURE. 461 Again, we note that if the head were to sink down upon the chest as we read, "bowing down his head," we should be in a very awkward and unnatural position until we come to the words of Robert. We are talking to an audience, and the consciousness that there are words to fol- low prevents the head from sinking to the extent that King Robert's probably did. Problems like this have been great stumbling-blocks for the student, and it is therefore hoped he will study this illustration very carefully. Further, it is probable, if we are genuinely sympathetic, that the bowing of the head and the crossing of the hands will be simultaneous, not consecutive. Let us not be slaves to the rule that so often binds us by telling us that the gesture must accompany the words. In this case the crossing unquestionably precedes the words. Keep the picture clearly before you, and thus test what has been said. There is yet another practical question in this connection : Shall we wait until we come to the King's words before we make the ges- tures ? If we observe human nature about us, we shall find, I think, that the sympathetic gesture accompanies the description. So in art it must do the same. To do otherwise in this particular case looks very much like "putting on." I should also say that it would be improper to keep this attitude to the end. of the speech. The voice, when we are not hampered by hard-and-fast lines, will certainly cease to repre- sent King Robert's tones literally after the first half-dozen words ; and, on the other hand, will manifest our own tender, pathetic joy, as we contemplate the salvation of the King. And this feeling will cause the mere attitude of Robert to cease to influence us ; and so there passes away the literal action, tones, and quality. 4. The smile that appears on our face is not imitative but mani- festive. It manifests the joy we feel over the repentant sinner. It is necessary to grasp this point clearly, for there is much confusion on this subject. 5. I have seen reciters put their hands to their ears to hear, when they came to this word. This is similar to those who always shade their eyes when reading such lines as, "I saw a figure in the distance," regardless whether the light was in their eyes or at their backs. Hoio they heard is of no consequence; it is what they heard and what it meant that interest the audience. STUDY II. " King Robert, who was standing near the throne, Lifted his eyes, and lo! he was alone! 462 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. But all appareled as in days of old, With ermined mantle and with cloth of gold ; And when his courtiers came, they found him there, Kneeling upon the floor, absorbed in silent prayer." 6 C. I know of a reader who knelt here. * Of course he is an excep- tion; but I should like to remind the student that to kneel here is no worse in kind than hundreds of us do under approximately the same conditions, only in this case the ridiculousness is more perceptible. " So said he, and his voice released the heart Of Rustum, and his tears broke forth ; he cast His arms around his son's neck, and wept aloud, And kiss'd him. 7 And awe fell on both the hosts, When they saw Rustum's grief; and Ruksh, the horse, With his head bowing to the ground and mane Sweeping the dust, came near, and in mute woe First to the one then to the other moved His head,* as if inquiring what their grief Might mean ; and from his dark, compassionate eyes, The big warm tears roll'd down, and caked the sand." 7, 8. Let us manifest our feelings as we contemplate this scene. We want no weeping aloud, nor kissing, nor moving of the head. STUDY III. " All into the Valley of Death Rode 9 the Six Hundred." 9. A certain reader holds his hands as if driving a horse. Com- ment is unnecessary. " Cossack and Russian reeVd l(i From the saber-stroke." 10. The same person literally reels. STUDY IV. " Four galleons drew away From the Spanish fleet that day, And two upon the larboard and two upon the starboard lay, 1 ) And the battle-thunder broke from them all." 11. A student was once criticised for indicating the right on " larboard " (left), and the left on "starboard " (right). This is a very interesting passage. I am inclined to believe that it made little differ- ence whether he indicated right or left. Granting for the sake of argu- DESCRIPTIVE GESTURE. 463 ment that it was appropriate to make gestures in this place, it was not to show the listeners which was right and which left that the gestures were made, but rather to show the predicament of the vessel with the enemy on both sides of it. The gestures were those of "stage set- ting," and perhaps expressive of feeling, as the speaker recalled the plight of the brave little craft. Paraphrased, the gestures meant, And I can see that stanch vessel doomed to disaster as the four galleons of Spain surround it. Hence it made little difference whether the speaker gesticulated with the right or left hand on " starboard." The audience knew what starboard meant ; and it was not necessary to make a gesture at all, simply to define the word. I can yet recall the sarcastic tone of the teacher as he remarked, "Mr. Jones, starboard is on the right, if you please." The criticism showed plainly that the teacher had failed to catch the spirit of his pupil. I grant it would have been bet- ter, to avoid such confusion and petty criticism, to have indicated the right when uttering " starboard," but only to avoid petty criticism. There are so many who pounce upon every piece of description as an opportunity for gesture that it is hoped the preceding discussion will encourage the student to make a more careful analysis of the sources of his descriptive gesture in conformity with the principles discussed in this chapter. STUDY V. "Then Rustum raised his head; his dreadful eyes Glared, and he shook on high his menacing spear, And shouted: "Rustum!" Sohrab heard that shout, And shrank amazed: back he recoil'd one step, And scann'd with blinking eyes the advancing form ; And then he stood bewildered, and he dropp'd His covering shield, and the spear pierced his side. He reel'd, and, staggering back, sank to the ground." 12 12. The preceding is an excellent opportunity for the use of sym- pathetic gesture. True, there is an element of manifestive as well ; but the tw r o elements can now be clearly distinguished by the student, so that we can study the sympathetic gesture by itself. Our imagination recalls so vividly the attitude of Sohrab, that unconsciously we do as he did, with this difference, we do not keep on blinking as he did ; nor do we reel, and stagger, and sink to the ground. We may suggest faintly the stagger and the general weakness of the lad, but that is all ; for the sympathetic gesture soon disappears as we realize that the brave son is mortally wounded, and while our arm may drop upon the word " dropp'd " it manifests our despair or horror at the misfortune, and not a desire to imitate Sohrab's action. 464 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. The following extracts include examples of all kinds of descriptive gestures, and should be regarded also as studies in Atmosphere. Through the whole afternoon there had been a tremendous can- nonading of the fort from the gunboats and the land forces ; the smooth, regular engineer lines were broken, and the fresh-sodded em- bankments torn and roughened by the unceasing rain of shot and shell. About six o'clock there came moving up the island, over the burn- ing sands and under the burning sky, a stalwart, splendid-appearing set of men, who looked equal to any daring, and capable of any hero- ism men whom nothing could daunt and few things subdue. As this regiment, the famous Fifty-fourth, came up the island to take its place at the head of the storming-party in the assault on Wag- ner, it was cheered on all sides by the white soldiers, who recognized and honored the heroism which it had already shown, and of which it was to give such new and sublime proof. The evening, or rather the afternoon, was a lurid, sultry one. Great masses of clouds, heavy and black, were piled in the western sky, fringed here and there by an angry red, and torn by vivid streams of lightning. Not a breath of wind stirred the high, rank grass by the water side ; a portentous and awful stillness filled the air the still- ness felt by nature before a devastating storm. Quiet, with the like awful and portentous calm, the black regiment, headed by its young, fair-haired, knightly colonel, marched to its destined place and action. Here the men were addressed in a few brief and burning words by their heroic commander. Here they were besought to glorify their whole race by the luster of their deeds ; here their faces shone with a look which said : " Though men, we are ready to do deeds, to achieve triumphs, worthy of the gods!" here the word of command was given : "We are ordered and expected to take Battery Wagner at the point of the bayonet. Are you ready ? " "Ay, ay, sir ! ready !" was the answer. And the order went pealing down the line : " Ready ! Close ranks! Charge bayonets ! Forward! Double-quick, march !" and away they went, under a scattering fire, in one compact line till within one hundred feet of the fort, when the storm of death broke upon them. Every gun belched forth its great shot and shell ; every rifle whizzed out its sharp-singing, death-freighted messenger. The men wavered not for an instant ; forward forward they went ; plunged DESCRIPTIVE GESTURE. 465 into the ditch ; waded through the deep water, no longer a muddy hue, but stained crimson with their blood ; and commenced to climb the parapet. The foremost line fell, and then the next, and the next. On, over the piled-up mounds of dead and dying, of wounded and slain, to the mouth of the battery ; seizing the guns ; bayoneting the gunners at their posts ; planting their flag and struggling around it ; their leader on the walls, sword in hand, his blue eyes blazing, his fair face aflame, his clear voice calling out : "Forward, my brave boys !" then plun- ging into the hell of battle before him. As the men were clambering up the parapet, their color sergeant was shot dead, the colors trailing, stained and wet, in the dust beside him. A nameless hero sprang from the ranks, seized the staff from his dying hand, and with it mounted upward. A ball struck his right arm ; but ere it could fall shattered by his side, his left hand caught the flag and carried it onward. Even in the mad sweep of assault and death, the men around him found breath and time to hurrah, and those behind him pressed more gallantly forward to follow such a lead. He kept his place, the colors flying (though faint with loss of blood and wrung with agony), up the slippery steep, up to the walls of the fort ; on the wall itself, planting the flag where the men made their brief, splendid stand, and melted away like snow before furnace-heat. Here a bayonet thrust met him and brought him down, a great wound in his brave breast, but he did not yield ; dropping to his knees, press- ing his unbroken arm upon the gaping wound ; bracing himself against a dead comrade ; the colors still flew, an inspiration to the men about him, a defiance to the foe. At last, when the shattered ranks fell back, sullenly and slowly retreating, it was seen by those who watched him that he was painfully working his way downward, still holding aloft the flag, bent evidently on saving it, and saving it as flag had rarely, if ever, been saved before. Now and then he paused at some impediment ; it was where the dead and dying were piled so thickly as to compel him to make a detour. Now and then he rested a moment, to press his arm tighter against his torn and open breast. Slowly, painfully, he dragged himself onward step by step down the hill, inch by inch across the ground to the door of the hos- pital ; and then, while dying eyes brightened, while dying men, held back their souls from the eternities to cheer him, gasped out : " I did but do my duty, boys and the dear old flag never once touched the ground :" and then, away from the reach and sight of its foes, in the midst of its defenders, who loved and were dying for it, the flag at last fell. DICKENSON, The Attack on Battery Wagner. 466 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. And underneath another sun Warring on a later day, Round affrighted Lisbon drew The treble works, the vast designs Of his labor'd rampart lines, Where he greatly stood at bay, Whence he issued forth anew, And ever great and greater grew, Beating from the wasted vines Back to France her banded swarms, Back to France with countless blows, Till o'er the hills her eagles flew Beyond the Pyrenean pines, Follow'd up in valley and glen With blare of bugle, clamor of men, Roll of cannon and clash of arms, And England pouring on her foes. TENNYSON, Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington. But, with a grave mild voice, Sohrab replied : " Desire not that, my father ! thou must live. For some are born to do great deeds, and live, As some are born to be obscured, and die. Do thou the deeds I die too young to do, And reap a second glory in thine age; Thou art my father, and thy gain is mine. But come! thou seest this great host of men Which follow me; I pray thee, slay not these ! Let me entreat for them; what have they done? They follow'd me, my hope, my fame, my star. Let them all cross the Oxus back in peace. But me thou must bear hence, not send with them, But carry me with thee to Seistan, And place me on a bed, and mourn for me, Thou, and the snow-hair'd Zal, and all thy friends, And thou must lay me in that lovely earth, And heap a stately mound above my bones, And plant a far-seen pillar over all. That so the passing horseman on the waste May see my tomb a great way off, and cry: ' Sohrab, the mighty Rustum's son, lies there, . Whom his great father did in ignorance kill .' And I be not forgotten in my grave.' " 13 M. ARNOLD, Sohrab and Rustum. 13. The student should know that Sohrab is lying wounded unto death throughout this entire speech, and that hence what "the passing DESCRIPTIVE GESTURE. 467 horseman " will be represented as saying must be uttered in the char- acter of Sohrab. Then quickly rose Sir Bedivere, and ran, And, leaping down the ridges, lightly, plunged Among the bulrush beds, and clutch'd the sword, And strongly wheel'd and threw it. The great brand Made lightnings in the splendor of the moon, And flashing round and round, and whirl'd in an arch, Shot like a streamer of the northern morn, Seen where the moving isles of winter shock By night, with noises of the Northern Sea. So flash'd and fell the brand Excalibur : But ere he dipt the surface, rose an arm Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful, And caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him Three times, and drew him under in the mere. Thereat, once more he moved about, and clomb Ev'n to the highest he could climb, and saw, Straining his eyes beneath an arch of hand, Or thought he saw, the speck that bare the King,, Down that long water opening on the deep Somewhere far off, pass on and on, and go From less to less and vanish into light. And the new sun rose bringing the new year. TENNYSON, The Passing of Arthw CHAPTER XVI. PREPARATION OF RECITATIONS. THE student has observed that the method adopted in this work has been, first, through careful analysis of the text, to develop his powers of discrimination ; second, to teach him to rely upon natural instincts and impulses for proper expression ; third, to make clear that to a very great extent this process will develop range, power, flexi- bility, and quality of voice ; and fourth, he has been shown the relation between Recitation and Literature. It must be borne in mind, however, that there is another aspect of this work. Recitai^un of one's own compositions or those of another is an art, and this phase of the study is to be touched upon in this chapter. The theory underlying the present method differs from most of those heretofore in vogue, and many still followed, in that it endeavors to develop powers of expression through the power of feeling. Since recitation makes use of in- flections and melodies, fast time and slow time, high pitch and low pitch, this quality and that, therefore most pre- vious methods began with a mechanical study of these elements. This was only in a very limited degree educa- tional, and simply gave the pupil the power to execute certain mechanical exercises, often leaving undeveloped the intellect, the imagination, and the emotions. But even when the student has developed these powers of mind, 468 PREPARATION OF RECITATIONS. 469 he cannot attain artistic effects without a knowledge of how to use the technique of his art. 1 He must study art in general and literary art in particular before he can attain to this knowledge. The point is, in what way can he best bring out the conception of the author. He must understand the manner in which thoughts are apprehended by an audience ; and the following hints are given to him as guides for future use. There are two things to be done : first, to discover the significant detail ; and second, to determine how to present that detail. As already stated, recitation is a reproductive art ; it reproduces literature. Hence it is necessary first to appre- hend thoroughly the selection with which one is to deal. By analysis and reflection one has conceived the meaning of his recitation, both as a whole and in parts ; and his purpose now should be to determine how the effects of literary art may best be translated into the effects of lecitational art. Through Tinie, P|tc,h, Force, and Qual- ity. .oi-J^oice,- and, through Action, all effects must be ren- dered. As far as the purpose of this book permits, the meaning and use of these elements have been explained. It remains now to warn the student that all the knowl- edge of technique and all mere technical ability is of no avail unless he has first mastered his selection as literature, and second, knows where to use his technique. There are hundreds who have excellent technique, but who fail as i A great deal of what seems to be unnecessary confusion exists regarding the meaning of this term. It is used very freely to mean not only mechanical facility, but also that facility plus the knowledge of where to use it, a meaning which leads to confusion. Technique is " a collective term for all that relates to the purely mechanical part of either vocal or instrumental performance. The technique of a performer may be perfect, and yet his playing . . . fail to interpret intelligibly the ideas of the composer." These words from the Century Dictionary ought to settle this misunderstanding effectually. 470 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. artists for one or both of two reasons : either through lack of literary appreciation, or a failure to use the right form of expression at the right time. The student is reminded that this entire volume is written with the object of assist- ing him to a higher and keener literary insight ; and he must bear in mind that only a hint can be added in this place towards helping his artistic rendition. );$ pace re- mains for only one example of the significant detail in lit- erature and its artistic rendering; but it is typical, and may therefore, prove helpful. The opening lines of King Robert of Sicily afford a good illustration of a very common feature in recitation. The student will note that the sentence is so arranged as to defer the adverb until near the end, and then it is put in most significant juxtaposition to the word "vespers.'' Pride and the spiritual condition implied by the reference to vespers are mutually exclusive. No more striking device could have been made use of by the author than this to manifest the arrogance of the king. The climax of the sentence is reached in the words, " at vespers, proudly sat," and from there the melody steadily declines to the period. In other words, the melody gradually rises to " vespers," reaches its apex on " proudly," and its descent thereafter leaves the "vespers" and "proudly" on the crest of the melodic wave. It can readily be seen that if these two words are slurred, the most significant point in the introduction is thereby lost sight of. Again, the concluding lines of the first section of this poem offer another example. If the reader gives simply the idea that King Robert yawned a'nd fell asleep, he will, in all probability, give the "yawned" with comparatively little effect ; but when we discern that this couplet is the PREPARATION OF RECITATION. 471 climax of the act, the rendition is at once affected. King Robert desires by his act to convey his utter contempt for religion and for God, and his act is boldly defiant to the will of God. Hence, the rendering of the lines will be slow and imposing, and will state in effect, And the proud monarch, arrogant, overbearing, self-sufficient, with the words of God's solemn warning ringing in his ears, showed his utter contempt for religion by yawning and falling asleep. If these two lines are not meant as a climax, the author would have had too much good sense to insert them where he did. They present Robert's crowning act of defiance. The study of emotion has taught the reader how care- ful he must be not to let his temperament mar the repre- sentation of his characters. He must be constantly on his guard lest he destroy the reading through a failure to regard this vital admonition. Again, he must consecrate himself to his art. Let neither policy nor vainglory lead him ever to sacrifice his author for effect. Many aspirants who have failed bear testimony to the inevitable result that follows a striving after effect for effect's sake. As to the manner in which the important ideas will be brought out, whether by pitch or force or time or _jpiality, the student must determine according to the principles laid down in this book. Let him read his lines carefully, and let his ear judge whether the voice is cor- rectly representing his intention. After that let him as- sociate the expression with the words until the proper expression becomes a part of his thinking. The author's own method is first to make a careful analysis of the text, including the thought, emotion, and character 01 472 MENTAL TECHNIQUE. characters. Out of this study comes a knowledge of the proportions. Then he reads his lines, paying no regard whatsoever to form, and yet observing carefully that form after its manifestation. Looking at it in retrospect, so to speak, his knowledge of what the various forms convey are his touchstone, and if the form is satisfactory, it is practiced until it becomes habit. If it is not, he reads the passage again and again, until the rendition is as good as he can make it, and then fixes it as mentioned before. The reader must bear in mind the limitation of the medium in which he works. He cannot sit down as Brutus and stand as CassiuL in the same scene. He can not, except in burlesque, pitch his voice at the top of the gamut to represent a woman, without losing the ability to represent the deep and tender emotions. The same ad- monition is given to women reading men's parts. All that has been said concerning Principality, Contrast, Cli- max, Subordination, and so forth, applies to the prepara- tion of selections ; and the only advice one can give a student is that he endeavor honestly to represent his au- thor, and then ask a discerning, candid critic to show him his faults. X Summarizing, I should say, let the reader, after he has studied the text, abandon himself to his selection. Then let art pass judgment on the instinct, and finally let there l)e such careful practice as shall make correct artistic ren- dition a second nature. \ Last of all, we must get an answer to the question, How is it possible to render an emotion one has never felt? The answer is, We cannot. In some way most of us have experienced the gamut of emotions ; and the prob- lem is to combine these experiences in a new way, or PREPARATION OF RECITATION. 473 sometimes merely to increase their intensity. To illus- trate, one may never have felt the loathing that Shylock bears Antonio; but have we not all loathed something? The reader needs only to call up the conception of loath- ing, and he can express it. It should not be forgotten, however, that in the particular case of Shylock it is his loathing, not ours, we must represent. The whole problem respecting emotion is summed up in the above illustration. It is always a question of call- ing np past experiences, and applying them to the particu- lar case in point. How this is done has been discussed under the study of Emotion. / Throughout this section of the work, the author has felt the exceeding difficulty OL his task. It is a delicate matter to describe how a ce y^in line should be read, or how a certain gesture should be made. The least false note may destroy the entire interpretation. But he has this satisfaction, that no one writing upon an art subject has ever been more than suggestive, and for those who have no literary or artistic taste all endeavor to inculcate artistic principles through the printed page alone must prove a failure. But he hopes that for those who have the germ of this, there may be sufficient suggestion to inspire them to a higher conception of art and aesthetic expression. INDEX TO SUBJECTS. Abdominal Muscles, 201-204. Action, suited to different types, 28, 29. Additional meaning implied by tone, 3. Affirmation with incompleteness, 71, 72, 234 ; inflection of, 72. Anticipation, 55, 227 ; slide of, 5G. Antony's Funeral Oration analyzed, 31, 32, 432. Arm Movements, 173, 174. Art, Recitation as, 31G. Articulating Organs, 197-201 ; lips, 198 ; tongue, 198. Artistic Study of voice, 184, 185. Assertion, 6G ; inflection of, 75, 76 ; para- phrase for, G7. Assumption, G6 ; paraphrase for, G7. Atmosphere, discussed, 345 ; of dignity, 345 ; of joy and fear, 34G ; of sympathy, 351 ; studies in, 352 ; Descriptive Ges- ture studied in connection with, 464. Bible, passages illustrating types of ut- terance, 32, 33 ; formulation, cases of, 40, 41 ; grouping, 46, 47 ; discrimina- tive relations, 76-78 ; emotion, 98 ; volition, 115 ; musical properties, 158, 159. Breathing, slow and fast, 176. Cadence, False, 237. Central Idea, 237; studies in, 239; en- hanced by climax, 325. Chain of reasoning, 38. Chart, vocal, 170, 171. Chest, office in vocalization, 172-185 ; ex- pansion of, 174-176. Chords, vocal, 194-197. Chromatic intervals, 143. Circumflexes, falling, 70 ; rising, 72 ; wave, 71. Climax, definition of, 368 ; of signifi- cance, 368 ; of intensity, 369 ; difficult and complex forms of, 3G9 ; gradation considered in connection with, 371 ; artistic, 373. Color, exponent of emotion, 29, 80. Comparison or Contrast, with affirma- tion, 70, 233 ; inflection of, 70, 71 ; with incompleteness, 71, 234. Completeness of thought, 50 ; para- phrase for, 56. Complex relations, 70-74 ; paraphrase for, 72. Comprehensive thought, 38. Conclusive thought, 39. Condition, 55. Continuative falling slide, 75. Contrast, law of, 325 ; illustrations of, 359 ; kinds of, 359. Conversational manner, 272. Counting, 177. Criticism, 160-166 ; popular, 161 ; techni- cal or scholarly, 161 ; objective prop- erties of, 164 ; subjective properties of, 164 ; purpose as related to, 166 ; paraphrase as related to, 166. Degrees of Pitch in inflection, 75. Delivery, objective properties of, 164 ; subjective properties of, 164, 165. Descriptive Gesture defined, 452 : stud- ied in connection with atmosphere, 464 ; kinds of, 454. Diagram, for finality, 52; for complex relations, 73 ; for melody, 144. Diatonic intervals, small, 143; large, 143. 475 476 INDEX TO SUBJECTS. Discrimination, denned, 49; action suited to, 28 ; relation to breathing, 181 ; vo- cal means of expression, 50 ; studies in, 224. Diversion, 378. Doubt, 61, 231 ; inflection, G2 ; paraphrase for, 62. Ear, limited receiving capacity, 3. Earnestness, 253. Elevated Feeling, 276 ; how to develop, 277 ; exercises, 278. Elocution, denned, 2 ; relation to thought, 2-4. Emphasis, defined, 238. Emotion, action suited to, 29 : relations of, 79 ; means of expression, 80 ; rela- tion to breathing, 181 ; studies in, 253 j complexity in, 261 ; earnestness a form of, 253; personation and, 259; relation of experience to, 472. Expansion, of chest, 174-176 ; symmetri- cal, 176. Expression, complexity of, 260. Feeling, normal, 81, 272 ; elevated, 83, 276; suppressed, 86, 285; oppressed, or covered, 88, 291 ; stern, severe, or harsh, 90, 287 ; paraphrase for, 92 ; agitated, 93, 293 ; paraphrase for, 96. Finality, 50, 224. Force, exponent of volition, 29. Formulation, cases of, 34 ; action suited to, 28; relation to breathing, 178; vocal means of expression, 28 ; studies in, 209 ; Movement and Pause, two elements of, 223. Generalized thought, 38. Gesture (see Descriptive Gesture). Gradation, considered, 373. Grouping, General principles, 42-47, 216 ; independent of punctuation, 217. Hendiadys, 43. Incompleteness, grammatical and for- mal, 54-60 ; paraphrase for, 56: indi- rect and inferential forms of, 60-66. Individuality in expression, 162. Inflection, definition and uses, 50 ; of momentary completeness, 52 ; of sub- ordination, 54; of anticipation, 56; of negation, 61 ; of supplication, 64 ; of degrees of pitch, 75 ; of assertion, 75 ; of comparison or contrast with affirmation, 70 ; of comparison or con- trast with incompleteness, 71 ; of affir- mation with incompleteness, 71. Interlude, psychology of, 380. Interpretation, office in reading, 9. Interrogation, 62 ; inflection of, 63 ; para- phrase for, 63 ; direct, 232 ; figurative, 232. Intervals, in Melody, 143 ; small diatonic, 143 ; large diatonic, 143 ; chromatic, 143 ; minor, 143 ; unusual, 143. Introduction, 34-37 ; explanatory, 35 ; adaptive, 35 ; conciliatory, 36 ; incen- tive, 36 ; movement, 37. Inversion as a test of assertive emphasis, 67. Jaw, uses and exercises, 188-191. Keys, 139 ; of different voices, 142. King Robert of Sicily, 415. Lip, 198. Literary Analysis, examples of, 408 ; King Robert of Sicily, 415 ; Mark An- tony's Funeral Oration, 432. Literary Art, principles of, 324. Literature, relation of, to recitation, 324 ; two elements of, 386 ; analyzed, 386 ; King Robert of Sicily, analyzed, 415; Mark Antony's Funeral Ora- tion, analyzed, 432 ; relation between recitation and, 468; recitation repro- duces, 469. Loose Structure, 51. Melody, 139; intervals in, 143; trend of, 143 ; diagramming, 144 ; illustrations from music, 147-151 ; illustrated by the Erl-King, 151-154. Minor intervals, 143. Modifications of thought by intonation, 3,4. Momentary Completeness, 50 ; slide of, 52 ; drills in, 244 ; optional, 228 ; pre- ponderance of, 229. INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 477 Movement, 30, 117 ; slow, 118, 209 ; fast, 119, 212 ; relation of, to types of utter- ance, 120, 121 ; law of, 325 ; discussed, 336 ; typical examples of, 214. Musical properties of speech, 116-159. Negative or Non-affirmative statement, GO, 230 ; slide of, Gl ; paraphrase for, 61. Objective vs. subjective paraphrasing, 99 ; in criticism, 164, 1G5. Onomatopoeia, 387. Oppressed, or covered feeling, 291. Oral cavity, 192-194. Overtones, 154. Pantomimic Expression must precede vocal, 80, 91 ; of normal feeling, 82; of elevated feeling, 83 ; of suppressed ' feeling, 86 ; of oppressed feeling, 90 ; of harsh feeling, 91 ; of agitated feel- ing, 94 ; of abrupt volition, 104 ; of insistent volition, 104 ; of uplifting volition, 107 ; of volition of establish- ment, 110 ; of volition of violence, 112. Paraphrase, for expression, 9 ; objective, 12 ; subjective, 12 ; expansive, 13 ; el- liptical, 16 ; condensative, 17 ; pro- saic, 19 ; to reve'al completeness or incompleteness, 5G ; to reveal nega- tion, 61; for supplication, 65; for assertion and assumption, 67; for complex relations, 72 ; for suppressed feeling, 88 ; for harsh feeling, 92 ; for agitated feeling, 9f ; for volition, 99, 111, 113, 115; as related to criticism, 160. Pause, The, as an expressive element, 219 ; relat'on of emotion to, 221. Pauses, 42; grammatical, 43 ; rhetorical. 4.'*>; prosodial, 44 ; euphonic, 44. Periodic structure, 56. Personation, 259. Phases, studies in, 403. Phrasing (see Grouping). Physiology, relations to expression, 6, 8. Pitch, exponent of discrimination, 29, 50, 237. Poise, necessary for normal quality, 83 ; definitions and exercises, 173. Principality, law of, 325 ; discussed, 331 ; and Subordination, studies in, 338. Propagation of tone, 172. Proportion, in recitation, 329. Proposition, 37-39, formal, 37; defini- tive, 38 ; weighty, 38. Psychology, relations to expression, 1-7. Purpose, relation to expression, 27 ; formulative, 28; discriminative, 28; emotional, 29 ; volitional, 29 ; final and immediate as governing analysis, 30; general and special, 30; manifes- tations of, 161 ; formation of, 161 ; as related to criticism, 16G. Quality, exponent of emotion, 29, 80 ; definition of, 80 ; pure, 82 ; expanded pure, 83 ; aspirated, 87 ; pectoral, 90 ; rigid or tense, 91 ; tremulous, 94 ; as special property, 154 ; as dependent upon overtones, 154 ; practical study of, 82, 83. Recitation as art, 316 ; relation of lit- erature to, 324, 468 ; preparation of, 468 ; a reproductive art, 469. Relation between manner and matter, 5. Repetition discussed, 380. Rhetoric, relations to expression, 1-7. Rhythm of speech, 121-139; poetic, 122- 125; prose, 125-139; abrupt, 126; in- sistent, 128 ; gliding, 128 ; weighty, 129 ; example analyzed, 133 ; poetic feet in hymns, 158, 159. Sequences of dominant types, 30. Slide, falling, 52 ; of momentary com- pleteness, 52 : of subordination, 54; of anticipation, 56 : of negation, 61. Stern, Severe, or Harsli Feeling, exam- ples of, 287. Stress, defined, 29; initial, 104; final, 107, 305 ; median, 109 ; thorough, 111; compound 112 (see also Volition). Style, reaction of expression upon, 3. Subjective vs. objective paraphrasing, 99. Subordination, 54, 22G ; slide of, 54 ; phases of, 247; discussed, 332; de- grees of, 251. Substitution of poetic feet, 158, 159. 478 INDEX TO SUBJECTS. Supplication, 64, 233 ; paraphrase for, 65 ; inflection of 66. Suppressed Feeling, examples of, 285. .Suspense, 56. Technique of expression denned, 6 ; vocal, 167-206 ; use of, 319. Textures, relation to emotion, 80. " That" and " Which," 53. Thought through tone, 1, 2. Thought weakened, 3 ; subjective rela- tion of speaker, 4. Throat, offices and exercises, 185-188. Time, exponent in formulation, 28. Tone-color a phase of literary art, 385 ; denned, 387 ; illustrations of, 390. Tongue exercises, 191, 198. Transition, 39, 40, 41 ; examples of, 396 ; emotional, 400. Type of Utterance denned, 27 ; sequence of, 30 ; adaptation of elements of vo- cality to, 178-184. Unity tested by condensative para- phrase, 19 ; defined, 324 ; illustrated, 326 ; relation of proportion to, 329. Unusual intervals, 143. Vocal Chart, 170, 171. Vocal Chords, 194-197. Vocal technique, 167-206. Volition denned, 99 ; action suited to, 29; paraphrase for, 99, 111, 113; abrupt, 102, 296 ; insistent, 104, 304 ; uplifting, 107 ; of establishment, 110, 313; of violence, 112,314; relation to breathing, 183 ; vocal means of ex- pression, 29 ; studies in, 296 ; energy of uplift, 309. Wave, 71. ' Which " and " That," 53. Will, relation to expression, 31 ; rela- tion to volition, 99. FOURTEEN DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. JOJan'56j/J- DEC 2 8 1955 LU 9Jun'60BB REC'D LD 1 JUN8 1950 1 ^^ REC'D LD JUL ?. 1 1.QR3 LD 21-100m-2,'55 (B139s22)476 University of California Berkeley 01932