4 ANALYTIC ELOCUTION ' CONTAINING STUDIES, THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL, OF EXPRESSIVE SPEECH BY iJ^ JAMES E. MURDOCH ij Author of " The Stage " and " A Plea for Spoken Language ' NEW-YORK .:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 9f\< M^Ty- By the Author of Murdoch's Analytic Elocution: A Plea for the Study of Spoken Language: History of the develops mtnt of the best system of Elocution, including brief treatment of sys- tems formerly used, and an Appendix containing Barber s Essay on Rhythmus, and HilVs Essay on Elocution. 12 mo. .full cloth, 320//, $1.00. Copyright, 1884, by Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co. ^'rv??^' PREFACE In an experience extending over forty years, I have been brought to the conviction that vocal culture is what is most needed in the stuc y of Elocution ; for this reason, in the present nfanual I have forriulated exercises adapted to the use of classes in the different grales of the schools. The exercises are in all cases in consonance wit I nature's laws. The speaking voice, by a proper process of trailing, is as capable of development in strength, beauty, and flex- ibil ty as the singing voice. 1 he rapidity and carelessness of social and business habit in spe ;ch, in a great measure, cost us the grace and beauty of our Ian juage by depriving it of quantity and quality ; and slovenliness of iction in the organs deprives the elements of the resonance be- lon ring to their full and correct utterance. Mechanical mincing era nps the vowels, and deprives consonants of vocal power. The theory and practice of a true method should develop the voc al powers, side by side with the growth of the mind, and by the time the student has reached the high schools and institutions of ad^ anced learning, he should be able to deliver his essays and papers wit h the same proficiency that he displays in their verbal or written for n. "he scholar, in gaining control and use of the voice in the expres- sio I of all the emotions, unconsciously to himself, overcomes that coi strained, awkward bearing, which in many cases arises from the coi viction that he does not know /lozu to do that which is required of him. do not consider that the treatment of the subject in the present mr nual is an exhaustive one. The art is, it may be said, in its inl incy, and certain principles require elaboration which in time wi 1 be universally understood. have made use of the older authorities in all cases where I have fei: that they are as valuable as when first presented for use; — not th It I do not draw from all sources, the modern as well as those of ea lier generations. It is the student's business tp keep abreast of (iii) 258775 iv Preface. the times, and it is a rare thing with me to lay down any work of merit pertaining to my art without having widened my information, and also having noted the fact for future use. I have not attemptefi an exposition of the subject-matter by the use of my own notations ; I have preferred those of Rush, and others who have followed his lead, inasmuch as the diagrams given are finely illustrative of the principles of melodic progression and cadence. The emphatic significance and distinctive enforcement of these have never been exhaustively interpreted and applied to in- structive purposes. They present a well defined method of eluci- dating the meaning of an author, and of giving proper expression to the sentiment or passion conveyed in language. The notations, in all cases, are not to be considered as the fixed and determinate modes of utterance; on the contrary, they simply express the notator's rendering of certain passages ; and the symbols employed are capable of conveying to another the author's meaning in the absence of vocal illustration. Gesture of face, hands, and figure must be studied from standard works on that subject, and should in no case be taught until spon- taneously at the command of the teacher. In '■'■ A Plea for Spoken Language " I have introduced Aaron Hill's studies in expression, which I recommend to all students of Elocution. This work may be considered as an aid to '■'■ RusselVs Vocal Culture,'''' the joint work of Prof. William Russell and myself, prepared at the time that my School of Oratory in Boston was in operation. The methods of Vocal Drill employed were in accordance with my studies in anatomy and physiology, and were endorsed by many of the leading physicians of Boston, among whom were Drs. Humphrey Storer, Winslow Lewis, Edward Reynolds, and others. Now that my work in the direction of general teaching is draw- ing to a close, I dedicate to my daughter, Mrs. R. Murdoch Hollingshead, who has been associated with me in my work, and to the teachers of the future, the work in which I have labored to sim- plify and make practical Dr. Rush's '■^Philosophy of the Voice,''^ which I consider the most complete system ever offered to the student of Elocution. James E. Murdoch. Roadside," Cincinnati, O., May 15, 1884. CONTENTS HA TER I, — Introductory Outline of Principles II. — Mechanism of the Voice Exercises in Breathing Exercises in Breathing The Catch Breath Exercise IT!.— Pitch r^. — The Concrete Movement Concrete Intervals and Waves Forms of Stress on the Concrete ^ — The Elements of Language Table of Tonic Elements Table of Subtonic Elements Table of Atonic Elements VL — Production of Tonic Sounds Vl I. — Exercises on the Tonic Elements Tables of Notation Concrete Intervals Discrete Intervals . Indefinite Syllables /III. — Exercises on the Subtonic Elements Tables ..... I i. — Exercises on the Atonic Elements Tables of Short Tonics, Abrupt Subtonic Atonic Elements Division of Syllables . i. — Exercises on the Elements in Syllabic Combin Tonic Elements . Subtonic and Atonic Elements Words of more than One Syllable Ariiculative Exercises . > I. — Articulation and Vocal Culture Words .... Studies in Enunciation XI. — Implication, with Exercises for Practice (v) vi Contents. CHAPTER PAGB XIII.— The Mode of Utterance 127 XIV.— Quality . . .129 Examples in Natural Quality . , . • I35 The Call . . .146 Orotund Quality 148 Aspirated Quality .168 Guttural Quality 171 Pectoral Quality 175 Falsetto Quality 176 XV. — Practice on the Concrete 178 Radical Stress 179 Final Stress 183 Median Stress 187 Thorough Stress 190 Compound Stress 191 The Loud Concrete ...... 192 Tremor 193 XVI. — Relation between Mind and Voice .... 198 XVII. — Diatonic Melody 206 Triad of the Cadence 214 Full Cadence 214 First Duad 214 Second Duad . . . . . The Feeble Cadence The Prepared Cadence 216 False Cadence 217 Exercises on Melodic Successions . . , 218 Exercises on the Phrases of Melody . . . 219 Examples of Different Forms of Cadence . . 220 XVIII. — Intonation at Pauses . 222 Examples for Practice ..... 229 Downward Movement in Diatonic Melody . 232 XIX. — Expressive Intonation 236 Wider Downward Movements .... 239 The Semitone •••.... 242 XX. — Uses of the Wave in Expression .... 247 The Wave of the Second 250 The Unequal Wave 252 The Double and Continued Waves . . . 253 XXI. — Uses of the Tremor in Expression .... 258 215 215 Contents. ' vii CHAPTER PAGE Exercises for Practice 261 Exercise in Laughing ..... 263 XXII. — Interrogative Intonation 264 Rule I 268 Rule II 269 Rule III 270 Rule IV 271 Rule V 272 Rule VI 274 Grammatical Questions requiring Downward Intonation 276 XXIII. — Expressive Melody ; Sentential Pitch; Transition in Pitch 281 Sentential Pitch 283 Transition in Pitch . . . . . . 284 General Divisions in Pitch .... 294 >.'XIV. — Force . . 303 Examples . . . ' . . . . . 307 XXV.— Stress— Radical 315 ::XVI.— Final Stress 327 X XVII. — Median Stress 332 XXVIIL— Thorough Stress 338 .Compound Stress 340 The Loud Concrete . . . . . . 341 Semitone 341 Tremor ........ 342 Concluding Remarks on Stress . . . 346 CXIX. — Time: Quantity and Movement .... 349 Quantity . . . . . . . -349 Movement . 351 Examples ........ 354 XXX.— Pauses 364 Pauses of Sense ...... 364 Pauses of Emotion ...... 374 Exercises 376 XXXI. — Rhythmus or Measure of Speech .... 378 :XXII. — Accent 396 X XXIII.— Emphasis .' . .399 Examples, classified ...... 414 > XXIV. — Interjections and Exclamatory Sentences . . 420 Vlll Contents. SELECTIONS. Eulogy on Wendell Phillips The Character of our Savior The Human Voice .... Love of Change .... Speech in the Knapp Trial Parallel between Pope and Dryden . Benevolence and Charity . Reflections on Westminster Abbey . The Man of Genius .... The Ampitheatre of Titus Dialogue between King John and Hubert Scene from '* The Iron Chest " Scene from Henry V • . Scene from Richard III . Scene from Hamlet . . . The Prodigal . . Select Passages from the Book of Job Selections from the Book of Isaiah . The Vision of Sir Launfal Extracts from "The Voyage of Life New England's Chevy Chase . Song of the Greek Bard . The Destruction of Sennacherib Sandalphon ..... The Ride of Collins Graves Crabbed Age and Youth . Antony and Cleopatra Thomas Buchanan Read . Song from " The Wild Wagoner of the Allegh Dying in Harness .... Mary of Castle Cary The Spinning Wheel Song . ' Catawba Wine ..... The King of Yvetot Nearer, my God, to Thee . A Hymn ...... A Safe Stronghold .... Geo. Wm. Curtis. Edward John 0. W. Holmes. Ruskin. Daniel Webster. Samuel Johnson. Steele. " Spectator.'''' Ruskin. Gibbon. Shakespeare. George Colman. Shakespeare. Shakespeare. Shakespeare. Bible. Bible. Bible. Lowell. . • Janvier. Everett Hale. Byron. Byron. Longfellow. Boyle O'Reilly. Wm. H. Lytle. . Janvier. anies" Read. John Boyle O'Reilly. . Hector Macneil. John Francis Waller. Longfellow. . Ber anger. Sarah F. Adams. Addison, . Martin Luther. 433 435 437 440 443 445 446 449 45 » 452 454 455 457 459 461 464 465 468 469 472 476 478 481 481 483 485 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 496 497 498 499 ANALYTIC ELOCUTION. Chapter I. Introductory Outline of Principles. 1. Spoken Language is employed to declare that which passes in the human mind in its various states and con ditions. All that passes in the mind may be reduced to two heads, — ideas and emotions. By ideas we mean all simple per:eptions or thoughts. By emotions, all the effects pro- du( ed upon the mind by those ideas, including the calmer fee ings or sentiments which result from a stimulation of the fancy or the imagination, and those states of violent me ital agitation arising from the excitement of the strong- est passions. The speaking voice possesses distinct means for declar- ing these several states of thought, sentiment, and passion thr )ugh the varied employment of its constituent elements. 2. The two great ends of elocution, or the study of spc ken language for artistic purposes, are: (i) To improve and develop the voice to its fullest capacity as regards be; uty, power, and flexibility. (2) To adapt it to the cor- rect and natural utterance of all thought, sentiment, or pa^ sion. The two constantly react upon each other, for in study- ing, the vocal elements employed in the utterance of lan- (ix) '''}?.''} '': C'**'* I j^^Tciojh's Elocution. guage, their character, and correct production by the organs, — the voice is developed, and the ear and mind are at the same time accustomed to the value of sounds in their relation to thought and passion. 3. All of the elements of spoken language, articulate and expressive, are comprehended under the five follow- ing heads, which designate the five generic properties of the voice: Pitch, Quality, Force, Abruptness, and Time. A study of these five properties in detail, and of the multiplied combinations of their several forms, degrees, and varieties, familiarizes the student with all the articulative and expressive powers of speech. 4. Pitch relates to the variation of the voice with re- gard to acuteness or gravity, or high and low, on what is termed in music the scale. It is a primary element of effect and significance in speech, and may, in all its vari- eties, be brought perfectly under the command of the organs for the purposes of art. 5. Quality is the kind of voice, and is popularly desig- nated as 7'ough^ smooth, harsh, full, thin, musical, etc. It is here more definitely described under the divisions of the natural, the aspirated, the falsetto, an improved quality called the orotund, the pectoral, and guttural. 6. Force is a term used to designate the power, energy, or intensity with which a sound of the voice is uttered. Its degrees are designated by the terms loud, soft, forcible, weak, strong, feeble, vehement, and moderate. The different forms of its specific application are exhibited in what is called stress, or the application of force to certain parts or to the whole of the extent of a syllable. 7. Abruptness is the suddenness, combined with (a greater or less degree of) fullness, with which every syllabic sound may be opened. It may vary from the most delicate, but clear opening of a syllable, to its most violent or forcible explosion. Outline of Principles. 1 1 8. Time is the duration or measure of sound. With re^^rd to individual syllables, it is called quantity, and mtans the duration of sound heard on each, — as the long qumtity or short quantity of a syllable. When the simple term quantity is employed, long quantity is understood. Time also relates to the rapidity or slowness of utter- ance in the succession of any series or aggregate of words. Thus, a sentence is said to be uttered in quick, slow, or moderate time. Time has relation, also, to pauses, either between words or groups of words; also, to rhythmus, or the musical m jasure of speech. 9. Elocution may then be defined as the art of so em- pbying the Quality, Pitch, Force, Time, and Abruptness of the voice as to convey the sense, sentiment, and passion of composition or discourse in the fullest and most natural m inner, and at the same time with the greatest possible giatification to the ear. The first acquisition of the student in the order of sys- tematic study, must be a knowledge and control of the voice-producing mechanism. The next, a similar knowl- edge and mastery of the vocal elements as elements, pre- v ous to any attempt to execute their more difficult com- b nations in the consecutive utterances of language. Chapter II. Mechanism of the Voice Considered in its Practical Relations to Vocal Culture. lo. The organic production of voice naturally invites our attention first; but the details are too extensive and too minute to warrant my here entering upon them spe- cifically, and belong more properly to the domain of Anatomy and Physiology. I will present, however, a very brief outline of the process by which the breath of life is digested into sound and articulate speech, — thus becoming audible soul, endowed with the power of generating thought and feeling, and creating the visible results of action. The production of all vocal sound requires, in the first place, a full supply of the primary element of vocality, atmospheric air, to be taken in by the respiratory organs, and then furnished to the vocal apparatus. By muscular expansion and contraction, a certain quantity of blood, at each pulsation of the heart, is carried to the lungs, and there vitalized by the oxygen contained in the air. This air passes from the mouth to the trachea, or wind-pipe, through the glottis and larynx, and thence through the bronchial tubes to the minute air-cells of the lungs. Hav- ing there performed its life-giving function, it. passes out through the same organs in a decomposed state, and it is this seemingly useless breath, which, in its passage to the outer air, constitutes the material for the formation of that glorious gift, the human voice. (12) Mechanism of the Voice. 13 11. The acts of Inspiration and Expiration, together con- stituting respiration, or breathing, which alternately fill and em])ty the minute cells of the lungs, are mainly impelled by the muscles of the abdomen, acting upon the more imme- diate agent of the breathing process called the Diaphragm, a very strong muscle, arched in shape, upon which the lunijs rest, and which forms a partition between them and the abdominal organs. The arch of this muscle contracts in nspiration, pressing the abdominal organs downward and outward, and thus making room for the increased body of the inflated lungs. In expiration, the muscle recovers its former position, thus pushing or pressing aga nst the lungs, and driving the air out. It has been figuratively termed the belloivs of the vocal organs. 1 2. A specific muscular action, involving many compli- catijns, produces an elevation and expansion of that cage- like structure, composed of the ribs and breast-bone, which con;ains the lungs, in order that those spongy bodies, when filled to their utmost capacity with the inspired air, may be accommodated with corresponding room. '1 he contraction and expansion of the muscles of the chest, acting in sympathy with those of the abdomen and dia- phr igm, control the movements of respiration, which are in- voluntary in the mere act of breathing, but comparatively voluntary in expelling the air in the different forms of vocal- ity md articulated aspiration. 13. The Larynx is composed of a number of different car ilages, attached together by muscles, and forms a con- tinuation to the tube of the trachea. It communicates wit 1 the throat by the glottis, a small membranous or mus- cul ir fissure, the edges of which constitute the vocal ch( rds or lips of the glottis. The glottis is sometimes called the mouth of the larynx, or inner mouth. The glottis ma/- be opened or closed at will, except in coughing or sneezing, when its muscles obey the nerves of respiration. 14 MiirdocJis Elocution. When the breath is forced out by an act of volition, through the aperture of the glottis, without agitating the vocal chords, there is no vocality, only an audible sound of hard breathing or aspiration. But when the chords are more or less moved by the air expelled, and thrown into vibration, vocal sound is produced. The sound thus produced by the vibration of this delicate muscular organism of the vocal chords, fills the sonorous cavern at the back part of the mouth called the Pharynx, and reverberating through the cavities of the head and chest, and striking against the sounding- board, as it may be termed, of the roof of the mouth, at last issues from the lips a perfected result of nature's handiwork, to be made as plastic as the potter's clay, and shaped to the various purposes of use and beauty in language. 14. The entire apparatus of human speech may be divided into two classes of organs. These are: (i) The Vocal organs, or those portions of the organic system em- ployed in the production, admeasurement, and variation of voluntary, tunable sounds. These are common to man and to the lower animals. (2) Articulative organs, or those portions and members of the mouth and larynx by which we superadd to the tunable impulses of sound, the phe- nomena of elemental and verbal utterance, and which are peculiar to the human species. Spoken language is the result of the consentaneous action of the vocal and the articulative organs. Independ- ently of the lower jaw, whose motions contribute to dis- tinct utterance, and the nasal passages, the articulative organs are six in number. Four of them are active; viz., the tongue, the uvula, the lips of the mouth, and the lips of the glottis, or vocal chords, — the last belonging to both the vocal and articulative organs. Two are passive; viz., the front teeth and the gums. Mechanism of the Voice. '15 jfj. The thoughts, emotions, and passions of the human beirg acting upon the organic mechanism of the breath, of /ocahty, and of enunciation, excite each to method and force of action; and those sounds of the voice are produced peculiar in form and duration, altitude or de- pression, force or softness, in their varied degrees, to the thoi ght, emotion, or passion to be expressed. It). If speech be regulated by a knowledge of the stru:ture and functions of the organs which it employs, and of their relation to other parts of the body according to the laws of exercise and rest, there never can be any inconvenience for want of breath, any straining of the voice, any bronchial or pulmonary irritations resulting from eve 1 their most active and energetic exercise. A true system of vocal culture must be based upon such knowl- edge, and comprehend a consequently intelligent training of ;he muscles of the voice-making mechanism, with a y\^\j to voluntarily exercise and energize the functions of eacli; and it must advance by degrees until the student can trust this mechanism to perform whatever labor he imposes without conscious volition, but through a subtle syn pathy with, rather than an order from the brain. 17. It is not necessary, though it is desirable, to under- star d the anatomy and physiology of the organs in minute det;.il, but the student must at least know and realize what org;Lns produce or directly influence important vocal effe :ts.* * A knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the entire vocr 1 mechanism, however, can not be too accurate and compre- hen ive in the case of those who undertake to teach the subject of I locution. For such knowledge, the teacher is referred to books and lectures devoted exclusively to the anatomy and physiology of the ^oice. For plates and description of vocal organs, see "Vocal Cul ure," by Rev. Francis T. Russell. 1 6* MurdocJi s Elocution. The general advantages of correct vocal exercises, or, as they are sometimes termed, "vocal gymnastics," when properly exercised and judiciously graduated to the phys- ical strength of the student, may be enumerated as fol- lows: (i) They give vitality to the whole system by expanding, through the means of regulated and thorough inspirations, the entire body of the lungs, giving increased breadth to the surface of the interior lining of the air-cells containing the delicate veins through which the blood flows in its subjection to the vitalizing operations of aeration. (2) They impart vigor, and consequent power of endur- ance, to the muscles of the abdomen, diaphragm, and the other sympathetic muscular powers; it is to the disci- plined activity of these muscles we owe the strength, volume, and qualities of voice required in all artistic expression. (3) As the crowning advantage of proper vocal train- ing, the muscles comprehended in the delicate organism of the larynx, glottis, and throat, are kept in health and vigor for the discharge of their important part in the pro- duction of voice, and above all are rendered pliant to the will, — to the full possibilities of force and beauty in the utterance of language. Exercises in Breathing. 18. As all vocality, from the instinctive cry of the infant to the most extended effort of the developed voice, is so inseparably connected with respiration, it is to the opera- tions of breathing alone, in its gentler and more aspirated forms, that our attention and practice toward acquiring an educated control of the muscles governing voice-production will be first directed. As preparatory, however, to the Mechanism of the Voice. 17 special training involved in these and succeeding exercises, I would suggest that those physical exercises compre- heiided under the head of gymnastics and calisthenics, would, if practiced in moderation, be invaluable to the student in giving tone and elasticity to the general sys- teri.* 1 1) Let the student stand in a perfectly easy position, upDn either the right or left foot, the other slightly in ad/ance, the arms folded at the back, which position de- presses the shoulders naturally, and gives all the expansion, or elevation, as it is sometimes termed, necessary to the fullest possible action of the chest; the weight of the body mt y be allowed to fall on the other foot, as the student grows stiff or in the least degree weary, f In this per- fe( tly easy attitude, fill the lungs by deep, full inspiration, and then expire slowly with slight force. Repeat four or five times. Phis exercise is merely an exemplification of natural br jathing, slightly exaggerated, as it would be by the necessities of energetic or impassioned utterance. The sti dent's attention should here be directed to the muscular ph enomena which are exhibited in replenishing and exhaust- in:; the lungs". When the breath is comparatively exhausted, th ;re is a necessity for a full inspiration to refill the *I would suggest the moderate use of light dumb-bells, or light In lian clubs, as an excellent means of properly exercising the mus- cle s of the arms and chest. These may be used with advantage be ore the breathing exercises. tThe direction sometimes given to " hold up the chest," '« elevate th ; sternum and ribs," etc., as a special advantage in the service of breathing and speech, and as preparatory to their exercises, is a gr vtuitous injunction, because, when we inhale fully, the breast- be le and ribs rise naturally, and of necessity, and gradually ex )and the cavity of the chest sufficiently to accommodate the gr idually enlarging volume of the lungs. M. E.— 2. 1 8 Murdoch's Elocution. emptied air-cells, which will be speedily complied with if no obstruction is offered to prevent the operation of the natural function of the lungs, the air being sucked in, as it were, by the action of the organs.* (2) To realize the full force of the respiratory process, the lungs must be comparatively emptied by a special act of the will. The act of refilling them arises from ne- cessity, and is of a marked and instantaneous character. Such is the peculiar form of respiration by which the student can best be made to perceive and understand the degrees of difference between natural, easy breathing, under ordinary circumstances, and that degree of muscular exertion in inspiration and expiration necessary for the efforts of speech. Let him repeat the exercises until he is made fully conscious of the expansion of the chest, the rise and fall of the ribs, together with the contraction and extension of the muscles of the abdomen and of the dia- phragm, all of which movements are attendant upon the respiratory process. The greater indraughts of air will call into play in pro- portion to the increased effort additional muscles of the back and other parts, the position of which will be indi- cated by the action. (3) Draw a full, deep inspiration, and then effuse the breath in the slow and distinctly audible breathing ex- hibited in the sustained expiration of a deep sigh.f When the lungs are apparently emptied, after a brief pause inhale *The mistake is often made of supposing that the atmospheric pressure from without will fill the lungs if the mouth is merely held open. As a proof of this, consider the means for resuscitating one who has been drowned. t Let it be understood that the lungs are never entirely emptied or exhausted of air, as only a certain proportion of their contents are subject to the will. Mechanism of the Voice. again, and repeat the above mentioned movement three or foir times, until the gradual effusion of breath is marked b} the same lengthened smoothness and equable flow as that of the silent expiration, — which result is the object of the exercise. Further Exercises in Breathing. (4) In the same position as before indicated, take the breath deliberately and steadily; after a full inspiration is atained, let it be given out slowly in a steadily but gently efused and whispered expiration of the element h, which is a simple breathing sound. Let this be sustained until al the air in the lungs is exhausted. In this and the fol- io A^ing exercises, the aspiration must come, as it were, from the very depths of the throat. (5) Let as much breath be drawn in as the lungs can easily contain, then send it forth in an equable flow, in the form of a gentle, breathing whisper of the syllable hi, the mouth slightly open, the corners drawn back. Tiis should be repeated several times, until the student Cc n sustain a comparatively full expiration on a deliberate ai d unbroken effusion of breath, free from all jerking and unsteadiness, in a gentle, but distinctly audible breathing w lisper. (6) Draw in the breath as before, and emit it with a s( mewhat forcible, expulsive, whispered breathing of the s\ liable hah, the mouth moderately open, the lips slightly r( unded. After a moderate prolongation of the expulsive f( rm, let the whispering sound vanish gently, so to speak, ii the bottom of the throat. (7) Inspire freely, aTid after a momentary pause expel tl e air suddenly, with a sudden or explosive breathing, whispered utterance on the syllable haw, the mouth wide Den, and the aspirated sound coming from the very depths 20 Murdoch! s Elocution. of the throat. Prolong the vanishing sound in this exer- cise as long as possible, without distressing the parts. Care must be taken to maintain the aspirated form of ex- piration free from any vocality. By this process, nearly all the air contained in the lungs is forcibly driven out, and in the repetitions of it the student must use his judgment, remembering that the process is more exhausting to the lungs than that in the preceding exercises. . (8) Inhale fully, and then, after a momentary pause, give out the breath of this one inspiration in three suc- cessive and distinct breathing, whispered utterances of the three syllables, he, hah, haw, in the manner before as- signed to each. There must be a momentary pause be- tween each by holding the breath; /*. c, arresting the action of the diaphragm. (9) After a full inspiration, let the breath be effused in three successive gentle effusions on the syllable he^ giving to each an equal share of the one inspiration, fol- lowing the same directions concerning momentary pause, as in the preceding. (10) Again, let a full inspiration be taken, and the same process as above repeated on the syllable hah, with in- creased expulsive force. (11) After full inspiration, let the breath be given out, following the same directions on the three explosive whis- pered utterances of the syllable haw. 19. In the repetition for practice of 10 and 11, the ex- pulsive force and explosive abruptness represented in each should be gradually increased. The above exercises should be conducted by the teacher in the following manner : The teacher, holding up his open hand, counts, dehb- erately, one, two, three. The pupil having taken breath during the counting of the teacher, gives the first sound, he. Mechanism of the Voice. 21 The teacher counts, with hand raised, one, two, three, thi pupil breathing and repeating the second sound three til les to one expiration, thus : hah, hah, hah. The teacher counts again, one, two, and three; his hand gradually falls from its upright position to his side, while the pupil gives forth the enlarged volume of air from the lungs, when fully inflated, on the explosive, haw. All of the exercises must be graduated as to their force, til lie of duration, and frequency of repetition, to the capacity ai d comfort of the student. Ordinarily, four or five repeti- tions of each at a time will be sufficient at first, pausing aid breathing in the ordinary way for a few moments be- tv\een each to avoid the dizziness which results from too ocessive and rapid respiration. The exercises may be pjacticed with benefit to the health four or five times d;.ily, even by those who do not pursue their application to the purposes of artistic speech. The more forcible of these exercises will further discip- li le the respiratory muscles, and strengthen them for a fi ture vigorous expulsion or explosion of the breath in the u terance of the successive syllables of language, or in tl rowing the entire force of one expiration on the . em- p latic syllable of some one important word. The practice o 1 the first or effusive form of breathing is calculated not o ily to strengthen the muscles, but to habituate the lungs t( a regulated and measured action, and to place the g mtle, gradual, and sustained effusion of breath at the c )mmand of the will for the perfect utterance of the fi'm and steady tones indicative of a reposeful state of n ind. The effusive breath may be said to flow, the expulsive to r csh, and the explosive to burst into the outer air. These t iree forms of breathing, it will be found, when converted i ito vocality, represent the three forms which language 2 2 Murdoch's Elocutioji. assumes in its varied utterance from tranquillity to pas- sion. 20. We are now prepared to see the relations between the act of breathing and articulate speech; how, by acquir- ing a perfect control over the muscles of respiration, we may deal out the breath in a continuous stream, or break it into portions, and divide it with accuracy among a suc- cession of syllables. (i) Let each of the preceding forms of aspiration be given with vocality, following precisely the same directions as to method of proceeding. (2) The exercise given below will enable the student to sustain his tones firmly through one expiration; they are not speech tones, nor are they song, — the latter they re- semble in continuity only. By gaining a steady control of the diaphragm, the tones issuing from the larynx will be- come firm, round, and, in time, clear. This is essentially a vocal gymnastic! exercise to give strength to the tone- producing organs. (3) After deep inspiration, taken while the teacher slowly counts one, two, three, let the student sound the long tonic a, holding it as long as it remains firm and round; when it becomes weak and vibratory, stop it at once, then in the same manner hold e, i, o, and u. If, in the beginning of his practice, the pupil can hold a tone ten or fifteen seconds, he is doing well; but gradually he will be able to extend the tone to thirty, forty, and even sixty seconds. After some time, the exercise can be given with a view to the opening of the radical, which gives purity to the tone, and it can also be given as a practice in pitch. (4) Another excellent exercise consists in filling the lungs, and then repeating the vowels &, €, !, 6, li, as many times as possible to one expiration. Mechanism of the Voice, 23 The Catch Breath Exercise. 21. The following exercise is to cultivate the habit of taking the breath quickly and inaudibly, with deep inspira- tion at the short pauses of consecutive utterance, and to economize the breath in apportioning it to words. (i) Inspire fully but inaudibly. Then count one — two — three [take short breath] four— five — six [inspire quickly] se7'en — eight — nine^ etc., etc. (2) Inspire, and count in the same manner in groups of fi\e numerals, taking breath quickly between the groups. Ir spire, count in groups of ten, and so on until twenty ard thirty may be counted easily at one breath, the St ident gradually accustoming himself to use no more bieath in the utterance of each word than is actually necessary. The short breaths are simply an indrawing of the air contained in the mouth, the outer air rushing in to take it; place. Increased exertion or force of utterance of course demands deeper indraughts and more frequent SI pplies. This exercise, besides teaching the economy of breath, \\ill place under the control of the will a habit of nature ii our ordinary use of the voice, for slight observation will show us that in speaking naturally we do not wait uitil the breath is entirely exhausted to restore it all at oQce with one deep inspiration, but take every oppor- t mity to replenish the constant waste by quick indraughts t etween groups of words, where the language will best allow of it, without retarding the utterance or disrupting t le sense. In this way the organs work without fatigue, i )r, the waste being constantly restored, they are never ^athout a sufficient supply for their needs. The breath Must be renewed at every pause of any duration, in the 24 Murdoch' s Elocution. form of deep, easy breathing, unless the excitement of emotion causes panting or sighing, when a short, jerky movement becomes necessary. Inspiration should be darried on as much as possible through the nose, and with closed lips; this, however, in the hurried action of speech, can not always be done. 22. The acts of gasping and panting are more violent forms of aspirated breath, excited by nature to restore her disturbed equilibrium attendant upon the irregular or sus- pended respiration which accompanies extreme excitement or undue physical exertion. Sighing deeply, and groan- ing, are also efforts of nature to restore her equilibrium when her natural breathing has been disturbed or sus- pended by extreme suffering, grief, or other mental excite- ment. They are produced by taking large gulps of air into the lungs, and then, by suppressed muscular effort, forcing the breath out in a continuous stream, which, com- ing in contact with the vocal chords without exciting them to full vibration, passes out of the aperture of the mouth with a hard breathing sound, mixed with suppressed vo- cality, expressive of a distressed state of the mind. It will thus be seen that they serve a double purpose, in the preservation of life and the expression of the feelings. An imitation of these natural acts as an occasional prac- tice will also be of great advantage to the student, not only as serving to assist art but to invigorate nature. 23. In the complicated web-work of diaphragm, abdom- inal, chest, clavicular, dorsal, and other muscles which serve as the motive power for respiration in its various forms and degrees, from tranquil to violent, and in con- tinued or disjointed currents of breath, the will, by a sep- arate volition, can not properly produce any individual action on the part of any particular set of muscles inde- pendently or in advance of any other set involved in the general act, They must all work together by a combined Mechanism of the Voice. 25 ac;ion involving the separate agencies in an almost con- sentaneous movement for one general result. The same is true of the complex organic action by which the breath is converted into syllabic sound, involving the further agency of the muscles of the glottis, etc. To enforce this idea by an example : the direction is sonetimes given to *'hold the chest up" by a special act of volition, in order to enlarge its cavity for the indraughts of air. The effort to do this burdens the mind with an ur necessary precaution, and lessens the powers of vocal production. The act of raising the shoulders, therefore, drawing up the chest, and subsequently dropping them, in tha forcible utterance of speech, is an unnatural and in- jurious habit, arising from this false idea of assisting nature, by a special effort of the will, to control any one of the co-ordinated actions of her complete mechanism.*- B It those habits of breathing and speech, based upon a. practice by which the organs are exercised in their normal functions, will call into proper action all the necessary agencies of sound production, and develop the vocal powers in accordance with natural law. The will must be exerted with the object of producing cetiain effects or sounds of a certain kind, and for an explicit purpose; and the d aphragm, the abdominal muscles, the intercostals, and o hers, will, by the sympathetic action of which we have sjioken, conjointly and efficiently supply the necessary n otive power, no one set of these muscles waiting for or re quiring -a special act of volition to cause it to perform its ii dividual office in the general act. ■■'■■ Lennox Browne has recently written a treatise on voice produc- tion, in which he draws particular attention to the false methods o breathing, used in many of the music scho©ls» and proves con- c usively that the diaphragmatic or deep biea.tl:^i>§ is iLe. only f( rm that is satisfactory in its results. M. E.— 3. 26 Murdoch's Elocution. 24. I would recommend, in connection with breathing, some particular exercises in walking, pacing, striding, and running. Also, using the arms in all the movements from graceful to forcible; /'. ^., from sweeps to direct strokes, upward and downward, with varying degrees of force. The movements should be in accordance with the swell and stroke of vocal action in expulsion, explosion, and effusion, voice and action keeping time together. Chapter III. Pitch. 25. The most elementary knowledge of music will serve to explain the technical terms common to this science, and tha; of speech, and also to aid the student to an under- standing of the similarities and differences of their applica- tion in each, necessary to a correct apprehension of their emDloyment in the latter. In the musical scale, the progressions or variations thr )ugh pitch are effec.ted by a series of skipping or dis- cor nected sounds, called discrete intervals, which may be individually prolonged at will upon a level line; i. e., at ont; point of the scale, the sound neither rising nor falling in pitch. ()n the scale, the intervals between the first and second, second and third, fourth and fifth, fifth and sixth sounds art full tones. The distances between the third and foi rth, seventh and eighth, are half-tones, or semitones. The intervals take their degree from these changes in the po ition of the notes, thus : from the first to the third, or frtm c to (?, on the piano-forte, is a discrete interval of a hird. But variation in pitch may be produced in another way; e. ^., if the finger be moved with continued pressure along th^ string of a violin, from its lower attachment, upward or downward, while the bow is drawn, a mewing sound will be heard. The sound thus produced will be continuous, and will end at either a higher or lower pitch than that at (27) 28 MurdocJi s Elocution, which it began, according as the finger is slid upward or downward. The effect upon the ear will be that of an uninterrupted sound, gliding from gravity to acuteness, or the reverse. This, on the violin, is called a slide, and is produced by a succession of changes in pitch so rapid as not to be separately discerned by the ear, and hence the result of one unbroken impulse of sound. In the speaking voice, change of pitch, in the manner just described, is effected in the utterance of every syllable through some interval of the scale, and called a concrete interval.* 26. The speaking voice performs both the concrete and discrete transitions in pitch, the latter being as inseparable from any succession of syllabic sounds as the former from any individual utterance. To illustrate this: Suppose the pronoun / be given with earnest interrogation, expressing strong surprise, and it would pass .through the rising con- crete interval of probably eight notes of the musical scale. Then let the word fail be given immediately after the /, with the same interrogative surprise, though less earnestly than the first, and beginning at the same degree of the scale, and it will pass through the rising concrete of prob- ably a fifth. Thus, we have an interrogative sentence. The voice, in passing from the termination of the first word to the commencement of the second must of ne- cessity perform a skip or a discrete transition through an octave. A more advanced study of the subject will show us that this discrete movement, in the successive syllabic utterances of speech, is made either through proximate or (as in the instance given) through remote intervals. *The term Concrete, etymologically considered, means grown to- gether. The term Discrete is derived from dis and cerno, to see aparty or to distinguish. Pitch. 29 If the sentence, "I am poor, and miserably old," be uttered with a plaintive expression, the syllabic utterances wil pass through a semitone. 57. There is in speech still another mode of discrete transition through the degrees of pitch, produced by the voice passing discretely from acuteness to gravity, and the reverse, by intervals much smaller than a semitone, each point being touched by abrupt emissions of voice, follow- ing each other in rapid succession. The extent of the interval contained between these brief and rapid iterations is lot known, nor is it important that it should be. The SOI nd is well illustrated by the neighing of a horse, or by gu gling in the throat, and is called the Tremulous Scale of the Voice, or the Tremor. The speaking scale progressing principally by whole toi es, and not being limited, as in music, to the arrange- ment of tones and semitones, may be regarded as the com- p(us of the voice ^ be that eight, twelve, sixteen, or more decrees. As the peculiarity of key arises from the fixed pic ce of semitones, there can be, in the transitions of spoech-melody through this scale of pitch, no change of kc)^, and hence no modulation. This term modulation has be^n, and still is, popularly misapplied to denote the transi- tic ns of voice through the speaking scale, but must be re ected from an accurate treatment of the subject of speaking sounds. (i) Pitch is, then, a term representing any variation of th J voice from gravity to acuteness. (2) There are, in the use of speech-sounds, two kinds of transition in pitch : concrete, by a continuous or uninter- ripted movement; and discrete, by a skipping or discon- n( cted movement. (3) Speech has four scales or modes of progression in pi :ch : the diatonic, the concrete, the tremulous, and the semi- to lie, known in music as the chromatic. 30 Murdocli s* Elocution, (4) Intervals mark the distance between any two degrees of these scales, and are either concrete or discrete. (5) Intonation in speech is the correct execution of the intervals of its several scales, and constitutes one of the chief elements of expression in spoken language. (6) Melody of speech is an agreeable variation of these intervals on the successive syllables of language. 28. Science teaches that acuteness and gravity are the results of tension and relaxation, and consequently of rapid and slow vibration of the vocal chords attendant respectively upon the elevation and depression of the larynx. The larynx rises and the fauces contract in the utter- ance of acute sounds; the fauces dilate and the larynx falls with the grave. The natural position for the produc- tion of high pitch elevates the chin slightly, low pitch depresses it, and in middle pitch the position is that of simple repose. We also study pitch in the five degrees of middle, low and lowest, high and highest. Chapter IV. The Concrete Movement or the Radical and Vanish. liQ. In the simple pronunciation of the letter a, two SOI nds are heard : the first has the nominal sound of the ietier, and issues from the organs with a certain degree of ful ness; the last is the element e, gradually diminishing to an attenuated close. In the utterance, the voice will trav- erse a rising interval of a tone or second. The first part of the interval, in this instance, is called tht radical movement^ as the fullness of its opening is the roct fipm which the remaining concrete proceeds; the lat er, or gradual diminution of the sound, is called the varishing movement, from its seeming to die away into sil( nee. These terms apply only to the two extremes of tht concrete, for the radical changes into the vanish so grc dually as to admit of no assignable point of distinction between them. The entire concrete, comprehending the two movements continuously blended together, is called tht radical and vanishing movement, and sometimes the note of speech. The character of this radical and vanishing mc vement is represented to the eye by the visible mark of no ation, [^^]> which will be used in the course of this wc :k. ;;0. It is somewhat difficult to recognize the radical and va lish on the interval of the tone, but in order to render thi '■, movement appreciable to the ear we must magnify it. Pr )nounce the letter a as a question of surprise, in the fol- lo\'ing sentence: ''Did you say a?" and its dipthongal (31) 32 MtirdocJi s Elocution. character, with the radical and vanish of its opening and termination, will be, clearly exhibited on the extended interval of the rising fifth or octave. Utter the s*me letter with positive affirmation, as, ''I said «," and the same effect of fullness and diminution will be produced on a fall- ing concrete, with the radical at the summit of the sound, and the vanish attenuating downward. This simple utterance of the radical and vanish seems to be an instinctive and uncontrollable function of the speak- ing voice underlying all syllabic utterance. In the correct execution of the utterance a, as given above, the student must be conscious of a peculiar sensa- tion felt in the larynx or its mouth, which is the glottis, at the moment in which the radical sound is expelled from that organ, and before it becomes blended with the fainter vocality of the vanish. From the inception of the vocal effort, the organs move from one position, at the opening of the given sound, to another at its close; /. ^., th*y glide from an open position on the fullness of the a, to a com- paratively close position on the vanishing e. 31. From this it will be seen that the radical and vanish- ing movement is the result of one impulse of the breath, and is the basis of the syllabic structure. The transit of vocal sound and action, as in the example just given, con- stitutes the peculiar character of the speech-note as distin- guished from that of song. The long drawn notes of song and recitative are of an entirely different character, the voice being prolonged upon a level line of pitch by holding the organs in one position until the close of the note. If the dipthongal vowel, a, or any other capable of pro- longation, be uttered with correct pronunciation, smoothly and distinctly, without intensity or emotion, or with only a moderate degree of earnestness, it commences full and somewhat abruptly, and gradually decreases in its* upward The Concrete Movement, 33 or downward movement until it becomes inaudible ; having the increments of time, and rise or descent, and the decre- ments of /ullness equally progressive, the two sounds which compose it, the radical movement and the vanish, blend- ing imperceptibly together as a result of the peculiar action of the organs. This is called the equable concrete, and be- lorgs only to speech. This full opening, equable gliding, tht lessening volume, and the soft extinction of sound, mrrk the difference between the equable concrete of the speaking voice, and the sounds of all musical instruments. T?e concrete is carried in speech through the intervals of the tone, semitone, third, fifth, and octave. The voice mj,y also pass through the remaining intervals, the fourth, si>th, and seventh, or beyond the octave; but a reference to the third, fifth, and octave as the wider intervals em- ployed in speech is sufficiently accurate for an efficient study of our subject. 32. Under the influence of emotion, the concrete move- m mt loses its simple, equable form, which is the vocal sign ol a more or less tranquil state of mind, and, according to the kind and degree of the emotion, a corresponding con- ctntration of force is appHed to some part or to all of its extent; thus, we have the phenomena of stress. Of this, w ; have six different forms : (i) Radical Stress, or force applied to the opening of tl e concrete.* * Radical stress, in its simplest or lightest form, exists in the e' uable concrete, constituting the clear, full opening of the former. I only becomes a vocal sign of emotion by explosive force on this o )ening of the syllabic impulse. The radical is the only form of s ress that may be inexpressive in its character. This point will bi fully explained in our practical consideration of the subject; it i: mentioned in this connection to avoid what might seem to be a c )ntradiction. 34 MurdocJis Elocution. (2) The Loud Concrete, in which the whole equable con- crete is magnified by unusual force, while the proportion of the radical to the vanish remains unaltered. (3) Median Stress, a swell or impressive fullness on the middle of the concrete. (4) Compound Stress, an unusual application of force to each extremity of the concrete. (5) Final Stress, force applied to the latter extremity of the concrete, while the radical is diminished in fullness. (6) Thorough Stress, in which the concrete has the full- ness and force of the radical throughout its entire extent. The forms of stress will be further described, and their application illustrated, in our practical studies on the con- crete. The plain, equable structure of the radical and vanish will be called the simple concrete, to distinguish it from the concrete affected by the' various modifications of force com- prehended in the several forms of stress. 33. Besides the forms of the rising and falling concrete, the voice often continues the rising into the falling con- crete by a single impulse of sound, thus doubling its extent. Again, the falling may in the same way be con- tinued into the rising movement. This form of the radical and vanishing movement is called the Wave, and the inter- vals of which it is composed are called its constituents or flexures. The following diagrams illustrate, by graphic means, the various concrete intervals and waves. The wave is em- ployed through all the intervals of the scale, and in all possible combinations; and, furthermore, its expression, in all its forms, is modified by the application of stress to different parts of its course, at the beginning, or at the end, or the junction of its constituents. The wave is the vehicle for syllabic quantity in its most extended forms. The Concrete Movement. 35 CoNfRETE Intervals and Waves. ^ \ ^ 4 ^ ( oncrete rising Concrete down- Concrete rising Concrete down- tone, ward ton*e. third. ward third. iS (oncrete rising fifth. Concrete down- Concrete rising Concrete down- ward fifth. octave. ward octave. l ^^^^^^^ZZ Z^^^ E( ual single Equal single Equal single Equal single Equal single Equal single dii ect, wave inverted, of direct, of the inverted, of direct, of the inverted, of of the sec- the second, third. the third. fifth. the fifth, on 1. r\\J\r\J \ ^' ^ E lual single Equal single Unequal sin- Unequal in- Double equal Double un- di -ect, of the inverted, of gle direct, of verted, of the direct, of the equal invert- o. tave. the octave, the fifth and third and oc- third. ed, of the third. tave. third, fifth, and third. The following symbols are used to represent to the eye the concrete as affected by the different modifications of St ess through all the intervals. 36 Murdoclis Elocution. Forms of Stress on the Concrete. i n 1 ! 1 34.. The pitch at which the concrete begins will be called Radical Pitch, to distinguish it from that of the entire radical and vanish, which will be called Concrete Pitch. The concrete function is sometimes called the radical and vanishing movement ; the concrete move^nent, progression, in- terval, or pitch; or, simply, the Concrete or the Radical and Vanish. The discrete function is called the discrete move- ment, progression, change, skip, or pitch. Where the direction of the concrete or the radical is not specified or implied, the term is used either for rise or fall. As a gen- eral designation of the extent of intervals and waves, all greater than those of the semitones and second are termed wider intervals and waves. The term radical and vanish, when generically employed, refers to the combination of beginning and terminal part of the concrete under any modification of either of these parts. 35. Every syllable of speech being a single impulse of utterance, involves the radical and vanish as a necessity of its organic production. The concrete is, therefore, the soul of the syllabic sound, and forms the working material for all the purposes of articulation and intonation. It must have some point of commencement on the scale, and traverse some interval; it must occupy some time in the utterance ; it must also be uttered with some degree of muscular effort, and hence of force; and, last, it must have quality, or some peculiar kind of sound. The con- crete function is the foundation upon which is built the The Concrete Movement. 37 measurement of all the sounds of speech, and is the prin- ciple which underlies the Hfe and power of every utter- ance of the speaking voice, from the most delicate audible whisper, to the accumulated forces of the loudest and most prolonged shout within the capabilities of the vocal mechanism. // is the key which unlocks the whole philosophy of the speaking voice. A theoretical and practical under- staading of this great fundamental principle of spoken language not only develops the full powers of the voice, bu: gives control over it for the effective and natural utterances of language. Chapter V. The Elements of the Language Considered and Classified dc^ cording to their Relation to the Radical and Vanish, and to their Capacity for Tunable Sound. 36. An elementary sound in language is one that is in- capable of further division. It is uttered by one impulse of the organs, and is the simplest form of articulate utter- ance. As the alphabet of our language does not contain a separate symbol for each of these elements, we are obliged to use the same graphic sign for different sounds. The elements are divided with reference to their relation to the radical and vanish, and their capacity for tunable sound into tonics, subtonics, and atonies. Table of Tonic Elements. Simple Sounds. Compound Sounds. A-11, E-rr, A-le, A-rm, E-nd, I-ce, A-n, I-n, O-ld, A-sk, Ai-r, Ou-r, E-ve, U-p, Oi-1, Oo-ze, 0-r, U-se. L-oo-k, O-n. The tonic elements have the purest and most tunable vocality of all the materials of speech. They are capable of being prolonged indefinitely, and admit of the concrete rise and fall through all the intervals of pitch. They may (38) >■ The Elements of Language. 39 be uttered with more force and abruptness than the other elements, and at the same time, from their power of pro- longation, may preserve the gradually attenuated move- ment of the vanish.* 37. All of the tonic sounds are produced by the joint furctions of the larynx, fauces, and parts of the internal and external mouth. Although produced in the larynx by the action of the vocal chords, the ultimate perfection of every tonic sound depends upon the correct position of the lips and tongue. The lower jaw also facilitates their utter- ance by its motions, and the consequent modifications of tht cavity of the mouth. The lips, by their approximation, diminish the size of tht external opening of the mouth; and the tongue, by its elevation toward the roof of the mouth, that of the cavity or internal opening. The individual vocal character of eaoh tonic is thus principally determined by one of these twD agencies. 38. Those tonics which are modified chiefly by the agincy of the lips have been called, from this circum- strnce, the 'Mabial vowels." They are: a-\\, oAd, ou-x, 00- -ZQ, o-n. They have an enlarged interior opening or passage for the sound produced by a greater or less de- pression of the tongue at the root, the lower jaw and laiynx being simultaneously and proportionately lowered. Tlieir peculiar mechanism gives to these sounds a grave ard somber, or solemn character, producing also a sorrow- fu and gloomy expression of the face. * Under the usual division, the tonics are called vowels, and the re naining elements consonants. The present nomenclature is aci Dpted by Dr. Rush, not as designing "to overlook or destroy ar angements truly representing the relationships of these sounds, bi t to add to their history a division grounded on their important fu ictions in intonation." 40 Murdoch's Elocution. 39. The tonics ^-rm, cure ' ' guttural murmur " (the term applied to the pe- cu iar murmur of b, d, and g) of its first sound, and he wi 1 hear the element which the letter b represents, or if he prolong the first element before joining it to the next, the sirgle elementary subtonic sound will be heard in the pro- loi.gation. Let him proceed in the same manner to obtain th(; sound of the other subtonic elements. These elements may all be carried through the different intervals of pitch, but they have almost no radical fullness, and, as has been stated, a less full vocality than the tonics. Tl.ey are produced by the entire or partial obstruction of a current of vocalized breath through the mouth, and the subsequent removal of this obstruction. The restoration of the free passage of air through the m )uth at the termination of the subtonic utterance, pro- 44 Murdoch' s Elocution. duces a peculiar ending, known as the vocule or "little voice," which, though short and feeble in ordinary speech, becomes very perceptible in forcible or affected pronuncia- tion. This must not be confounded with the vanish of the concrete. The slow but forcible pronunciation of such words as bad, hub, tug, rub, etc., will illustrate this vocular termination. This vocule is lost when the subtonic pre- cedes a tonic element, and the voice takes in its place the full radical sound of the tonic, thus giving an abrupt opening to the latter. 47. The subtonic can not be given an abrupt opening without extraordinary effort. As elements they are, there- fore, deprived of the proper radical movement which is peculiar to the tonics. But, although the subtonics are unfitted for the abrupt opening of the radical, they may fulfill all the purposes of the vanish. The vocality of the subtonics admits of their prolongation, and an extension of their time is next in importance to that of the vowels for the purposes of elegance and correctness in speech. Though less tunable than the vowels, they are most agreeable to the ear when properly uttered with^their full value. 48. Ten of the elemental sounds of our language are aspirations, and form the third class. They are produced by certain modifications of the internal and external mouth acting upon a current of the whispering breath. They have no vocality, and therefore no basis for the function of the radical and vanish. Table of Atonic Elements. /, as in /-ipe. s. as in j-ick. A <( ^ent. wh. (( wk-ezt. k. (< ' kAcV. th, " th-m. A " /-ife. sh, " Y)Vi-sh. h. " /^-e. ch, " (h-\xrc\\ The Eleme7its of Language. 45 These elements, from their want of vocal sound, are called Atonies. The want of vocality in the atonies is almost the only difference between them and the subtonics^ as s shown by the following table : B, D, G, V, z. V, IV, Th. P, T, K, F, s, H, Wk, Th. 49. Six of the whole number of elements, or three sub- tonics and three atonies, are produced by a bursting forth of the breath after a complete occlusion. These abrupt elements are b, d, g, /, t, k. They exhibit their final vocule very perceptibly at the end of a syllable, but before a tmic this vocule opens out, as before described, into a sudden fullness of the radical of the tonic sound, as in bar% go, dart, pit, take, kick. 50. The subtonics and atonic elements are divided ac- cording to the organic conditions *of their formation into the following classes : labials, or those formed chiefly by the agency of the lips ; dentals, by that of the teeth; palatit, or ;hose depending on the palate for their distinctive char- act ir; nasals, or those resulting from a vocalized breathing through the nose; Unguals, or those especially dependent on the action of the tongue ; aspirates, formed by a forci- ble emission of breath through the moderately open organs; an(. labio-dentals, depending upon teeth and lips. ' 'he dental sounds are as follows : ^-id, /-ent, th-\n, th-j\Q, a-s-ure, ^w-sh, <:-ease, z-onQ. '^YiQ palatic : >^-ick, ^-ag, y-Q, <:-ake. 'Che nasals: n-nn, s\-ng. '.'he Unguals: /-ull, r-ap, fa-n ' 'he labio-dentals : z^-alve, /-ife. '.'he labials: w-aim, ^-abe, /-ipe, 7C'-oe. Chapter VI. Production of Tonic Sounds, 51. The organic action in the utterance of the tonic sounds at the seat of their productioti in the larynx next claims attention. The speaking voice, like the singing voice, is either made or marred in the very outset of practice. Unless the first idea is minutely and correctly given and confirmed by constant and undeviating practice, and the mechanical agency irrevocably fixed, the vocality will in most cases be imperfectly formed. Yet, upon this original understanding and conformation of the organs, all the after structure of artistic speech depends. In the first place, the production of what is called natural voice, or pure resonant vocality, principally de- pends for its clearness, fullness, and carrying power upon the manner in which these tonic sounds are first uttered in practice. This must, therefore, be our primary considera- tion in the study of a correct and effective articulation of the elements. Previous to the production of all of the tonic elements with any degree of precision and clearness of sound, there is a drawing in of the breath (an act preparatory to every effort of the animal organism), followed by an occlusion in the larynx, caused by a slight clutch of the glottis and epi- glottis, which shuts off the outflow of air. This resistance is overcome by a slight action of the diaphragm, which drives the volume of air thus barred against the vocal (46) Production of Tonic Sounds. 47 chords. These, in their separation, vibrate, and produce sou ad, and this sound is modified in its passage outward, by the external agencies, into its distinctive character as a vovel or tonic. In the clear opening of the sound attendant upon a sligitly forcible separation of the parts, we have abrupt- nes; or radical stress in its lightest form. By the same pro:ess, with added depth of indraught and muscular force in overcoming the stronger resistance of the occlu- sior of the orifice for breathing, this opening of the sound may be increased to a strong explosion. This result shoild be the last acquired. 52. It is of great importance that this fundamental prin- ciple of the speaking voice should be understood at the ver/ outset. I shall, therefore, show, by means of a simple experiment, how this most perfect means of sound- ing a tonic element is obtained. I" the letter p be attached to a, and we wish to utter the syllable with some degree of abruptness, it will be necessary to press the lips together before the abrupt open- ing takes place by which the / receives its aspirated force, and breaks into the vocality of a. It will be perceived tha the abruptness and force of the first element depends altogether upon the firmness with which the lips are com- pressed, and the resistance of air collected in the mouth. I^Tow, let the a be sounded by itself, with the intent of giv ng it a clear, full opening. In this case, we feel a kin i of shutting up of the larynx, which will finally give way after a momentary resistance, and the sound will be abr aptly expelled, the silence preceding the sound making its percussive effect the more remarkable. In the sentence, *' I said 2, part, and not all,'' if we con- sid' r the visible operations of the organs of speech before anc when we articulate the letter /, in part, and consider the fact that the resistance made by the lips while the 48 Murdoch's Elocution. breath is accumulating for the explosion of the sound is identical with that made in the larynx under the same cir- cumstances upon the letter a, in all, we will begin to realize the fact that the organs of voice, — the glottis and epiglottis, with other accessories, — exercise a similar action of occlusion in articulating the tonic elements as the lips, tongue, teeth, and palate in producing the abrupt elements 3, d, g, k, /, t. Thus, the same action which takes place in the outer mouth in " Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers," enables the inner mouth, or glottis to give distinct articulation to ' ' an old owl ate an ortolan in an old oak," the occlusion in both cases requiring an effort of the will, to be followed by immediate action on the part of the organs. In thus prefixing the / to a; in the instance first given, we intend to exhibit the visible organic action preparatory to the abrupt utterance of the /, and thus to illustrate how a similar process of preparation and execution produces the same result in the unseen organs, in the production of the tonics or vowels, and thus to direct the attention to the fact that, while the lips, tongue, and teeth are prominent external agents in articulation, and can be brought by practice into a finished and vigorous exercise of their func- tions, so the internal tone-producing organs are susceptible of like development, and in a still greater degree, on ac- count of the more numerous muscular agencies brought into play by their operations. 53. We have another reason for attaching the / to the a in this experimental illustration. The syllable />a is more easily uttered with clearly, defined abruptness by the un- practiced organs than the single tonic a, for the reason that the slight occlusive pause of the element /, with its conse- quent vocule, which breaks into the opening of the follow- ing tonic, gives abruptness to the radical of the latter. There must be a slight hiatus preceding the tonic to pro- Production of Tonic Sounds. 49 diice this clear opening; e. ^., . the combination ^-owl must, if the article be pronounced short and separately, with a pause after it, produce the necessary fullness of the radical, but the utterance is delayed; the union, however, of n with the tonic, or of any other subtonic, produces the occlusive pause; and we have the agreeable result, an owl. fi4. The forcible, as well as the clear and delicate rad- ica , is to be obtained only after patient practice. A po^ver over this initial function of vocality will be best ac( uired by first imitating a short, natural cough, which peifectly illustrates the mechanical formation of the radical stress. It will be found that the cough is produced: (i) By inspiration. (2) By a closing of the glottis, and shutting off of the air the action being quite perceptibly felt. (3) By the sudden giving way of this occlusion through the action of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles from below, which results in an abrupt vocality of one of the sh(Tt tonics, mingled with aspiration, or, rather, followed by the atonic breathing h. In imitation of this natural process, let the student execute a mechanical cough by str )ng occlusion of the glottis, and subsequent expelling of th( air, as if striving to get rid of some slight obstacle in th( throat. This short, sudden action, will produce an ab upt vocality resembling e in err, or u in «p. Let this be next uttered in the same abrupt manner, but freed from all huskiness or aspiration, and the explosive effect of the ra(.ical in pure vocaHty will be produced. To make this ap )arent, let the student cough out the u, in up, with as]>iration, then with pure vocality, and then deliberately utizr the elements ^-rr and u-^ without the cough, and the re ult will be a clear, radical opening of the element. Gieat care should be taken to project the sound into the ou 'er air, and not to allow it to be detained, as it were, in th ; mouth. M. E— 5. 50 Murdoch! s Elocution. The student should not proceed a step farther until able to execute this coughing exercise without the prompting of an exemplar, since its correct execution is the basis of the important function of radical stress, the abrupt initial of vocality, and of all the vocal gymnastics founded thereon. The cough should be executed with a v,ery slight exer- tion of force in the beginning, as the delicate muscles of the glottis will suffer from at first attacking it with inju- dicious energy. 55. I am aware that the use of the cough has been ob- jected to by singing teachers, and Lunn, in his excellent work upon the voice, has shown that Dr. Wylie, of Edin- burgh has, through scientific investigation, satisfactorily to himself and the scientific world, proved that perfect speech tones are produced by an explosion of condensed air, bursting from the ventricle of Morgagni lying between the true and false chords of the glottis. His rule is to hold the breath, and then, by ceasing to withhold it, the explo- sion takes place. I am willing to accept and rejoice in all this in the light of progressive science, particularly as the point was left by Rush to the future decision of scientists. But at the same time, I adhere to my own convictions as to the efficacy of the cough, and as I know, from years of experience in training voices, that the cough, when prop- erly understood and used, can never be otherwise than a healthy practice of the organs. Dr. Rush (in his own case) proved that the coughing exercise is not only an admirable illustration of the action of the organs in correct tone production, but it is also one of the most useful exercises for developing the muscles governing respiration. 56. When the student has clearly established in his mind the character and formation of this abrupt radical fullness by means of the cough, let him next utter all of the short tonic elements in Table of Tonics, ^36, in pure vocality. ProdMction of Tonic Sounds. alttjrnating each with the coughed out form of their utter- ance as first given in the partly aspirated imitation of the natural cough. The latter should, in all elementary exer- cises on the radical stress, precede the practice on the vocal utterance, as it calls into more active play, and, thtrefore, exercises more effectively, the muscular agencies by which this initial function is produced. • The short tonics are best adapted for the first practice in ac([uiring the initial of vocality, as they take on the abrupt- ness most readily, owing to their incapacity for extension in the "concretes, the vanish being cut off", as it were, by tht succeeding abrupt atonic or subtonic. laving satisfactorily executed the short tonics, the stu- dent may practice syllables, and then may pass to the Long To lies, following with the words in which they occur. Tha precise and forcible explosion of the elements and syllables, as here recommended, must not, therefore, be re{.;arded as an element of correct articulation alone, but as a neans to an end, — that end, the "perfection of organic ha )it in taking the syllabic sounds, as the musician says of tht notes, with that .perfect accuracy and ease which gives lif( and beauty to all sustained utterance. This can only be gained by striking the intervals correctly with clear, di. Crete movement, as the note on the piano is struck, wi h light, elastic touch, and without feeling for it or creep- ini; to it. 57. The proper cultivation of the organs of speech in relation to the articulation, as well as the expressive forms of utterance, should involve a practice of the functions of as )iration as expressed in the articulated whisper. This fo m of whisper must be carefully distinguished from the sh-ill whistled or lip form; /. ^., the manner of whispering us id to arrest the attention of some one near the speaker. Tliis form of whisper is of no use in voice culture, as it is fo med only of that quantity of air which ie quietly sup- 52 Murdoch's Elocution. plied to the organs as in natural breathing, and without bringing into play the muscles necessary to the production of the speaking voice. The ^^ articulated whisper,'" on the other h^nd, calls into action many muscular agencies not employed in the routine of conversational speech, as it is formed well back in the throat, and with the same mechanical action as when artic- ulating a vocality in the lowest pitch of the voice, but witli a more forcible effort of utterance. It represents one of the most intensified forms of expression, as in extreme terror, warning, or fear. The difference between the for- mation of this whisper, and that which lies near the lips, may be illustrated by endeavoring to change from the latter to the low murmur of the voice as heard in the sound of moo, in imitation of a cow. The value of the articulated whisper, as an exercise for the development of the voice, will be enlarged upon in our special treatment of qualities of voice. The coughing and whispering processes, besides their uses as articulative exercises, are the basis for the development of one of the grandest qualities of the human voice, the orotund. 58. The object is to so graduate the exercises as to thoroughly and gradually develop the entire powers of the organs of speech. The present uses of the articulative whisper as an articulative and gymnastic exercise may be summed up briefly as follows : (i) It is the first means of drawing attention to the glottic action, and thereby lowering the tones to the seat of action. (2) It introduces an incipient force into the vocal execu- tion. (3) It gives greater distinctness and precision, as a result of the preceding, to the articulation of sounds. All of the long and short tonic elements should, there- fore, be next given in the articulated whisper, with the Production of Tonic Sounds. 53 same process of formation as that last described for the abrupt vocality. Next, let them be given in the same mainer with half vocality, sometimes called the half whis- per. The scale of pitch in the whisper is much more limited than in vocality. The object here, however, should be to utter all of the whispered sounds in low pitch. ' 'he teacher may then introduce familiar sentences in the diflerent forms of effusion, expulsion, and explosion in difierent degrees of force in whisper and half whisper, this: " Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds, Save where the beetle wheels his drony flight, And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds." EXPULSIOM. Hush ! Hark ! I hear a noise. What is that? Stop! Listen! EXPLOSION. Begone ! Avaunt ! Hence ! Down ! "Avaunt! and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee!" 59. Let the order of practice then be as follows : [i) Cough out lightly, two or three times, the tonic elt ments, slightly increasing the force at each repetition. (2) Give them with the strong articulated whisper. (3) Give them with the half whisper or mixed aspira- tic n and vocality. (4) Give them with abrupt opening of pure vocality, gr idually increasing the force in successive repetitions urtil they are uttered with explosive abruptness, and clear, rii ging vocality. 54 Murdoclis Elocution. The student must, however, exercise great care in this practice. There must, in the first place, be no rigidity or constriction in the parts, the organs being held with "flex- ible strength." Much of the clearness of the vocal sound produced will depend on this supple firmness with which the parts are held. If the partitions of the pharynx are rigid, and the muscles, of the neck stiffened, the radical sound produced will be sharp and hard, instead of full and ringing. It must be remembered that the motor power is in the diaphragm, abdominal, and intercostal muscles. 60. Radical stress is, then, susceptible of every degree of force, from a delicate precision or clear exactness of the radical opening of the sound, to moderate force, and from this to explosive violence. This may be illustrated by first imitating a violent cough, and then the slight hacking effort by which we clear the throat, giving distinct utter- ance to the short vowel sounds. It should be practiced, when its abrupt character is fully comprehended, from the lightest degree of force, or the utmost delicacy of touch, to the strongest exertion of the vocal mechanism. Too great care can not be exercised, however, in approaching gradually and judiciously exercis- ing the latter extreme of utterance. The tendency with many, in the beginning, is to cover a want of accuracy in the execution by the violent extremes of force. This should be strictly avoided. Let the voice at first be kept as low in pitch as possible, increasing the force at each repetition of the sound (without changing the pitch), from the lightest, easy opening of clear sound, to forcible ex- plosion.* * These two extremes of force may be severally likened, in their effect, to the light tick of a clock and the loud ringing stroke of the clapper of a great bell. Production of Tonic Sounds. 55 In no respect is the voice more capable of improve- ment than in regard to its force, yet while a careless and irrcjgular employment of these exercises will be of but little service in developing the full powers of the voice, inj idicious practice on them may produce permanent inj iry. Ten minutes spent in exploding the elements or syllabic combinations with undue force, and without care- ful regard to the correct use of the organs, may produce tht very effects against which the student is seeking to fortify himself. Chapter VII. Exercises on the Tonic Elements. To Correctly Extend the Vanish of the Equable Concrete through the various Inter- vals and Waves. 6i. The former exercises, for the correct execution of the initial or radical part of the tonic elements, will de- velop the power and flexibility of the organs, and prepare them for the more delicate effects to be executed on the vanishing movement. An educated control over the latter gives a complete command of the entire concrete through its various degrees of extension. The long tonics are the elements of quantity, and are extendible to the utmost limit of piercing interrogation and all natural cries, through the rising and falling intervals, and the different forms of the wave. Hence their employ- ment on the extension of the concrete in the following tables. Tables of Notation. Exercises on the Concrete Intervals. I. Rising Seconds. Falling Seconds. y' r ^ ^ ^ ^ 0- •Lit ^•^•C^^ m w w w w w m a^ « ' a^Ie. a^, " ar^m. a^ ' a^I. e^ ' e^ve. o\ « oad. r^^) in a le. " eVe. " i^ce. " oMd. - aMl. *' oo^ze Exercises on the Tonic Elements. 57 6i5. Table I. — The interval of a second is represented first rising and then falling, repeated a number of times for the purpose of practice. Each of the long tonics should be given on this interval as indicated by the table, and afterwards the monosyllables in which they occur, the student taking care to give the radical with distinctness and to make the movement equable throughout. II. Rising Thirds. FaUing Thirds. ^ y^ ^" ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^^ Xw X. ^. X w w # Ir • w Did you say a'', in a^ll? a^, in a^le. " " a^ (( ar^m? i\ ' ' i^ce. - oo^ " oo'^ze ? ^■> ' ' e'^ve. '• *' V, " is^e ? ou\ ' ' ou'^r. " e^ «« ee^l? a\ ' ' a^rm. " o\ (( o^ld? o\ ' ♦ oMd. '« oi^ (< oi^l? oi\ ' ' oiM. 63. Tabk II extends the intervals a third, as in the interrogative, V did it? Repeat the falling movement on the same interval of a third through elements and then wo ds. III. Rising Fifths. Falling Fifths. A ^ A A A y y y / / ^ ^ ^ A \ J J J J J \ \ \ \ \ w V #r w w oi'', in oi^l. a^, in ar^m. oo^ " oo^ze. a\ " aMl. e^ " e've. i\ «' isMe. V, " i^ce. e^, *' e^ve. a^ " a^le. ou^ " ou^r. o\ '' oMd. 58 Murdoch' s Elocution. 64. Table III carries the voice through the more earnest interrogative movements of a rising fifth, and then falls on the same interval. IV. Rising Octaves. Falling Octaves. ^S 65. Table IV extends the inter vd an octave upward, as it would pass in a piercing interrogation on the vowel sounds as given in the above tables. Then exercise the voice on the same interval with downward move- ment, 66. The voice has now been made to traverse the inter- vals of speech : first, the simple second, through which the syllabic utterances of unimpassioned reading or speak- ing will be found to proceed; and, afterwards, through those more extended concretes, which are used to express interrogation, denial, surprise, command, and other more earnest states of the mind. In each exercise thus far, following the table of notation, the radical has opened upon the same line of pitch (which should, in the rising concretes, be at first several degrees below the middle), and the vanish has also terminated in the same manner, the voice proceeding from concrete to concrete by discrete steps. The student must next proceed to acquire greater com- mand over these concrete movements by exercising the rising and falling movements alternately. In this case, the radical of the downward concrete will open at the degree of pitch where the vanish of the upward concrete ends. Exercises on the Tonic Elements. 59 Rising and Falling Seconds. ^ ^ mT ^^ mT ik This is zf. as in a^ll. This is i^, as in is^le. i ' a^ ' ' ar'^m. " o^ " oMd. ' a', " a^n. " oo^ " oo^ze ' a^ " aMe. <( ou^ " ou^r. ( ' e^ " eeM. " oi^ - oiM. tj. The object of the exercise in Table V is to famil- iarize the student with the contrasted rising and falling movements of the voice, in uttering the tonic elements with their radical and vanish, as they would occur on the syl ables of a simple sentence of complete sense, when uttered with distinctness, and as a deliberate, unimpas- sio led statement of facts. The extension of the sound in an upward direction will be readily observed on the ele.Tients, while the words containing the same tonic ele- ment will as clearly exhibit the falling radical and vanish. ^et each element and word marked be given with a clear, full, radical opening, avoiding undue loudness or foi^e, and then let the sound gradually diminish in vo ume until it is lost in the delicate vanish. n this, as in the following exercises of this chapter, thtre must be no application of force to the vanish; no br.'ak or unsteadiness between the initial and final move- m( nt, but a sustained smoothness in the utterance, by w] ich the radical and vanish are blended imperceptibly to ;ether. 58. Pronounce the elements and words in the follow- in j table with a moderately forcible abruptness of the 6o Murdoch's Elocution. initial part, and prolong the sounds in the rising movement of an unimpassioned or unexcited interrogation until the delicate termination of the tonic is heard in the extreme vanish.* Next, allow it to fall through the same interval, in a tone of denial. The same elements and words can be used in the interval of the fifth, and afterwards in that of the octave. VI. Rising and FaUing Thirds. Rising and FaUing Fifths. Rising and FaUing Octaves. a', of aMe. a^ ar^m. a^ aMl. e^, e^ve. V, i^ce. oo^ oo'^ze. oo^ loo^k. ou^ ou'^r. a', c f arm. i^ ' ' i^ce. a^ ' ' aMl. e^ * • e^ve. oo^ ' ' oo'^ze a^ " aMe. ou^, ' ' ou^r. oi^ ' ' OiM. of i'^ce. a^ ' • ar'^m. e^ « ' e'^ve. o\ ' * oMd. ou^ ' ' ou^r. o\ ' ' or\ a^ ' ' aMe. oo^ ' ' oo^ze. The exercises may be varied ; e. g., a' — a^ — ar'm — ar^m ; i' — i' — i'ce — i'ce. First in seconds, then in thirds, fifths, and octaves, until the ear of the pupil can execute and recognize the rising and falling movements himself. The tables of tonic sounds are the easiest to execute; but after the organs are rendered pliant on these, the subtonics should be practiced in the same manner. * A very common error in uttering the dipthongal tonics is, to use the words of Prof. William Russell, that of "giving this com- plex sound in a manner too analytical; as, /ai-ee/, /at'-eefh, etc." This overnicety must be carefully avoided, especially in the exer- cise in prolonging these sounds. Exercises on the Tonic Elements. 6i 6(j. Let the questions of the preceding table be next uttered as a gently complaining or plaintive inquiry, and the interrogative elements and words will pass through the interval of a rising semitone. No notation of this interval is given in the tables of notation. It would be similar to thai of the second, but of only half the extent. It is an interval quickly recognized from its plaintive character, and should be practiced on all of the tonic elements, both rising and falling, similarly to the other intervals, 70. Let all the exercises on the tables be given, also, witli the articulated whisper, and then with the half whis- per alternating these with the pure vocality. This exercise of he articulated whisper can not be too highly regarded in his connexion, as, in addition to its uses already men- tioi ed, it is one of the best means for acquiring a control over the correct extension or effusion of the vanish. jlreafhing. — A short breath should be taken at the com- me icement of each line or half line in the tables, or befDre. the elements or words having the extension on the corcretes, according as the energy or duration of utterance ma/ create a greater waste. The organic position prepar- atory to uttering all of the open vowel sounds- 2\-^2iy% affords an opportunity to replenish the breath with perfect ease and without apparent effort. To quickly draw in a small suj-ply of breath before such sounds, when single or as the ini ial of words, in the course of a sentence, should be observed as a general rule of all practice. After each rej'etition of the entire table let the lungs be refilled by a de 3p inspiration. 71. It will be found that the upward movement of the radical and vanish is much more easy of execution than th'; downward. Much practice, therefore, should be given to the latter, observing the efficiency of the moderately fo cible radical in giving directness and positiveness of efl^ct to the prolonged descent of the voice. To be able 62 Murc/oc/is Elocution. to carry the long downward concretes slowly through their wide extent of interval with a proper degree of firmness, equable diminution, and delicate extinction of sound, is one of the most difficult accomplishments of cultiva- tion. The weight of the voice, it must be remembered, in the wide falling concretes, should descend like a heavy blow, and not like a ball that rebounds; /. e., steadily, directly, and forcibly, with no return upon itself, or jerking back at the end. This full opening and final vanish of the perfectly exe- cuted equable concrete is an attribute no less beautiful, than imperatively necessary, to elegant, or even simply correct, speech. It requires constant practice of the organs to produce the clearness of the radical, the move- ment direcdy upward or downward, and the diminishing volume, gradual and equable, which, in its delicacy, "knits sound to silence." In the delicate, smooth effu- sions of sound, lie all the graces of speech. 72. The delicate character of the vanish renders the exact measurement of the intervals a matter of difficulty to the beginner. This, therefore, should be determined in the first practice until the ear becomes familiar with their extent by uttering each tonic element in unison with an instrument, or, which is better, immediately after hav- ing sounded its intervals; the voice, in the latter case, measuring the interval by the impression just made upon the ear. If a piano-forte be employed for this purpose, the notes marking the intervals of its scales will, of course, only mark the boundaries of the concrete, or its points of commencement and termination, which will be the cor- responding discrete interval. 73. Tables VII and VIII represent the notation for the discrete intervals with rising concretes of a second, first upward and 'then downward. Exercises on the Discrete Intervals. 63 Exercises on the Discrete Intervals. Discrete Thirds, Fifths, and Octaves. VII. if \ ^ ] nf "^ -^ '^ ,c ff- « r I — tf^ ^ — ^^ VIII. a, in at. ^, " end. 6, ** on. !, " in. ti, " up. a, ' arm. a, " ale. 00, " ooze e, ' eve. I'tter each of the short tonic elements with h'ght radical stress, first on the first degree of the scale, and then on the second. The radicals will make the extremes of the interval perceptible to the ear, and fix its extent. Then, while the effect is still on the ear, let the same element be car- ied concretely through the same interval.* Then follow wit 1 the table of long vowel sounds. Let this method be pursued with the third, fifth, and octave. 74. The concrete and discrete intervals should be taken from any place on the scale, in any order of succession, thr )ugh the entire compass of each individual voice. ' 'he formulas of notation simply indicate the direction anc extent of the intervals, the position of which on the sea e of pitch may be thus changed at will. 64 Murdoch's Elocution. Although the vocal drill of the exercises is to acquire an organic facility and exactness of execution preparatory to subsequent application of the various intervals to their specific uses in the consecutive utterance of language, the generic character of the rising and falling intervals should be considered in their relation to the latter, in order that their execution in the practice may be associated with the generic state of mind of which they are severally the ex- ponents ; thus, the exercise passes beyond the merely mechanical. The downward movements are vocal signs, in their different degrees of extent, for varying degrees of a positive state of mind, such as is expressed by affirmation^ command, denial, etc. ; while the rising move- ments, in their different degrees, indicate varieties of a generic mental condition exactly the reverse of positive- ness; as, inquiry, doubt, appeal, concession, and kindred states of the mind. The downward movements also indi- cate completion, and the rising continuation or incom- pleteness. 75. The next practice should be directed to the waves. These, it will be found, partake of the expressive charac- ter of the concretes of which they are composed. In con- secutively executing a rising and falling concrete second (Table V e. g.), the voice makes two impulses, — one for each individual movement. Let the rising and the falling movement be combined as one on a single element, the flexure or bending taking the place of the opening radical of the second separate impulse in the preceding, and we have a direct wave of the second (see diagram, page 35.) The ear should recognize the return on the vanish to the starting-point of the radical. Next, reverse the order, descending a second from the radical, and then bending it back again on the rising second as one impulse, and we have the inverted wave of a second. Exercises on the Discrete Intervals. 65 ""hese two waves would be illustrated on the long tonic elements in the words hail and ho-ly, uttered with im- pressive dignity and adoration : ^^ Hail, holy light, offspring of heaven first born." Apply the same principle to the waves of the third, fifti, and octave, direct and inverted. The tables of indefinite syllables following may be used to gain facility in the control of the different forms of the wave. The words selected preserve their identical syUabic sound under all degrees of prolongation. The following tables should be practiced on the con- crete intervals of the rising and falling second, third, and octave, as in the preceding tables of notation. 76. Exercises on Indefinite Syllables. Bal, Wheels, Wear, Flames, Awe, More, Breathe Fom, All, Earn, Jar, " Give, Fall, Due, Fa m, War, Ooze, Spire, Arm, Oil, Nine, Fev, Song, Air, Call, Fail, Fame, Queen, Ee > Gave, Dew, Sing, Jaw, Bull, • Browse, m n, Boy, Line, Nor, Age, Vine, End, Te 1, Sir, Fell, Are, Vow, Well, Err, Ye Rouse, Own, No, Blown, Tone, Stream, Kt en, Thee, Harm, Urge, Thy, Fare, Flaw, Lc ve, Show, Rise, Lorn, Leave, Bawl, Borne, M; ul, Boil, Paw, Lone, Small, One, Stare, So )n, Haul, Come, Saw, Writhe, Live, Here, Sn 3oze, Curd, Brawl, Tithe, Drive, Snare, Rare, St; rs, Wheft, Sneeze, Spare, Flows, When, Knell, St ive. Shorn, Home, Care, King, Dare, Pure, Ai «. Barn, Pare, Prose, Morn, Wild, Wings, W irm, Born, Lull, Low, Furl, Doom, Bale, Ci rl, Plumed, Done, Times, Fair, Car, Turn, Sv am, Praise, He, Woe, Tears, Mar, Gain, K ows. Wine, Bear, Hail, Star, Our, Rhyme. The lists in the preceding table, with their smoothly flowing tonic elements, and subtonics, also, afford the M. E.— fi. 66 Murdoch's Elocution. materials for the exercise of quantity in its most extended forms. Syllables, when correctly extended, must retain the same identity as when uttered quickly; that is, although produc- ing a finer effect upon the ear, they must be equally free from mouthing. A control over quantity^ or the power to extend the time of a syllable without deforming its utterance, is of all the requisites of good reading and speaking least under the command of the uncultivated voice. It comprehends many of the most beautiful effects in elevated and ex- pressive language, for, in extending the duration of syllables, it increases their capacity for taking on many ex- pressive effects which require time for their display. Quan- tity, however, like all the other attributes of the voice, may be cultivated by a proper order of vocal development. 77. Before leaving this subject, one important word with regard to the exactness of measurement in the execution of intervals. In the sentences given in which the word or element, in various forms oP expression, passes through the interval of a second rising or falling, — a third, a fifth, and an octave respectively, — it is not meant that these intervals may not vary from the exact interval named in each case; /. ^., that the third may not approximate to the fourth, the fifth to the sixth, or the octave rise or fall beyond the limit of an eighth, according to the shades, more or less, of in- tensity, in the given state of mind. The intervals given are sufficiently accurate for reference as to measure, in the treatment of speech, which is always a solo-vocal perform- ance, and therefore does not demand th^ accuracy of exe- cution in its intonation requisite to the concerting of music. The exact execution of both discrete and concrete inter- vals should be carefully observed in elemental practice, but in their application to reading and speaking the same ex- actitude is not required. Think a third, or fifth, and where Exercises on the Discrete Intervals. 6^ the ear and voice are well trained, the voice will, in all probability, be correct, a slight variation in degree being of 1 o vital importance in the sum of effects, — feeling is the invcriable standard. 7 he spirit and value of the intervals once realized, they become the elements by which results may be attained far more valuable, in the true sense of expression, than any whi:h arise from the exercise of merely cold and formal nic(ties of mechanical exactness. Chapter VIII. Exercises on the Subtonic Elements. 78. To produce a correct articulation of the subtonic elements, the different positions of the organs must be carefully studied. (i) Articulate slowly and distinctly the element e, as in e-rr^ before b, and observe that the mouth is partly open, the tongue shortened and drawn back; while the mouth is in this position, sound ^he tonic, then close the mouth, hold the breath in the larynx, produce the guttural mur- mur, and the elementary sound of b will be heard. Again utter the sound of b^ in the syllable b-ut^ holding the initial element as long as possible; then reverse the letters, and pronounce the same element as a component of the word tu-b, dwelling on the final sound until we can ac- curately observe its organic formation. In forcibly uttering the word but, the subtonic gives ex- plosive power to the tonic, and becomes an element of force in expression; while in the forcible utterance of tub, is heard the characteristic vocule which gives emphatic force to b, d, g, k, /, /, when final. (2) In sounding the element d, as heard in the combi- nation odd, the tongue rises from the position of 0, at the bottom of the slightly open mouth, to the inner part of the upper teeth, aj^d the vocal murmur of the element is pro- duced at the base of the nasal passages ; reverse the letters, grasp firmly the do, and we get the percussive power of the same element. (68) ■ Exercises on the Subtonic Elements. 69 (5) G is produced by opening the mouth, retracting anc curving the tongue, prolonging or exploding the vocahty against the palate. Its formation may be observed as m the preceding. . (^) The articulation of the subtonic / is formed by a moderate opening of the mouth, and the utterance is mod- ified by the pressure of the tongue, which lies exactly be- hind the upper front teeth. (5) M \% produced by a gentle compression of the lips, and a free and steady expiration of vocalized breath thrDugh the nostrils. The effect is that of a murmur in the head and chest similar to that of b. In intensified or for:ible utterance of this element, the compression of the Hp; is increased, and the vocule, in consequence, more forcibly exploded on the removal of the obstruction. ( 6) N requires the same vocalized breathing as /«, with th( lips freely opened. The end of the tongue is pushed ag;dhst the ridge behind the upper front teeth. 7) R, as heard in r-ap, r-oll, is usually found at or ne ir the beginning of a syllable, and is formed by an energetic vibration of the tip of the tongue against the ricge of the upper gum, accompanied by a partial vocality. Tl e vibration should be but momentary, consisting of but one "slap and retraction of the tongue," otherwise it be- coiies "rolled" or "trilled," producing an unpleasant or afl acted utterance of this element. This is called the in Hal, vibrant, percussive r. The organic movement may bt observed during an energetic pronunciation of the w( )rd f-rilL This is the only subtonic element which does nc t admit of extension in time. It never occurs before a cc nsonant. (8) R, as in fa-r, is a softer and more extended sound thin the vibrant r. In its production, the tongue is short- ei ed and slightly raised toward the root, but does not a( tually touch the roof of the mouth. It is called the soft JO Murdoch' s Elocution. or final r. It has nearly as pure a vocality as the tonics, taking upon itself the full force (or value) of the tonic by which it is preceded. This element precedes, but never follows a consonant. (9) In ng, the vocalized breathing is driven with consid- erable force against the nasal passages and the back of the veil of the palate. By a retraction of the tongue, it rever- berates in the nasal passages, where it acquires its peculiar ringing sound. (10) F" is articulated by bringing the upper fore teeth close upon the ridge of the under lip, and by send- ing a murmuring resonance (produced in both the head and chest), along with the breath, against the interposed obstacle. The upper lip is slightly raised at the same moment. (11) Z, as in z-one, is formed by pressing the edges of the tongue (near the tip), to the roof of the mouth, near the front teeth. The vocalized breath is driven through the small aperture thus made, causing a slight vibration. (12) Z, as in az-ure, has a very limited vocality. The whole fore part of the tongue is raised toward the roof of the mouth, while the sound passes between it and the teeth, producing zh. (13) Y, as in y-ou or y-e^ is executed by op*ening the mouth, curving and retracting the tongue with great force, and driving an aspiration against the palate with vocal murmur. (14) W, as in Tv-oe, is formed first by rounding the lips, as in articulating 00, in ooze, an exceedingly brief vocal murmur, which is modified by the larynx, then es- capes through the lips and nostrils. As b, d, g, and z/i are formed by using vocality instead of aspiration with the organic positions of /, /, k, and sh; so y and w are the mixture of vocality with the aspiration of k, as heard in /t-e, and of w/i, in wh-irled. If we substitute the vocal Exercises on the Subtonic Elements. 71 murmur for pure aspiration, we change these words he to ye, and whirled to world.^ Th, as in th-en, is produced by directing the vocalized emission of the breath through a slight horizontal parting of the lips, while the end of the torgue is forcibly pressed between the teeth. This ele- ment thus differs from the aspirated th, as heard in th-ick. 79. (i) Pronounce the words in Table I firmly and de- liberately, so that both elements (where they occur twice), art distinctly heard. Then pronounce the words forcibly, emphasizing the initial elements. Table I. — Subtonic Elements. b, as in b-2.-bQ.. ng, as in si-n^. d, d-x-d. V, * * v-al-ve. g. g-'^-g- z, * z-one. ') l-xx-ll. z, ' a-2-ure m, " m-2\-m. y.> ' 7-e. n, ' n-n-n. w, ' • jez-oe. r, * ^--a-p. th, * ' M-en. r, " ta-r. [2) Pronounce syllables in Table II, firmly holding or sustaining vocal murmur of final elements. II. uA e-/, e-v, e-zk, u-^, e-m, e-/, ^•*tg. u-^, e-u. e-//^, a-r. * Teachers should note this fact, and strictly observe the articu- lar ion of their pupils in executing such words as are likely to be CO ifounded in the same movement. The words wAaf, which, and wi eat, for example, are very generally deprived of the aspiration w dch distinctly marks their correct pronunciation. 72 Murdoch' s Elocution. (3) Sound simple elements, Table III, taking great care not to give a tonic also. III. B. . L, Ng, Zh, Th, D, M, V, Y, R, vibrant* G, N, z, W, R, soft. 80. The difficulty experienced by some persons in pro- ducing the vibrant r, and the fault of continuing the vibra- tion too long, or a lack of ability to coalesce this element with others, causing an effort as though two impulses were made, thus : e-r-r, r-oll, or de-r-r-r-a, may be avoided by practicing the r, in combination with other elements, with great rapidity, on the following words: IV. Tread, Dread, Brave, Sprig, Grave, Reach, Trill, Drink, Brink, Spread, Groan, Rage, Trick, Dream, Bread, Preach, Grape, Rend, Trail, Drop, Cry, Prick, Grieve, Roll, Track, Strike, Crowd, Prance, Raw, Roar, Trance, Stream, Crash, Prowl, Ride, Rude, Stroke, Stride, Crush, Pray, Rail, Rise. Strain, Straight, Spry, Prate, Rain, 81. After holding the initial sounds in Table V, so that the strong vocal murmur can be heard and felt, burst them into each of the succeeding tonics, making short words, as: ba, bee, bi, etc. There must be no hiatus between the elements, and yet the initial subtonic must not be an ineffective, slovenly sound, made so rapidly that it is lost in the syllable. The practice is to impart to the organs not only the ability to grasp with power the initial sub- Omitted in exercises on extending the sounds. I Exercises on the Subtonic Elements. 73 tonics, but to forcibly drive its strength immediately into the radical fullness of the tonic, producing an intensified radical stress. Then let each of the syllables containing the long vowels be carried through the intervals of in- tonation. See Tables of Notation, Chapter VII. The force of the initial subtonic will give directness to the positive down sweep of the wider falling concretes. V. b. — a, e, 1, 6, u, oi, ou. i. — a, e, i, o, u, oi, ou. %. — a, e, i, o, u, oi, ou. 1. — a, e, i, o, u, oi, ou. II. — a, e, i, o, u, oi, ou. n. — a, e, i, o, u, oi, ou. Initial r.— a, e, i, 0, u, oi. ou «' V. — a. e, i, 0, u, oi. ou " z. — a. e. i, 0, u. oi, ou " w.— a. e, i, 0, u, oi, ou " th.— a, e» i, 0, u, oi, ou 82. In Table VI, it will be seen, short syllables are proiuced by placing each of the long tonics successively before each subtonic sound that may close a syllable or become a final element; as, abe^ eeb, ibe, etc. ( i) Utter each of these syllables with slight radical opening, and prolonged holding or sustaining of the final sul tonic strongly or firmly, on a level line of pitch, terminating with forcible utterance of the abrupt vocule. Th i protracting of vocal murmur on a level line of pit':h is simply for the purposes of vocal culture, as this is he holding, pharyngeal power through which the full extent of resonant murmur or reverberating vocality of the subtonic sounds is developed. They may be carried dirxtly through the concrete intervals. Next, through the pri icipal forms of the wave. In these forms, it will be ob erved, the vocule of" the subtonic becomes almost im- pel ceptible, lessening in proportion as they become ele- mt tits of grace instead of force. M. E.— 7. 74 Miu'doc/is Elocution, VI. a.— b, d, g, V, m, n, z. e. — b, d, g, V, m, n, z. i. — b, d, g, V, m, n, z. 6. — b, d, g, V, m, n, z. u, — b, d, g, V, m, n, z. a. — b, d, g, V, m, n, z. 6. — b, d, g, V, m, n, z. I.— b, d, g, V, m, n, z. 6.— b, d, g, V, m, n, z. (i. — b, d, g, V, m, n, z, 83. In pronouncing the following words, let them be uttered with deliberate force, holding the initial letter with vocal murmur long enough to hear and feel its character- istic sound and action. Then let the practice be given more rapidly : Bad — boys — boasting — brag. But — bold — bears — bite — badly. Donkeys — don't — dare — danger — daring — deeds — doubtful. Old — standards — stand — steadily. Grand — bland — logic — made — modern — muddle — legal. "While — rude — winds — roared — gentle — lambs — nib- bled — daintily. Savage — leopards — ramped — and — raved. Sturdy — striders — strode — staunchly. VII. Bade, Mull, Wren, Yearn, Mab, Gun, Log, Den, Bug, Dog, Glum, Noll, Dub, Nod, Dug, Vice, Babe, Dun, Mob, Wed, Nab, Mud, Nun, Gab, Doll, Glen, Woe, Man, Lad, Mum, Vine, Gull, Mue, Nine, Wan, Bad, Bed, No, Gat, Note, Song, Buzz, Seize, Dame, Now, Bang, Please, Dam, Not, Hung, Treasure, Lame, Rat, Bab, You, Late, Rack, Vane, Yore, Loll, Ray, Van, Yet, Rye, Void, We, Me, Ring, Lest, Wine, My, Near, Wheeze, Mow, Ear, Froze, Won, Burst, War, Dawn, They, Blast, Lag, Mouth This, Rang, Loaf, Bale, Thine, Brag, Dive, Dane, Way, Wove, Valve, Yell, Thee, Dew, Zaney, Seizure, Live, Boy, Graze, Wand, There, Yarn, Guy, Day, That, Blind, Maze, Wreath, Grove, Love, Yawn, Thy, Daze, Zion, Loathe, Lithe. Exercises on the Subtonic Elements. 75 ^ 84. All of the syllables in Table VII terminating with a sub conic, preceded by a long tonic, should be carried with less percussive initial force, and with a view to prolong- ing the final element through all the intervals of intona- tior , both upward and downward. Chapter IX. Exercises on the Atonic Elements. 85. Table of the Atonic Elements. P, as in p-\pe. T, as in t-eni. C (hard) and k, as in c-zJiq. Fy as in f-\ft. C (soft) and s, as in f-eaje. H, as in h-e. Wh, •' wh-tZii. Th, " th-vci. Sh, *' pu-j^. (i) The 'Atonic / is produced by an intense compression of the lips, immediately followed by a whispered or aspi- rated explosion.* {2) In executing /, the end of the tongue is strongly pressed against the roof of the mouth, and an aspirated explosion is made on the instant of its withdrawal. (3) K is produced by opening the mouth, retracting and curving the tongue, while an aspiration is exploded against the palate. (4) F is executed by a forcible compression of the teeth upon the lips, while the breath is driven against them. (5) S or c (soft), as in the word cease, is formed by pressing the sides of the tongue against the roof of the mouth, and driving through the small aperture between m *The distinctness of elemental practice, if carried too far reading or speech, becomes a defect, and should be guarded against, particularly in /, t, and k. (76) Exercises on the Atonic Elements. j'j the tip and interior ridge of gum the aspirated breath. Th s forms the characteristic sibillation or hiss of this ele- me It. (6) ^ is formed by a forcible emission of the breath in the form of a whisper, through the moderately open organs of speech. (7) Wh is executed by suddenly driving the aspirated breath through the lips opened in the position for whist- ling;. (S) Th, as in thin, is produced by a forcible aspiration through the slightly parted lips, while the end of the tongue lies between and presses against the upper teeth. (5) Sh is formed liked z, in azure, as regards organic position, but is aspirated instead of vocalized. ''he atonies have a feeble vocule, but no vocality, per- form no part in intonation, and are therefore inferior to the other elements for purposes of vocal exercise. A prac- tice on these elements, however, contributes to the me- chanical facility of the organs in articulation. 86. (i) Articulate each syllable in Table I distinctly. Thm repeat, holding the final or atonic element for a monent, and then letting the breath escape from the orgms with abruptness. This will produce the vocule, or little voice, of the elements /, /, k, f, and th. The re- ma ning atonic elements producing no occlusion (or but little) in their formation, are almost without the vocule. (2) Next utter the simple aspirated elements, as in the foil )wing table, with emphatic force : II. P! K! S! Wh! T! F! H! Sh! Th! (5) Pronounce the following words with distinct articula- tion of every element in combination. 78 MurdocJis Elocution. Fright, Cnff, iTaul, ^old, S'lss, Sweep, SAock, Swisk, III. ^y^ale, 7a/, PVJtat, Fife, M/h\f, Wi/e, ThTQSit, Hzh, ThvfdLXt, Hzxm, Hzxk, \ce, 5/iame, Shot, Whexe, Whence, Thick, Dea///, Thditik. (4) Pronounce the words in the following table, "hold- ing " the initial letter firmly for a moment, and then letting the sound break abruptly from the first atonic into the tonic, and terminating the syllable with the second atonic, giving its vocule distinctly. It must be carefully noted that in pronouncing the syllable no hiatus occurs between the sound of the aspirate element and the tonic, but that the former, after a mo- mentary holding, must instantaneously open into the latter. The same thing has been pointed out as applying to the subtonic elements when they precede the tonics. IV. Peck, Fife, Thick, A'iss, T\p, Sick, Shut, Heath. 'X Rob, ffnsh, IVAeat. I 87. Let these tables be often and carefully repeated, ob- serving a correct use of the breath, as suggested by the directions for breathing in the preceding exercises. The rule for the correct sounding of the final subtonics and atonies is to stop the breath with the separation of the organs, otherwise there is likely to occur an after puff or aspiration; as, lip-ah, did-ah, and-ah. The utmost rigor of attention on the part of the student is required to guard against the evils arising from bad elementary training. Miscellaneous Exercises. 79 Exercises on Short Tonics, Abrupt Subtonic, and Atonic Elements. 88. (i) First cough out the tonic elements. Then artic- ulate tonic element with explosive force in pure vocality. Nex:, utter entire syllable in the columns of Table V •vith forcible distinctness. m V. A-i/J, A-afl^, A-a^, A-a/, A -a/, A-a^, Y.-ib, E-e^, E-e^, E-eA E-e/, E-e/t, I-iS I-i^, I-i^, I-i/, I-ip, \-\k^ Oo^, , O-od, O-og, O-o/, 0-0/, O-oy^, U-a^. U-u^. U-u^. U-uA U-u/. U-uy6. (2) First give the elemental sound of the subtonics and atorics in the columns of Table VI, holding on to the guttaral murmur of the former, and to the organic posi- tion for the latter, and closing with the vocule. Then prohounce syllables distinctly, and with force. After the vocule of the atonies and subtonics is brought under con- trol of the organs, lessen the force on those terminative sounds to the utmost delicacy of touch. If employed beyorrd the effect of delicate precision in ordinary articu' latic n, the vocule produces an unpleasant and pedantic effec :t. VI. B-a3, B-e^ B-i^.- * The teacher may transfer these exercises to the blackboard, and diversify the mode of exercise so as to embrace a varied range of 1 risk and rapid practice of the organs in the execution of the elen ents. 8o Murdoch's Elocution. 89. The exercise on Table VII is to secure facility of organic action in the utterance of those combinations where the subtonic or atonic elements are repeated at the different syllabic extremes, as in at-tire. This is effected, not by separating the organs on the first sound before uttering the latter, but by a renewed forcible exer- tion of the organs, which increases and prolongs the sound of the vocal murmur of the subtonic, and gives pre- cision to the atonic. This practice on the doubling of the element, therefore, imparts the "holding power" to the organs on these elements. VII. At-tack, Op-pose, Im-mense, Ad-dress, Oc-cur, In-ner, Ap-peal, Oc-casion, Up-per, Ap-proach, Oc-cuh, Ut-ter, , At-test," Ef-fuse, Sup-port, Ap-pear, Ef-f€ct, Sup-press, At-tempt, Ag-gressor, Sup-ply, Ac-cuse, Im-merse, At-tach. 90. The constant repetition of exercises on the elements, in every possible combination, is not only for perfecting the concrete movement, but it is the means by which the voice is improved, and in many cases built. They are of the same value as the practice of do, re, mi, upon the scales in cultivating the voice for singing. The concrete is the vital principle in the perfection of speech; it marks the difference between the "hurried, clipped sounds heard in the voice of trade or traffic," and the elegance of perfected speech of the pulpit, the bar, and the stage, or wherever cultivation impresses itself upon the ear through those musically mellow and forcibly delicate intonations that charm the hearer. This portion of our subject is treated in the most mas- terly manner by Rush in his section upon syllabication. I Miscellaneous Exercises. hac expected to introduce it into my manual, but space forl)ids. I can only here repeat that every syllable must pass through a concrete on some interval of the scale, and exf lain that it derives its singleness of impulse and length from certain relations existing between this concrete func- tion and the three classes of elements: tonic, atonic, and sut tonic. CI. Every syllabic combination has its purpose in the ex] ression of speech ; those elements and combinations of elements which are lacking in the more agreeable qual- ities, fulfill an essential office in the force and energy of utterance. The tendency in the general treatment of spoken language seems to be to slight the importance of the consonant ele- meits (subtonics and atonies) beyond that of their mere art culative functions. The subtonics, in addition to the resDnant beauty of their vocal murmur, and their capacity for prolongation as final elements of syllables, are also ele- ments of great force. They are the means by which it may be said one grasps or holds a word under the control of the organs; or they may be called (together with the abiupt atonies), when used initially, the slings, by whose mctive power the tonics are projected from the mouth in ex])ressive utterance, or in positive or enforced articu- lat on. f grace and beauty alone were to be considered in the utterance of language, it would lose much of its expressive ch iracter arising from these elements, which, owing to the peculiar relations existing between them and the tonics, ad 1 to its strength and intensity. A careful analysis of wcrds will also show the expressive value of the atonies be ;ide their mere mechanical functions in articulation. )2. Sheridan, who seems to have appreciated the real va ue of the consonants more than almost any other writer be :bre Rush, says : * * Nothing is more common than to 82 MurdocJi s Elocution. hear natives of this country (England) acknowledging the justness of the charge which foreigners make against the English tongue, that of abounding too much in consonants; and yet, upon a fair examination, it would appear that we have no more than what contribute to strength and expres- sion. If the vowels be considered as the blood, the con- sonants are the nerves and sinews of a language." And again: *'As the blending of vowels in dipthongs gives the greatest sweetness to syllables, so the union of two or more consonants gives the greatest strength." 93. Smart, in speaking of the benefits of a "cultivated utterance of the consonants," says: ** It is understood that a language is harmonious in proportion as it abounds with open vowel sounds. , . . Doubtless, in respect to melody alone, such a language must possess great advantages. Where softness, harmony, and sweetness are required in pastoral or elegiac poetry, and in that species of eloquence where the object is only to please and captivate, it will be used with great effect. But when we intend to be strong and nervous, to rouse and animate, whence is to come the corresponding energy in the lan- guage? ... In fact, real energy of pronunciation [delivery] does not consist in a vociferate utterance, but in active and forcible ex- ertion of the organs; and if a language gives no room for any ex- ertion of this kind, if to pronounce it properly the whole flow of language must roll upon the vowels, and the consonants be little dwelt upon, however harmonious such a language would be, it would want strength and vigor. It is certain that the English tongue is not chargeable with defects of this kind. On the con- trary, the number of its monosyllables, which so often begin or end with clusters of consonants, and the frequent practice of shortening or entirely shutting the vowel sounds, have been the cause of tax- ing it with harshness. But, in this respect, it is presumed much depends on the person who pronounces it^ because there are proofs that some consonants are capable of harmonious effects, and if care be taken in uttering them, may supply the want of a greater number of sounds purely vocal, at the same time that they preserve their quality by adding strength to pronunciation. As a proof of the tuneful quality of the vocal consonants [subtonics], we may remark Division of Syllables. 83 that a semi-vowel [subtonic] contains voice enough to be made the subjtct of a note in singing; that is to say, if any word ending with a vocal consonant — dell, for instance — occurred in a song under a long note, it is in the singer's power to make nearly the who'e note run upon the /. How soft and harmonious are the consjnant sounds marked in italics in the following lines: ' TlAere, on bcd% of i/iolets ^lue, And fresh ^lown ros&s washed in ^riek, flits by on leathern wing." "The rushi«^, crackliw^, crashi«^ thunder down." "The string let fly, Twanged j^ort and j-^arp, like the shxSW. swallow's cry." "^/^ence and w//at art thou, execrable shape?" " fVAence do we come, and whither go?" **The whole room 7t>/iirled about her. When she 7£'/^ispered, rvhy ? where ? " "But with the whi^ and wind of his /ell sword, The unnerved /ather /alls." " But with the /roward he was yierce as yire." "The J-ophii-^'j shrewd juggejtion." "Guejjing the design was perceived, he dejij/ed." Exercises in Syllabic Combinations. 95 " 5ee the jnakej that they rear — How they hm in their hair." "A thousand with red, burning jpitJ, come hij-5-ing." " Happy thou art not — For what thou haj'/ not, sfA\ thou strive^/ to get ; And what thou haj/, forget'^/." " Thou art not ^-ertain, For thy complexion shiftJ to strange effectJ." *' H^ >^ad learned the w//ole art of angling by /zeart." " Be /zumble and humane, ^ate not your enemies." "Up a /^igh hxW. he heaved a /mge round stone." " ^igh <^eaven ^as not -^eard his vow." " A /ert, /rim /rater of the northern race." " Here files of /ins extend their shining rows, /\iffs, /owder, /atches, bibles, billet-doux." "Do you think I am easier to be /layed upon than a /i/e ? " "/'eter Pi/er /icked a /eck of /ickled /e//ers." " The /emp/er saw his /ime." 'A /ell-^ale /aMing /ermagan^ thai? troubled all the /own." " He talked, and s/amped, and chafed, t\\\ all were shockea^." "To inhabit a mansion remo/e From the cla/^er of s/ree/-pacing s/eeds." "A \Ad,ck cakz of «/rious quality." " Blow wind, come wrac-^. At least we'll die with harness on our barA" "With the old raution of a coward's spleen." "The f/umsy kitchen f/ock cl\z\ lead, fear, sea. Key. E'(n. People. Ciesar, Quay. Grieve, thieves, brief, piece, field. . Ceiling, perceive, seine, receive, either, neither. Series, equable, edict, me, the. E, as in end. (See ^[39.) — 6, a, ai, ay, 60, ei, u, ue, ig, 6i. M(it, let, fetter, object, chil- irSn, Igver, goodness, rgnd. Ai.y, many. Sa d, again, against. Sar^s. Jeopard, leopard. Leather, wSather, wSalth, head, sweat, heaven. Bury, burial. Guess. Friend. Heifer. I, as misle. (See ^39.) — i, ie, y, aye, igh, ai, ei, uy, oi. Pi ice, idle, biography, mind, thigh, oblige, minute, idea, aspirant. D e, died, vie. E '^e, my, sky, dye, rye, papyrus, scythe, by. Aye. Sigh, high. Aisle. Height, sleight, heigh-ho. Buy, Guy. Choir. io6 Murdoch! s Elocution. I, as in in. (See ^[39.) — 1, la, ie, y, al, a, ay, el, o, u, ui. Sin, bill, ill, civilization, chicken, critic, vineyard. Marriage, carriage. Sieve. My (unemphatic), psalmody, symbol, ycleped. Mountain, certain, captain. Cabbage, postage, village Sunday, Monday. Forfeit, foreign. Women. '^ Minute, letttice, btisy. Guilt, quilt. O, as in old. (See 1145.) — o, 6e, au, eo, oa, 60, ow, 6u, owe, ough. Bold, cold, go, mold, bolt, obey, oval, procure, piano, yolk, roll, motto, depo.t. Doe, toe, foe, hoe. Hautboy. Yeoman. Roam, loam, foam, boat, oak, oats, loaf, oath. Door. Flow, blow, crow, low, shadow, tow. Soul, shoulder, pour, four, court. Owe. Though, dough, borough. O, as in our. (See ^38.)— ow, ou, ough. Cow, bow, how, brow, frown, growl, owl, brown, crown, gown. Ounce, cloud, out, count, proud, couch, sound, found. Plough, drought. Oo, as in look.- Wolf, woman, bosom. Bull, butcher, pull, puss, put, push. ), u, 00, ou. Foot, good, wood, book. Should, would. I Articulation and Vocal Culture. 07 Oo, as in ooze. (See ^38.) — q, qe, qeu, 00, ooe, qu, ew, wo, u, ue, ui. Do, to, tomb, lose, prove. Shqt, canoe. Marqeuver. Cool, boom, boot, stoop, coop, cccoon, too, soothe, troop. Wooed. j Group, tqur, youth, you, j through, rqute. ' Chew, brew, threw, grew. Two. Cruel, rumor, rude, yule, rural, spruce, sure, rule. Flue, rue, true. Recruit, fruit, bruise, juice, sluice. U, ;is in use. — u, ew, hii, eau, ieu, iew, ue, eu, ui, uh, you. Stuf id, usual, use, tune, mas- ci.line, impugn, virtuous, liierature, nature. Dev, few, new, blew, flew, stwer, anew. Euf huism. Beaity, beauteous. Adi iu, lieu. View. Ensue, pursue, avenue, Tuesday. Feud, pseudo. Puisne. Buhl. You. O, as in berates in the pharynx and chest, and rings through the nasal passages and the head. 130. Practice should bring out and perfect the fullness^ clearness, strength, smoothness, and subsonorous, ringing vocality which constitute the orotund. The method of acquiring this quality of voice is similar to our instinctive progress through the successive periods of speech. The cries of infants are made on the continued stream of vo- cality. The first utterance of the infant, after this pro- longed cry, is by an apportionment of a single syllable to a breath. By a preparatory exercise in the interrupted jets of crying and laughter, the command over expiration and the habit of perfect speech is gained. See Rush, page 152. The elements should be practiced, as in Chapter VII, on the concrete movement through all the intervals and waves. Orotund^ with Practice Exercises. 153 Exercise in Effusive Orotund. 131. Open the syllable hee-h^ as in Table I, with a strong expl Dsive aspiration on the letter h^ with distinct articulation of e, and let the vowel sound gradually diminish till it glid(S into the breathing whisper of the final h, which mus be sustained until the exhaustion of breath is com- pleted. Practice first in the whisper, and afterwards with voce lity. I. Hee-h, Hie-h, Ha-h, Hoe-h, tiay-h, Ha-h, Haw-h, How-h, Kee-h, Kie-h, Ka-h, Koe-h, Kay-h, Ka-h, Kaw-h, Kow-h, P ie-h, Pie-h, Pa-h, Poe-h, P ly-h, Pa-h, Paw-h, Pow-h. A second exercise consists in prolonging the radical by hole ing on to the sound of ^-w on a level line of pitch, bef{ re gliding into the vanish of ^-rr on a higher pitch. Thi i should be practiced on all the elements susceptible of prolongation, and in the three degrees of middle, high, and low pitch. Then repeat with different degrees of force and loudness, and in forcible whisper with the organs in pos tion for the yawn. / third exercise prefixes the aspirate h to the vowels, thu i : ha, hi, he^ ho, h-oi, h-ow. Let the radical pitch be hig 1, and allow the voice to glide down as low as it can go, exhausting the air in the lungs at every effort. Then rev irse the movement by striking the radical low, and ris- ing as high, as the voice will permit. 1: requires considerable practice upon the orotund, in the form of elements, syllables, and words, before the stU'lent can read for any length of time with this acquired cor imand of the enlarged position of the organs, and with 154 Murdoch's Elocution, the force requisite to produce the effect desired; but the mere practice of the orotund cultivates the natural quality of voice, giving it firmness and clearness. The explosion of the radical (see UsS), in connection with the orotund produces that subsonorous resonance that is the unmistakable evidence of culture in the human voice. All exercises in the orotund require to be varied in pitch as in the natural quality of voice. 132. Select sentences abounding in syllables in which the long, open vowels predominate; after giving them in a forcible whisper and a guttural aspiration, deep and loud, then vociferate them powerfully in middle, high, and low pitch, thus : ** O thou that rollest above, round as the shield of my fathers ! " "The moon, cold and pale, sinks in the western wave!" •' Through glades and glooms the mingled measure stole, Or o'er some haunted stream, with fond delay (Round a holy calm diffusing, Love of peace and lonely musing,) ■ In hollow murmurs died away." *' Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean — roll ! " 1 33. Vociferation, or the shout, is an excellent means' of developing all the breadth and richness that a voice is capable of. The following passages from "King John" should be given with the organs in the position for the orotund, as described above, and a strong action of the diaphragm; shouting them out with all the force the student can command, without straining the organs. At first one or two lines may be given, and it is much better to commit them to memory, as the speaker is more natural when free from the book. After the exercise becomes Orotund, with Practice Exercises. 155 mors familiar to the student, it should be continued for half an hour at a time. Very few persons realize how much the voice may be developed by these practices in voc feration, but as they are very forcible, they should be used gradually. The heralds are upon the walls, the kings upoa the plains below, consequently the tones should be forcibly expelled, as if speaking to persons above you, as in the kings' speeches; and the citizens' replies should be mace as though the voices were thrown from a height. The ultimate use of this practice is to bring out the full quality of the voice, and thereby produce the effect of the *oro:und in every degree of pitch, energized force, and sonorousness. In fact, to develop the natural speaking sounds into the breadth and richness of a vocality adapted to ;he highest range of dramatic expression, and the sub- limity and grandeur of sacred poetry, or the noblest flight of inspired oratory. 3 34. The exercise of the laugh in three degrees of pitch, on the syllables huh, ha, ha, ha, is an admirable practice for the orotund. \_Citizens upon the Walls. '^ Citizen. — Who is it, that hath warn'd us to the walls? Ki ig Philip. — 'Tis France for England. King John. — England, for itself. You men of Angiers, and my loving subjects. Kitg Philip. — You loving men of Angiers, Arthur's subjects, Our trumpet call'd you to this gentle parle. King John. — For our advantage; — therefore, hear us first. These flags of France, that are advanced here Before the eye and prospect of our town, Have hither march'd to your endamagement: The cannons have their bowels full of wrath ; And ready mounted are they, to spit forth Their iron indignation 'gainst your walls: 156 Murdoch's Elocution. All preparation for a bloody siege And merciless proceeding, by these French, Confronts your city's eyes, your winking gates ; And but for our approach, those sleeping stones, That as a waist do girdle you^ about, By the compulsion of their ordnance By this time from their fixed beds of lime Had been dishabited, and wide havoc made For bloody power to rush upon your peace. But, on the sight of us, your lawful king, Who painfully, with much expedient march, Have brought a countercheck before your gates. To save unscratch'd your city's threaten'd cheeks, - Behold, the French, amaz'd, vouchsafe a parle ; And now, instead of bullets wrapp'd in fire. To make a shaking fever in your walls, They shoot but calm words, folded up in smoke, To make a faithless error in your ears: Which trust accordingly, kind citizens. And let us in. Your king, whose labour'd spirits Forwearied in this action of swift speed. Craves harbourage within your city walls. King John. — Speak on, with favor; we are bent to hear. First Citizen. — That daughter there of Spain, the lady Blanch, Is near to England : Look upon the years Of Lewis the Dauphin, and that lovely maid ; If lusty love should go in quest of beauty. Where should he find it fairer than in Blanch ? If zealous love should go in search of virtue. Where should he find it purer than in Blanch ? If love ambitious sought a match of birth. Whose veins bound richer blood than Lady Blanch ? Such as she is, in beauty, virtue, birth. Is the young Dauphin every way complete : If not complete of, say, he is not she ; And she again wants nothing, to name want. If want it be not, that she is not he ; He is the half part of a blessed man, Left to be finished by such a she ; Orotund, with Practice Exercises. 157 And she a fair divided excellence, Whose fullness of perfection lies in him. — " King John,'" Shakespeare. EFFUSIVE OROTUND. • I who essayed to sing in earlier days, The Thanatopsis and the hymn to death, Wake now the hymn to Immortality. Yet once again, O man, come forth and view The haunts of nature ; walk the waving fields, Enter the silent groves, or pierce again The depths of the untrodden wilderness. And she will teach thee. Thou hast learned before One lesson — and her hymn of death hath fallen With melancholy sweetness on thine ear ; Yet she shall teach thee with a myriad tongue That life is there — life in uncounted forms- Stealing in silence through the hidden roots. In every branch that swings — in green leaves. And waving grain, and the gay summer flowers That gladden the beholder. Listen, now. And she shall teach thee that the dead have slept But to awaken in more glorious forms, And that the mystery of the seed's decay Is but the promise of the coming life. Each towering oak that lifts its living head To the broad sunlight, in eternal strength, Glories to tell thee how the acorn died. So live, that when the mighty caravan, Which halts one night-time in the vale of Death, Shall strike it§ white tents for the morning march ; Thou shalt mount onward to the Eternal Hills, Thy foot unwearied and thy strength renewed. Like the strong eagle for the upward flight." — "^ Vision of Immortality ^ 1 58 Murdoch's Elocution. REVERENCE. "Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord, my God, Thou art very great ; Thou art clothed with honor and majesty ; who coverest thyself with light as with a garment ; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: who layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters : who maketh the clouds His chariot ; who walketh upon the wings of the wind ; who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever." — " The Book of Psalms:' ADORATION. Thou from primeval nothingness didst call First chaos, then existence ; — Lord ! in Thee Eternity had its foundation ; — all Sprung forth from Thee ; — of light, joy, harmony, Sole Origin: — all life, all beauty Thine. Thy word created all, and doth create ; Thy splendor fills all space with rays divine ; Thou art, and wert, and shalt be! Glorious, Great! Light-giving, life-sustaining Potentate ! Thy chains the unmeasured universe surround ; Upheld by Thee, by Thee inspired with breath ! Thou the beginning with the end hast bound. And beautifully mingled life and death ! As sparks mount upward from the fiery blaze, So suns are born, so worlds spring forth from Thee ; And as the spangles in the sunny rays Shine round the silver snow, the pageantry Of heaven's bright army glitters in Thy praise." " dod,'" Perzhavin. THE SUBLIME IN THE FORM OF NUMEROUS PROSE. ** Suddenly the notes of the deep-laboring organ burst upon the ear, falling with doubled and redoubled intensity, and rolling, as it were, huge billows of sound. How well do their volume and Oi'otund^ with Practice Exercises. 159 - rand jur accord with this mighty building ! With what pomp do they ^well through its vast vaults, and breathe their awful harmony throui;h these caves of death, and make the silent sepulchre vocal! And now they rise in triumph and acclamation, heaving higher and ligher their accordant. notes, and piling sound on sound. — And now hey pause, and the soft voices of the choir break out into sweet gushes of melody ; they soar aloft, and warble along the roof, md seem to play about these lofty vaults like the* pure airs of heaven. Again the pealing organ heaves its thrilling thunders, comp essing air into music, and rolling it forth upon the soul. What long-drawn cadences ! What solemn, sweeping concords ! It grows more and more dense and powerful — it fills the vast pile, and ^eems to jar the very walls — the ear is stunned — the senses are overwhelmed. And now it is winding up in full jubilee — it is rising from :he earth to heaven — the very soul seems rapt away and floated upwa-ds on this swelling tide of harmony." ''The Sketch-book,'" IRVING. SPLENDOR. = But lo ! the dome — the vast and wondrous dome, To which Diana's marvel was a cell — Christ's mighty shrine above his martyr's tomb! I have beheld the Ephesian's miracle — Its columns strew the wilderness, and dwell The hyena and the jackal in their shade ; I have beheld Sophia's bright roofs swell Their glittering mass i' the sun, and have survey'd Its sanctuary the while the usurping Moslem pray'd ; ■ But thou, of temples old, or altars new, Standest alone — with nothing like to thee — Worthiest of God, the holy and the true. Since Zion's desolation, when that He Forsook his former city, what could be. Of earthly structures, in his honor piled, Of a sublimer aspect? Majesty, Power, Glory, Strength, and Beauty, all are aisled In the eternal ark of worship undefiled." ''At St. Peter's at Rome'' Byron. i6o Murdoch's Elocution. Expulsive Orotund, poetic fervor. ' Waken, lords and ladies gay, To the greenwood haste away; We can show you where he lies, Fleet of foot, and tall of size ; We can show the marks he made, When 'gainst the oak his antlers fray'd ; You shall see him brought to bay, Waken, lords and ladies gay. ' Louder, louder chant the lay, Waken, lords and ladies gay ! Tell them youth, and mirth, and glee, Run a course as well as we ; Time, stern huntsman ! who can baulk, Staunch as hound, and fleet as hawk ; Think of this, and rise with day. Gentle lords and ladies gay." — '■^Hunting Song,'''' Scott. High, Full Orotund. ** Oh ! listen, man ! A voice within us speaks the startling word : * Man, thou shalt never die ! ' Celestial voices Hymn it round our souls; according harps. By angel fingers touched, when the mild stars Of morning sang together, sound forth still The song of our great immortality : Thick-clustering orbs, and this our fair domain, The tall, dark mountains, and the deep-toned seas. Join in this solemn, universal song." — Dana. M.f: Orotund^ with Practice Exercises. lOi " O now, forever, Farewell the tranquil mind ! farewell content ! Farewell the plumed troops, and the big wars. That make ambition virtue ! O, farewell ! Farewell the neighing steed, 'and the shrill trump, The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife. The royal banner; and all quality, Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war ! And, O you mortal engines, whose rude throats The immortal Jove's dread clamors counterfeit. Farewell ! Othello's occupation 's gone ! " — «« Othello,''^ Shakespeare. IMPASSIONED EXPRESSION. — PATRIOTISM. 3h, sweet is the sound of the shuttle and loom When the lilies of peace fill the land with perfume !- Then cheerily echoes the axe from the hill, vVhile the bright waters sing on the wheel of the mill, .\nd the anvil rings out like a bell through the day, A.nd the wagoner's song cheers his team on the way, rill the bugles sound here, and the drums rattle there, And the banners of War stream afar on the air. Then wild is the hour, and fearful the day. When the shuttle is dropt for the sword and the fray, When the woodman is felling a foe at each stroke, And the miller is blackened with powder and smoke, When the smith wields the blade in his terrible grip. And the wagoner's rifle cracks true as his whip : The bugles sound here, and the drums rattle there. While the banners of War stream afar on the air." — Read. DETERMINED PURPOSE. "Hear what 4iighland Nora said: 'The Earlie's son I will not wed. Should all the race of nature die, M. E.— 14. 1 62 Murdoch's Elocution. And none be left but he and I, For all the gold, for all the gear, And all the lands both far and near, That ever valor lost or won, I would not wed the Earlie's son.' i( ( The swan,' she said, 'the lake's clear breast May barter for the eagle's nest ; The Awe's fierce stream may backward turn, Ben Cruichan fall, and crush Kilchurn ; Our kilted clans, when blood is high, Before their foes may turn and fly ; But I, were all these marvels done, Would never wed the Earlie's son.' " — ^' Nora^s Vow,'" ScOTT. ADORATION. * % The movement passes from the effusive to the fuller effect of the expulsive in the last stanza. ** Yet, like some sweet beguiling melody, So sweet, we know not we are listening to it. Thou, the meanwhile, wast blending with my thought, Yea, with my life, and life's own secret joy; Till the dilating soul, enrapt, transfused, Into the mighty vision passing — there. As in her natural^ form, swell'd vast to heaven. ■ Awake, my soul ! not only passive praise Thou owest ! not alone these swelling tears. Mute thanks and secret ecstasy ! Awake, Voice of sweet song ! Awake, my he^rt, awake ! Green vales and icy cliffs, all join my hymn ! " — ''Hymn to Mont Blanc,"" Coleridge. ^ Orotund, with Practice Exercises. 163 DECLAMATORY FORCE. " True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech. It can not be brought from afar. Labor and learning may toil for it, but they will toil in vain. Words and phrases may be marshalled in every way, but they can not compass it. It must exist in the man, in the subject, and in the occasion. Affected passion, intense expres- sion, the pomp of declamation, all may aspire after it, — they can not reach it. It comes, if it come at all, like the outbreaking of a foui tain from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original, native force. The graces taught in the sch( ols, the costly ornaments and studied contrivances of speech, shoi k and disgust men, when their own lives, and the fate of their wiv ;s, their children, and their country hang on the decision of the hou\ Then words have lost their power, rhetoric is vain, and all elal orate oratory contemptible. Even genius itself then feels re- buk^d and subdued, as in the presence of higher qualities. Then pati iotism is eloquent ; then self-devotion is eloquent. The clear conception, outrunning the deductions of logic, the high purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, beam- ing from the eye, informing every feature, and urging the whole mai onward, right onward, to his object, — this, this is eloquence; or, rather, it is something greater and higher than all eloquences it i; action, — noble, sublime, God-like action." — " The Nature of True Eloquence,'''' Daniel Webster. IMPASSIONED FORCE. * Yield, madman, yield ! Thy horse is down, Thou hast nor lance, nor shield ; Fly! I will grant thee time.' 'This flag Can neither fly nor yield ! ' " — BOKER. '* Speed, Ringbolt, to your leader speed ! And bid him know the stealthy foe With double strength comes up behind : It was but now I saw him wind From out the valley road below." — Read. 164 Murdoch's Elocution. IMPASSIONED FORCE. — WEEPING UTTERANCE. That I did love thee, Caesar, O, 'tis true: If then thy spirit look upon us now, Shall it not grieve thee, dearer than thy death, To see thy Antony making his peace, Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes. Most noble ! in the presence of thy corse ? Had I as many eyes as thou hast wounds. Weeping as fast as they stream forth thy blood, It would become me better, than to close In terms of friendship with thine enemies. Pardon me, Julius! — Here wast thou bay'd, brave hart; Here didst thou fall ; and here thy hunters stand, Sign'd in thy spoil, and crimson'd in thy lethe. O world ! thou wast the forest to this hart ; And this, indeed, O world! the heart of thee. — How like a deer, stricken by many princes, Dost thou here lie ! " — '^Julius Ccesar,'' SHAKESPEARE. PASSIONATE RESOLVE. Never, lago. Like to the Pontic Sea, Whose icy current and compulsive course Ne'er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on To the Propontic and the Hellespont ; Even so my bloody thoughts, with violent pace, Shall ne'er look back, ne'er ebb to humble love. Till that a capable and wide revenge Swallow them up. Now, by yond' marble heaven. In the due reverence of a sacred vow I here engage my words." — «* Othello,'^ Shakespeare. Orotund, with Practice Exercises. 165 SHOUTING. **And still they heard the battle cry, Olea! for Castile! " — Geo. H. Boker. Advance your standards, draw your willing swords! Sound drums and trumpets, boldly and cheerfully ! God, and Saint George ! Richmond and victory ! " — Shakespeare. Explosive Orotund, bold address. "What! while our arms can wield these blades, Shall we die tamely? die alone? Without one victim to our shades, One Moslem heart, where, buried deep. The sabre from its toil may sleep? No — God of Iran's burning skies! Thou scorn'st the inglorious sacrifice. No — though of all earth's hope bereft. Life, swords, and vengeance still are left. We'll make yon valley's reeking caves Live in the awe-struck minds of men. Till tyrants shudder, when their slaves Tell of the Ghebers' bloody glen. Follow, brave hearts ! — this pile remains Our refuge still from life and chains." — " The Gheber to his Followers.'''' Moore. DEFIANCE. ' Back, ruffians, back ! nor dare to tread Too near the body of my dead ! Nor touch the living boy; — I stand 1 66 Murdoch's Elocution, Between him and your lawless band ! No traitor he — But listen ! I Have cursed your master's tyranny. 'Peace, woman, peace!' the leader cried." ♦« The Polish Boy," Ann S. Stephens. IMPRECATION. ' I charm thy life From the weapons of strife, From stone and from wood, From fire and from flood, From the serpent's tooth, And the beasts of blood ; From sickness I charm thee, And time shall not harm thee, But earth, which is mine, Its fruits shall deny thee ; And water shall hear me, And know thee and fly thee; And the winds shall not touch thee When they pass by thee ; And the dews shall not wet thee When they fall nigh thee : And thou shalt seek death To release thee in vain ; Thou shalt live in thy pain, While Kehama shall reign, With a fire in thy heart, And a fire in thy brain ; And sleep shall obey me, And visit thee never, And the curse shall be on thee For ever and ever." — " Curse of Kehama,'' SOUTHEY. Orotund, with Practice Exercises. 167 SUPPLICATION. "'O spare my child, my joy, my pride; O give me back my child ! ' she cried : • My child ! my child ! ' with sobs and tears, She shrieked upon his callous ears." — ''McLaifi's Child^'"' Mackey. STERN COMMAND. •* Turn, turn, thou traitor knight ! Thou bold tongue in a lady's bower, Thou dastard in a fight ! " — '* Count Candespina' 5 Standard,'" BOKER. ** Victory ! Charge, Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on!" — ''^ Marmion," ScOTT. ■ Slave, do thine office ! Strike — as I struck the foe! Strike as I would Have struck those tyrants ! Strike deep as my curse ! Strike — and but once." — '■'Marino Falieri," Byron. TERROR AND CONFUSION. • Death ! was the helmsman's hail, Death without quarter! Mid-ships with iron keel Struck we her ribs of steel ; Down her black hull did reel Through the black water!" — '^ Skeleton in Armor, ^^ LONGFELLOW. 68 Murdoch' s Elocution. Aspirated Quality. 135, The impure, or aspirated, quality of voice, arises from the escape, perhaps unconsciously to the speaker, of a quantity of air, before it is molded by the organs into speech. In the language of excitement, it is caused by the force of emotion producing an undue pressure on the muscles of the throat, in consequence of which the vocal ligaments are strained to so great a degree that they can not prevent the escape of a rush of unvocalized breath with every sound, and hence the forcible whispering drift by which it is characterized. The quality, thus caused, indicates, by its harsh and discordant effect upon the ear, the unusual and intense excitement of the speaker's emotional nature, and pro- duces a corresponding disturbance or agitation of feeling within the heart of the hearer. Its broadest animal effect is heard in the hoarse snarl of anger in the dog, which intimates danger to the mind of the hearer, and suggests the savage bite which may follow. The utmost capacity of the vocal organs seems inade- quate for the expression of the more intense exclamations of fear, alarm, terror, or horror, and they burst forth in a hoarse sound that is half vocality and half whisper. Mac- duff, on discovering the murder of Duncan, exclaims: "0 horror! horror! horror! Tongue, nor heart, can not conceive, nor name thee!" This impure vocality is also heard in a slight degree in the expression of dread, wonder, astonishment, and feel- ings akin to these. And it often becomes the habitual voice of those who are much exposed to the open air, as the sailor or soldier. Aspirated Quality. 169 There is another effect produced by energy of utterance in which we hear aspiration; /. e., with the sound of the voice in joy, or any exhilarating emotion, is heard a rush of b-eath, which is most expressive in effect; for example, "Jo»^, joy! shout, shout aloud for joy!" Awe aspirates the tone, and in the forms of deep grief is heard this €sca])e of breath. Tlie utterances of love, in its extreme degrees, not only become tremulous, but are also in a measure aspirated. 136. The cultivation of the whispering function, for ap- plication of force to the organs of voice in the produc- tion of aspirated quality, in its gentlest form, is the prinary discipline of vocal culture. See Hs?. B^ this process, the organs are exercised in a manner entiiely opposite to the practical use of the voice in the ordiiary affairs of speech. The daily use of the voice, in mos; cases, is to call into play the active agencies of voc:.lity in a partial or imperfect exercise of their re- spective functions, in consequence of which the full, round, and energetic sound of the elements is seldom brought out and perfected for the purposes of public ad- drees. The whispering process is the initiatory step in elerientary vocal culture; by this aspirated discipline, the amcunt of muscular effort becomes apparent to the stu- den;, from the fact that his effort to produce articulation, in the form of whisper, appears more labored than in the me( hanical exertion necessary to call forth and sustain puri vocal effect in its most forcible forms. After the arti :ulated whisper has been brought under the control of the will, to the full effect of original precision and power, anc after it has ceased to be used simply as an agent in the inception of culture, it becomes the intensifier of pas;ion in the rushing sweep of what may be termed the fierce blast of excessive breath, as it overrides vocality in the expression of the more impassioned forms of epic or M. E.-15. 170 Murdoch! s Elocution. dramatic description and delineation. Examples in "■ Cori- olanus " and ' ' Macbeth " ; ** Measureless liar ! " •'I'll fight, till from my bones my flesh be hacked." Thus, it will be seen that the whispering function paves the way for all the progressive steps of the student, from the lightest forms of vocal force to the full powers of the tempestuous whirlwind of speech. Exercises in Aspirated Quality. **0, if thou teach me to believe this sorrow, Teach thou this sorrow how to make me die; And let belief and life encounter so, As doth the fury of two desperate men, Which, in the very meeting, fall and die." — '' King John,'' Shakespeare. ' O father, I see a gleaming light ; O say, what may it be ? ' But the father answered never a word, A frozen corpse was he." — " The Wreck of the Hesperus,'" Longfellow, I "O men with sisters dear! O men with mothers and wives ! It is not linen you're wearing out. But human creatures' lives ! Stitch! stitch! stitch! In poverty, hunger, and dirt, — Sewing at once, with a double thread, A shroud as well as a shirt ! " — '' Song of the Shirt,'' Hooi ** Spare me, great God! Li£t up my drooping brow; I am content to die; but, oh, not now." f!l — ''Earnest Prayer," Mrs. Nortoi Exercises in Aspirated Quality. 171 JOY. "Joy, joy forever! my task is done — The gates are passed, and heaven is won ! Oh! am I not happy? I am, I am." — ''^Paradise and the Peri,^^ MooRE. "When Duncan is asleep, (Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey Soundly invite him,) his two chamberlains Will I with wine and wassel so convince, That memory, the warder of the brain. Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason A limbeck only : when in swinish sleep Their drenched natures lie, as in a death. What cannot you and I perform upon The unguarded Duncan? What not put upon His spongy officers; who shall bear the guilt Of our great quell?" — '^ Macbeth^"" SHAKESPEARE. On with the dance ! let joy be unconfined ; No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet To chase the glowing Hours with flying feeti— But^ hark! — that heavy sound breaks in once more., As if the clouds its echo would repeat; And nearer., clearer, deadlier than before! Arm! arm! it is! — it is! — the cannon's opening roar^ —''Battle of Waterloo,'' Byron. Guttural Quality, 337. The mechanism of the harsh quality * of voice known as the guttural, or throaty, voice, should be well coi sidered and thoroughly understood. It is an element of speech of a strongly marked and expressive nature, pai taking of the same kind though differing in degree 172 Murdoch's Elocution. from that peculiar effect known as aspirated vocality. They both play a prominent part in the offices of spoken language, being inseparable from its expressive functions; and thus defects of voice produce effects. But, on the con- trary, such qualities of voice are repugnant to the prin- ciples underlying the structure of song. Therefore, the guttural and aspirated voices should be familiar to the speaker and singer, in order that the former should use them as effective agents in his art, and the latter learn how to avoid them as damaging elements in singing. The one may be said to resemble the growl of a dog, while the other his snarl. The guttural is produced by a suffocation of the voice, which is crushed and squeezed, as it were, between the roots of the tongue and the sides of the pharynx. This action, when deep-seated, causes that grating or rubbing which is the marked characteristic of this quality. While the more aspirated, rasping, hissing form of aspir- ation is produced by a lighter pressure of the same parts, and near approach to the soft palate or uvula. The effect of such violent and suppressed efforts of muscular action on the breath, in. the language of an old writer, *'is to cause a swelling discontent in the throat, and to suffocate and strangle the air in its outward passage." A spiteful utter- ance of the first few words of the following lines will afford the means of exhibiting an aspirated form of utter- ance : ' ' Wretch ! you could enjoy yourself like a butcher's dog in the shambles,'''' while the concluding parts of the sentence offer the means of showing a modified form of the guttural, as thus : ' ' While the slaughter of the brave went on around you, but you shall die, base dog.^' The following words from Shakespeare will afford ma- terial for both guttural and aspirated qualities : "Swell, bosom, with thy fraught, For 't is of aspicks' tongues ! " Examples in Guttural Quality. i "jt^ The elements should be practiced in the form of the concrete intervals (see Chapter VII), and also through the diffeient forms of the wave, with the organs in position for the guttural quality; then follow with tables of words, such as : I. Reve ^ge, Grudge, Hate, Accursed, Fury, Have c, Horror, Avaunt, Hence, Rancor, Rage, • Cur, Slave, Wretch, Ape, Scou; ge, Inhuman, Savage, Cruel, Hateful, Infer lal, Gnash, Crush, Hell, Gall, Mure er, Cursed, Sorcerer, Christian, Agreed, Char ^e, Harsh, Rotten, Fraught, Groans. "Which, if not victory, is yet revenge! " " Batter their walls dov^^n, raze them to the ground." "Mend, and charge home. Or by the fires of heaven, I '11 leave the foe. And make my vicars on you: look to 't: Come on!" *^ * Curse on himP quoth false Sextus: * Will not the villain drown ? But for this stay, ere close of day We should have sacked the town!'" '■'■ Hor alius at the Bridge,^'' Macaulay. Still grew my bosom then. Still as a stagnant fen ! Hateful to me were men. The sunlight hateful!" — ^'^ Skeleton in Armor, Longfellow. " I see it is a trick Got up betwixt you and the woman there. I must be taught my duty, and by you ! You knew my word was law, and yet you dared To slight it. Well,— for I will take the boy; But go you hence, and never see me more." "Z)(jra," Tennyson. 174 Murdoch's Elocution. Aspiration. "Angels and ministers of grace, defend us! — Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damn'd, — Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell, Be thy intents wicked, or charitable, Thou com'st in such a questionable shape, That I will speak to thee." "Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings, You heav'nly guards! — what would your gracious figure?" — ''Hamlet," Shakespeare. "How ill this taper burns! Ha! who comes here? I think it is the weakness of my eyes That shapes this monstrous apparition. It comes upon me: — Art thou any thing? Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil, That mak'st my blood cold, and my hair to stare? — Speak to me what thou art." —''Julius Ccesar,'' SHAKESPEARE. Lady Macbeth. — Alack! I am afraid they have awak'd. And 'tis not done:— the attempt, and not the deed, Confounds us : — Hark ! — I laid their daggers ready, He could not miss them. — Had he not resembled My father as he slept I had done't — My husband! Macbeth. — I have done the deed : — Didst thou not hear a noise ? Lady M. — I heard the owl scream, and the crickets cry. Did not you speak? Macbeth.— ^\iQn ? Lady M. — Now. Macbeth. — As I descended? Lady M. — Ay. Macbeth.— Yi^\\i\ Who lies i' th' second chamber? Lady M. — Donalbain. Macbeth. — This is a sorry sight. Lady M. — A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight. Pectoral Quality. 175 Macbeth. — There's one did laugh in his sleep, And one cry'd, " murder ! " that they did wake each other ; I stood and heard them : but they did say their prayers, And address'd them again to sleep. — ''Macbeth,'" Shakespeare. Pectoral Quality. 138. All emotions that call into play the pectoral quality, sink the voice into the lowest part of the chest, caus ng it to become the ''■voce de petto''' (voice of the ches ). Human suffering, whether it be mental or phys- ical, causes the ringing vocality to be buried in deep rever- bera ions of the thoracic cavity, resembling the groan^ as aspiration resembles the sigh. It is mingled with aspira- tion. The aspirated orotund is often confounded with the pectoral. This quality may be easily recognized in King Johr's voice in his reply to Prince Henry: Prime Henry.— Hovf fares your majesty? K'ng John. — Poison'd, — ill fare; — dead, forsook, cast off: And none of you will bid the winter come. To thrust his icy fingers in my maw ; Nor let my kingdom's rivers take their course Through my burn'd bosom ; nor entreat the north To make his bleak winds kiss my parched lips. — *■' King John,'". Shakespeare. Ro neo. — Courage, man ; the hurt can not be much. Mercitio. — No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve: ask for me to- morrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered, I warrant, for this world; — a plague o' both your houses! — "-Romeo and Juliet " Shakespeare. 76 Murdoch! s Elocution. Shylock. — I pray you, give me leave to go from hence ; I am not well. ''Merchant of Venice,'^ SHAKESPEARE. PHYSICAL EXHAUSTION. Adam. — Dear master, I can go no further: O, I die for food! Here lie I down, and measure out my grave. Farewell, kind master. *' As You Like It,''' SHAKESPEARE. SICKNESS. "And wherefore should these good news make me sick? I should rejoice now at this happy news; And now my sight fails, and my brain is giddy: — me! come near me, now I am much ill. 1 pray you, take me up, and bear me hence - Into some other chamber; softly, pray. Let there be no noise made, my gentle friends; Unless some dull and favorable hand Will whisper music to my weary spirit." ''Henry /F," Part II, Shakespeare. Falsetto Quality. Of this quality, after much investigation, we find little that is at all satisfactory. All systems differ with regard to the causes by which it is produced. We can only repeat, in Rush's language: "The falsetto is a peculiar voice, in the higher degrees of pitch, beginning where the natural voice breaks, or outruns its compass." The falsetto would seem to be produced by the air being thrown immediately, from the glottis, up into the head. Falsetto Quality. 177 and ihere reverberating; however this may be, the student of elocution requires some practice on the elements, words, and sentences in this quality to enable him to give effect to thi child's voice, the old man or woman's, and also to produce a weird effect in the voice, by adding some hollow deptl. to it, in opening the organs wide, and yet directing the s;ream of air to the head. The entire compass of the voice should be under the student's control. The falsetto is, however, much overdone in many cases, and requires judg nent and taste to regulate it. Chapter XV. Practice on the Concrete as affected by the Various ^orms of Stress and the Tremor. 139. It was stated in Chapter IV that under certain modifications of emotion, or intensity in the state of mind, the syllabic concrete and wave lose their plain, equable form, and become affected by a particular concentration of force upon their different parts, or throughout their whole extent. The next step in the practice of the elementary exercise of the voice should be to obtain a facility in the execution of the concrete under the modification of the various stresses. These have been classified as : Radical, Final, Median, Thorough, Compound, and the Tremor or Inte^ mittent Stress. In no respect has Dr. Rush's system been so much mis, understood as in relation to radical stress, this having often been interpreted and taught as a function exclusively of violent force. Forcible explosion is appropriate only to emotional or impassioned speech; the lightest form of radical stress serves simply to give a clear and penetrating character to the syllables of discourse. It would have been easier to have impressed this difference upon the mind, could a term have been invented by which this delicate radical (or root of vocality) could have stood apart from stress. Abruptness was the generic term given it among the different modes of the voice, "because its characteristic explosion is peculiar, and quite distinct from force, with (178) Practice on the Conci'ete. 179 whic'i, from its admitting degrees of intensity, it might seem to be identical." The constant use of the forcible radical renders speech sharj, and will cause the voice to become hard and me- tallic The short, sharp radical is heard only in the burst of a iger, the yell of rage, and such emotions as express themselves in abrupt, imperative commands. Although heard in authority, that is more dignified and more delib- erate, it is combined with greater volume of sound, which mellcws and softens it. Joy, hope, and exultation are rapid in movement, and naturally require this form of stress. Tl e lighter degrees of radical stress being, then, most callei into play, they should be the most exercised, with organs freely opened, and held flexibly. Radical stress is one Df the constituent elements that imparts brilliancy to animated and gay styles of composition. Tlte student has already had elemental studies in radical stres J ; he should next practice it in the form of the con- crete intervals (Chapter VII) on the following tables of mutcble, immutable, and indefinite syllables. R.idical stress is best exhibited in the short vowels, when it displays emphatic impressiveness on short quantity; but ;t is also employed in the mutable and indefinite sylla- bles, yet it always contracts them into shorter quantity. Table of Immutable Syllables. Wicl ed, Afflict, Lot, Dock, Bet, Mop, Back, Trap, Not, Duck, Hit, Fop, Had , Mock, Got, Luck, Hot, Cat, Atta k, Buck, Pot, Beck, Cob, Cub, Loci , Rock, Punish, Push, Bob, Map, Cab, Upper, Tatler, Pat, But, Cutter, Batt. r, Cup, Sup, Patter, Butter, Rut, Bittt r, Mutter, Top, Tip, Pack, Sipping, Fick e, Picket, Pick, Lick, Fitter, Cutting, Flap Dot, Not, Dump, Lump, Rap. 8o MurdocJis Elocution. Table of Mutable Syllables. What, Ape, Grasp, Grape, Bliss, Truth, Push, Crape, Base, Trump, Not, Blight, Mate, Garb, Curse, Craft, Earth, Gab, Knock, Rub, March, Parch, Brisk, North, Rook, Smart, Big, Part, Brag, Odd, Cask, Bad, Bid, Wretch, Drab, Carp, Crack, Rob, Mark, Dash, Got, Dwarf, Cape, Scrape, Birch, Barb, Wake, Sharp, Frisk, Starch, Struck, Slab, Dark, Dart, Grunt, Gap, Grope, Gait, Get, Fate, Drape, Tract, Dot, Bold, Yet, Add, Beset, Arch, Black, Forth, Stript, Nook, Beat, Hod, Blood, Hate, Dread, Cart, Tub, Cork, Rig, State, Mad, Wharf. Table of Indefinite Syllables. Stars, Where, Home, Care, Flows, Brow, Strive, Flowed, Bare, Prose, King, Dare, Aim, Shorn, Lull, Aid, Morn, Twilled, Warm, Barn, Done, Low, Furl, Wild, Knell, Born, Thee, Times, Rare, Earl, Firm, Pure, Moved, Wings, Stern, Prime, Loam, Serve, Girl, Lime, Prone, Move, Arm, Tore. Lone, Roam, Bone, Join, Brave, Harm, Balm, Calm, Boil, Growl, Howl, Hair, Reel, Crane, Now, Tune, Lure, Joy, Ream, Cream, Rave, Ray, Crown, Nine, Grown, Moan, Rule, Spoil, Full, Vow, Foil, Toy, Groin, Roll, Stare, Call, Bull, Row, Bow, More. Radical stress will be exemplified in the sound of the element «, in all, in the imperative command, Attend, all! repeated six times with increasing force and the different intervals. Examples in Unimpassioned Radical. i8i Examples in Unimpassioned Radical. '♦Within its shade of elm and oak The church of Berkley Manor stood; There Sunday found the rural folk, And some esteemed of gentle blood." — Buchanan Read. *'It was the time when lilies blow, And clouds are highest up in air; Lord Ronald brought a lily white doe. To give his cousin Lady Clare." — Tennyson. ''Shr knows but very little, and in little are we one; Th2 beauty rare, that more than hid that great defect is gone. M} parvenu relations now deride my homely wife, And pity me that I am tied to such a clod, for life." — D. R. Locke. '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 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." — Longfellow. The clear radical movement not only imparts clearness and brilliancy to language that is animated in its character, but it gives a penetrating power to the voice that carries it tirough space, and enables the speaker to put every i82 Murdochs Elocution, syllabic utterance upon the ear of the auditor without any effort upon the part of the latter. This constitutes the great charm of delivery. Clear Radical Movement — Natural Quality. '* And the frost, too, has a melodious ministry. You will hear its crystals shoot in the dead of a clear night, as if the moonbeams were splintering like arrows in the ground; and you listen to it the more earnestly, that it is the going on of one of the most cunning and beautiful of nature's deep mysteries. I know nothing so wonderful as the shooting of a crystal. God has hidden its principle as yet from the inquisitive eye of the philosopher, and we must be content to gaze on its exquisite beauty, and listen in mute wonder to the noise of its invisible workmanship. It is too fine a knowledge for us. We shall comprehend it when we know how the morning stars sang together." — N. P. Willis. Radical Stress. — Impassioned Radical. ANGER AND SCORN. — Explosive Orotund. Rapid Movement. ' Ho ! cravens, do ye fear him ? Slaves, traitors! have ye flown? Ho, cowards! have ye left me To meet him here alone!" — Albert G. Gree COMMAND. — Explosive Orotund. Rapid Movement. "Hark! the insulting foeman's cry — They are coming ! quick, my falchion ! Let me front them ere I die." — W. H. Lytle. 1 Final Stress. 183 For Christian shame, put by this barbarous brawl." " Othello,^'' Shakespeare. "Chieftains, forego! I hold the first who strikes, my foe. Madmen, forbear your frantic jar! What! is the Douglas fallen so far, His daughter's hand is deemed the spoil Of such dishonorable broil?'' — ''^ Douglas y'' Scott. Down, down,' cried Mar, * your lances down ! Bear back both friend and foe ! ' "'My banner-man, advance! ' I see,' he cried, ' their column shake, Now, gallants! for your ladies' sake, Upon them with the lance!'" — Scott. Final Stress. 140. Let the following question be uttered with indig- nai t surprise, and the voice will rapidly traverse the em- ph; tic /, and end with a sudden jerk, or forcible fullness at ;he termination : Did he dare to say I did it ? This will illustrate the character of the final stress. 'Che form of this stress is precisely the reverse of the rac ical, the weight or fullness of the voice being placed at tht close of the syllabic impulse, where it leaves off as suddenly or abruptly as the radical begins. Final stress rec uires more time for its execution than the radical, as th( voice must traverse some perceptible extent of inter- va before performing this reversed abruptness. It can »o;, therefore, be executed on short tonics or immutable sy lables. "Final stress may be heard in the speech of 184 Murdoch's Elocution. the natives of Ireland, many of whom apply it to simple rise and fall, or wave, on all the principal words of a sentence." It produces that Irish jerk, effective only in the brogue. The character of final stress is best illustrated by the sound produced in the natural sneeze or hiccough, thus: yux. It has also been well likened to the sound which seems to be forced from the organs of the workman when he brings down his sledge hammer with a heavy blow, — a sort of forcible "grunt," beginning lightly, progressing rapidly, and ending with a bang or sudden accumulation of force at the close. This stress is practicable on all of the intervals of in- tonation, rising or falling, and on all the waves, in the latter always quickening their movements, and impressing the final constituents. It may be given (and is so em- ployed in its various uses), in the expression of emotion and passion, with every degree of enforcement, from a mod- erate energy which simply defines the close of a syllable with the weight of a strong, firm pressure, to the vivid force which marks it as with a sudden and powerful blow. It is most effectively exhibited on those mutable and in- definite syllables ending with an abrupt atonic or subtonic sound, the latter contributing to the abrupt ending of the sound which characterizes this stress. Thus let the syllable hak be begun smoothly, pass lightly into the vocality, and ended with force, and there will be a sudden termination of the sound as it is thrown, as it were, against the atonic k^ producing this peculiar suddenness of effect at the close of a syllable. The same effect, however, may be produced by properly disciplined organs on any combination of ele- ments not immutable, or any single element not atonic, as in the instance first given of the stress on /. 141. Great care must be observed in the exaggerations of this function for forcible elementary practice, especially Examples in Final Stress. 185 on the diphthongal or long tonics, not to allow the voice to perfDrm a double impulse, as it were, giving to the stressed part of the sound the effect of the beginning of a new concrete. The sound should begin with a clear, but light opening, traverse the concrete with a swift and unbroken directness, and fall, at the close, like a heavy weight. Axi intelligent exercise of this stress upon the elements and syllables will insure a realization of its generic charac- ter as an impatient, angry, and determined enforcement of the interrogative; and also of the positive character of the rising or falling concrete intervals, in the expression of determined purpose, earnest resolve, stern rebuke, con- ten pt, astonishment, sullenness, and stubborn passion ; it is lieard, also, in peevishness and impatience, and some- times in grief. On the intervals and waves of the semitone, final stress produces the effect of sobbing. The preceding tables of mutable and indefinite syllables, and their extension on the concrete should be carefully practiced, with every de;,Tee of force, until the organs become accustomed to its ready execution, and the ear familiar with its effect. ."inal stress will express impatience and displeasure on th( element and word in the following: '■^ I said all, not o)h or two.''^ Examples for Practice on Final Stress, stern rebuke. '^ ' In faith ^ cried Francis, ^rightly done!^ and he rose from where he sat ; ' No love,'' quoth he, ^ biit vanity, sets l^e a task like that.'' " Leigh Hunt. M. E.-I6. 1 86 Murdoch's Elocution. Yield, madman, yield ! thy horse is down, Thou hast nor lance nor shield ; Fly! — I will grant thee time.' ''This flag Can neither fly nor yield P ^^ — ** Count Candespind's Standard,'''' Boker. " Lord cardinal, To you I speak." *♦ Your pleasure, madam ? " "The queen is obstinate. Stubborn to justice, apt to accuse it, and Disdainful to be tried by it ; "'tis not well. She's going away." '^- !>' ^ I will not tarry; no, nor ever more, '% Upon this business my appearance make In any of their courts." — Extracts from "-Henry VIII,'''' Shakespeare. I IMPATIENT EXCLAMATION. Ye gods, ye gods ! Must I endure all this ? " —''Julius Ccesar," ShakespEAR I "O that I had him, With six Aufidiuses, or more, his tribe, To use my lawful sword ! " — " Coriolanus,'''' SHAKESPEARE DETERMINED PURPOSE. "On such occasions, I will place myself on the extreme bound- ary of my right, and bid defiance to the arm that would push me from it." — Webste i I Median Stress. 187 Hear me yet^ good Shylock." • /'// have my bond ; speak not against my bond : / have sworn an oath that I will have my bond^ ' I pray thee, hear me speaky ' ril have my bond; I will not hear thee speak : Pll have my bond; and therefore speak no more." '•^Follow not: I'll have no speaking: I will have my bond." — Extracts from '■'■Merchant of Venice,'''' SHAKESPEARE. Median Stress. 142. Median stress is an enforcement of the middle por- tion of the concrete. The sound beginning with a moder- ate degree of force, increases gradually in volume and streigth to a swelling fullness, and then diminishes again gradually, and terminates with an equable vanish. Thus, in the sentence, "/ am the resurrection and the life," the dignified grandeur of the utterance will produce this move- ment on the syllable /. The character of the median stress may be illustrated by the gradual increase and diminution of force and fullness of sound in the yawn. This form of force can only be emi)loyed on syllables of indefinite quantity, as its peculiar corstruction implies extension of time; and as the latter gererally continues the voice into the wave, the median str( ss or swell is most frequently and effectively employed on this form of intonation. In this case, the culmination of brce and fullness is applied at the juncture of the two cor stituents. 1 88 Murdoch! s Elocution. Take the word Hail! as an adoring salutation, and this form of stress may be exhibited on the wave of the second, third, or fifth, according to the degree of directive energy in the feeling, swelling to its greatest fullness at th-e point of flexure or bending of the wave. The median stress may also be applied to the rising and falling intervals of the fifth and octave, but it is not prac- ticable on those of lesser extent, except when they are duplicated in the form of the wave. Median stress we will find to be that form of expressive force used to distinguish syllables in language of a highly dignified, elevated, or exalted character, and is employed in all degrees of enforcement, from the most delicate full- ness of sound, to a firm, strong swelling energy. An excellent exercise to begin with, in seeking to acquire a command over the median stress, is to practice the sim- ple function of yawning on the syllable ah^ giving as much vocality as possible to the sound, and extending and swells ing to its fullest extent. The stress should next be practiced on the long tonic elements and indefinite syllables, in conjunction with the less extended waves, at first, and in its gentlest form of swell; — then with the wider waves and intervals in all it? gradations of enforcement. In each case, let the sound be clearly opened with that delicate organic action which constitutes the lightest form of the radical stress, (otherwise it will lack clear quality and definite character,) and gradually and firmly swelled to a full volume, and then as gradually diminished. The swelling sound must never be continued for an instant on a level line of pitch, or it will lose its character as a speech note, and become a singing drawl, — which is neither speech nor song. This faulty effect is often the result of attempting to draw the sounds out to too great an extent before the organs have become habituated by Examples of Median Stress. 189 n ^ gradual practice to extend it equably and firmly in the gracual swell. The Median is heard in the element of the word all, in reverence and adoration; e. g., "/om all je creatures in his traise.'' Examples of Median Stress. "The meanest flower that blows, can give Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." — Wordsworth. • These are Thy glorious works, Parent of Good, Almighty ! Thine this universal frame Thus wondrous fair, — Thyself how wondrous then! Unspeakable! who sitt'st above these heavens, To us invisible, or dimly seen 'Midst these thy lowest works!" — *' Morning Hymn in Paradise,^'' Milton. "Thou glorious mirror! where the Almighty's form Glasses itself in tempests." ** And I have lov'd thee. Ocean ! and my joy Of youthful sports was on thy breast to be Borne, like thy bubbles, onward ; — from a boy I wanton'd with thy breakers, — they to me Were a delight." — Byron. And this is in the night: — Most glorious night! Thou wert not sent for slumber! let me be A sharer in thy fierce and far delight, — A portion of the tempest and of thee! How the lit lake shines,— a phosphoric sea. And the big rain comes dancing to the earth ! " — Byron. IQO Murdoch's Elocution. i "What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculties ! in form and moving, how express and admir- able! In action, how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a god ! " — '■'■Hamlet,'''' Shakespeare. "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth ; the Lord is upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful ; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon." — The Bible. REGRET. "My heart laments that virtue cannot live, Out of the teeth of emulation." — ''Julius Ccrsar,'^ SHAKESPEARE. Thorough Stress in Expression. 143. Thorough stress carries the force and fullness of the radical throughout the entire concrete or wave, giving it a heavy or blunt effect. Let the sentence, "I care not for your threats l^^ be uttered in a rudely defiant manner, and the emphatic / will illustrate this form of force. Thorough stress has no light degrees, being always a sign of boldness and energy. On the short tonics, or on immutable syllables, this form of stress is scarcely to be distinguished from the radical, but on elements or syllables of quantity its peculiarly blunt effect is most noticeable. This stress requires practice on the tables of mutable and indefinite syllables through the intervals and waves. Thorough stress is heard in the following language of de- fiance on the word all, again employed to express another emotion: " Come one, come all!" The same syllable may be given five or six times, with different degrees of force and interval. Exercises in Thorough Stress. 191 Exercises in Thorough Stress. She's cursed,' said the skipper; 'speak her fair: I 'm scary always to see her shake Her wicked head, with its wild gray hair, And nose like a hawk, and eyes like a snake.'" — Whittier. "'What on airth is he up to, hey?' ' Don'o — ther 's suthin or other to pay, Ur he wouldn't a' stayed to hum to-day.' Says Burke, 'His toothache's all 'n his eye! He never 'd miss a Fo'th-o-July, Ef he hedn't got some machine to try.'" —J. T. Trowbridge. "We drink the downfall Of an accursed land ! " The night is growing darker, — Ere one more day is flown, Bregenz, our foeman's stronghold, Bregenz shall be our own ! " — Adelaide Procter. Compound Stress. 144. Compound stress combines the forcible forms of the radical and final stresses on one syllabic concrete or vave. Requiring, therefore, both time and space for its execution, it is employed only on indefinite syllables, thro ngh the wider intervals and waves, powerfully marking their extremes. It is the most intensified form of distinc- tior that can be applied to the concrete, and marks the mo;t powerful forms of emphasis; it can only be produced by the speaker placing himself in sympathy with the 92 Murdoch's Elocution. emotion of which it is the exponent; it is generally accom- panied by aspiration. Intense surprise, contempt, and withering scorn naturally demand this stress. Practice upon table of indefinite syllables in the concrete intervals and waves. Expression again employs the sylla- ble all to apply this stress to the emphatic words of the astonished interrogative: ''What all, did they all failV Repeat the element, and then the word all, five or six times, with steadily increasing force, and the student's ear can not fail to tutor him in the future application of the stress. Compound stress is exemplified in the violent and ex- cited interrogation of Brutus to Cassius : "Must /give way and room to your rash choler? Must /be frightened when a madman stares?" Again, in Cassius' words: "/ an itching palmV ^' Chastisement r^ It is heard in withering scorn, as in Lady Constance's speech to Austria: ** Thou wear a lion's hide ! doff it for shame, And hang a calf's skin on those recreant limbs." The Loud Concrete. 145. The loud concrete is simply the ordinary radical and vanish magnified throughout by force. It is the nat- ural element of expression in all stirring, rousing, ener- gized utterance. Exultation, confidence, courage, and exhortation, unaccompanied by anger, receive from this form of stress, on the rising and falling wider intervals and waves, a lively, piercing energy that gives great brilliancy to each. It is a question whether it may not be called the full radical stress that is not, in the slightest degree, tinct- ured with any malignant passion or emotion. Exercises in Loud Concrete. 193 Exercises in Loud Concrete. "Just our rapture to enhance, Let the English rake the bay, Gnash their teeth and glare askance As they cannonade away ! 'Neath rampired Solidor pleasant riding on the Ranee." — '■^ Hei-ve Riel,^^ BROWNING. "The sanguine sunrise, with his meteor eyes, And his burning plumes outspread. Leaps on the back of my sailing rack. When the morning star shines dead ; As, on the jag of a mountain crag, Which an earthquake rocks and swings, An eagle, alit, one moment may sit In the light of its golden wings." — " The Cloud,'' SHELLEY. ** Flag of the free heart's hope and home ! By angel hands to valor given ; Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, And all thy hues were born in heaven." — " American Flag^'' DRAKE. The waves were white, and red the morn. In the noisy hour when I was born ; And the whale it whistled, the porpoise rolled. And the dolphins bared their backs of gold ; And never was heard such an outcry wild As welcomed to life the ocean child ! " — " The Sea" Barry Cornwall. Tremor or Intermittent Stress. : 46. A skillful execution of the concrete or syllabic mc cement, as affected by the tremor, should be the student's next acquisition in vocal training. M. E— 17. 194 Murdochs Elocution. Let the words, ^^ O my souls Joy!'' be uttered with joy- ous exultation, and the voice will have the effect of tremb- ling on the elements o and oi. This effect is what has been described as the tremor of speech. (See If 27.) It is in reality a form of intonation, but it is also sometimes termed the intermittent stress, owing to the fact that the abrupt function of the voice is the principle underlying the tremulous intonation; that is to say, the tremor is effected by the same organic act as that producing the radical stress, repeated in rapid succession. These brief impulses are in reality minute and rapid concretes, and are called tittles, and the minute discrete interval between them a tittelar skip. Owing to the rapidity of the vocal transit through the tittles, and their close succession in the tremor, J:he latter is scarcely appreciable to the ear as a matter of measurable interval, either in the concrete form or discrete succession of its tittles. The creation of the successive abrupt impulses should be the chief object of the present exercise, to obtain an artistic execution of this function. This may be done by first imitating the natural function of laughter and crying, on any of the tonic elements, or merely the expression of mirthfulness or deep grief, in which the voice is said to shake or tremble. The tittelar impulses may be produced on a level line of pitch, or they may be carried in rapid succession through all the intervals of the scale, rising and falling, and in connection with the several stresses. It will require much practice to obtain this result. The objects to be considered are: (i) To make the separate tittles as distinct as possible. (2) To make them follow each other with ease and rapidity. (3) To accent each well. (4) To make them as numerous as possible during the proper pronunciation of the element as syllables, on which they are placed. J Tremor or Interfuittent Stress. 195 i^fter practicing them on the elements, they should be givtn on the words of the table of indefinite syllables, tak- ing care that each element sustains a due portion of the tremulous movement. The tremor serves to intensify all the other vocal elements with which it is combined. 1 1 practicing the tremor in laughing exercises, the voice passes through a tone in its tittelar movement, while in the wet ping utterance the minute tittles are semitonic. The trei.iulous movement is the natural expression of old age tha; is attended with physical weakness and exhaustion, sickness, fatigue, grief, joy, and love. The semitonic tremor is heard iti the following, where we apply this movement to the word «//, although the other words, or accented syllables, of the entire quotation, wo aid be given with the tremor and semitone: "Oh! I have lost you all! Parents, and home, and friends." !n the application of all the forms of stress to the word all the student is to recognize the coloring of expression gi^en to words by this most expressive agency. Examples of Semitonic Tremor. "O, I could weep My spirit from mine eyes ! " — '■'■Julius Casar,'' Shakespeare. *''When my father comes hame frae the pleugh,' she said, 'Oh! please then waken me.'" — " Relief of Lucknmv,'' ROBT. LoWELL. "O come in life, oi come in death! O lostl my love, Elizabeth!" — ** High Tide,'' Jean Ingelow. 96 Murdoch's Elocution. Angel,' said he sadly, 'I am old; Earthly hope no longer hath a morrow ; Yet, why I sit here thou shalt be told.' Then his eye betrayed a pearl of sorrow ; ^ Down it rolled ! * Angel,' said he sadly, 'I am old." Old;' Ralph Hoyt. SUBDUED GRIEF. — Expulsive Owtund. Semitonic Tremor. Subdued Force. *' How far, how very far it seemed, To where that starry taper gleamed, Placed by her grandchild on the sill Of the cottage window on the hill ! Many a parent heart before, Laden till it could bear no more. Has seen a heavenward light that smiled. And knew it placed there by a child ; — A long-gone child, whose anxious face Gazed toward them down the deeps of space. Longing for the loved to come To the quiet of that home." ' ' Brushwood, " Read. The expression of love in its more passionate forms be- comes slightly semitonic and tremulous, thus : "I said to the rose, 'The brief night goes In babble, and revel, and wine, — O young lord-lover, what sighs are those. For one that will never be thine ! But mine, but mine,' so I sware to the rose, ' For ever and ever mine ! ' " '' Maud,'^ Tennyson. Examples of the Tremor. 197 "Sweet, good night! This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath. May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet : Good. night! good night! — as sweet repose -and rest Come to thy heart, as that within my breast!" — ^^ Romeo and Juliet,'" Shakespeare. Examples of the Tremor. JOY — Hysterical Tremor. Orotund Quality. High Fitch. '**God bless the bonny Hielanders; We're saved! we're saved!' she' cried." '* Relief of Lucknow" RoBT. Lowell. " Love framed with Mirth a gay fantastic round ,- (Loose were her tresses seen, her zone unbound;) And he, amidst his frolic play, — As if he would the charming air repay, — Shook thousand odors from his dewy wings." — ^^Ode to the Passions,''^ COLLINS. Come rest on my bosom, if there ye can sleep ; I canna speak to ye: I only can weep." You 've crossed the wild river, you 've risked all for mc, And I '11 part frae ye never, dear Charlie Machree ! " — " Charlie Machree,''^ Wm. J. HoPPlN. Chapter XVI. General Outline in Theory of the Natural Relationship betiveen the Mind and the Voice. 147. The different states of the mind are variously desig- nated as ideas, perceptions, thoughts, sentiments, emotions, feelings, and passions. All of these mental conditions designated by the terms just enumerated may be referred to the three generic divisions : thought, a plain and quiet state of mind; passion, a state of strong excitement; and sentiment, or interthought, an earnest state between these extremes. The state of simple thought, or, as it will be called, the thoughtive state of mind, is a ''simple perception of things, their action or other relationship, with no reference to the exciting interests of human life." Language indicative of this passionless or quiet state, is commonly designated as narrative, declarative, descriptive, unimpassioned, plain matter of fact, all of which will be comprehended in the present treatment under the terms thoughtive or plain nar- rative language. 148. The second, or intermediate generic mental condi- tion, ''has that relation to human life which excites mod- erately self-interesting reflections in the mind," and em- braces dignity, pathos, awe, serious admiration, reverence, and other states congenial in character and degree with these. This condition of the mind, with its corresponding vocal expression, is called the interthoughtive, admirative, or reverentive. The terms in common use, signifying (108) Relation between Mind and Voice. 199 states of mind synonymous with these, are the dignified, the gravely pathetic, the respectful, the supplicative, and the penitential. iz.g. The third condition "has a more immediate and vivid reference or relation to human life, its reflective interests and actions throughout the impressive forms, de- grees, and varieties of passion." This state of mind, and the language which denotes it, are called the passionative. F^r terms in common use, synonymous with or repre- senting varieties of the passionative division, we have the impissioned, expressive, the earnestly interrogative, ex- clariatory, derisive, contemptuous, and others indicating exc tement or vehemence, together with * the numerous terns for the passions, see Aaron Hill, in the author's '^ Ilea for Spoken Language.'' Corresponding to the dis- tinction between these states of the mind, are the vocal mei-ns for declaring them; or, as we shall employ the tern, their vocal signs. 150. Although each one of the five properties of the voioe, known as quality, force, time, pitch, and abruptness, has been described and considered separately, through the necessities of an analytic elementary study, they are neces- sar ly co-existent with each other in some form, variety, or decree of each, in every individual utterance of the voice. Th is, in their sum of eff"ects, as variously combined, they prcduce what is called the vocal sign of the state of mind denoted by that utterance. 'The vocal signs of simple thought, or the thoughtive sigis, are, in pitch, the interval of a second, and the sh(Tter wave of this interval; in force, a moderate degree; in quality, the natural; in time quantities, neither very short nor much extended; in abruptness, the light degree ret uisite for clear articulation. \11 of the other intervals of pitch and waves, in con- trast with the plain character of the second, are more 200 Murdoch's Elocution. striking, the octave being the most so. All degrees of force greater or less than the moderate become more im- pressive; all qualities except the natural are more ex- pressive; while very short or very long quantities are more impressive than the moderate. The more vivid constituents of the voice color language with sentiment, passion, or expression; the more striking they are, the higher the coloring or the more strongly ex- pressive of an excited mental condition. Expression in elocution is, then, the coloring of language by the various vocal signs of sentiment or passion. As an illustration: let the word no, as a reply to a question, be given as a downward concrete second, in natural quality, short quantity, and moderate force, and it will indicate an unexcited mental condition. Repeat the question in such a manner as to create in the mind of the person addressed a feeling of indignant rebuke, and the no of his reply will be given with a wider downward interval, fuller quality, increased force, and more deliberate quantity, denoting a variety of the interthoughtive state of mind. 151. Each state of mind may be continued, and with its vocal sign or signs extended into the current of discourse ; thus will be formed a current vocal style or manner, either thoughtive, interthoughtive or passionative. Drift is the term employed to designate this continuation of any one state and its corresponding sign or signs, through the current of discourse. Thus, there may be a thoughtive drift, and an expressive drift, either of senti- ment or passion. It is a difficult matter to draw a strict line of separation between the nfental states of thought and passion, and between the signs which generally represent them. These must, from the peculiar constitution of the human mind, and its ever-varying conditions, from perfect tranquillity to every degree of excitement, closely approach each other, Relation between Mind and Voice. 201 and constantly intermingle. Though the mental and vocal distinctions between each are so slight, at what may be called thei • points of convergence, as to be scarcely distinguishable, at their wider points of divergence, the difference is marked and unmistakable. It must not be supposed that the several drifts of thojght, interthought, and passion, with their respective signs, are used separately, and kept distinct from each othir in such a way that the ear might become familiar wit 1 the peculiar vocal character of each. AVere this the case, the vocal characteristics of the several drifts would be so distinctly marked as to render the task of analysis a matter of comparative ease. On the cortrary, **the course of a drift is seldom strictly continu- ous with itself, its continuity being occasionally and vari- ously interrupted by other drifts, or by other individual staes of mind with their vocal signs." In the latter case, however, the general style or drift of an} portion of discourse will take its vocal character or coloring, so to speak, from the character of the constitu- ents of either of the three divisions which predominate^ eitiier as to frequency of recurrence or impressiveness of effect. Ve may have a thoughtive, interthoughtive, or passion- ati ^e drift extending through a clause, a member, or a whole sentence; but seldom is a half page, and never a ch.ipter to be found exclusively in one style. :52. The thoughtive drift or current of language is the m( st frequent form, variously interrupted by individual signs of the other two states, for occasional purposes of imoressive emphasis, or by drifts of those signs. Many of the expressive vocal elements may be so fre- quently employed as to produce a current style or drift of uterance, but a few are of so striking or vivid a character, ani mark such exceptional and intensified states of the 202 Murdoch s Elocution. mind that they are seldom of more than occasional occur- rence, or if continued, never longer than to form what may be called a partial drift, a continuance simply to the extent of a brief phrase or clause. 153. The vocal signs in language are accompanied by words or verbal signs of the thought, sentiment, or passion to be uttered, excepting in the inarticulate utterances of extreme emotion or passion expressed in screams, groans, sighs, etc.* The same verbal signs may, however, indicate a variety of mental conditions, according to the vocal signs by which they are accompanied. Of this we have had an example in the case of the word no. In the study of written language for the purposes of art in elocution, it is of course from the verbal forms and the varied relationships and connections of ideas they repre- sent, that the states of the mind indicated by such lan- guage are to be determined, and thence the vocal sign or signs appropriate to accompany its verbal constituents, in- dividual or consecutive, through its currents and inter- currents of thought and passion. This implies, therefore, as a primary requisite on the part of the student, a thorough analysis of the language to be read, comprehend- ing not only a minute examination of sentences as com- posed of their constituent clauses, phrases, and words in order to develop their relations in sense, but also a close study of the context, to discover the sentiment or passion contained in the language, and their modifications. 154. In all language, some words will be distinguished above or from others with which they are associated, by virtue of the peculiar or relative importance they bear to the thought or passion to be denoted. This distinction See author's •' Plea for Spoken Language. I Relation between Mind and Voice. 203 constitutes emphasis, and it is always effected by some forn-, degree or variety of pitch, force, time, etc.; in other words, by some particular vocal sign of thought, senti- ment or passion. Tie analysis here employed, which distinguishes the momentary state of mind and its individual sign, is the onl) basis for acquiring an accurate knowledge of the vocal means producing different emphasis. When the student has mastered all of the constituents of thought and exp ession through the detailed study and practice of each in its order, skillful and artistic reading will be attained by allowing the discriminating and practical knowledge thus acquired to regulate and direct the natural impulses to jeel the subject and then express it. I here introduce Rush's analysis of the ""Hamlet'' spet.'ch: ' I will illustrate this subject of mental and vocal drift by a fam liar example. Let the reader give an important direction to a servint. He will perceive in himself, an earnest and moderately imperative state of mind, the drift or current of which is not to be )roken, except by explanation, or by a passing reflection. The voc J drift of this Direction is diatonic, with the downward third or iifth, on the accented syllables, according to the earnestness of the case. Under this vocal sign the direction will accord with the state of mind. We will apply this principle of the according mei.tal and vocal drift, to the scene of Hamlet with the Player. ' ' Hamlet's part has three purposes : Direction ; and as Shakes- peo re could not or never would write without them, Comment and Re lection. The first is here distinguished by italics; the Comment by curved, and the Reflection by angular brackets. The purpose of :he inclusive interlinear braces will be stated presently. ' Hamlet. — Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trij pingly on the tongue : (but if you mouth it, as many of our plr yrers do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines.) JVor do noi saw the air too much -with your hand, thus ; but use all gently : foi in the very torrent, tei7ipest, and as I may say, whirlwind of your pa sion, you mmt acquire and beget a temperance that may give it 204 Murdoch! s Elocution. smoothness. [O, it offends me to the soul, to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings; who for the most part, are capable of n6thing but inexplicable dumb shows and noise ; I would have such a fellow whipped, for o'erdoing Termagant ; it out-herods Herod :] Pray you avoid it. Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor : suit the action to the word, the word to the action ; with this special observance, that you overstep not the modesty of Nature ; (for any thing so overdone is from the piirpose of playing, whose end, both at the first, and now, was and is, to hold as it were, the mirror up to Nature ; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time, his form and pres- sure.) No^v this overdone^ or come tardy off, though it make the un- skillful laugh, cannot but make the judicious grieve ; the censure of ivhich one, must in your allowance, d'erweigh a whole theatre of others. [O, there be players, that I have seen play, and heard others praise, and that highly, not to speak it profanely, that neither having the accent of Christians, nor the gait of Christian, pagan, nor man, have so strutted and bellowed, that I have thought some of Nature's 'journeymen had made them, and not made them well, they imi- tated humanity so abominably.] Player. — I hope we have reformed that indifferently with us. Hamlet. — O, reform it altogether, and let those that play your clowns, speak no more than is set down for thetn : (for there be of them, that will themselves laugh, to set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too; though in the meantime, some necessary question of the play be then to be considered; that's villainous; and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it.) Go make you ready. "The mental and the vocal Drift for the Directive part of this Advice, was described under the preceding example of a strict order to a servant. The Comment being something explanatory, or illustrative, or questionable, and employing a different state of mind, is to be uttered with a less positive intonation. The Re- flective portion, embracing the mental condition of disapprobation, or derision, or contempt, should receive the more forcible expression of earnestness, and sneer. And both the Comment and Reflection Relation between Mind and Voice. 205 are to be given with a variety of upward and downward intervals, and \;aves, as the knowledge and the taste of the speaker, grounded on tl e philosophy of the voice, may direct. "To illustrate some of our principles of stress and intonation, I ha/e merely marked with the common accentual symbol what appear to be emphatic words; but have not time to assign causes for the choice. At six places, I have included under interlinear braces certa.n words, to be carried beyond their appointed and still pre- served pauses, on the phrase of the monotone. The purpose of this naonotone is to unite upon the ear, the act with its cause or purp Dse ; as in the first case, the tearing to rags, is to split the ears of tl e groundlings; in the second, the cause of the whipping, is the o'erdoing of Termagant; in the third, fourth, and fifth, the pur- pose of playing, is severally to hold the minvr up to nature ; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the body of the time, his form and pressure. In the sixth, the idle laugh is, to set on idle spectators to laugh too. In this reading, it is the monotone brid jing as it were the pauses, with its level reach of voice, that assis:s materially in connecting the cause and purpose with their obje:t. There is an example of the emphatic tie on the words pla) ers, play, praise, that, and have, with a moderate flight, and abatement on intermediate clauses. The design of this grouping is to connect, by vocal means, five words separated in the construc- tion ; thereby to bring to the foreground of perception the player, his labit of bombastic action, and his unmerited praise. If in this instance, who were substituted for that, the chain of the emphatic tie ivould be stronger and brighter, from the greater stress practi- cable on its tonic element and indefinite quantity. The tie is also to 1 e applied io Jtidicious, and luhich one; to overstep, and so; to end and hold and mirror. I would set a feeble cadence on groundlings ; and a rising third on the laugh, that follows unskillful ; a falling thir i on grieve; and a falling fifth on tvell, after made them. ' On the subject of mental drift, I would ask the reader if he doe ; not know when he is angry, or pleased, or sorrowful, aston- ishc d, or inquisitive? For these are current states of mental drift, wh ch, if bad example has not confused or destroyed the original con lection between the mind and the voice, will enable him to spe ik properly, under a general rule of Educated Nature, that Sh; kespeare here alludes to, but did not turn aside to explain." Chapter XVII. The Diatonic Melody of Speech. 155. Although it is in the nature of narrative or thoughtive utterance that the concrete and discrete syllabic progression of the voice, through pitch, shall both be con- fined to the inexpressive interval of the tone or second, still this simplest form of utterance is not necessarily mo- notonous or tiresome in its effect. It may, on the con- trary, be constantly varied by changes in the radical pitch of the consecutive syllables. This variation constitutes Melody. The proper diatonic melody of speech may, then, be defined as a succession of concrete impulses on the inter- val of a second, so varied in radical pitch as to produce an agreeable impression upon the ear. To realize that such variation exists in the natural voice, and is not an invented or mechanical form of utter- ance, make the following simple experiment : slowly repeat the sentence, A boy caught a large fish in a small stream, with a rising concrete second on each syllable, and with the radical of each concrete on the same degree of the scale. The sentence thus read will produce that disagreeable and unnatural monotony of effect so often heard in young readers. Repeat the same sentence in a natural and collo- quial manner, and the ear will readily perceive that there are changes in the radical successions, produced by that instinctive necessity of the voice for some variation in its consecutive utterances. (206) Diatonic Melody. 207 'Ihe following sentence furnishes an example of the projjression through pitch of the syllables of the natural Dia ionic Melody : He reads in na - ture's in - fi . nite ^- • ¥ -•^ -■^ -^f- -«^ ^' ^ ^ book of se ere - cy. ^ ^ ^ ^ " »f ^ — ^ 156. The successions of syllabic concretes forming the melody of a sentence constitute in their sum the current mehdy and the melody of the c-adence. The current melody embraces the varied successions of all the concretes of a sentence, 'except those of the last tw( or three syllables. The melodic successions of the latter constitute the melody of the cadence or close. This part of a melody marks the periods of discourse, and for the purpose of denoting conclusion more or less complete, at ts different parts, requires a certain order, in the succes- sio 1 of its constituents. '"he syllables of the current melody have, however, no fix( d order of succession as to radical pitch. Following tht conditions of the diatonic melody with regard to extent of interval employed, concrete and discrete, the same wo'ds may be given with a variety of succession in the rac icals of their syllables, and still preserve the natural character of the simple melody of plain narrative or th( ughtive utterance. That the syllabic successions may be agreeable to the eai, however, there must not be a too frequent repetition of the same radical pitch, or its alternate rise and fall, or, in fact, of any continued course of too noticeable a regu- 208 Murdoch! s Elocution, larity. The following examples will illustrate how the syllabic successions of the current melody may be varied in radical pitch and still retain the vocal character of plain narrative language. He nev - er drinks, but Ti - mon's sil - ver lt^ ¥ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^f treads up - on his lip. ^ .-r -/^ 1 ^ ^ ^ ^ 1 He nev • er drinks, but Ti - mon's sil - ver ^~ -^ ^~ -«^ ^ ^ flf W W ^ w ■ treads up - on .his lip. ^ »r m^ 1 ^ ^ a ^ 1 '^ He nev - er drinks, but Ti - mon's sil - ver ^ ¥ y ^ ^ mT ^ ^ 1 '^ w 1 treads up - on his lip. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ %. The melodies, thus varied in the course of this short sentence, are all of them equally appropriate, and equally well adapted to the utterance of the thought. Still other varieties of discrete intonation could be given to accom- pany the words by which the melody of the same sentence might be still farther varied, but these are sufficient for the purposes of illustration. But, however varied the success Diatonic Melody. 209 sive syllabic concretes may be as to radical pitch, their melodic successions are all comprehended within a limited nunber of definite groups, known as the phrases of 77ielody. That quar - ter most the skill - ful Greeks noy, Monotone. Falling Ditone. Rising Tritone. Rising Ditone. vVhere yon wild fig - trees join the walls of Troy. ^ ^ mf\^ ^ ^ ^ \^ ' f ^ Falling Tritone. Alternation. Triad of the Cadence. 157. A succession of two or more syllables, having the sanre radical pitch, constitute the phrase of the monotone. Th( monotone may be illustrated by uttering the elements a, (^ i, 0, the radical of each beginning on the same line of !)itch. The rising ditone includes two successive syllables, the rad cal of the second sound rising a single tone or second above the first. An example of this melodic movement of the voice may be afforded on the two syllables of the word eve/'ing, in the plain statement, without emphasis, contained in he following sentence: '^ In the evening, the sun sets.'' A falling ditone consists also of two syllabic concretes, of ivhich the second falls in radical pitch a degree or tone belDw the first. An illustration of this melodic effect, just the reverse of the preceding, may be found on the word mo-ning, of the subjoined sentence: '' The evening and the morning were the first day.'' ' 'he rising tritone consists of a succession of three syllabic coi cretes, in which the second rises in radical pitch a tone ab( ve the first, and the third a tone above the second. Th s movement of the voice will be exemplified in the M. E.-I8. 2 I o Murdoch! s Elocution. words in our sleeps in the simple utterance of the following sentence: ** We know that^ in our sleep, we dreamt The falling tritone is a melodic succession of three syllabic concretes exactly the reverse of the preceding, the rad- ical pitch of the second falling a tone below that of the first, and that of the third a tone below the second. A change in the above sentence would give the falling tritone on the words that we dream : '' We know that we dream in our sleep.'''' The alternate phrase of melody is formed by a succes- sion of four or more syllables, of which the concretes rise and fall alternately in their radical pitch. It is in reality but a consecutive repetition of the rising or falling ditone, but as it often occurs in melody, it is classed as a separate phrase. The first line of the following couplet may illus- trate a long phrase of alternatiDn : **So loud and clear it seemed the ear Of dusty death must wake and hear." The rest of the sentence could be given with the same movement, but if continued too long it would violate our law of variety in melody. The triad of the cadence consists of three syllables de- scending by proximate degrees; the radical pitch of each one falls one tone below the preceding, the last constituent, being a downward concrete, produces the effect of a close; it is this last movement that marks the difference between this form of cadence and the falling tritone, whose rising concretes express continuity. The phrases of the diatonic melody are carried upward and downward relatively to a given pitch, consequently they should be practiced in the five ranges of pitch: mid- dle, high, highest, low, lowest. We have the following notation to illustrate the course of a long sentence through nine of these degrees : Diatonic Melody. 211 If thou dost si an - der her and tor - ture me, ' ^r ^ M- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ W^ ^ a/^ ^ ^ I^.'e - ver pray more: a - ban - don all re - morse; 2=^ r i f I f \_ On hor - ror's head hor - rors ac - cu - mu - lat«; V^ tr It ^ ^ ^ Do deeds to make Hea - ven weep, all earth a - mazed : m^ m^~ ^^ ^ ^ ik J ^ -r w • * ^ ^ ~^ Tor no - thing canst thou to dam - na - tion add, 4 1 •w — ¥ •^ ^ ^ •^ ^ -f0^ ^ W W ^ ¥ 1 ireat-er than that. 212 Murdoch's Elocution. 158. It should be distinctly understood that the notation of the passage here given is only to illustrate the manner in which the voice, in plain narrative utterance, may traverse the scale, and not as an example of expressive elocution. This is true of all the notations; they do not represent the way in which the language must be given, but a way in which it may be given. Were the present language notated to denote expressive character, other forms of both the radical and concrete pitch would be necessary in the notation. The preceding examples illustrate how the plain melody of the second may be still farther varied to gratify the ear without em- ploying any wider intervals than the tone. The beauty of melody, therefore, not only consists in skillfully varying the order of the phrases as they move onward, but also in correctly managing their rise and fall through the whole compass of the voice. A melody that would be made to pass through any succession of phrases directly ascending one above the other, and then falling in the same formal manner, would give no grace to language, and a series of such melodies would constitute the most disagreeable form of oratorical monotony. But if the di- tones of the melody are varied in their progress, and inter- spersed with rising and falling tritones, with occasional monotones of several constituents, they may be carried through the entire compass, and, in return, through any varied course of rise and fall, with a most agreeable result. An ascent or descent through more than three radicals should always be avoided. The melody so constructed is an aggregate of the simplest functions of the radical and vanish, or vocal concrete, in the consecutive utterances of the syllables of language. 159. Both the concrete and discrete scales enter into the melody of speech, the radical and vanish of each syllable representing a strictly concrete progression of voice, and Diatonic Melody, 213 the [assing of the voice from one syllable to the next, a strict y discrete progression. In the different order of succession in the constituent concjetes of the diatonic melody, the interval lying be- tween the close of one syllable and the beginning of the next is not always the same. The concretes of the rising ditorie and tritone have apparently no discrete interval be- twee 1 them, but the fullness of the radical, as compared with the feebleness of the preceding vanish, distinctly marls the difference between the two or three successive impi Ises. In the monotone, from the termination of one vanish to the radical succeeding there is a discrete second ; while between the constituents of the falling ditone and tritone havi ig ascending concretes, there is the interval of two tone>, or a third. These differences have, however, but little perceptible effect upon the simple melody, since it is the fullness of the radical which constitutes the melodic effe( t, and marks the progression of sounds upon the ear. if o. The closing syllables of a sentence constitute the Mebdy of the Cadence. The cadence occurs at the peri)ds of discourse, and produces a satisfactory, reposeful effe( t to the ear similar to the conclusion of a tune in song. Thi;. conclusion, which is the desired effect of the cadence, is limited to certain forms, and is produced by the down- war i movements of the voice, consequently descent is the essential of the cadent phrase. The descent may be ac- con plished in several ways, but in order to produce the true cadencial effect it must be made through the space of thrte tones on the scale, with at least one (and always the last syllabic concrete downward. The triad of the ca- derce fulfills these essential conditions of the cadent me ody. It will be found that these same conditions are variously me in each of the other forms, of which there are five 2 14 Murdoch's Elocution, beside the triad, making six in all. The first is the one just referred to, and is called the Rising Triad, from the concretes of its first two syllabic constituents being upward. Triad of the Cadence. Sweet is the breath of morn. -^ — ¥^ The second form differs from the first only in all of its syllables being executed in falling concretes. This is called the full cadence, from the completeness of the conclusion formed by the combined radical and concrete descent. FuU Cadence, or FaUing Triad. The air was fanned by un - nurn - ber'd plumes. w—^ ^ ^ ^ ^ •< ^ ^ The third form is executed on but two syllables, the first of which is assigned to a descending concrete interval, equal in extent of concrete pitch to the sum of the first and second constituents of the full cadence. This is called the First Duad form, and is illustrated in the follow- ing sentence : First Duad. With tur - ret crest and sleek en - am - el'd neck. The fourth form is also confined to two syllables, and differs from the first Duad, in the syllable taking one fall- Diatonic Melody. 215 ing :oncrete, of the extent of the last two constituents of the falling Triad. This is called the Second Duad. Second Duad. The mean - ing not the name I call. EZ The fifth form of the cadence is that in which the de- sceiit of the voice through the space of three tones is made on one long syllabic concrete. This is called the Monad form, — and sometimes, on account of its being the least cor elusive in its effect, the feeble cadence. No, by The Feeble Cadence, the rood not so. --%r- — "^ ^ W^ ^ % W W A. There is still another, or sixth variety, of the cadence. It marks the close of a subject more completely than any of the preceding, and is effected by the radical descent of a :hird, on some syllable of the current melody preceding an/ of the forms of the cadence (except the monad or feeble form), and given near enough to the close to be con- nt cted with it by the ear. This is called, from its pecu- li^rity of structure,* the Prepared Cadence. The falling skip of the third seems to give notice, as it Wire, that the voice is about to fall into some of the c: dent phrases. Other cadences denote in different de- g ees the conclusion of a particular thought. This cadence d motes that the subject itself of a paragraph, chapter, V )lume, or entire discourse is finished. 2i6 Murdoch's Elocution. The Prepared Cadence. Through E - den took their sol - i - ta - ry way. n f ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ i6i. The several forms of the cadence here given repre- sent various degrees of conclusiveness and repose. It is the fullness of the radical which impresses the ear most forcibly, and calls attention to the order of syllabic succes- sion. Thus, in the triad it is the three radicals which so conspicuously mark the descent of the voice, and consti- tutes it the most positive form of the cadence or close, par- ticularly when the concrete pitch of its constituents is also downward. In the duad forms, the number of radicals being les- sened, the impressiveness of the cadencial character is pro- portionately so; while the monad form, where there is but one radical, and the descent in pitch is entirely concrete, is the least impressive or conclusive of all. A third is the nominal interval for this cadence, as it is the smallest downward concrete that has in its place the effect of a close. Its effect is such as to allow of either a pause after it or a continuation of the discourse. In nam- ing the character of this cadence as feeble compared with the other forms, allusion is made to its employment in the diatonic melody in which it is executed on a simple equable concrete. In expressive melody, it will be found that it passes into the wider intervals of the fifth and octave, when combined with the forms of force, and assumes a character as strongly conclusive as any of the other forms of the close. We shall also find in expressive melody, that the constit- uent concretes of the other cadences may pass into the Diatonic Melody. 2 i 7 wider intervals, though preserving relatively similar propor- tions to those here described, the principle underlying both the tioughtive and expressive cadences being the same. The diatonic melody of speech proceeds always by whole tonef ; it can not, therefore, have what in music is termed key, and hence there is no fixed point or key-note upon the scale to which any melody must return in order to sat- isfac;orily conclude. This being so, the cadence may be effecced by a descent from any degree of the speaking com])ass (except, of course, the two lowest notes), through all of its various forms. Inexperienced readers often produce what has been termed the false cadence by allowing the voice to drop a disc]ete third to the last place of the concrete. This should be avoided. Omitting the second constituent pro- duces what is called a False Cadence. False Cadence. Of wiles more in - ex - pert I boast not. ¥ ^ ^ ^ 'f ^ w * * ^ — ^ 1 52. The seven diatonic phrases, in their many possible fori is cf combination and variety of progression through the compass of speech, are sufficient, when judiciously em- plo Td, to prevent the common fault of monotony, arising, froi 1 a repetition of the same phrases at regular intervals, producing what is termed a recurring melody. It is by no me ms to be expected that the varied phrases of melody cai be intermingled in a regular order, or by special ch( ice, at the ordinary rate of reading or speaking; but if veiy small sections of sentences are slowly read at a time, su1 ject to the correction of the student's own, or of a tecHcher's ear, with a view to the employmeiU of a varied M. E.-19. ^ 21 8 Murdoch's Elocution. melody in time, and by perseverance the voice will uncon- sciously employ an agreeable variety. A clear perception of the effect of the falling ditone should be acquired, and a command over its use, so that it may frequently play among the syllables of discourse. This movement, and the falling tritone, are phrases most difficult of execution, as the descending movements in rad- ical pitch are like the falling concretes, least employed in the ordinary, and frequently faulty, uses of the voice. The phrase of alternation produces a light, tripping movement that is very expressive in animated description. The monotone is equally expressive of dignified and solemn language. The movements in the first use of the diatonic melody must be stiff and formal until the mere mechanism yields to an artistic command of their variety in melody. The notations are used only to illustrate possible and agreeable combinations of the phrases of melody, and are not absolute; /. ^., they do not prescribe any one melodic form as the only means of correctly uttering the language given. Each person must be free within the limitations of certain principles to form his own current melody and choose the form of his cadence. Practical Exercises on the Melodic Successions. 163. To obtain a clear idea of the radical changes through a tone : Let any of the notated sentences be taken, and keeping in mind the diatonic character of the melody and the sense of the words, utter only the tonic element of each with a clear, full radical. The successive notes of the melody, and their relative position on the scale, will thus be clearly marked, for, although every element in perfected utterance must be heard in the syllabic impulse, yet the tonic being generally Diatonic Melody. 219 the most remarkable, the characteristic of the syllable lies in a large measure with this element. The ear, therefore, unembarrassed with the other elements, will much more readily note the successive rise and fall in radical pitch, part cularly when the ' opening of each constituent of the melodic progression is marked by a full, clear radical. After the first practice on the single tonic element of each sylhble, the sentence may again be read, giving the final consonants, still preserving the clear radical of the syllable; and finally, when the movement is pretty well established to the ear on this species of inarticulate utterance, let the end re syllable be given. Exercises on the Phrases of Melody. 164. The following diagram is simply suggestive for further exercises in numerals, elements, words, and sen- ten :es to cultivate the ear to variety of intonation in read- ing The short sentences given below as exercises in the different forms of cadence should be combined with the diaonic melody. /le. Arm, All, Eve, Ice, Old, Use, Ooze, Up, End. i, a, a, e, i, o, u, 00, u, e. T lere where a few torn shrubs the place dis - close, In, On, i, 6, Ale, Eve, Ice, Old, a, e, i, 0, Use, Ooze, End. u, 00, e. I, 2, 3. 4> S, 6, 7. 8, 9, 10. — •^— ^ ^ ^ ^ y 9f ^ ^ ¥ The vil - lage preacher's mod-est man - sion rose. 2 20 MurdocJt s Elocution . Examples for Practice on the different Forms of Cadence. RISING triad. "The spirit can not always | sleep in dust." FALLING TRIAD. "Meantime I'll keep you | company." FIRST DUAD. • *• Methought I heard Horatio say to- | morrow." SECOND DUAD. "And all the people said | Amen." MONAD CADENCE. "She brought to the Pharisees him that was born | blind.' " My sentence is for open | war." prepared CADENCE. " Hope for a season bade the world farewell, And freedom sJwieked as Kosci | usko fell." "Let this be done and | Rome is safe." "And peaceful slept the mighty | Hector's shade." In the following the fall may be placed either on the sixth or ninth syllable before the cadence, and perhaps on both : "And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow." Diatonic Melody. 221 The following is an instance where the descent may be on tie word immediately preceding the cadence: "Th'i fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all \ evermore." O le of the two diagrams introduced here, shows the ad- vantages to be derived from tutoring the ear to a recogni- tion, and the voice to an execution, of the varied intona- tion:; which produce melody. Ii the first reading of " Cock Robin''' we catch the sing- song of the nursery, which charms the child by the jing- ling recurrence of certain movements in the voice, but which is ruinous to the ear, and the teacher frequently wor cs months, and sometimes years, to educate out of the voic e that which the mother has allowed to become a vocal hab t. In the second, a melody is suggested from the natural movements of the voice. Some of the words are rendered emphatic, and call for wider intervals to be intro- duced into the diatonic melody. The first sentence is a pro lominal interrogative, taking the partial form, and ends as .L declarative sentence, with the triad of the cadence. See ^i6o. The diagrams also show the difference between the Walker inflective system and Rush's syllabic intonation. ^•^< Who killed Cock Rob - in ? I, said the spar - row, '^ ^ -^ ^ X With my bow and ar - row, I killed Cock Ro - bin. — ^ §r ^ ^ ^ ¥" ^ %^ ^ ^ V •^ ^ ^^ Chapter XVIII. Intonation at Pauses : A study of the Phrases of Melody as they occur at Pauses, in their Relations to the Continuation or Completion of Sense. 165. No language moves through any continued melodic succession of modified sentences or paragraphs, or succes- sion of paragraphs, without occasional pauses, which, from the necessities of sense and respiration, separate certain words, or groups of words, from each other. All the parts of continued discourse thus separated, hav- ing the least unity of purpose, bear some relation to each other; and being severally more or less intimate, punctu- ative marks are employed as a means of indicating their different degrees of relationship. The design of this grammatical punctuation is to aid the eye of the reader in resolving a sentence into its syntactical portions. Its ordi- nary use in audible punctuation, however, is almost exclu- sively to indicate the duration of the several pauses. The temporal rest alone is not sufficient in all cases to prevent obscurity in the mind of the hearer, or mistake as to the meaning of discourse ; but the united means of pause and intonation serve to clearly set forth the exact relations of the several groups of words or pausal sections of discourse. The phrases of melody serve to give an agreeable variety to language, and have in their relation to pauses a positive significance, which marks continuation or completion of the sense. 166. The inherent character of the rising and falling movements of the voice will at once explain the peculiar (222) Intonation at Pauses. 223 power of the different phrases of melody at pauses ex- pressed in the following: The triad of the cadence denotes a completion of the pre- cedin;5 sense, and is, therefore, admissible only at a proper grammatical period. But it does not follow that it is always to be applied at the close of the preceding sense, for ir those forms of loose sentences and inverted periods whicl frequently occur in composition, there are members with this complete and insulated meaning, which, from their position and relation to the other parts of the sen- tence following, will not admit of this concluding phrase. Th e rising tritone denotes the most immediate connection of thi parts of a sentence separated by a pause. The rising ditone connects the sense of the parts sepa- rated in a diminished degree. The monotone denotes a less intimate connection of the sense than the rising ditone, while Th e falling ditone, a still more diminished relationship ; and Tl e falling tritone indicates the least suspension of the sense that can exist without entirely cutting off its further prog ession.* In the preceding, it is to be understood that the con- cretes of the several phrases are all upward. It will read ly be perceived that a falling concrete or concretes, with any of these phrases, would produce in all cases an *]i.ush suggested, as an aid in teaching phrasing, the adoption of a pii ictuation mark called a dicomma. He further suggested some fixed movements for pausal intonation; as, "A comma might de- note the phrase of the rising tritone ; a double or dicomma, the risin; ditone or the monotone; a dash, if used, the monotone; a semi olon, the falling ditone ; a colon, the falling tritone ; and a peric d, the triad of the cadence." Sheridan also employed a kind of d )uble comma. 2 24 Murdoch's Elocution. effect of separation varying in degree according to the radical successions of the phrase. Thus, a rising ditone, with a downward concrete on the second syllable, together with a short pause, will produce the effect of the comple- tion of a part of the sentence, and also of continuation of sense. This form of intonation is often required in vocally punctuating sentences which are so constructed as to de- tach the sense from what follows so far that a falling move- ment is required, rather than a rising one, and yet not a fall of the cadence.* The monotone and falling ditone, with a downward con- crete on their last syllable, are often used as similar instances of a wide separation of sense, but still a dependence of parts, requiring a vocal movement indicative of partial completion. These movements are sometimes termed the poetic monotone, as they produce a beautiful melody in poetry, where wider intervals would be too matter-of-fact. 167. The Partial Cadence avoids the effect of full com- pletion of sense, and secures the dependence of parts by being made on the last three syllables of the clause to which it is applied; the first two syllables form the rising ditone, with a downward concrete on the third. Let your com ■ pan - ions be se • lect. ^ ^^ g^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ W 9 9 If the following example from '■'• Paradise Lost^^ should be given with a monotone, with last concrete falling at * Such sentences are most frequently found among the earlier writers, such as Milton, whose style is founded on the Latin con- struction. They are not as much used by writers who have had the advantage of a maturer language. Intonation at Pauses, 225 ''sup -erne," and partial cadence at "mild was heard," the sense will be clearly conveyed; a cadence (unless it were the nonad form) would separate it too much from what folio v's : "On to the sacred hill They lead him high applauded, and present Before the seat Supreme ; from whence a voice, From 'midst a golden cloud thus mild was heard : Servant of God, well done." — Milton. A general direction for the management of the voice at pausis, derived from the principles underlying intonation, may be given as follows : A Full Period requires some form of the cadence, A Colon may have a cadence or a falling tritone, or a monotone with last concrete downward; or the partial cadtnce, or falling ditone, with downward concrete. A Comma may have a rising tritone or ditone, all having risirg concretes. The choice of phrase to be employed in each case must be determined by the sense in the relation of thoughts and idcc s. 1 58. The following notated passage from Milton is an exa nple of expressive language really belonging under the head of the admirative or reverentive style. It is not the obj ;ct here, however, to illustrate the sentiment of the lan- guage, as that would carry us beyond the province of the pla n, inexpressive melody. The notation is designed to exemplify the use of the melodic phrases at pauses, simply for the development of the sense^ and is to be read in the plan diatonic melody. Moreover, the notation of this passage is not given as the prescribed and only way in which it may be rendered, but to furnish the student with ins cances of the power and place of the phrases of melody 226 Murdochs Elocution. as connected with pauses. The principles governing the use of notations, explained in the preceding division of this chapter, being the same in this and all other instances of their employment. So spake the Se - raph Ab - die!, faith - fill found ^ mT ¥ ^- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ \ w ■ •r- ^ ^ ^ -■ ■- -^ 1 A - mong the faith-less : Faith - ful on - ly he ^ ^ ^ ^ V *^ «L ^ -1 A - mong in - nu - me - ra - ble false; un - moved, ^ <^ ^ «^ < r Un - sha - ken, un - se - duced, un - ter - ri - fied ; ^ ^ ,r ^ ^ ^ ^~ir~r His loy - al - ty he kept ; his love, his zeal. ^ -^^ _jgL_ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 5 Nor num - ber, nor ex - am - pie, with him wrought, ^ ^ ^ ^^ •" ^ -r ^ ^ w — ^ —w — w — ^ ■ To swerve from truth or change his con - stant mind, ^ mT ^ ^^^ ^ •r wi ^ ^ ^ 1 Though sin gle. ^ ^£- ^ •^ I Intonation at Pauses. 227 The pause at Abdiel is marked with a falling ditone, be- cause the included member does not necessarily produce the expectation of additional meaning or qualification, and because this phrase does not dissolve the grammatical con- cord between the members which it separates. The triad of the cadence is placed o\\ faithless, with a view to indicate the considerable separation of the sense at this point. Tl^e accepted grammatical punctuation of the editor place s a comma at faithless, and thus makes the three suc- ceed ng words a very dependent clause, whereas it is very little dependent, and should, therefore, be marked with a colon. The words ''faithful only he," may be regarded as an elliptical sentence which requires the cadence. Tlie next pause at false is preceded by a rising di- tone because there is but a slight suspension of the voice and Df the sense. The structure of the member evidently creates expectancy, and this species of phrase indicated that continuation of the sense involving expectancy. O ' the four succeeding pauses, the first three are notated with the monotone to foretell the continued progression of sens J. The fourth, at unterrifed, has the falling ditone to den( te a change and less of suspension, but not a close of thou ght. Viriety might be shown in ordering these four pauses, without affecting the sense, by giving to the last two sylla- bles of unshaken or of unseduced a rising ditone. T le rising ditone is placed at kept, for since love and zeal are, equally with loyalty, the grammatical objectives of the verl kept, although disjoined by the inverted construction of t le verse, no other phrase at this pause would conduce so iiuch to impress upon the ear the true syntax of the sent ence. The editor's punctuation of this passage usually places a semicolon at zeal; but the second duad employed here will aid in referring love and zeal back as objects of kepty 228 Murdocli s Elociitio7i, and thus prevent their bearing forward as nominatives to some expected verb, a vocal effect which might not be pro- duced by employing at this place some of the continuative phrases of melody appropriate to the semicolon. The remaining part of this passage, as well as the other notated passages following, contain examples of the princi- ples just elucidated, and need no explanation. On Lin - den, when the sun was low, ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ w — -w — ^ ^ ^ All blood - less lay the un - trod - den snow; ^ J .W ^ ^ mf ^ 1 w • ^ ^ 1 And dark as win - ter was the flow ^ — ^^ ¥ -¥^ -^^ -€P- ^ ^ ^ ^ Of I - ser, roll - ing ra - pid - ly. ^ ^ ^ •r ¥ ¥ ^^ " ^ 1 A simple rule in this connection is: (i) Avoid the same phrase or cadence at similarly recur- ring pauses, especially in reading rhyme. (2) Avoid repeating the same set of phrases, in the same order, in the current melody of successive sentences. An error to be avoided in reading consists in employing, in the effort to produce the effect of suspension at pauses where there is a close dependence of parts, the rising third or fifth, instead of the rising tritone, ditone, or the mono- Intonation at Pauses. 229 tone, with upward concretes. These wider intervals have an e>pressive character, which is foreign to the plain dia- tonic melody. Examples for Practice on Intonation at Pauses. i6(). The simple exercise of counting already given in the sudy of the current melody, may also be employed to great advantage in order to become familiar with the melody at pauses. The numerals should be divided into groups, and ;he various phrases of near and remote connection ap- plied to their final syllable, closing the last group with some form of cadence. It is needless to illustrate the ap- plicadon of this practice, as it can not fail to be understood from the counting exercises given in the preceding division. The ingenious teacher can diversify this exercise to any extent for the purposes of teaching children. The employ- ment of counting has here an additional value as a breath- ing jxercise, a quick indraught of breath being taken at the ihorter pause, and a full inspiration at the complete peric >ds. A 1 excellent exercise in teaching children or young readers the effects of the rising and falling second in the currmt of melody, and also the effect of intonation at pau!^ es, is as follows : Tike any simple sentence, such as:*' The cat caught the bird" and* arrange it as one long word, without space or capitals, thus: '■'• thecatcaughtthebird." Then let the pupil piclv out each word, which he will pronounce naturally as an object of independent sense, not knowing, and hence not vocally indicating its relation to those following. ^ext let him, after having distinguished all the words in this way, repeat them as they stand in the sentence. In this his voice will naturally employ the rising concretes, excepting at the close. Taking the sentence given, we 230 Murdoch's Elocution. would have a simple melody something like the follow- ing: The cat caught the bird. m/ ^ %' This would be divided into two groups : the noun and its modifiers, and the verb with the words attaching to it: "■ The cat \ caught the bird:' \ Now, let another phrase be added, as : " The cat caught the bird that was in the cage:' The voice does not here use the concluding phrase at the bird, on account of the added and closely connected thought which follows. The intonation of the sentence, then, would take something like the following form : The cat caught the bird that was in the cage. ^ ^ mf ^ ^ mi y ^ ^ W -w — ^- ■■- ' 5. A rising ditone or monotone could also be given at the bird, and still illustrate the suspensive sense. The intonation at pauses, together with their proper and relative duration, may be further illustrated by adding another member to the same sentence, continuing the sense. Thus: " The cat \ caught the bird \ that was in the cage, ^ but Mary saw her \ and took the bird away:' Here the partial cadence, or the monotone with last concrete falling, or the monad cadence, may be used at cage to make the ear recognize the continuation of the sense in the last member. This method of leading the child to observe for himself, and then to point out to him the causes of the effects he Intonation at Pauses. 231 has recognized, is one of the simplest and most certain metiods of instructing him in principles, and cultivating his ear at the same time. I give this example merely as an illustration of the many ways in which a teacher may sim i)lify and illustrate the principles of speech. 170. Sentences for Practice on Intonation at Pauses. I One, two, three, | is one part of ten ; | four, five, and six, [ constitute the second part, | and seven, eight, nine, and ten | compose the remainder. Count them | one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eigVt, nine, ten, || you have not counted correctly. Count again, one, two etc. In the above exercise, the numerals are upward seconds, var ed in the different phrases of melody with partial cadence at the semicolon. The next phrase will be marked by a rising ditone at part, with triad of the cadence at the period. The mistake in counting will probably be made by giving each numeral a downward instead of a rising coi Crete. "The loving parent takes special care to enlarge the mental po\ er of his children ; also, to provide for their necessary and grooving physical wants. In thus doing, he only complies with the la\A 3 of nature and reason, strengthened by the teachings of wisdom anc virtue, having for their basis the divine commands, as written on ;he tablets, which were intrusted to Moses amid the thunder and the smoke of the holy mountain." The semicolon, in the former sentence, might be marked by a partial cadence; the period, by the feeble cadence, mc de from a rise through a tritone on physical; doing, by a ising ditone; and the words and reason carried up by a rising tritone to mark the close continuation of thought wi:h having for their basis; the introduced matter must be m,.de apparent through the rising ditone on vifiue. 232 Murdoch's Elocution. Commands may be made distinctive by being struck above the current melody, and coming down a third, which will not separate it from the following thought. The word Moses may be used as a preparation for the full cadence. The teacher should analyze other loose sentences of con- tinued sense; placing them on the blackboard, and allow- ing the scholars to mark off the sentences, and also point the continuation of thought by the pausal intonations. Downward Movements of the Voice in the Diatonic Melody. 171. In the plain use of language in the current of thoughtive utterance, the upward movements, particularly in the concrete progression, are the rule, while the down- ward are the exception. For this reason, the diagrams already given for the first study of melody are all notated with rising concretes, excepting at the cadence and some other pauses. The falling concrete, and an occasional fall- ing ditone or tritone, gives a pleasing variety to the cur- rent melody, and should be introduced to relieve reading of that species of monotony arising from an exclusive use of the upward movements, a very great fault with almost all unskilled readers. 172. All the words of plain narrative language, although inexpressive, are not of equal importance. Plain thought must be enforced, and distinctions effected, antithetic and otherwise, by giving some special significance to particular words. This is called distinctive emphasis. The present instruction is intended to teach the means of effecting such emphasis, leaving to the student's intelligence and appre- hension of the sense of the language, the words requiring prominence in reading plain narrative or a statement of facts. Intonation at Pauses. 233 All downward movements, concrete and discrete, pro- duce an effect of greater gravity or weight than rising mov(;ments, and words of two or more syllables may re- ceive distinctive emphasis by executing a falling ditone on the accented syllable, as in the word revolution, in the phraje, '' This revolution overthrew the government.'^ Tlie diatonic melody consists of successive concrete and disci ete seconds, moving up and down relatively to an initial note. In some forms of the melody of the cadence, to produce a varied and satisfactory close to the ear, the voic3 moves beyond the concrete of a second into that of a third, as in the first and second duad and the feeble cadtnce. The use of the third, either rising or falling, if it receive no more coloring from force, time, and pitch thar belongs to the moderate character of the diatonic melody, becomes an allowable and very satisfactory means of distinction in this melody, and has been termed the distinctive third ; this, with the shorter wave of the second, and the falling ditone, when variously employed, will pro- due, ' simply distinctive emphasis, which gives to words in phr;,ses about the same prominence that accent gives to sylL.bles in polysyllabic words, but does not amount to what has been termed expression. The faUing ditone and the distinctive third may thus be usei for the purposes of designation, or of announcing a subiect or topic in didactic style, introducing a person or an event in narrative, or an object in descriptive style. Th ; upward and downward third is employed for distinc- tion in contrasts, as in one of two antithetic words or phi ases. Examples for Practice. - ''or other vocal elements which unite with the diatonic int mation in the utterance of plain narrative or thoughtive larguage, the student is referred to ^1156. 234 Murdoch! s Elocution. **I remember listening, in the midst of a crowd, many years ago, to the voice of a girl — a mere child of sixteen summers — till I was bewildered." "And the prayer, that my mouth is too full to express. Swells my heart, that thy shadow may never be less." ** He gave to misery all he had — a tear, He gain'd from Heaven — 'twas all he wish'd — a friend." *'The duties of a citizen of a republic formed the subject of the orator's address." "The progress of the Italian opera in this country will form the subject of this essay." •"Tis hard to say if greater want of skill Appears in writing or va judging ill." ••I had rather be \}ci^ first man in that village than the second in Romey In connection with the study of intonation at pauses, the poetic monotone introduces a beautiful movement. "The 'poetic monotone' is properly the distinctive 'second' which gives to the language of verse or of poetic prose, when not marked by emphatic or impassioned force, its peculiar melody, as contrasted with the ' partial cadence ' of ' complete sense in clauses.' The two faults commonly exemplified in passages such as the follow^ ing, are : 1st, That of terminating a clause which forms complete sense, with a 'partial cadence;' 2d, That of terminating it with the upward 'slide of the third.' Both these errors turn verse into prose, or render poetic language in prose dry and inexpressive, as both these modes of voice are the appropriate language of fact, and not oi feeling or melody.'*^ Refer to Byron's ''Aspect of Death,'" (see subdued force.) This long periodic sentence requires great care in group- Intonation at Pauses. 235 ing, and variety in the use of poetic monotone. Again, the following lines from Byron's ^^Mazeppa^' require the same treatment: "Away ! — away I — and on we dash ! — Torrents less rapid and less rash. Away, away, my steed and I, Upon the pinions of the wind, All human dwellings left behind : We sped like meteors through the sky. When with its crackling sound the night Is chequered with the northern light : — From out the forest prance A trampling troop, — I see them come ! A thousand horse — and none to ride ! With flowing tail, and flying mane. Wide nostrils, never stretched by pain, Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein. And feet that iron never shod. And flanks unscarred by spur or rod, — A thousand horse, — the wild, the free, — Like waves that follow o'er the sea, Came thickly thundering on : — They stop, — they start, — they snuff the air. Gallop a moment here and there. Approach, retire, wheel round and round, Then plunging back with sudden bound, — They snort, — they foam — neigh — swerve aside, And backward to the forest fly, By instinct, from a human eye." "Within, the master's desk is seen. Deep scarred by raps official; The warping floor, the battered seats. The jack-knife's carved initial ; The charcoal frescos on its wall; Its door's worn sill, betraying The feet that, creeping slow to school, Went storming out to playing ! " — Whittier. Chapter XIX. Expressive Intonation. 173. Discourse never continues long in the simple thoughtive melody, as occasional necessities for emphasis or expression upon certain words will introduce into its current variations of the wider or expressive concrete and discrete intervals. The expressive character of the upward movements de- pends upon that inherent suspensive property of the voice indicative of incompleteness in the thought. The rising third, fifth, and octave are all expressive of interrogation, varying in the degree of earnestness or in- tensity with the extent of each. They also confer, in varied degrees, when not interrogative, an emphatic distinc- tion upon the words they mark. The rising octave expresses the most intense degree of interrogation and emphasis, and accompanies questions of a sneering, taunting, peevish, contemptuous, or rallying character. As an emphatic distinction, not interrogative, it expresses surprise^ astonishment, admiration, etc., when they imply a degree of doubt or inquiry. Let the word indeed be uttered with strong surprise, mingled with keen inquiry, and the voice will rise on the second syllable through an octave. In the sneering question of Shylock, exulting over Antonio, we have an instance of the extreme em- phatic character of the rising concrete octave : "Hath a dog money? Is it possible A cur should lend three thousand ducats?" (336) Expressive Into7iation. 237 All example of the emphasis of the rising discrete octave may be exhibited in the exasperated interrogative of Hamlet, addressed to Laertes, on a succession of short sylla )ic quantities : "Zounds, show me what thou 'It do; ^oo'i weep? V^oo\ Jight? Woo't fast? Woo't /^ar thyself?" Tlie concrete rise or fall through the wider intervals re- quires a syllable of long quantity, as in fear, for its drawn out sound; whereas the inimutables, or shorter mutable syllables, can only be thrown into altitude and depression by discrete skips, their natural means of distinction in pitcli. 174. The concrete intervals impress the ear more stro]igly, owing to the time of their duration, but the dis- cret'j can be made strongly impressive by radical stress. The general expressive character of the upward intonation, und jr the modifications of either concrete or discrete rise or (hange in radical pitch, is, however, the same. The rising fifth is expressive of a less piercing and more digi ified, though equally forcible, interrogative. It is the most common form of question. As an emphatic expres- sion, it conveys wonder, admiration, and similar states of mind, when implying a slight degree of doubt. In this coniection, it is also expressive of more dignity than the em]»hatic rising octave. In Satan's words, the admirative em]ihasis of exultation on thee may be given in the rising concrete fifth: "Evil, be thou my good: by fAee at least Divided empire with Heaven's king I hold." The emphasis of the discrete rising fifth is illustrated in the following lines, where the immutable syllable is given the admirative expression by being jumped from the cur- rer t melody through the extent of this interval : 238 Murdochs Elocution. •'Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragoons! Upon them! Victory sits on our helms." The rising concrete and discrete third are appropriate to that form of interrogation employed in the most moderate forms of inquiry ; it is not connected with passionative states of mind, and is used simply for the purposes of seeking information. It is also employed for a moderate emphasis, and especially for marking emphatic words of a conditional, concessive, or hypothetical character. As an example of the interrogative third, the following may be given : "What, looked he frowningly ? " The dignified and less intensive distinction of the rising third may be applied to the word he in the following lines : "Who first seduced them to that foul revolt? The infernal serpent, he it was whose guile Stirred up with envy and revenge." As an example of a discrete third, we may take the word victory, in the example given, to illustrate the fifth, simply giving it with less earnestness. Its character of concession is also shown in the hypothetical clause of this sentence : ♦''If I must contend,^ said he, •Best with the best, the sender not the sent.'" It may be asked, what is the difference in the employ- ment of the wider rising intervals for interrogation, and for that of emphasis only. Where the rising intervals are used merely for emphatic purposes, the voice, after having risen in pitch, returns immediately to or near the line of the current melody by a discrete skip, continuing there on the unemphatic or unaccented syllables until a further em- phasis is required; as, for illustration, in the following, Expressive Intonation. 239 wheie the rising fifth is employed as an admirative em- phasis to point the word beauty: '•Tears like the rain-drops may fall without measure, But rapt - ure and beau-ty they can not re - call." L^: jl ^ -¥^^>i- ^'^-ir- Oi the other hand, where a sentence of thorough inter- rogation requires the rising octave or fifth on its long and accented syllables, the voice, instead of descending again to the current melody on the short and unaccented sylla- bles as in the preceding instance, continues on these at the summit of the vanish of the long concrete until it be- comes necessary to drop discretely, to rise again on the next long and important syllable. Wider Downward Movements. I '5. Positiveness and affirmation,- directly the reverse of the doubtful or suspensive character of the rising move- merts, mark in a greater or less degree all downward in- tone tion. There is a finality in such movements related in its jffects to the conclusive character of the cadence — a positiveness of declaration or assertion that admits of no •uncirtainty or doubt. 1 he wider falling movements are used exclusively for emphasis, and they place words in a very vivid and impres- sive light. They express strong conviction and command, dem nciation, indignation, and resolution. They also express wotiier, surprise, astonish?nent, and admiration when these sen iments overrule all doubt or inquiry in the mind. 1 et the student utter the words you shall as if enforcing a former refusal, and then the faUing third will be heard. 240 Murdochs Elocution, More earnestly and positively uttered, the interval on shall will be a downward fifth. Then, if pronounced as if the matter could not be gainsaid, and as a final decision, shall will pass through the downward octave. The downward concrete is employed in two ways: in one, the descent proceeds from the line of the current melody ; in the other, from a line of pitch above the current melody^ descending either to it or below it, according to the strength of the emphasis. The weakest emphasis of a downward concrete is that made from the line of the melody, the expression becoming more impressive as the radical rises by a discrete movement above the line. The same holds true of the wider rising concretes, the discrete interval being always in a direction opposite to the concrete. ^Vhen the concrete is upward, the discrete de- scends in proportion to the emphasis of the former. Take the sentence: ''»S/r, / thank the government for this meas- ure.^' If read in simply a grave and dignified manner, the word thank requires a downward third; but should it be given with a rising discrete interval and a rising concrete, the expression of the sentence will change from gravity to lightness, and the emphasis lose its impressive character derived from the effect of downward movements. We have an instance of the descending concrete octave as expressive of admiration and astonishment in the words well done, uttered as a strong exclamation of mirthful sur- prise. The first word well should be uttered in high pitch, . and done should descend concretely from that height with extended quantity. If the two words of the interjection Heigh, ho! be uttered on the extremes of the natural voice, or of high and low pitch, a discrete skip of an octave will be made. A falling discrete third and fifth would be simijarly used to emphasize the immutable syllables of the word attack, in the strong and repeated enforcement of the assertion of the Expressive Intonation. 241 follovnng sentences: ''// was 710 feint, it was an attack." " I t'll you it was a premeditated attack." Dr. Rush illustrates the emphasis of the discrete intona- tion jpon syllables that will not admit of the wide descent of the concrete to express their positive affirmation by the following notation, in which the words Brutus and a?nbitious are distinguished by the radical skip downward : Yet Bru - tus says he was am - bi - tious. m^ _^ ^ _^ ^ ^ -/ - ^ 1^6. In Hamlet's reply to his mother's question: ^^ If it be,'" (if death be the common lot) " Why seems it so partic- ular with thee 1 " Severe and dignified conviction is to be expi essed on the word is of his reply : ' ' Seems Madam, nay it iij / know not seems.'' The intonation of this is ex- hibi ed in the following notation : SeeiQs Ma -dam, nay, it is! I know not seems. -^ 1 -J-¥-^ -g- \ ^ _^ * •i 1 But the lightness of the surprise expressed in the simple radical and vanish is not adequate to the gravity of the repy; therefore, this is enhanced in the utterance by the addition of the swell of the median stress on the descend- ing fifth. The employment of the expressive intervals, except in the case of the third, which may form a drift, is but occa- sioi al, and the unaccented syllables and unemphatic words stil conform to the laws of the diatonic melody. There ma ^ be a succession of emphatic intonations constituting M. E.— 21. 242 Murdochs Elocution. an emphatic phrase, or partial drift, but the general current of all language is diatonic, — the melody forming the neutral background, as it were, for the more vivid intona- tion. In intonation at pauses, where the downward con- crete movement is introduced for emphasis, preceding a pause of close connection, the emphatic syllable has a change of radical pitch above the current melody, and the concrete does not descend below. This movement many persons mistake for a rising inflection ; thus, in the follow- ing sentence, where the word queen is to be emphasized by the falling third, the latter would lose its emphatic effect if employed simply as a feeble cadence : "No, by the rood not so; You are the queen: your husband's brother's wife." The difference between the downward emphatic third and the feeble cadence is this : in the former, the voice, after descending on the interval, instead of letting go of the sound immediately, continues it on the organs by the impli- cating movement until the opening of the following sylla- ble, usually on a higher pitch. The Semitone. 177. The semitone is expressive of all the plaintive, pathetic emotions, — grief, distress, sorrow, tenderness, com- passion, pity, complaint. It may be introduced into the diatonic melody as an occasional emphasis on single words, or it may continue as a pathetic drift through one or more sentences. In the latter case, the melody becomes chro- matic, proceeding entirely through semitones.* Where the * For an extended treatment of the chromatic melody, the student is referred to Dr. Rush's ''Philosophy of the Voiced Expressive Intonation. 243 state of mind requires that the plaintive expression should prevail, simply place the semitone on all accented or in- definite syllables, and the unimportant syllables will natur- ally or sympathetically fall into the same interval. An" exanple of the emphatic use of the semitone may be given on the second too of these lines from the soliloquy of Hamlet : "O, that this too, too solid flesh would melt. Thaw and resolve itself into a dew." This word, as repeated, is expressive of a state of pathetic despondency. The following will furnish an example of the semitonic drift in which this pathetic interval should mark all of the important syllables in the expression of deep sorrow: " my son Absalom! my son, 'my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!''^ T le student should review and practice elementary exer- ciser on semitone. See ^69. Exercises on the Expressive Intervals. I "8. A preparatory exercise of the tables of concrete and discrete intervals on the elements and words, as in Chapter VII, will render the organs pliant in the follow- ing examples : rising concrete octave. "Am 7 my brother's keeper?" ^^ Give Brutus a statue with his ancestors 9'*'^ RISING DISCRETE OCTAVE. ••Y)u were paid to fight against Alexander, not to rail 2X him." 244 Murdoch's Elocution. FALLING CONCRETE OCTAVE. ft '■^ Awake! arise! or be forever fallen!" The mutable syllable wake will allow only the falling concrete fifth. FALLING DISCRETE OCTAVE. " Pale, trembling coward! there I throw my gage." RISING CONCRETE FIFTH. ** He said you were incomparable?^^ Hamlet. — Saw who? Horatio. — My Lord, the king, your father. Hamlet. — The king, my/a-ther? FALLING CONCRETE FIFTH. "The Assyrian came down, like the wolf on the fold." *'/am the Resurrection and the Life!" *'To arms! they come! the Greek! the Greek!'''' In the above, the radical pitch of the first Greek is a third above the last. RISING DISCRETE FIFTH. " Back to thy punishment! false fugitive. And to thy speed add wings." "Unhand me, gentlemen, By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me! I say away! — Go on; I'll follow thee!" Expressive Intonation. 245- We Kave here an instance of the emphatic power of change in radical pitch on the word make, — it is lifted at least a fifth above the current melody. F VLLING CONCRETE THIRD, FIFTH, AND OCTAVE. If it were the last word I had to utter, it should be no! no! ! RISING AND FALLING DISCRETE FIFTH. "Then followed with a desperate leap, Y)o-wn ffty fathoms to the deep." "Well, honor is the subject of my story." RISING CONCRETE THIRD. ' But this effusion of such manly drops. This shower biozvn up by tempest of the soul, Startles mine eyes, and makes me more amaz'd Than had I seen the vaulty top of heaven Figur'd quite o'er with burning meteors." I pray thee, put into yonder port, For I fear a hurricane." DOWNWARD CONCRETE THIRD. "'Tis well, we'll try the temper of your heart." "Tell him my answer is «, and in the interrogatives unequal waves are used : Nurse, — Beshrew your heart, for sending me about, To catch my death with jaunting up and down ! Julie \ — I' faith, I am sorry that thou art not well : Sweet, sweet, sweet nurse, tell me, what says my love? Nursi. — Your love says like an honest gentleman, And a courteous, and a kind, and a handsome. And, I warrant, a virtuous: — Where is your mother? Julie'. — Where is my mother? — why, she is within; Where should she be ? How oddly thou reply'st ! Your lave says like an honest gentleman, — Where is your mother ? — ^^ Romeo and Juliet,'' SHAKESPEARE. DOUBLE AND CONTINUED WAVES — Significant " But, sirrah, henceforth Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer. Send me your prisoners with the speediest means, Or you shall hear in such a kind from me As will displease you." — ''Henry /F," Shakespeare. Do you think that I am easier to be played on than a pipe ? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you can not play upon me." ''Hamlet,'" Shakespeare. '♦O upright judge! — Mark, Jew! — O learned ysA^t. A Daniel^ still say I ; a second Daniel ! — I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word." —" Merchant of Venice,'' SHAKESPEARE. M. E.-22. Chapter XXI. Uses of the Tremor in Expression. 185. The tremor has already been described as one of the forms of intonation, and it has been shown that it may follow the course of all the intervals, ascending or descend- ing, and the various forms of the wave. The expressive power of the tremor is exhibited in the gayety and merriment of laughter, and in the pathetic sounds of crying. In the first, it may be combined with all of the intervals of the scale except the semitone, and with all of the waves except the semitone. The abrupt iterated jets may also proceed in succession upon any one point on the scale. In laughter, the rapid tittelar concretes may pass through any interval but that of the semitone. The sprightliest and most varied effect of laughter is that in which the tremulous progression is made throughout what may be called a tittelar wave (that is, the tittles following the line of a wave of the smooth concrete), and is most agreeable when the tittles are clear and evenly accented, and follow each other in close and rapid succession. Pure laughter (unaccompanied with articulate words) is performed upon some of the tonic elements, and with a faint addition of the aspirate h ; or it often changes in the course of its progress from one tonic sound to another, or from a short to a long one. As the tremor may accompany all of the intervals of the scale and the different waves, and as these have been (258) Use of Tremor in Expression. 259 show 1 to bear different kinds and degrees of expression in themselves, it follows that this movement of the voice may appei.r under other modifications than those of simple joy and sorrow. Thus, laughter may express the passions of scorn, exultation, triumph, etc. In such cases, it derives its expression not only from the direction of its tittles, but from their union with stress, aspiration, guttural vibration, etc. In exultant laughter, they would follow the cour;e of a double or continued wave. In scorn, of an unequal wave with strong aspiration, etc. Thus, when Richelieu baffles the conspirators by his feigned death, he apos rophizes them as follows : " Blood-hounds ! I laugh at ye, ha, ha, ha, we will Baffle them yet, ha, ha ! " Here the tittles of the laughter indicated by ha, ha, ha, etc.. would follow the winding course of a double wave with strong force, last constituent long and extending downward, and aspirated at the close. Ill crying, the tittelar concretes pass, in all cases, through the interval of a semitone, and may be carried by the tremulous progression through all the wider intervals and wa\es. The most plaintive effect of crying, however, is thai in which the semitonic tittles are united with the trei lulous progression through the semitonic interval or wa^ e. 1 1 hysterical laughter, the voice will pass rapidly from the wider tittelar concretes which constitute laughter, to thoje of the semitone, the state of the mind being irreg- ula and uncontrolled. The tremor may be united with the words of articulate language, in which case it becomes on( of the most striking elements of effect in speech. Co nbined with the wider intervals, or their waves, and wit h stress on syllables, it joins the sentiment of mirth, joy, 26o Murdoch's Elocution. admiration^ exultation^ or derision^ to that of interrogation, surprise^ command^ scorn, etc., while it heightens the effect of the grief, supplication, or tenderness of the plain semi- tone. In short, the tremor serves to intensify the ex- pressive powers of all of the other vocal elements with which it is combined. Control once acquired over it, it should be used in moderation, as it is the accompaniment of only the most extreme forms of emotional expression, and in most cases is suitable only to the highest forms of dramatic utterance. If the tremor be given with a wave of the third on the word noblest, in the following lines, it will express the strong admiration and eulogy the sentence is meant to embody: "Thou art the ruins of the noblest man That ever lived in the tide of times." Tenderness, combined with admiration, would be ex- pressed by combining the tremor with the rising third on the word flower, in these lines from Tennyson's ^^ Lady Clare:'' "Why come you dressed like a village maid, That are the fower of the earth?" The laughing tremor will give the chuckling effect to the words of these lines of Falstaff, in speaking of his Ragged Regiment : **I'll not march through Coventry with them, that's flat; No eye halh seen such scare-crows." United with the semitone, the tremor will give the effect of crying on the words : O my son Absalom, my son Absalom, Would God, I had died for thee, Absalom, my son, mv son!^^ I Use of Tremor in Expression. 261 In mch cases, where tears seem to be united with lan- guage the tremor always accompanies the semitone. It should not, however, be given on every syllable, but only on those having the strongest emphasis. Being so striking an eLiment of expression, it can not be employed as a contirued drift without producing an unpleasant monotony. Exercises for Practice on the Tremor. 186. Having practiced the tremor on elements and words of the concrete intervals (see Chapter VII), the student must make his voice pHant in the use of the wave;^ in the expression of the following sentiments, and the e cercises for practice of the tremor : tremor in joy or gayety. ** Sweety sweet, sweet, Pan! Piercing sweet by the river! Blinding sweet, O Great God Pan ! " ** When I look from my window at night, . And the welkin above is all white, All throbbing and panting with stars, Among them, majestic, is standing Sandolphon, the angel, expanding His pinions in nebulous bars.'''' ** 'She's painted already,' quoth I; ' Nay, nay ! ' said the laughing Lisette, ' Now none of your joking, but try, And paint a thorough coquette.'" semitone and tremor. And when their eyes flashed, 0, my beautiful eyes I" 262 Murdoch's Elocution. "And all at once the old man burst in sobs; I have been to blame, — to blame, I have killed my son I have killed him, but I Icrved him, my dear son ! May God forgive me ! I have been to blame. Kiss me, my children." «* * They are lost,'' she muttered, '■boat and crew, Lord forgive me, my words were true.^^ '• Pale, patient Robby's angel face, Still in his sleep bore suffering's trace. No, for a thousand crowns, not him." HIGH PITCH AND TREMOR AND QUICK MOVEMENT. " Ah, Juliet, if the measure of thy joy Be heap'd like mine, and that thy skill be more To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath This neighbor air, and let rich music's tongue Unfold the imagin'd happiness that both Receive in either by this dear encounter." — ''Romeo and Juliet,'^ SHAKESPEARE. *'0, joy! thou welcome stranger, twice three years I have not felt thy vital beam, but now It warms my veins, and plays about my heart; A fiery instinct lifts me from the ground. And I could mount." ^''Revenge,'''' Dr. Young. "Come; let us to the castle. — News, friends; our wars are done, the Turks are drown'd; How does my old acquaintance of this isle ? — Honey, you shall be well desir'd in Cyprus, I have found great love among them. 0, my sweet, I prattle out oi fashion, and I dote In mine own comforts.'''' — " Othello,^'' Shakespeare. Use of Tremor ifi Expression. 263 Exercise 'in Laughing. 187. It is very difficult to acquire a perfect imitation of the natural laugh. The short u, in up, is the sound most easiU produced by the abrupt function of the voice which forms the tittles. The student should, therefore, first prac- tice on this element in low pitch, keeping the tittles on a level line until he has acquired the natural action, thus : Huh, huh, huh, huh, huh, huh. Then carry the tittles upwird into a higher pitch, and the voice will naturally take on the more brilliant sounds: Ha, ha, ha, hih, hih, hih, hoh, hoh, hoh, etc. Each one of these sounds should be c ontinued on a level line for a few tittles ; they should ther be carried up and down in every form of interval and wave. There should be no effort to give the sound of /, as it will naturally accompany the energy necessary to the creation of the tittles. Laughter rapidly exhausts the lungs, and necessitates a frequent and quick supply of air. In the language of mirih and gayety, laughter is often introduced between the words, as in the following: ^^ ^ Play me no tricks,^ said Lord Ronald, ' For I am yours in word and deed.^ " T he following exercise for practice of tremor, wave, and lauihing exercise combined, is an admirable one for culti- vat on of the voice. Practice hurrah with upward move- mejit in three degrees of pitch, through wide intervals and doi ble waves ; and then again descending in radical pitch throe degrees, with falling intervals and waves. Let huir'dh and hurrah be practiced in the same manner. Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hu rah ! Hurrah ! Chapter XXII. Interrogative Intonation. i88. The wider rising intervals of pitch, third, fifth, and octave, concrete and discrete, are adapted by an ordination of nature to the expression of inquiry or direct interroga- tion. Emphasis is effected by an occasional use of these intervals in the course of the melody, but we shall find that proper interrogation requires them on every syllable of a word, phrase, or sentence, in which case they form what may be called, when extending to any succession of syllables, the melody of interrogation. Interrogative intonation may be applied to a single word, a phrase, or a sentence. On a monosyllabic word, it must be expressed by the concrete form of interrogative intona- tion; on two syllables it may be effected by a rising dis- crete movement, and in the melody of interrogation, both interrogative intervals may be employed. Inquiry ex- pressed by the concrete interrogative interval is much more impressive than by the discrete, as the voice seems to seiu hold of the question, as it were, and exert a greater energy upon it. The familiar question of simple inquiry, ''Did you?" will receive positive interrogative expression by ut- tering the two words on the extremes of a rising third, fifth, or octave, even though the concrete of each syllable passes through the interval of but a rising second. The strongest expression of inquiry is effected by the union of concrete and discrete interrogative intervals, thus: utter the noun con-duct as a direct inquiry, — conduct? as if (264) Interrogative Intonation. 265 the vords Did you say? were understood before it. In this case, the first syllable, being of extendible quantity, and bearing the accent, will rise through a slow concrete of a third fifth, or octave, while the immutable and unaccented syllal)le duct will rise in radical pitch to the summit line of the /anish of con, and thence pass upward through its rapid concrete of perhaps a third. Tl e melody of strong and energetic interrogation is well illustrated by the notation of the following interrogative sentences, in which the rapid concretes are indicated by the smaller symbol. Gh'e Bru - tus a stat - ue with his an - ces - tors? JJJJJJ ,/ ^ / 3 y- g The sentence has been uttered as a command, ** Give Bru 'us a statue with his ancestors. ^^ In which case, every syllable would take a direct downward interval. Bit the command creates in the mind of the hearer doubt and astonishment, which he expresses by repeating the words with a directly reversed form of intonation, eveiy syllable rising through either a third, fifth, or octave, acc( rding to the degree of earnestness in the inquiry. Harilet's astonished repetition of Horatio's words would carry the concretes through the same intervals as those of the notation: ''The king, my father?" The following diagrams give two forms of cadence in the interrogative sentence. The first ends with unaccented syll ibles passing through the rapid concretes in a mono- ton( ; in the second, the last word is emphatic, and with the preceding syllable forms a tritone, the last constituent of vhich is a rising fifth. M.E.— 23. 266 Murdoch's Elocution, He said you were in - com - pa - ra - ble? =F / . / -4 =F=F: -/= • j^^ ■^ W • • Give Fab - ius a tri - umph for his de - lay? 4 ,JJ J J^ ^3E^ 189. The familiar sentence, so often quoted, is here em- ployed for the purpose of noting the emphatic word, and what constitutes the emphasis itself, and also shows how this may be applied to the thorough interrogative sentence: Do you ride to town to-day 1 In the first diagram, the general inquiry is expressed through a melody of rising thirds, every word bearing the same emphasis. If, how- ever, the question refers to riding or walking, ride would require to be made emphatic by being carried through a a rising concrete third, its radical falling below the current diatonic melody of the rest of the sentence, as in the second diagram; if the inquiry should be as to whether you or some other person rode to town, you would take the same movement; should the question be as to destination or time, town or to-day would require emphasis. Do you ride to town to - day? J fl J J / ^ W w ft -V— Do you ride to town to - day? ^ ^ ^ ^ W W -•r^ ^ — rf^ Interrogative Intonation. 267 Questions requiring a keen and penetrating energy usu- ally add the intensifying effect of stress to the interroga- tive intonation of their emphatic syllables. The application of final stress particularly enhances the interrogative energy of the slow concrete, while a radical stress increases this effect on the immutable syllables of a disc rete interrogative. I:' a syllable of short quantity be emphatic in an inter- rogative sentence, it will descend radically to a third or moie below the previous current melody, and rise through a rapid concrete with radical stress, the unemphatic sylla- ble;, continuing on the upper plane as before. 190. As the rising third, fifth, and octave placed on every syllable of a sentence renders that sentence inter- rogitive, the question naturally arises, must all sentences wh ch have the interrogative structure be thus intonated ? By no means. When every syllable of a question takes an int(;rrogative interval, it is said to have the Thorough hiter- rogitive Expression or Intonation. When the syllables of only a part of the question receive the interrogative inter- vals, and the remaining syllables pass through the plain declarative melody, it is said to have the Partial Interroga- tive Expression or Intonation. The intonation of those sentences having the interroga- tiv J for?n, but demanding the downward intonation, does no come properly under the head of interrogative expres- sioi, though inseparable from a study of interrogative sen- tei ces. The Grammatical Structure of Questions, and the state of mind or purpose they are intended to convey, de- termine whether they shall receive the Thorough or Partial E. pression, or the Downward Intonation. Interrogative sentences appear under various forms of grammatical con- st! action. The following are some leading rules concern- in;; the two great conditions affecting the intonation of in errogative sentences : 268 MurdocJt s Elocution. Rule I. igi. When an interrogative sefitence has the assertive or declarative construction ^ it generally requires the thorough ex- pression. The declarative sentence, ''He is gone," if repeated in the tone of an inquiry, is equivalent to saying, "Did you say he is gone ? " In fact, all assertive questions may be regarded as elliptical, having some such interrogative phrase, understood, to precede them. But as this interrog- ative phrase is omitted in the utterance, there is no means of distinguishing the interrogative from the declarative without a thorough interrogative intonation. A wide rising interval applied exclusively to one, or to an occasional, syllable, would express only an emphasis (as formally explained) upon the syllables so distinguished. Examples of Questions having the Assertive Form. The assertive or declaratory question is shown in the following passage taken from Shakespeare, — the scene be- tween Coriolanus and the servant of Aufidius : Servant. — Where dwellest thou ? Coriolanus. — Under the canopy. Sefvant {not comprehending, repeats interrogatively) Under the canopy Coriolanus. — Ay. * Servant. — Where 's that ? Coriolanus. — In the city of kites and crows. Servant. — In the city of kites and crows? "You say a people is only sovereign- when freed from the re- straints of morals and law?" Interrogative Intonation. 269 '■^ Reach the mooring? Rather say, While rock stands, or water runs. Not a ship will leave the bay ! " • Rule II. I()2. The common question, or that constructed by the re- versid position of the nominative and verby usually takes thorough expression. This form of question has been called direct from the fact that it may always be answered by yes or no, while those beginning with adverbs or pronouns have been called indi'^ect because they can not be answered by yes or no. Examples of Common Questions taking Thorough Ex- pression. ' Would you do homage in the most agreeable way? Would you render the most acceptable service ? Offer unto God thank.«- giviig." "Have you forgot me?" ♦* Has some saint gone up to heaven?" AVe have an exception to the above rule in the very moderate form of question which becomes partial, — as in Ha mlet's inquiry : '• Will, you play upon this pipe ? " 'This pipe, will you play upon it?" This may bear tht upward movement on the merely verbal form of inter- ro[ation, ''Will you play?" and pipe may be emphasized by being made a feeble cadence. Should the interrogation be earnestly increased, it would demand the thorough in- 270 MurdocJi s Elocution. tonation. This same form of intonation may be used in the simple question: "Can we have the flag?" Rule III. 193. Adverbial or pronominal questions of a moderate degree of earnestness require only the partial expression. In the adverbial construction, the uncertainty or doubt constituting the question does not generally extend to the whole of the sentence, certain facts being implied as ad- mitted or understood, the doubt existing only in their rela- tion to certain circumstances of agency, person, time, place, manner, etc. Thus, in the sentence, "Where has he gone?" the fact of his having gone is not the point of the question, but the direction indicated by the interrogative word where 1 This word, then, will receive the interrogative expression, while the remainder of the sentence will pass through the diatonic melody. This expression is not always effected by a direct rising interval. The unequal direct wave may be used for the purpose of interrogation instead of the simple concrete, and is almost invariably employed for this purpose. In the inter- rogative words of adverbial and pronominal question in this use of the wave, the second or falling constituent is usually shorter than the rising, and marked by final pressure. Sometimes this intonation will extend to all the syllables of quantity in such a sentence, if uttered with impressiveness or gravity. When interrogative sentences contain members or clauses embracing an address, or an assertion, or expletives, or 7'efer- ence to causes modifying the leading point of the question, yet not properly included in the interrogation, they require the partial expression only. Interrogative Intonation. 271 Examples. Interrogative sentences containing an address: 'Why with some little train, my lord of Buckingham?" "Where dwell you, pretty youth?" Tlie question seems to end at train and you, and the remainder of the sentence should therefore have the purely diatcnic melody and cadence. "Are you mad, you Malouins?" Hare the interrogative ends with mad. C( »ntaining an assertion : " ^^ hy did you laugh then, when I said man delights not me?" " /j this the place that you spoke of?" " Talk to me of rocks and shoals? me, who took the soundings, tell On my fingers every bank, every shallow, every swell, 'T\/ixt the offing here and Greve, where the river disembogues ? " C( intaining an expletive : "JVhat's Hecuba to hi?n, or he to Hecuba, That he should weep for her?" C* )ntaining a cause : **lVhat 0/ his heart perceive you in his face. By any likelihood he showed to-day?" Rule IV. IC4. When two or more questions are connected by the dis- junc Hve conjunction or, and thus placed in opposition to each 2/2 Murdoch's Elocution. other; or^ if a series of two or more questions be thus con- nected with others following^ by the same conjunction, the first should have the thorough, and the second the partial expression. Examples. The question put by Richard to Buckingham is of this description : • ♦ But shall we wear these glories for a day ? Or, shall they last and we rejoice in them?" ^^ Shall we in your person crown tJie author of the public calamities, or shall we destroy him ? " '^^ Does God, after having made his creatures, take no further care of them ? Has lie left them to blind fate or indirect chance ? Or does he always graciously preserve and keep and guide them ? " Rule V. 195. (i) When questions of a moderate degree succeed each other in series, each does not require the same extent in inter- rogative expression as it would when uttered singly. (2) Single interrogative sentences of great length and moderate temper also require only the partial expression. The reason of this rule is probably that the mind of the hearer, becoming so *'in the humor of the question," as Dr. Rush puts it, that the latter is sufficiently indicated by the grammatical form. The use of partial intonation, in such cases, obviates the monotony of a succession of sim- ilar effects which would arise from a continuation of the thorough expression. Interrogative Intonation. 273 Examples. Are you called forth from out a world of men, To slay the innocent ? What is my offence ? Where is the evidence that doth accuse me ? What lawful quest have given their verdict up Unto the frowning judge? or who pronounced The bitter sentence of poor Clarence's death ? ' "I.'ow looked he? Wherein went he? What makes he here? Did lie ask for me? Where remains he? How parted he with thee ? And when shalt thou see him again ? Answer me in one word. ' ' Can splendid robes, or beds of down. Or costly robes that deck the fair. Can all the glories of a crown Give health, or soothe the brow of care?" •What penny hath Rome borne, What men provided, what munition sent, To underprop this action? Is 't not I That undergo this charge?" In giving the preceding rules concerning the relations of t le grammatical structure of questions to the form of intoration, the temper of the question has been assumed to b( moderate, or, at most, earnest, indicating principally a sta :e of simple inquiry. But inquiry, as formerly stated, ofter co-exists with the passionative states of the mind. All the grammatical forrris of a question may then be emp oyed with the additional element of great surprise, in- dign ition, anger, scorn, etc., and, as such, become pro- portionally vehement. 2 74 Murdoch'' s Elocution. Vehemence of expression, under any grammatical struc- ture, and with a number of questions in conjunction or series, very generally requires the thorough intonation, every accented syllable thus becoming more or less emphatic, and passing through the intervals of the fifth, octave, and wider inverted waves, intensified by stress, aspiration, etc., according to the kind and degree of the passion. From this arises the following important rule : Rule VI. 196. Where questions are very earnestly or very vehemently made, under any form of grammatical construction, or where there are a number of questions^ either in conjunction or series, they should generally receive the thorough expression. Examples. We have an example in the question of repulsive indig. nation in Cleopatra's reply to Caesar's friend : •* Know, sir, that I Will not wait pinioned at your master's court; Nor once be chastised with the sober eye Of dull Octavia. Shall they hoist me up. And show me to the shouting varletry Of censuring Rome? Rather a ditch in Egypt Be gentle grave unto me ! " Terrified surprise is expressed in the question of Lady Macbeth after the murder of Duncan : 'Why did you bring the daggers from the place? They must lie there." I Interrogative Intonation. 275 In lEamlet's violent address to Laertes at the grave of Ophelia we have a series of vehement questions : "Show me what thou 'lit .do: WoD't weep? woo't fight? woo't fast? woo't tear thyself? Woj't drink up eisel? eat a crocodile? I'll do 't. Dost thou come here to whine? To outface me with leaping in her grave?" This example has been given before to illustrate the use of the discrete intervals in dealing with short quantities. A striUng contrast is here exhibited between the effect of the in errogative on the short quantities, weep^ fight, fast, etc., aid their rapid concretes, and the power of the voice on the long quantity tear, which would rise from a low plane on a slow concrete of a wide rising interval or wide nverted wave, intensified in earnestness by final stress. Tho-ough expression is effected by the use of some of the wi ier intervals, or their inverted waves, equal and un- equal, on every syllable of the melody, the extent of the intervc'l or wave varying with the degree of earnestness or vehemence, and according to the same degree and the peculii-r kind of mental excitement, combined with stress, aspiration, tremor, etc. The partial expression is effected by the use of occa- sional interrogative intervals or phrases in the course of the plan melody, usually of the third or fifth, or their un- equal direct or inverted waves, with the addition, in ex- treme earnestness, of final or median stress. (To the latter part cf the rule an exception exists in monosyllabic ques- tions and short questions having the assertive form.) These however, may receive the direct unequal wave with final ] ressure or median stress, which gives the dignity of interr( gative expression. 276 Murdoch's Elocution, Grammatical Questions Requiring the Downward In- tonation. 197. A question may be connected in the mind with such a vehement desire for an answer, that the passionative state of command shall overbear the state of inquiry, and impart to the utterance the intonation peculiar to the for- mer, which we have learned is positively downward. In such cases, the interrogative character of the question is indicated only by the grammatical construction, while the intonation expresses a demand for a reply. This is called the imperative question, and is illustrated in the following passage from ' ' Macbeth : " Witches. — Seek to know no more. Macbeth. — I will be satisfied : deny me this, And an eternal curse fall on you ! Let me know Why sinks that cauldron ? and what noise is this ? Macbeth's mental condition of angry command is exhib- ited in the imperative ''Let me know," and the same im- perative force overrules the ordinary expression of inquiry which would accompany such questions, driving the voice through the down-sweeping movements of command on all the syllables of quantity. The imperative question is often exhibited in the angry inquiry of a superior to an obdurate culprit, concerning his offense; as, Why did you do it ? Where have you been ? What have you been doing ? Who says this ? Grammatical questions may be employed as a figure of speech to convey a positive state of mind, such as convic- tion or belief in the negative of the point of inquiry. In such questions, there is a positive expectation in the mind of the interrogator of acquiescence in this conviction on Interrogative Intonation. 277 the pirt of the person or persons addressed, and this assur- ance, exactly the reverse of the doubt of inquiry, is natur- ally expressed by the use of the downward intonation. In such questions there is no real inquiry, although made in the grammatical form; but by them the hearer is much more likely to be led, through the appeal to his opinion, to an acquiescence in the negative of the question, than if the speaker's belief in it had been made in the declarative form. Questions coming under this head may be called appccling questions, as an appeal is always made with a confident expectation of a favorable decision, and is, there- fore, positive or confident in its expression, though defer- ential or non-assertive in its verbal form. We have an example of such a question in Brutus's appeal to the gods in thi following lines from ^'■Julius Ccesar:^^ "Judge me, you gods! Wrong I mine enemies? And, if not so, how should I ivrong my brother?''^ The questions marked should take either wide downward concietes, or if desiring to express less of confidence in the decision, the unequal direct waves of a rising third and falHnj fifth, as a sort of compromise between deference and assurance, the first expressing some doubt, and the secoi d certainty. We have a similar instance of the ap- peali ig question in Antony's oration over Caesar : "He hath brought many captives home to Rome, Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill : Did this in CcBsar seem ambitious ?'''' Alio You all did see, that qn the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition ? " 2"]^ Murdoch's Elocution, The desire on the part of Antony being to establish the conviction that Caesar was not ambitious. These questions may be intonated in either of the ways described in the preceding instance. The form of the un- equal wave, for obvious reasons, is more persuasive in its character than the direct downward movements. The question of the language quoted may be given with the interrogative intonation of doubt, or with the rising in- terrogation of the wide inverted wave, but neither of these would effect the intended result of the wily orator, or follow the evident intent of the author in so placing them. Negative questions, which imply an appeal for confirma- tion of a belief in the reverse of the point of inquiry, or in the affirmation of the question, belong properly in this connection. These, however, can not be strictly called figurative questions, thus: "Is it not too bad!" "Is it not monstrous ! " meaning in both cases that it is so. From the preceding we have the following rule : Rule. 198. All imperative questions, and all figurative questions, or questions of appeal, require the downward intonation throughout, either in the form of the direct downivard con- cretes, or of the direct unequal waves, having second constitu- ent longer than first, usually with final, thorough, or median stress. Examples for Practice in Questions Demanding Downward Intonation. imperative. ^^Tell me, thou fellow, is not France forsworn?" Douglas's haughty, imperative speech, loses much of its force and dignity if given with the rising movements of I Interrogative Intonation. 279 th£ ^oice. The positive state of his mind overrules the interrogative character of the sentence, and demands the down sweep of the voice, combined with high pitch, in- crease of force, and final stress. "And dar'st thou, then, To beard the lion in his den, The Douglas in his hall ? And hop'st thou hence unscathed to go? No ! by Saint Bride of Bothwell, no ! " ** Soars thy presumption, then, so high. Because a wretched kern ye slew. Homage to name to Roderick Dhu?" APPEALING QUESTONS. **Is this a time to be gloomy and sad, When our mother Nature laughs around. When even the deep blue heavens look glad, And gladness breathes from the blossoming ground ? " " Jut can we believe that a thinking being, which is in per- petual progress of improvement, and traveling on from perfection to perfection, after having just looked abroad into the works of its Creaior, and made a few discoveries of His infinite goodness, wis- dom, and power, must perish at her first setting out, and in the very begii ning of her inquiries?" " [ put it to your oaths: do you think that a blessing of that kind —that a victory, obtained by justice over bigotry and oppres- sion, should have a stigma cast upon it by an ignominious sentence upor men bold and honest enough to propose that measure?" NEGATIVE QUESTIONS. 'Art thou a friend to Roderick?' 'No.' * Thou dar'st not call thyself a foe ? ' * I dare ! to him and all the band He brings to aid his murderous hand.' 28o Murdoch's Elocution. Have I not hideous death within my view, Retaining but a quantity of life, Which bleeds away, even as a form of wax Resolveth from his figure ''gainst the fire ? What in the world should make me now deceive, Since I must lose the use of all deceit? Why should I then be false; since it is true That I must die here, and live hence by truth?" "Ay, his breast: So says the bond; — doth it not, noble judge? Nearest his heart, those are the very words." **Now, my co-mates, and brothers in exile, Hath not old custom made this life more sweet Than that of painted pomp ? Are not these woods More free from peril than the envious court?" Chapter XXIII. Expressive Melody ; Sentential Pitch ; Transition in Pitch. i()9. All movements of pitch which carry the voice either concretely or discretely beyond the plain second, concrete and radical, of the diatonic melody of passionless thoi ght, form what are called expressive or emphatic phrases. These may be occasional, or they may prevail throughout a pc ssage or sentence, and extend the cadence at the close either into the wider intervals or waves. But the voice is constantly recurring to the plain diatonic melody on phrases or passages of less eagerness or excitement, and on he unaccented syllables and unemphatic words, for it is this melody against which the wider and more vivid into- nations are thrown into relief. The following notated passage from '■^Paradise Lost,*' des :riptive of Abdiel's encounter with Satan, furnishes an exanple of the introduction of the wider intervals into the diaonic current for the purpose of emphasis or expression. The language is notated to express the energy of the action it describes, hence the frequent use of the alternate phrase. So say - ing, a no - ble stroke he lift • ed high, ^ \ • ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ A ^ \^ ^ ■■■■-'"■' W ^ ^k ^ \A hich hung not, but so swift with tern - pest fell tf % W ¥ ^ W • % % ^ If 'V ^ - M. E.— 24. (281) « 282 Murdoclis Elocution. On the proud crest of Sa - tan, that no sight, Nor mo - tion of swift thought, less could his shield, -^ — < ■^ —4- A 1^ ^ ^ i^ •^ ^-. i ^ Such ru in in - ter - cept. ^ ^ W ^ dTN - ^ ^ ^ ^» Wider intervals on the emphatic words may be em- ployed according to the taste and the conception of the reader as to the requisite degree of expressive energy. 200. The wider intervals, especially the fifth and octave, with their waves, and the semitone, are the most striking constituents of the voice, and are employed to express only the most intensified and energetic states of the mind; these states being the exception, instead of the rule, the remarkable effect of their signs, unduly repeated, produce a monotony at once unnatural and offensive to the ear. They should not be introduced, therefore, into the current of speech, without just grounds in the character of the lan- guage. "The ear," says Rush, "has its green as well as the eye," and, therefore, rests upon and returns with pleasure to the plain diatonic utterance of language. " He who is constantly dealing out his thirds, fifths, octaves, and semitones," adds Rush, "allows no repose to the ear, and when real cause for expression comes, both the ear and mind are unable to perceive their real meaning; while upon the vocal level, so to speak, of the diatonic ground, the expressive intervals properly employed come with all the pleasing and natural effect of variety and contrast." Sentential Pitch. 283 Exaggeration of feeling which elevates small matters to emfhatic importance, often leads, in the ordinary uses of the voice, to an indiscriminating employment of its constit- uen;s of thought and expression. The wider intonations naturally combine, for the full sum of expressive effect, with appropriate degrees and varieties of force, time, and quality. Ihe simple diatonic melody which links the expressive intc nations together, although it can not be said to have whet has been strictly termed expression in itself, as a mode of pitch will always receive a general coloring of ex- pression by adopting the prevaihng quality, time, and force (though in a lesser degree) of the expressive parts of the melody, thus receiving a shade of the color of expression giv m to any succession of language by the expressive ele- me Its which enter into its utterance. In fine, the current diatonic melody of speech is the gol ien thread of utterance, upon which are hung the glit- tering gems of the imagination, the golden beads of feel- ing or the pearls of energized truth, as expressed in the higiier intervals and waves and their attendant vocal ele- me Its. '^he melody of language does not always flow by an un- interrupted succession of phrases between periods, but fre juently the intensity of excitement attending passion- ati 'e utterance causes an exhaustion of breath ; the subse- qu mt act of refilling the lungs produces the longer pauses of what is termed the Broken Melody, and exists only in larguage of the most passionative character. Sentential Pitch. loi. In our study of the expressive or significant char- ac er of pitch, the attention has been thus far chiefly 284 MurdocJi s Elocution. directed to the individual concretes and their relation to each other in the successions of melody. But all melody derives a certain expression over and above that arising from its individual constituents of con- crete and discrete intervals, from its general pitchy or that particular range of the compass through which those inter- vals are varied. This may be called the Sentential Pitchy as describing the general position in the scale of whole sentences or groups of. words. When the character of the thought, sentiment or passion continues the same, there will be a prevailing note or de- gree of the scale, above and below which the radicals of the melody will rise or fall, and to which they will fre- quently return, the latter thus progressing within a certain range or limit.* The voice, however, following the varia- tions of thought and passion, is continually changing the melody from one range of pitch to another. This change is called Transition. Transition in Pitch. ■ 202. Transitions are generally made for one of the three causes following : 1. To mark a change in the sentiment or passion. 2. To mark a change in the train of thought, and 3. To mark an introduced or parenthetical idea. Transition from one range of pitch to another may be made proximately through the entire compass, or it may be made from one part of the scale to another, more remote, by a discrete change. Wide and sudden transitions should only mark the language of extreme passion, in which the "*This prevailing note has some similarity to the key-note of music, but not sufficient to warrant the employment of the term key in speech. Transition in Pitch. 285 state;> of mind are apt to pass suddenly from one extreme to aiother; or in that of facetious humor, expressive of the c[uaint contrasts of widely differing thoughts or impres- sions. The effect of wide transitions quickly made is always that of a sudden surprise or shock to the hearer.- They become, therefore, one of the most striking elements of vocal effect, and are especially adapted to the strongest, dramatic expression. Lesser transitions in pitch produce the (jffect of a change sufficient to indicate the mental tran- sition from one state to another. more nearly related, and also to afford an agreeable variety by avoiding the mo- notony of a continuation of the same sentential pitch. T le following notation furnishes an example of the less striking effect of a temperate and moderate transition, as well as of the adaptation of the general pitch to the senti- ment to be expressed. If the notation were intended to indicate the full expression of the passage, it would require freq lent waves to express the long quantities, but it is no- tated simply to illustrate the point under consideration of transition and sentential pitch. Tie figures marking the sentences correspond with those at the side of the staff, and indicate the transition in pitc 1 : 4 ^'he moon her - self is lost in heav'n ; 6 but thou art for- 9 ^/' .-^ ^ f — - --»f-^ ^ nf ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^ * V - er the same, 8 re - joi - cing in the brightness of thy course. 286 Murdoch ' s Elocution. 2 When the world is dark with tempests, 4 when thunders roll, , ^ ^ ^ ^^\ and lightnings fly, 6 thou look'st in thy beau - ty from the clouds. ^ W ^ ^ ¥ ^ ^ 9f ^ ^ ^ ¥ ^ and laugh'st at the storm, 2 But to Os-sian thou look'st in vain. 203. Of the wide and sudden transitions of passionative expression, the following lines from the potion scene of "■Romeo and Juliet'' furnish a striking example: **0! if I wake, shall I not be distraught. Environed with all these hideous fears? And madly play with my forefathers' joints? And pluck the mangled Tybalt from his shroud ? And, in this rage, with some great kinsman's bone, As with a club, dash out my desperate brains? O, look ! methinks I see my cousin's ghost Seeking out Romeo." After concluding the terrible picture of the horrors of the tomb on the words ''dash out my desperate brains," the disordered imagination of Juliet suddenly seems to see the ghost of Tybalt. From a wide falling interval, or extended form of the feeble cadence on brains^ the voice, following the sudden emotion of fright and terror, makes an upward transition or leap of a full fifth or octave on (7, Transition in Pitch. 287 look and the melody continues at or near that height to the end of the sentence. /\n example of a striking transition to a lower pitch is exh bited in the following passage from '•'Richelieu,'" em- bodying at once the prelate's solemn warning and bold defiince of Baradas in placing Julie under the protection of the church : "Around her form I draw The awful circle of our solemn church ! Set but a foot within that holy ground, And on thy head — yea, though it wore a crown — I launch the curse of Rome ! " Here the words solemn church should be read in a low pitch, the solemnity increased by prevailing monotone. Frcm this the voice rises to a higher range in the bold and rinj;ing expression of the defiance hurled, as it were, in the name of the church, continuing at this height until the woi d curse : this should be struck at the highest discrete pit( h, and descends a fifth concretely, with aspirated ore :und quality and concentrated force ; the .voice falls dis- cre;ely at least a fifth on the words of Rome, the latter bei ig given with a wave and the median swell. ^04. The effect of transition in pitch is generally height- ent d by a change, also, in : ]. The Force. : . The Rate of Utterance. ; . The Phrases of Melody. A temperate transition effected by these several agencies she uld always mark those parts of reading or discourse where a reader enters on a new train of thought. Such paits are generally divided to the eye by paragraphs, and sh( uld l^e as clearly marked to the ear. The voice indi- catis a change in either the subject or its treatment. 288 Murdoch' s Elocution. The change should generally be to a lower pitch, unless the expression demands a higher, or that of the preceding paragraph terminates very low. This rule for transition at a fresh train of ideas is most applicable to narrative, de- scriptive, or less impassioned reading, and to public speak- ing, and is to avoid the monotony so common to both of keeping the voice on one continuous line. A reader or speaker should, in ordinary speaking or reading, pitch the voice a little lower than the middle note in starting out. 205. In the following example, the whole of the first section should be read with about the same pitch, quality, and rate as that used in conversation, but with more force. The second section should begin about a radical third lower, with monotone and a slower movement. Upon the third line, the voice should rise somewhat higher in pitch, with some increase of rate; while upon the fourth, it should be still louder, higher, and more rapid, especially upon the last four lines. The voice should again fall in pitch upon the commencement of the next section, and should be slow in movement, with a prevalence of mono- tone. "At midnight, in his guarded tent, The Turk was dreaming of the hour ^ When Greece, her knee in suppliance bent, Should tremble at his power; In dreams, thro' camp and court, he bore The trophies of a conqueror; In dreams his song of triumph heard ; Then wore his monarch's signet ring, Then pressed that monarch's throne — a king; • As wild his thoughts, and gay of wing, ^.: As Eden's garden bird. <,i "An hour passed on. — The Turk awoke; That bright dream was his last; ' He woke — to hear the sentry's shriek, • • To arms ! they come ! the Greek ! the Greek ! ' \> Transition in Pitch. ■ 289 He woke to die 'midst flame and smoke, And shout and groan, and sabre stroke, And death shots falling thick and fast . As lightnings from the mountain cloud : And heard, with voice as trumpet loud, Bozzaris cheer his band : • Strike — till the last armed foe expires, Strike — for your altars and your fires. Strike — for the green graves of your sires, God — and your native land ! ' "They fought — like brave men, long and well, They piled that ground with Moslem slain. They conquered — but Bozzaris fell. Bleeding at every vein." — "■Marco Bozzaris,'" Halleck. 20f . Lastly, transition in pitch marks the difference be- tween the parenthetical idea and the current thought it interr ipts. Thj parenthesis, in introduced clauses, always represents what may be termed a cross-current of thought, and as such must be distinguished vocally from the main current. Whetier the parenthetical clause shall be raised or de- press(;d, however, depends entirely upon the pitch of the main sentence, for if this, from the nature of the senti- ment be in low pitch, the parenthesis should be in a higher, and vice versa, the necessary contrast being most naturilly effected in this way. It should, moreover, gener- ally erminate with the same melodic movement as that mark ng the close of the last word preceding it, in order to pr iserve the connection on the ear between the parts of the sentence it separates. The parenthesis should always be marked by a lighter force and a quicker movement, as well as a change in pitch never taking as much expression as the current into whic I it breaks. It should be put in lighter colors, as it were as incidental only to the main expression. M. E.-25. • 290 Murdoch's Elocution, 207. In addition, therefore, to the elementary drills already given for the purpose of developing the voice to its fullest extent in pitch, the following exercise should be practiced. Let the lines here given be begun upon the lowest pitch, and with energetic force be carried gradually upward, through successive ranges, until the voice has traversed its entire compass (not running into falsetto). Then let a descent be made in the same manner to the lowest pitch again — an earnest degree of force being sustained through- out. This should be frequently repeated upon the words here given, and upon others the student may himself select for the purpose. This manner of reading is, of course, to be without reference to the sense or sentiment, but simply as an exercise of the voice through the various ranges of its compass : ** And here his course the Chieftain staid, Threw down his target and his pUid, And to the lowland warrior said : — * Bold Saxon ! to his promise just, Vich-Alpine has discharged his trust. This murderous chief, this ruthless man, This head of a rebellious clan. Hath led thee safe, through watch and ward. Far past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard. Now, man to man, and steel to steel, A chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel. See here, all vantageless I stand, Arm'd, like thyself, with single brand : * For this is Coilantogle ford. And thou must keep thee with thy sword.'" 208. To be able to make transitions from one pitch to another in speaking, particularly to another widely re- moved, is one of the most difficult points of execution in the artistic use of the speaking voice, and one of the most Transition in Speech. 291 important, as it constitutes the first requisite in marking the ever-succeeding changes from one state of thought or passion to another. In addition to examples for practice of the uses of tran- sition in expression here given, transitions in pitch should be p] acticed in every degree upon successions of the vowel elem■> K ' Did ye not hear it ? — No ; 't was but the wind, Or the car rattling o'er the stony street: On with the dance ! let joy be unconfined ; No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet To chase the glowing Hours with flying feet — But, hark! — that heavy sound breaks in once more. As if the clouds its echo would repeat ; And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before ! Arm! Arm! It is! — it is! — the cannon's opening roar ( " Sudden Transition. M The following passage from Collins's "Ode" will afford a fine example of variation. In passing from the tone of melancholy to that of cheerfulness, it will be observed that the voice changes from a faint utterance, low note, and slow rate, to a strain which is comparatively forcible, high, and rapid. MELANCHOLY. ** Through glades and glooms the mingled measure stole. Or, o'er some haunted stream, with fond delay, (Round an holy calm diff"using, Love of peace and lonely musing,) In hollow murmurs died away." CHEERFULNESS. "But, oh! how altered was its sprightlier tone, When Cheerfulness, a nymph of healthiest hue. Transition in Pitch. 293 Her bow across her shoulder flung, Her buskins gemmed with morning dew, Blew an inspiring air, that dale and thicket rung, The hunter's call, to Faun and Dryad known." "Did you know the burning of his bosom! — [but I speak un- thinkingly, perhaps, what my delicacy should not have whispered, even in the ear of friendship).'''' "Could we but prevail on my father to think thus! — {alas, his mind z r not formed for contracting into that narrow sphere which his forttim has now marked out for him). ^^ In ;he following, the poetic narrative is delivered in mid- dle p tch, full natural quality, changing to orotund at the sixth line. The sudden transition occurs at 'tis fired, where we have fine instance , of climax and accelerated movement. "The vaults beneath the mosaic stone Contain'd the dead of ages gone ; Here, throughout the siege, had been The Christians' chiefest magazine ; To these a late-form'd train now led, Minotti's last and stern resource Against the foe's o'erwhelming force. The foe came on, and few remain To strive, and those must strive in vain : To the high altar on they go ; And round the sacred table glow Twelve lofty lamps, in splendid row, From the purest metal cast ; A spoil — the richest, and the last. So near they came, the nearest stretch' d To grasp the spoil he almost reach'd, — 294 Murdoch's Elocution. When old Minotti's hand Touch'd with the torch the train — T is fired ! Spire, vaults, the shrine, the spoil, the slain. The turbati'd victors, the Christian band. All that of living or dead remain, HurPd on high with the shiver' d fane. In one wild roar expired!'''' General Divisions of Pitch. 209. The general divisions of pitch are low, very low, high, very high, and middle or medium. These, it is under- stood, are only relative, and do not mark any positive division of the scale. Th^ great mistake in popular in- struction is to treat pitch as sentential only^ in which case the individual significance or expressive effect of syllabli^ intonation is overlooked, and only the general effect of pitch as an agent of expression observed. A knowledge of this, however, is of great importance to the student in the expression of what is called the ' ' deeper feelings," such as awe, horror, despair, deep grief, rage, scorn, fear, inelancholy, etc. In the utterance of very serious or impressive thoughts, the voice will adopt the lower ranges of pitch, the degree of gravity from which it will rise and fall being determined by the degree of depth or intensity in the feeling. In the expression of the more elevated, animating, gay, a.nd joyous states of mind, such as hope, cheerfulness, mirth, joy, ecstasy, raillery, facetiousness, etc. , the voice will traverse the upper ranges of its compass in their appropriate de- grees of gradation; while in states of sudden or extreme excitement, such as alarm, acute grief or pain, it will be carried into the highest, as in the shrieking and screaming utterance of the falsetto. Ge7ieral Divisions of Pitch. 295 In ordinary or unimpassioned language, such as betokens a quii.'t state of mind, and is heard in unexcited conversa- tion Dr narrative, or in earnest, didactic discourse, the meloc.y naturally assunies the middle ranges of pitch, ap- proaching, according to the gradations of feeling, either to the lower or upper ranges. In the ever varying states of the rrind, there will be continued transitions from the one to tha other, but the prevailing thought or feeling of a grou|: of words, or of a sentence, may be said to deter- mine their general sentential pitch. In grave or solemn language, tending to the lowest ranges of pitch, the melody is CO ifined chiefly to the phrases of the monotone, inter- spersed with the rising or falling ditone, the quantity long and inovement slow.* In language of a lighter character, mirthful, facetious, or joyous, where the melody traverses the upper ranges of pitch the alternate phrase prevails, and if of a highly ani- mate! and glowing character, a rising and falling tritone may be occasionally employed. High Pitch. ' Quick brightening like lightning — it tore me along, Down, down, till the gush of a torrent, at play In the rocks of its wilderness, caught me — and strong As the wings of an eagle, it whirl'd me away." Low Pitch, t '' I elow, at the foot of that precipice drear. Spread the gloomy, and purple, and pathless Obscure ! 1 . silence of Horror that slept on the ear. That the eye more appall'd might the Horror endure!" *■ 1 ange refers to the compass — not a particular pitch, t These examples are both from Schiller's "Z>?z'^r," translated by Bulw r. 296 Murdoch s Elocution. Middle Pitch. LIGHT CONVERSATIONAL STYLE. — Natural Quality. Light Radical Stress. Quick Movement. Delicate Force. The different sentiments require change in pitch in sen- tential form. "Words are, as Wordsworth has happily said, 'the incarnation of thought.' Indeed, words, in themselves, are nothing more than * mouthfuls of spoken wind,' the sons and daughters of the tongue and lungs. They are hardened into consistency by a process of pens, ink, and paper. In this state they take form. But naturally they are immaterial substances, like thoughts. The sculptor em- bodies an idea in marble, and we discriminate between the essence and the form. Why should we not also distinguish between a word printed or written, and a word spoken or conceived, — between the body and the soul of an expulsion of air ? Words, in truth, are entities, real existences, immortal beings; and, though I would not go the whole length of Hazlitt, in saying that they are the only things that live forever, I would indicate their title to a claim in the eternities of this world, and defend them from the cavils of presumption and ignorance. '* Leaving, however, these lofty notions of words, and coming down to the every-day world of books and men, we observe many queer developments of the cozenage of language. The most fluent men seem the most influential. All classes seem to depend upon words. Principles are nothing in comparison with speech. A poli- tician is accused of corruption, inconsistency, and loving number one more than number ten thousand. Straightway he floods the country with words, and is honorably acquitted. A gentleman of far reaching and purse reaching intelligence concocts twenty millions of pills, and "works" them off to agents, and, in the end, trans- fers the whole from his laboratory to the stomachs of an injured and oppressed people, by means of — words. An author wishes to be sublime, but has no fire in him, to give sparkle and heat to his compositions. His ideas are milk-and-water logged, feeble, com- General Divisions of Pitch, 297 monp.ace, nerveless, witless, and soulless; or his thoughts are bal- lasted with lead instead of being winged with inspiration. * What shall I do ? ' he cries, in the most plaintive terms of aspiring stupic ity. Poor poetaster ! do not despair ! take to thy dictionary, — drencti thy thin blood with gin, — learn the power of words. Pile the Cssa of Rant on the Pelion of Hyperbole, and thy slnall fraction of th.; Trite shall be exalted to the heights of the Sublime, and the admiiing gaze of many people shall be fixed upon it, and the coin shall jingle in thy pocket, and thou shalt be denominated Great! But i f thy poor pate be incapable of the daring, even in expression, then grope dubiously in the dismal swamps of verbiage, and let thy mind s fingers feel after spungy and dropsical words, out of which little sense can be squeezed, and arrange the oozy epithets and un- substantial substantives into lines, and out of the very depths of Bathe s thou shalt arise a sort of mud-Venus, and men shall mis- take thee for her that rose from the sea, and the coin shall still clink in thy fob, and thou shalt be called Beautiful! Such is the omni iotence of words ! They can exalt the little; they can depress the ligh; a ponderous polysyllable will break the chain of an argui lent, or crack the pate of a thought, as a mace or a battle-axe could split the crown of a soldier in the elder time." — '■^Words^'''' Whipple. ANI^ ATED STYLE. — Natural Quality. Light Radical, Waves. Moderate. Brisk *Moz^ement. ' Some words on Language may be well applied, And take them kindly, though they touch your pride; Words lead to things; a scale is more precise, — Coarse speech, bad grammar, swearing, drinking, vice. Our cold Northeaster's icy fetter clips The native freedom of the Saxon lips ; See the brown peasant of the plastic South, How all his passions play about his mouth ! With us, the feature that transmits the soul, A frozen, passive, palsied breathing-hole. The crampy shackles of the ploughboy's walk Tie the small muscles when he strives to talk; Not all the pumice of the polished town 298 Murdoch's Elocution. Can smooth this roughness of the barnyard down ; Rich, honor'd, titled, he betrays his race By this one mark, — he 's awkward in the face ; — Nature's rude impress, long before he knew The sunny street that holds the sifted few. It can't be helped, though, if we 're taken young, We gain some freedom of the lips and tongue; But school and college often try in vain To break the padlock of our boyhood's chain : One stubborn word will prove this axiom true, — No quondam rustic can enunciate view. A few brief stanzas may be well employed To speak of errors we can all avoid. "Learning condemns beyond the reach of hope The careless lips that speak of s6ap for sOap; Her edict exiles from her fair abode The clownish voice that utters r6ad for road : Less stern to him who calls his cOat a c6at, And steers his boat, believing it a b6at. She pardoned one, our classic city's boast. Who said at Cambridge, m6st instead of most. But knit her brows and stamped her angry foot To hear a Teacher call a root a r6ot. *' Once more ; speak clearly, if you speak at all ; Carve every word before you let it fall; Don't, like a lecturer or dramatic star, Try over-hard to roll the British R ; Do put your accents in the proper spot ; Don't, — let me beg you, — don't say 'How?' for What? And, when you stick on conversation's burrs, Don't strew your pathway with those dreadful urs^ — *' Language," O. W. Holmes. SERIOUS STYLE. — Natural Quality. Light Radical Stress. Moderate Force and Movement. Diatonic Melody, broken by occasional Intervals of the Third and Waves of the Second. " For rising to eminence in any intellectual pursuit, there is not a rule of more essential importance than that of doing one thing at General Divisions of Pitch. 299 a tinie; avoiding distracting and desultory occupations, and keeping a le<' ding object habitually before the mind, as one in which it can at a 1 times find an interesting resource when necessary avocations alloA/ the thoughts to recur to it. If, along with this habit, there be cultivated the practice of constantly writing such views as arise, we )erhaps describe that state of mental discipline by which talents of a very moderate order may be applied in a conspicuous and useful manner to any subject to which they are devoted. Such writing neec not be made at first with any great attention to method, but merjly put aside for future consideration, and in this manner the different departments of a subject will develop and arrange them- selves as they advance, in a manner equally pleasing and won- deriul." — " Qualities of a Well Regulated Mind,'" Abercrombie. High Pitch. GA<^ STYLE. — Expulsive Orotund. Impassioned Force. Me- dian Stress. "Then sing, ye birds, sing, sing a joyous song ! And let the young lambs bound As to the tabor's sound ! We in thought will join your throng, Ye that pipe and ye that play, Ye that through your hearts to-day Feel the gladness of the May ! What though the radiance which was once so bright Be now forever taken from my sight, Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendor in the grass> of glory in the flower; We will grieve not, rather find Strength in what remains behind ; In the primal sympathy Which having been must ever be ; In the soothing thoughts that spring Out of human suffering ; In the faith that looks through death. In years that bring the philosophic mind." — ^'■Intimations of Immortality ,^'' WORDSWORTH. 300 Mur docks Elocution. Very High Pitch. SONG OF EXULTATION. — Expulsive Orotufid. Impassioned Force. Quick Time. Median Stress. •'Sing the bridal of nations! with chorals of love, Sing out the war vulture and sing in the dove, Till the hearts of the peoples keep time in accord. And the voice of the world is the voice of the Lord ! Clasp hands of the nations In strong gratulations : The dark night is ending and dawn has begun ; Rise, hope of the ages, arise like the sun, All speech flow to music, all hearts beat as one!" — " Christmas Carmen,'' Whittiek. JOYOUS MOVEMENT. — Effustve Orotund. Quick Time. Im- passioned Force. Median Stress. "O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. "In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. "The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down : let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God ; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand." — The Psalms. Low Pitch, Effusive Orotund. Median Stress. Stow Movement. Light Force. "O sleep, O gentle sleep. Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee. That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down. And steep my senses in forgetfulness ? General Divisions of Pitch, 301 Why rather, sleep, Host thou in smoky cribs, Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee, And hushed with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber; Than in the perfumed chambers of the great, Under the canopies of costly state, And lulled with sounds of sweetest melody? O thou dull god, why liest thou with the vile, In loathsome beds ; and leav'st the kingly couch, A watch-case, or a common 'larum bell? Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains In cradle of the rude imperious surge. And in the visitation of the winds. Who take the ruffian billows by the top, Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them With deaf'ning clamours in the slippery clouds, That, with the hurly, death itself awakes? Canst thou, O partial sleep! give thy repose To the wet sea-boy, in an hour so rude; And, in the calmest and most stillest night, With all appliances and means to boot. Deny it to a king?" — ''Sleep,'" Shakespeare. Very Low Pitch. T le vivid impression made upon Clarence's mind by his dream recalls the terror of the time, sinking the voice in p.tch, which becomes aspirated, pectoral in quality, and caunng a labored action of the organs. "My dream was lengthened after life: O, then began the tempest to my soul ! — With that, methought, a legion of foul fiends Environed me, and howled in mine ears Such hideous cries, that, with the very noise I trembling waked, and, for a season after, Could not believe but that I was in hell; Such terrible impression made my dream ! " — '* Clarence's Dream,'" SHAKESPEARE. 302 Mu7^doc/is Elocution, STERN REBUKE. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." — New Testament. DISGUST AND LOATHING. — Aspirated Pectoral Quality. Ex- pulsive. Final Stress. Forcible Movement. Slow Time. "As Sir Launfal made morn through the darksome gate. He was 'ware of a leper, crouched by the same, Who begged with his hand and moaned as he sate; And a loathing over Sir Launfal came ; The sunshine went out of his soul with a thrill, The flesh 'neath his armor 'gan shrink and crawl. And midway its leap his heart stood still Like a frozen waterfall ; For this man, so foul and bent of stature, Rasped harshly against his dainty nature. And seemed the one blot on the summer morn, — So he tossed him a piece of gold in scorn." — ^'■Vision of Sir Launfal,''^ Lowt\^L. Death is here, and death is there. Death is busy everywhere. All around, within, beneath. Above, is death ; and we are death. Death has set his mark and seal On all we are, and all we feel. First our pleasures die, and then Our hopes, and then our fears, and when These are dead, the debt is due. Dust claims dust, and we die too." — ' ' Death, ' ' She-lley. Chapter XXIV. Force. 23 0. Force, considered as a generic property of the voici, may be defined as the variation of strength and weakness. This property we have seen to have its base in the degree of organic exertion with which language is utte ed, under the varying circumstances or degrees of mental stimulus in thought and passion. Force exists und jr the modifications of degree and form. Tie gradations in degree vary from the lightest and soft{ St sound utterable to the most powerful effort of the hurran voice. They may be designated by the terms simi- larl} employed in music : pianissimo (very soft or light) ; pia) (soft or light) ; mezzo-piano (moderately soft or light) ; mezi (moderate) ; forte (loud or strong) ; fortissimo (very louc or strong). Although force^ in its generic sense, thus comprehends the result in sound arising from every degree of organic exei tion, the term force^ when unqualified as to degree, is usee in its ordinary and more limited application to signify onl) the higher degrees of this vocal property, and is thus emj loyed as synonymous with power^ strength, energy, inten- sity, etc. Tie varieties of form in force have already been de- scri )ed as stress, or the peculiar application of intensity or ene;gy to the several parts, or to the whole of the syllabic con* :rete. (303) 304 Murdoch! s Elocution. In all previous studies, force has been practically treated and employed in common with other properties of the voice, and as inseparable from the elementary practices in voice development. At present, it is my object to set forth more specifically its relations to the utterance of thought and passion. I will first direct the student's atten- tion to the general principle of force in this connection, leaving the individual expressive character of the several stresses to occupy a separate study as a peculiar modifica- tion of this principle. Force may be applied to single syllables, to words, to phrases, or to whole sentences, according as the energy or intensity of the state of emotion or passion of the speaker shall demand. All of the passions are in some degree forcible in their expression, from strong energy, in the utterance of joy and ecstasy^ cheerfulness^ etc., to vehement intensity in anger ^ ferocity^ rage, revenge, hate, terror, and pain. Certainty is also more or less forcible in the expression of its positive- ness. The tranquil state of unimpassioned thought impels the organs to but a moderate degree of exertion. Doubt, tmcertainty , and secrecy, and the more gentle and plaintive emotions, generally employ an abated force or softness of utterance. The circumstances and situation of a speaker determine the accurate degree of force to be applied to language in- dependent of the thought, sentiment, or passion it ex- presses. When there is distance to be overcome, or large space to be filled, the energy of utterance must be cor- respondingly increased; whereas, nearness of a speaker to his object, or limited space in the dimensions of an audi- torium, imply a proportionately abated force. 211. Force is always to be distinguished from mere loud- ness. In all exertion of the animal organism, it is concen- tration of effort which implies power in the result; without Force. 305 this, Here loudness will become bawling, in its extremes; with it, there will be a firm, concentrated energy, which constitutes the real forcefulness of utterance. I can not bettei illustrate this point than by quoting Thelwell's com- pact summary of the essential difference between loudness and iorce : '* ' ?orce — contradistinct from loudness.' An extract from Thel- well's ' Rhythmus : ' " I oudness — caused by throwing out a great quantity of breath, by mere exertion of the diaphragm and intercostal muscles, while the fi 3ers of the glottis are comparatively relaxed. "Iorce — from rigid compression of the fibers connected with the primary organ of vocal impulse, by which means a small quantity of bi eath produces stronger and more distinct vibrations, the im- pulse: of which, though less harsh and stunning, diffuse themselves through a wider circuit." All correct elementary practice, as previously directed, and in the exercises on stress to follow, will develop this firmness, efficacy, and economy of effort in organic action which constitutes true force, and will thus prepare the voic ; for a similar exertion in the expression of consecu- tive language. T le most intensified form in which language may be utte ed is that called suppressed force. In this form of ex- presiion, the animal forces seem to be gathered up for a great effort of utterance, but seeming to be held back, as it w ire, by some conflicting or opposing force in the mind, labo- to expend their power. The result is, a strong, half aspi -ated vocality in the language uttered, representing the utm Dst concentration of , effort, and inspiring the hearer wit] a realizing sense of the pent up lava-flood of feeling or ] assion struggling and boiling underneath. Sometimes, in ^uch utterance, the vocality is entirely crushed out, and the result is the strongest form of articulate whisper, which M. E.— 26. 3o6 MiirdocJis Elocution, requires the most intense muscular effort of which the voice-making apparatus is capable. When the energy of expression is extreme, the breath sent forth can not, for some jreason, be all converted into vocality. Aspiration, therefore, always marks in a greater or less degree the voice of all strongly energized or inten- sified utterance. For this reason, strongly passionative language read in a strong but perfectly pure vocality, be- comes merely bombastic or unmeaning loudness. 212. The ability to command all degrees and forms of force is not the only requisite of study. These once ac- quired, the student must endeavor constantly to adapt them to the circumstances of occasion and expression, so that there shall be no waste of power, and no excess in its em- ployment. He should never, even in the most extreme expression, expend all the power of which he is capable, thus leaving no reserve supply for other possible demands before recovery of the forces is practicable. Moreover, the reader or speaker impresses his hearer not only by the force he displays, but by what is recognized as his "re- serve power." Readers and speakers too often, in seeking to become forcible and impressive, lose sight of the discrimination which marks the difference between general vehemence and properly graduated effects in force. The correct em- ployment of this element of voice, in its varied degrees and forms, to consistently represent the thought or passion to be expressed by the language, may be said to con- stitute, in great measure, the light and shade of vocal coloring. The acquisition of force in degree, from the lightest {pianissimo) to the strongest {forte), is the object of all elementary exercises, as the natural development of culti- vated organs. Under the head of stress we study the form of force ; degree and form are inseparable. Force. 307 EXAMPLES IN FORCE. Suppressed Force. ama;;ement, awe, and horror. — Aspirated Pectoral Quality. Slowest MozJement. Median Stress. Lowest Fitch. Frei'- ahnt Monotone. Extremely Long Pauses. ' 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. "The world was void; The populous and the powerful was a lump, — Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless,— A lump of death — a chaos of hard clay. The rivers, lakes, and ocean, all stood still; And nothing stirred within their silent depths: Ships, sailorless, lay rotting on the sea; And their masts fell down piecemeal : as they dropped, They slept on the abyss without a surge;- — The waves were dead ; the tides were in their grave ; The moon, their mistress, had expired before ; The winds were withered in the stagnant air; And the clouds perished : Darkness had no need Of aid from them, She — was the universe." — ' ' Darkness y ' ' ByroN. Sje ^'Clarence's Dream,'' first example, very low pitch; also ''Battle of Waterloo," fourth example, transition in pitci, Chapter XXIII. " * 0-ho! ' she muttered, « Ye 're brave to-day ! But I hear the little waves laugh and say, The broth will be cold that waits at home; For it's one to go, but another to come!'" 3o8 Murdoch! s Eloadion. \ ' J "The skipper hauled at the heavy sail: « God be our help,^ he only cried." — <' The Wreck of Rivermouth,'' Whittier. Subdued Force. Tranquillity. Natural Quality. Median Stress. Moderate Movement. Middle Pitch. Waves. *« So, as I sat upon Appledore In the calm of a closing summer day, ' ' And the broken lines of Hampton shore, In purple mist of cloudland lay, The Rivermouth Rocks their story told ; And waves aglow with sunset gold, Rising and breaking in steady chime, Beat the rhythm and kept the time. "And the sunset paled, and warmed once more With a softer, tenderer after-glow ; In the east was moonrise, with boats off shore And sails in the distance drifting slow. The beacon glimmered from Portsmouth bar. The White Isle kindled its great red star; And life and death in my old-time lay. Mingled in peace like the night and day!" — " The Wreck of Rivermouth,'' Whittier. Profound Repose. ' He who hath bent him o'er the dead, Ere the first day of death is fled, — The first dark day of nothingness. The last of danger and distress, — (Before Decay's effacing fingers Have swept the lines where Beauty lingers,) And marked the mild angelic air, — The rapture of repose that 's there, — The fixed yet tender traits that streak Force. ' 309 The languor of the placid cheek, And, — but for that sad, shrouded eye, That fires not, — wins not, — weeps not, — now, — And but for that chill, changeless brow, Where cold obstruction's apathy Appals the gazing mourner's heart, As if to him it could impart The doom he dreads, yet dwells upon, — Yes, — but for these and these alone. Some moments, — ay, — one treacherous hour. He still might doubt the tyrant's power: So fair, — so calm, — so softly sealed, The first — last look — by death revealed ! " —'■'■Aspect of Death,'' ByroN. Moderate Force. Naiural Quality. Gentle Expulsion. Middle Pitch. Gentle Radical and Median Stress. " Once or twice in a lifetime we are permitted to enjoy the charm of roble manners, in the presence of a man or woman who have no bar in their nature, but whose character emanates freely in their wor I and gesture. A beautiful form is better than a beautiful face ; a b jautiful behavior is better than a beautiful form : it gives a higl.er pleasure than statues or pictures, — it is the finest of the fine arts A man is but a little thing in the midst of the objects of nat re, yet, by the moral quality radiating from his countenance, he 1 lay abolish all considerations of magnitude, and in his manners equ il the majesty of the world. I have seen an individual, whose mai ners, though wholly within the conventions of elegant society, wei a never learned there, but were original and commanding, and hel I out protection and prosperity ; one who did not need the aid of , court-suit, but carried the holiday in his eye ; who exhilarated the fancy by flinging wide the doors of new modes of existence ; wh ) shook off the captivity of etiquette, with happy, spirited bear- ing , good-natured and free as Robin Hood ; yet with the port of an em seror, — if need be, calm, serious, and fit to stand the gaze of mi lions." — '■'Manners'' Emerson. 3IO Murdochs Elocution. Serious Style. ** Is there not an amusement, having an affinity with the drama, which might be usefully introduced among us? I mean, Recitation. ** A work of genius, recited by a man of fine taste, enthusiasm, and powers of elocution, is a very pure and high gratification. «* Were this art cultivated and encouraged, great numbers, now insensible to the most beautiful compositions, might be waked up to their excellence and power. " It is not easy to conceive of a more effectual way of spreading a refined taste through a community. The drama undoubtedly appeals more strongly to the passions than recitation ; but the latter brings out the meaning of the author more. Shakespeare, worthily recited, would be better understood than on the stage. '* Recitation, sufficiently varied, so as to include pieces of chaste wit, as well as of patios, beauty, and sublimity, is adapted to our present intellectual progress." — *' Recitation^" Channing. Declamatory Style. **0, Rome! Rome! Thou hast been a tender nurse to me, ay! thou hast given to that poor, gentle, timid shepherd lad, who never knew a harsher tone than a flute-note, muscles of iron and a heart of flint; taught him to drive the sword through plaited mail and links of rugged brass, and warm it in the marrow of his foe. And he shall pay thee back, until the yellow Tiber is red as frothing wine, and in its deepest ooze thy life-blood lies curdled ! " — E. Kellogg. **And shall the mortal sons of God Be senseless as the trodden clod, And darker than the tomb ? No, by the mind of man ! By the swart Artisan, By God, our Sire ! Our souls have holy light within ; And every form ef grief and sin » Force. 3 1 1 Shall see and feel its fire ! By earth, and hell, and heaven ! The shroud of souls is riven! Mind, mind alone, Is light, and hope, and power! Earth's deepest night, from this blest hour, The night of mind is gone." — Ebenezer Elliot. Tremor. — With High Pitch and Brilliant, Orotund Quality, "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and he is be- com 3 my salvation : he is my God, and I will prepare him a hab- itat! Dn; my father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a mar of war: the Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his hos: hath he cast into the sea : his chosen captains also are drowned in 1 he Red Sea. The depths have covered them : they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glori- ous in power : thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the ene ny. And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast over- thr )wn them that rose up against thee : thou sentest forth thy wr: th, which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of th} nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood up- rig it as a heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of th( sea. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will di^ ide the spoil ; my lust shall be satisfied upon them ; I will draw m} sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them : they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, an ong the gods ? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in priises, doing wonders? Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people w lich thou hast redeemed : thou hast guided them in thy strength ui to thy holy habitation. The people shall hear, and be afraid: s( rrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. Then the d ikes of Edom shall be amazed ; the mighty men of Moab, tremb- 312 Murdoch's Elocution. ling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them ; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever." — Song of Israel. " I call upon those whom I address to stand up for the no- bility of labor. It is Heaven's great ordinance for human improve- ment. Let not that great ordinance be broken down. What do I say ? It w broken down ; and it has been broken down for ages. Let it then be built up again ; here, if anywhere, on these shores of a new world, — of a new civilization. But how, I may be asked, is it broken down ? Do not men toil ? it may be said. They do indeed toil ; but they too generally do it because they must. Many submit to it as in some sort a degrading necessity ; and they desire nothing so much on. earth as escape from it. They fulfill the great law of labor in the letter, but break it in the spirit; fulfill it with the muscle, but break it with the mind. To some field of labor, mental or manual, every idler should fasten, as a chosen and coveted theater of improvement. But so is he not impelled to do, under the teachings of our imperfect civilization. On the contrary, he sits down, folds his hands, and blesses himself in his idleness. This way of thinking is the heritage of the absurd and unjust feudal system under which serfs labored, and gentlemen spent their lives in fight- ing and feasting. It is time that this opprobrium of toil were done away. Ashamed to toil, art thou ? Ashamed of thy dingy work- shop and dusty labor-field ; of thy hard hand scarred with service more honorable than that of war; of thy soiled and weather-stained garments, on which mother Nature has embroidered, 'midst sun and rain, 'midst fire and steam, her own heraldic honors? Ashamed of these tokens and titles, and envious of the flaunting robes of imbe- cile idleness and vanity? It is treason to Nature; — it is impiety to Heaven; — it is breaking Heaven's great ordinance. Toil^ I repeat — toil, either of the brain, of the heart, or of the hand, is the only true manhood, the only true nobility." " The Nobility of Labor,"" Kev, Qrville Dewey. Force. 3 1 3 Sustained Force, shouting. ' Tchassan Ouglou -■• is on ! Tchassan Ouglou is on ! And with him to battle The Faithful are gone. — Allah, il allah! The tambour is rung; Into his war-saddle Each Spahi f hath swung : — Now the blast of the desert Sweeps over the land, And the pale fires of heaven Gleam in each Damask brand. Allah, il allah ! " | — Wm. Motherwell. Impassioned Force. Oroimd Quality. Aspirated. Radical and Final Stress. V^aves and Wider Intervals. High Fitch. Rapid Move- 7h eni. ' O woe to you, ye lofty halls ! may no sweet sounds resound, N )r harp, nor song your chambers through shall e'er again be found, N ly ! nought but sighs and groans and slaves that tread their timid way, T 11 you the avenging fury crush to ruin and decay ! " A ad woe, ye fragrant gardens, in may-light soft and fair I show to you the ghastly face of that dead minstrel there, T lat you may wither at the sight, your crystal springs grow dry, 1 tiat in the future days of gloom all withered you may lie ! Pronounced Shassan Ctoglue. t Spa-hee. ± Turkish war-cry. M. E.-27. Murdoch! s Elocution. "And woe, thou godless murderer, thou curse of minstrelsy! Thy strifes for wreaths of bloody fame are all in vain to thee! Thy name shall be forgotten when in endless night 'tis tossed, As e'en, forever, dying groans in empty air are lost ! " — " The MinstrePs Curse,'^ Uhland. Expulsive Orotund, changing to Explosion in the authoritative command opening the fifth line. High Pitch. Rapid Movement. Final Stress, changing to Radical, with Inter- vals and Waves. *'0 better that her shattered hulk Should sink beneath the wave ; Her thunders shook the mighty deep, And there should be her grave; Nail to the mast her holy flag. Set every threadbare sail. And give her to the god of storms. The lightning and the gale." — " Old Ironsides,'^ HoLMES. Transition in Force. In the following language descriptive of the glory of Italy gained at the terrible sacrifice of life, which fell so heavily upon Laura Savio, we have an instance of sudden transition from impassioned to suppressed force : "When Venice and Rome keep their new jubilee, When your flag takes all heaven for its white, green, and red, When you have your country from mountain to sea. When King Victor has Italy's crown on his head, (And / have my dead.)" Chapter XXV. Stress : Studies in Stress, with a further Application to the Ex- pression of Language. 21;;. Almost all of the forms of stress, by changing the plain equable character of the simple concrete, impart to it some unusual significance or expression. The stresses of primary importance, and of the most fre- quen; application, are the Radical, the Final, and the Median. They may exist with all degrees of force, but stres;^ does not in all cases imply a strong enforcement of force The compound and thorough stresses do not admit of the sime gradations in degree as the others named. They are, therefore, of more rare occurrence, being among the most striking and vivid constituents of language. The pecu iar use of each stress in expression, will now be cons dered in order. Radical Stress. R idical stress, as an element of perfected articulation, affec:s all correctly uttered language, imparting to the latte •, by its several degrees of incisive clearness, a deli- cate y distinct or more energetic and vivid character. In bris] or animated utterance, this initial opening should be well marked and positive, while in graver language, lack- ing expressive force, it is less pronounced and decisive, (315) 3i6 Murdoch's Elocution. though the organic action should be none the less accurate and perfect. The most clearly marked and decisive form of the unim- passioned radical stress, marks the distinctive words and syllables of language in which thought is to be definitely contrasted with thought, in order to convey a clear concep- tion to the hearer of distinctive ideas entirely independent of emotion and passion. It is sometimes called the dis- tinctive radical. It should, however, never be carried to the extreme of sharply puncturing every distinctive word or syllable. To exhibit the difference between this simply distinctive use of radical stress and its employment as an element of for- cible expression, let the following words be spoken simply as a clear, distinct statement, implying a slight degree of antithetical contrast in the words out and in : "As he went out of my presence, you came z'w." ^^^H Next, let the words ''out of my presence" be utterecT as an angry, imperative exclamation, and the forcible ex- plosion on out will be in strong contrast to the delicately distinctive character of the opening sound of the same word in the first instance given. Radical stress, then, has an expressive and an inexpres- sive form. It is the only form of stress which is not always in some degree expressive. As radical abruptness differs from the other stresses in being the root of all vocality, and hence a universal function of syllabic utter- ance, the reason of this exception is obvious. Although its execution is always the same, its degree marks the differ- ence between its character as an element of sentiment and feeling, and that of a simple exponent of the neutral state of unimpassioned thought. As a preparation for the following examples in unimpas- sioned radical stress, see ^ 146. Stress. 3 1 7 EXAMPLES OF RADICAL STRESS. Unimpassioned Radical. DIDACTIC COMPOSITION, SERIOUS STYLE. — Natural Quality. Moderate Force ^ with occasional Thirds. Diatonic Melody. " T iste and genius are two words frequently joined together, and, therefore, by inaccurate thinkers confounded. They signify, however, two quite different things. The difference between them can bt clearly pointed out, and it is of importance to remember it. Taste :onsists in the power of judging; genius, in the power of ex- ecutin;j. One may have a considerable degree of taste in poetry, eloqueice, or any of the fine arts, who has little or hardly any genius for CO nposition or execution in any of these arts ; but genius can not b( found without including taste also. Genius, therefore, de- serves to be considered as a higher power of the mind than taste. Geniu: always imparts something inventive or creative, which does not rest in mere sensibility to beauty where it is perceived, but which can, moreover, produce new beauties, and exhibit them in such n manner as strongly to impress the minds of others. Refined taste brms a good critic ; but genius is further necessary to form the p( et or the orator." " Taste and Genius''' Dr. Hugh Blair. Animated Description. Natuml Quality. Moderate Force. Diatonic Melody., with Thirds and Fifths. "Within 'twas brilliant all and light, A thronging scene *of figures bright ; It glowed on Ellen's dazzled sight, As when the setting sun has given Ten thousand hues to summer even. And, from their tissue, fancy frames . Aerial knights and fairy dames. Still by Fitz-James her footing staid, 3i8 Murdoch's Elocutio7i. A few faint steps she forward made, Then slow her drooping head she raised, And fearful round the presence gazed ; For him she sought, who owned this state. The dreaded prince whose will was fate ! She gazed on many a princely port, Might well have ruled a royal court ; On many a splendid garb she gazed — Then turned bewildered and amazed. For all stood bare ; and, in the room, Fitz-James alone wore cap and plume. To him each lady's look was lent, On him each courtier's eye was bent; Midst furs, and silks, and jewels sheen, He stood, in simple Lincoln green. The center of the glittering ring — And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's king ! As wreath of snow on mountain breast, Slides from the rock that gave it rest, Poor Ellen glided from her stay. And at the Monarch's feet she lay." — '■'■Lady of the Lake" ScoTT. The splendor and brilliancy of the description of Sir Lancelot is effected by the employment of Radical Stress. High Pitch. Orotund Quality. Rapid Movement. Concrete and Discrete Thirds, Fifths, and Waves. "A bow-shot from her bower eaves. He rode between the barley-sheaves. The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves. And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot. A red-cross knight forever kneel'd To a lady in his shield, That sparkled on the yellow field. Beside remote Shalott. "The gemmy bridle glitter'd free. Like to some branch of stars we see Stress. 3 1 9 Hung in the golden Galaxy. The bridle bells rang merrily As he rode down to Camelot : And from his blazon'd baldric slung A mighty silver bugle hung, And as he rode his armor rung, Beside remote Shalott. • All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewel'd shone the saddle-leather, The helmet and the helmet-feather Burned like one burning flame together. As he rOde down to Camelot. As often thro' the purple night. Below the starry clusters bright. Some bearded meteor, trailing light. Moves over still Shalott. ■ His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd ; On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode; From underneath his helmet flow'd His coal-black curls as on he rode, As he rode down to Camelot. From the bank and from the river He flash'd into the crystal mirror, ' Tirra lirra,' by the river Sang Sir Lancelot." " TJie Lady of Shalott,''^ Tennyson. Forcible Radical. 21c., The forcible, emphatic, or impassioned radical stress varying in degree from vehement explosion to an earnest energy of abruptness, is expressive of all passions or ei lotions of a violent, bold, impetuous, impulsive, or ener- getic character ; as strong anger, and states allied to it : wrat/ , rage, impatience, courage, exultation, and imperious mirth Murdoch's Elocution, The abrupt burst of violent utterance which characterizes the impassioned vocality of fierce anger, issues from the organs with an eruptive blast of force that seems at times to give an almost superhuman intensity to the sound of the voice. Thus, when " the goblin full of wrath," in his attempt to repel the arch fiend from the gate of his infernal prison, bursts out in the fierce command, "Back to thy punishment, false fugitive," the emphatic words find utterance in the most impassioned form of radical stress. Aspirated force on the intensely impassioned radical stress is exemplified in Shylock's vindictive exclamation : "Cursed be my tribe, if I forgive him." Nature's primitive language of impassioned exclamation often receives its power and intensity of expression from the vehement explosion of sound which startles the ear with its instantaneous burst of force, as in the outbreak of angry indignation contained in the following words of Beatrice : " O heaven, that I were a man ! — I would eat his heart in the market-place." Or in the sudden terror expressed in the words of Juliet: "O! look! methinks I see my cousin's ghost Seeking out Romeo ! " Or in the alarm of Lady Macbeth : **Alack/ I am afraid they have awak'd, And 'tis not done." Radical stress is also expressive of great positiveness in the state of the mind, and is, therefore, employed in im- perative words of command, for the purpose of enforcing authority. Thus, in the military commands. Attention! Stress. 3 2 1 Right, Face! Shoulder Arms ! March! Halt! Forward! etc., it is t? e clear, strong explosion of the forcible radical stress which reaches every ear, and seems, in its sudden and de- cisive character, to compel attention and obedience. The intermediate degrees of force in the radical stress, lying Detween the vehement outburst of passionative excite- ment and the merely accidental or distinctive form of this stress, are the signs of impulsive or impetuous earnestness of feeling, not amounting to the vehemence of ungoverned passion. Thus, in the eagerness and imaginative fervor of the f«)llowing -language of Juliet, the emphatic syllables woulc receive this simply energetic force or fullness of the radical stress : "Gallop apace, ye fiery footed steeds, Toward Phoebus' mansion; such a waggoner As Phaeton would whip you to the west, And bring in cloudy night immediately." The abrupt explosive enforcement of the radical stress is the only means of giving emphatic distinction or expression to iiimutable syllables. When, therefore, such syllables requ re strong emphasis, it must be accomplished by this stres ;, as in the expression of exultation in the word victory in the first of the following examples, and in that of angry impatience in the word iteration of the second: " He shook the fragment of his blade and shouted victory/" **What needs this iterance, woman?" 235. The most forcible or impassioned form of radical stress, like all other extremes of expression, is to be em- plo} ed only as in distinction of emphatic words or phrases in t le current of language. It should never form a drift in utterance. Where it gives the general color of expres- sion to a succession of words, however, by marking the most prominent, those that are subordinate in expression 32 2 Murdoch's Elocution. will generally take on, in the natural consonancy of effects, some degree of the same energetic movement, more or less diminished, according as their individual value shall de- mand a lesser emphasis or simply an energetic articulation. Only a persistent and disciplined exercise of the organs will secure that command over them by which syllables and words are launched, as it were, from the mouth, and swept in the current of utterance into the ear in compact, penetrating, and vivid forms of forcible expression. The attention has been repeatedly directed to the fact of the organic act of occlusion necessarily preceding the rad- ical abruptness of sound. This occlusion is most under command, and the explosion can be most perfectly given, on syllables beginning with a tonic element or with an abrupt one preceding a tonic. When a syllable begins with a subtonic or atonic which is not abrupt, a clear and forcible radical stress is not practicable. Some extent of abruptness can be given, however, by an energetic practice on such combinations. Suggestive Exercises. 216. First utter words in columns with moderate, then earnest, then vehement radicai stress. Then read in the sentence form, with the requisite degree of force and abruptness, on each marked syllable, calculated to fully express the fierce and vehement nature of the language employed. It must be borne in mind that these sentences have been arranged only with an eye to the prescribed oral effect; they present within a limited space a large number of words fitted to the expression of fierce abruptness and violent emotion, which it is the function of radical stress to enforce; besides, from not being involved and inverted in construction, they require no particular exercise of mind to grasp their meaning. Stress. 323 Burly, Trembling, Trumpets, Coward, Blatai t, Cowers, Clang, Depart, Boastc d, Manly, Hurl, Dishonored; Bragy( -d, Bearing, Back, Branded, Chall.: nged, Fearless, Crush, More, ChalL; nger, Champion, Antagonist, Falchion, Outck 1 red, Outraged, Herald, Wield, Dastard, Innocence, Thunders, Honorable, Begg;. r, Hark, Recreant, Warfare. Th mgh — bur\y — bla\.2,n\. and blus\.QX\Xig — he — f/?a/lenged — the — chalV nger — yet — the — out-dared — dastdixd— failed — to — meet — the — charg '. — He — had — boasted — and bragged — of — his — power — to — fmrl- -back — and — crush — his — an/o'^onist. — 'behold — the — result! — A — b'gg2ir — for — mercy — kttee — is — bent — head — uncovered. — Trent- bling — with— ^flir — he — cower?, — before — the — bold — manly — bear- ing—of — the— ^arless — champion. — of — mnocence. H irk ! — 't is— the — trumpets' — clang — three — times — it — sounds. — Listea — to — the — herald's — voice — it — thunders— forth. — J?ecrea.nt — and- -cowdixd — depart. — Dis/ionored — and — branded — never — more — shall —thou — hold — lance — in — rest — or— falchion — wield — in — honor- able- -warfare. E>ecutioner — blot — out — his — motto — and — strike — oj^ — his — spurs. — Hen :eforth — let — the — name — of — Gaspard — Count — de — Burgo — be — is — a — scoff— z. — mockery — and — a — by-vjord — to — all — honor- able -men. So —adjudge — the — noble — peers — of — this — high — court — abso- lute- -and — unalterable. i^n excellent practice consists in taking any piece of con position, abounding in strong declamatory or dramatic passages, and subjecting it to the above treatment, first mal.ing columns of words of accentual or emphatic force, the 1 phrase them, and finally combine in the form of sen- ten :es. 217. The precise exactness of the initial opening which is nsisted upon as a requisite of elementary practice for the purposes of vocal discipline, is not to be carried into the current of speech, even in the most violent utterance. Thj organs properly trained on the elements will respond 324 MurdocJi s Elocution. unconsciously to the fullest requisites of precision for articu- lative or expressive purposes. The powerful radical of passionative utterance thus placed at command by thorough discipline will be a full, compact body of sound, suddenly projected, and driven rapidly through the rapid concrete with a concentrated power. The increased volume of the orotund or the im- proved natural voice, gives this full body to the radical, relieving it from any thing like sharpness or barking hard- ness. Imperative Command. Explosive Orotund, changing to Aspirated, Impassioned Force. Thirds. Wider Inten>als and Waves. Gloster. — Stay you, that bear the corse, and set it down. Anne. — What black magician conjures up this fiend, To stop devoted, charitable deeds? Gloster. — Villains, set down the corse; or, by Saint Paul, I '11 make a corse of him that disobeys. 1st Gent. — My lord, stand back, and let the coffin pass. Gloster. — Unmannered dog! stand thou when I command: Advance thy halberd higher than my breast. Or, by Saint Paul, I '11 strike thee to my foot, And spurn upon thee, beggar, for thy boldness. Anne. — Would it were mortal poison, for thy sake! Gloster. — Never came poison from so sweet a place. Anne. — Never hung poison on a fouler toad. Out of my sight ! thou dost infect mine eyes. Gloster. — Thine eyes, sweet lady, have infected mine. Anne. — Would they were basilisks, to strike thee dead! Gloster. — I would they were, that I might die at once. —''Richard III,'" ShakespearJ^.'' Stress. 325 Impassioned Force. Oh, for a tongue to curse the slave, Whose treason, like a deadly blight, Comes o'er the councils of the brave, And blasts them in their hour of might! May life's unblessed cup for him Be drugged vi^ith treacheries to the brim, — With hopes that but allure to fly, With joys that vanish while he sips. Like Dead Sea fruits that tempt the eye. But turn to ashes on the lips." ^'■Denunciation'' Thomas Moore. Radical Stress. Ecplosive orotund quality and radical stress, in its differ- ent degrees of force, from the merely forcible to the most violent forms of utterance, is illustrated in the following passige from Milton. High Pitch. Wider Concrete and Discrete Intervals. Whence and what art thou, execrable shape. That darest, though grim and terrible, advance Thy miscreated front athwart my way To yonder gates ? through them I mean to pass, That be assured, without leave ask'd of thee : Retire, or taste thy folly; and learn by proof. Hell-born, not to contend with Spirits of Heaven! To whom the Goblin, full of wrath, replied : — Art thou that traitor angel, art thou he. Who first broke peace in heaven, and faith, till then Unbroken, and in proud rebellious arms Drew after him the third part of heaven's sons Conjured against the Highest ; for which both thou And they, outcast from God, are here condemn'd, To waste eternal days in woe and pain ? 326 Murdoch's Elocution. And reckon'st thou thyself with spirits of heaven, Hell-doom'd, and breathest defiance here and scorn, Where I reign king, and, to enrage thee more, Thy king and lord ! Back to thy punishment, False fugitive, and to thy speed add wings; Lest with a whip of scorpions I pursue Thy lingering, or with one stroke of this dart Strange horrour seize thee, and pangs unfelt before. The difference between the stately movement of the epic, and the more colloquial, dramatic form of language, is strongly marked in the following passage, which calls for the aspirated orotund quality, and the sharper radical stress peculiar to the irascible indignation expressed in Gloster's words : Gloster. — They do me wrongs and I will not endure it. — Who are they, that complain unto the king. That I, forsooth, am stern, and lave them not? ,By holy Paul, they love his grace but lightly, That fill his ears with such dissentious rumors. Because I can not flatter, and speak fair. Smile in men's faces, smooth, deceive, and cog. Duck with French nods, and apish courtesy, I must be held a rancorous enemy. Can not a plain man live, and think no harm, But thus his simple truth must be abus'd By silken, sly, insinuating Jacks ? Grey. — To whom, in all this presence, speaks your grace? Gloster. — To thee, that hast nor honesty nor grace. When have I injured thee? when done thee wrong ^ Or thee ? — or thee ? — or any of your faction ? K plague upon you alW'' — ^^ Richard III,'' Shakespeare. Chapter XXVI. Final Stress. 2::8. Final Stress is a greater or less enforcement of the final part of the syllabic concrete. Final stress, in its mors forcible forms, is indicative of a hasty energy in the state of mind, similar to that expressed by energetic radical strejs, still it differs from the latter in seeming to be more the result of a comparative predetermination or reflective will directing the form of the vocal effort. Radical stress comes with an instantaneous and almost involuntary burst from the organs, in the opening of the syllibic concrete; but in the final, they seem to be in con- scic us preparation, as it were, on the first part of the con- cre e, for the accumulation or concentration of effort at the close. ]mal stress is, therefore, the natural means for express- ing all mental states of a determined, resolute, or willful chrracter; such as earnest resolve; dogged ox fierce obstinacy; stnng complaint; impatient or angry willfulness; earnest con- vie i ion ; fretful impatience; supplication, etc. It may express these several states in various degrees, from the light color- ing of a syllable or word by the energy of the final pres- sure on some moderate interval or wave, to the vivid force of the strongest jerk of sound, at the close of wide upward or down-sweeping intervals. ?inal stress gives intensity to the interrogative character of the wide-rising intervals, adding in its more forcible decree the effect of angry impatience to the intonation of (327) 328 Murdochs Elocution. the question, while it enforces in all cases the positiveness of the wide, downward intonation. Indeed, the strongest emphasis of final stress, when not interrogative, is always combined with the wider downward concretes or waves ter- minating with downward constituents; these two elements of effect, downward intonation and final stress, naturally combining to express the most determined positiveness of any passionative state. To contrast the less forcible employment of final stress with its strong enforcement, let the words, / will not, be uttered with simply the strong determination of a fixed resolve, and there will be simply a firm pressure at the close of the descending interval on will not. Then let the words / won't be uttered in the angry, im- patient manner of a willful child, and the descending posi- tive concrete of wonH will exhibit that forcible jerk, or sudden powerful accumulation of sound at its termination, which constitutes final stress in its most highly expressive form. Final stress impresses the ear too strongly, even in its lighter degrees, to allow of its frequent and continued rep- etition as a drift in the current of discourse. It should be employed, therefore, only to mark occasional emphatic words, or successions of such words in impressive phrases, and then shaded in its degrees to their several gradations of emphatic value. For exercises for practice on final stress see ^ 147. Exercises in Final Stress in Expression. HAUGHTY determination AND VRiTf^.^Expulstve Orotund. Impassioned Force. Falling Fifths and Waves. Thou tnayst^ thou shall; I will not go with thee, I will instruct my sorrows to be proud ; I Final Stress. 329 For grief is proud, and makes his owner stoop. To me, and to the state of my great grief Lei kings assemble ; for my grief's so great, That no supporter but the huge firm earth Can hold it up: here I and sorrows sit; Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it.'''' — Shakespeare. AGONIZED SUPPLICATION. — Aspirated Quality. Weeping Ut- terance. Waves. Chromatic Thirds and Fifths. "Too hard to bear! why did they take me thence? O God Almighty, blessed Savior, Thou That did'st uphold me on my lonely isle. Uphold me. Father, in my loneliness A little longer! aid me, give me strength Not to tell her, never to let her know. Help me not to break in upon her peace. My children too ! must I not speak to these ? They know me not. I should betray myself. Never ! — no father's kiss for me ! — the girl — So like her mother, and the boy, my son ! " — ''Enoch Arden,'' Tennyson. WRETCHEDNESS AND DESPAIR. — Aspirated Quality. Sup- pr 'ssed Force. Deliberate Movement. Semitonic Thirds and ui equal Waves. " Is there a way to forget to think? At your age, sir, home, fortune, friends, A dear girl's love, — but I took to drink, — The same old story; you know how it ends. If you could have seen these classic features, — You needn't laugh, sir; they were not then Such a burning libel on God's creatures: I was one of your handsome men ! "You've set me talking, sir; I'm sorry; It makes me wild to think of the change! ^ . £.— 28. 330 Murdoch's Elocution. What do you care for a beggar's story ? Is it amusing ? you find it strange ? I had a mother so proud of me ! 'T was well she died before — Do you know If the happy spirits in heaven can see The ruin and wretchedness here below ?^^ — «« The Vagabonds,'' Trowbridge. DECLAMATORY YOKC^.—Expulswe Orotufid. The Energized Utterance giving a final pressure to the Syllables. Extended Waves and Wider Intervals. •* Mr. President, I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachu- setts; she needs none. There she is; behold her, and judge for yourselves. There is her history ; the world knows it by heart. The past, at least, is secure. There is Boston, and Concord, and Lex- ington, and Bunker Hill; and there they will remain forever. The bones of her sons, fallen in the great struggle for Independence, now lie mingled with the soil of every state, from New England to Georgia ; and there they will lie forever. "And, sir, where American Liberty raised its first voice, and where its youth was nurtured and sustained, there it still lives, in the strength of its manhood, and full of its original spirit. If dis- cord and disunion shall wound it ; if party strife and blind ambition shall hawk at and tear it ; if folly and madness, if uneasiness under salutary and necessary restraint, shall succeed in separating it from that Union, by which alone its existence is made sure, — it will stand, in the end, by the side of that cradle in which its infancy was' rocked ; it will stretch forth its arm with whatever of vigor it may still retain, over the friends who gather round it ; and it will fall at last, if fall it must, amid the proudest monuments of its own glory, and on the very spot of its origin." ''South Carolina and Massachusetts y'' Webster. DECLAMATORY FORCE. — Expulsive Orotund. Deliberate Move- ment. Wider Intervals and Unequal Waves. ** Lochiel ! Lochiel ! beware of the day When the Lowlands shall meet thee in battle array! For a field of the dead rushes red on my sight, Final Stress. 331 And the clans of Culloden are scattered in flight : They rally, they bleed, for their kingdom and crown; Woe, woe to the riders that trample them down. O crested Lochiel ! • the peerless in might. Whose banners arise on the battlements' height, Heaven's fire is around thee, to blast and to burn ; Return to thy dwelling ! all lonely return ! For the blackness of ashes shall mark where it stood. And a wild mother scream o'er her famishing brood," — ''LochieVs Warning,'' CAMPBELL. IMPivTIENCE, AND STERN, IMPETUOUS COMMAND. — Aspirated Expulsive Orotund. Falling Fifths and Discrete Rising 2'hirds. "But William answer'd short: ' I can not marry Dora ; by my life, I will not marry Dora. ' Then the old man Was wroth, and doubled up his hands, and said: 'You will not, boy! you dare to answer thus! But in my time a father's word was law, And so it shall be now for me. Look to it; Consider, William : take a month to think, And let me have an answer to my wish ; Or by the Lord that made me, you shall pack. And nevermore darken my doors again.' " — ''Dora," Tennyson. Chapter XXVII. Median Stress. 219. Median Stress has been shown to be an enforce- ment of the middle of the concrete, giving the effect of a sweUing fullness to that part of the syllabic utterance.. This stress sets forth intensity of voice with greater dig- nity and elegance than all the other forms of force. It is used, therefore, as the natural means of enforcing those sentiments and emotions that are combined with, or have their root in, elevated thought and the fervor of the imag- ination. The swell of the median has a greater or less degree of fullness, extent and enforcement, according as the feelings it expresses have more or less of ardor, depth, and grandeur. It may, then, appear under all modifications of degree, from the gentle swell which marks the tranquil flowing out of the voice on the long quantities of the language of quiet, pathetic sentiment or solemnity, to the firm and swelling energy which enforces the emphasis of language indicative of a high degree of power, combined with dignity or ele- vation of feeling. In its lighter forms, and combined with the lesser waves, median stress may prevail as a drift of dignified expression; but, when its more vivid degrees are blended with the extended intonation of the wider intervals and waves, it should only be used as an occasional em- phasis, otherwise it will degenerate into bombastic ex- cess. (332) Median Stress. 333 220. The gentle force of the median swell, sometimes called the temporal pressure^ should be placed on every syllable of quantity in the following example, which has already been given to illustrate the use of the wave of the seconc. Median stress and this wave, given with long quantity, are almost invariably combined, as they unite to express the same emotions of dignity and grandeur: '♦ High on a throne of royal state, which far Outshone the weaUh of Ormus and of Ind." Th( wave could be extended to the extent of a third in a fulL.T expression of elevated admiration. This example furnisies an instance of a drift of the median stress. On the o;her hand, we have it as a solitary and impressive emph isis in the dignified but strong rebuke contained in the fdlowing language: "And Nathan said unto David, thou art the man!" Here the swell may be given on a descending fifth or octav;, or on a wave of the third or fifth. The effect of the riedian stress is much enhanced by the tremor, and where it is thus given with the full volume of the orotund, it exjTCSses the highest effect of sublimity and grandeur of whicli the human voice is capable. It should be thus applied to the following lines: •• Thou^ too, sail on^ O Ship of State ! Sail on^ O Union, strong and great! " 22:. This form of expression is utterly incompatible with haste or violence, just as the forcible forms of the other stres es are incompatible with grace and deliberation. In the ( ase of the latter, the delicate attenuation of the equa- ble ( oncrete gives way to the impelling power of energy or 334 Murdoch's Elocution. vehemence, while in the former it is always preserved by the restraining dignity of the feeling, however deep and strong. Median stress thus gives an agreeable smoothness to the expression of all those modifications of surprise^ admiration, joy, hope, exultation, etc., which do not exceed the bounds of dignity. It also expresses sublime exaltation, terrible or solemn warning, reverential and deep pathos, dignified sup- plication, smooth insinuation, etc. It is thus preeminently the element of effect in the language of poetry and exalted imagination, not strongly dramatic. Median stress is one of the most important elements in the whole range of vocal expression, but one that requires the most careful artistic handling, as it is very apt to be- come deformed into an offensive drawling or monotone when the organs are not well skilled by elementary prac- tice in its execution; for, like quantity in syllables with which it is inseparably allied, it is an element of voice least employed in the ordinary colloquial uses of the latter, hence the least ready to respond to the efforts of unedu- cated utterance. As all exercises, therefore, on this stress, serve to develop a power over quantity also, its ele- mentary practice can not be too strongly insisted upon. The quotation from the Psalms, given below, calls for extended quantity and median stress: "O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." Exercises for Practice on Median Stress. Let description of this stress be carefully reviewed (see ^ 141) ; and its exercise on elements and syllables, as there directed, be carefully repeated, both in the natural voice and the orotund, until its mechanical execution is at the command of the organs. Median Stress. 335 REFLECTION. Effusive Orotund. Subdued Force. Slow Movement, Waves and Prevalent Monotone. ** 'Tis a time For memory and for tears. Within the deep, Still chambers of the heart, a spectre dim. Whose tones are like the wizard voice of Time, Heard from the tomb of ages, points its cold And solemn finger to the beautiful And holy visions, that have passed away, And left no shadow of their loveliness On the dead waste of life. That spectre lifts The coffin-lid of Hope and Joy and Love, And, bending mournfully above the pale. Sweet forms that slumber there, scatters dead flowers O'er what has passed to nothingness." — Geo. D. Prentice. TRANQUILLITY. Natural Quality. -Moderate Force. Gentle Swell. Waves and Thirds. "How beautiful this night! The balmiest sigh, That vernal zephyrs breathe in evening's ear. Were discord to the speaking quietude, That wraps this nerveless scene. Heaven's ebon vault. Studded with stars unconquerably bright. Through which the moon's unclouded grandeur rolls. Seems like a canopy which love had spread To curtain her sleeping world." — Shelley. 33^ Murdoch' s Elocution. PATRIOTISM. Further Swells approaching Poetic Utterance. Animated Style. Waves and Thirds. " Wherever, O man, God's sun first beamed upon thee — where the stars of heaven first shone above thee, — where His lightnings first declared His omnipotence, and His storm and wind shook thy soul with pious awe, — there are thy affections, there is thy country. Where the first human eye bent lovingly over thy cradle, — where thy mother first bore thee joyfully on her bosom, where thy father engraved the words of wisdom on thy heart, — there are thy affec- tions, there is thy country." — M. E. Arndt. HOPE. Natural Quality. Effusive Utterance. Gentle Force. Waves, Thirds, and Fifths. "With thee, sweet Hope, resides the heavenly light, That pours remotest rapture on the sight; Thine is the charm of life's bewilder'd way. That calls each slumbering passion into play. Eternal Hope ! when yonder spheres sublime Peal'd their first notes to sound the march of time, Thy joyous youth began — but not to faSe. When all the sister planets have decay'd; When wrapt in fire the realms of ether glow. And heaven's last thunder shakes the world below; Thou, undismayed, shalt o'er the ruins smile, And light thy torch at Nature's funeral pile." —Campbell. imitative. These verses accurately resemble the gentle swell and fall of the Bay of Naples. The swell of the median stress Median Stress. ^,2)1 is singularly applicable to their delicious harmony. Full Natural Quality. "Yon deep bark goes Where traffic blows From lands of sun to lands of snows; — This happier one, Its course is' run From lands of snow to lands of sun. •*0 happy ship, To rise and dip. With the blue crystal at your lip I O happy crew, My heart with you Sails, and sails, and sings anew ! " —''Drifting;' Read. EXHORTATION. Expulsive Orotund Quality. Monotone and Wave. ♦*So live, that when thy summons comes to join The innumerable caravan, which moves To that mysterious realm, where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death, Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night. Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." — W. C. Bryant. M. E.-2 Chapter XXVIII. Thorough Stress. Compound Stress. Loud Concrete. Thorough Stress. 222. This stress is effected by carrying the radical full- ness and force through the entire extent of the concrete or wave. It may be exemplified by the rude, burly no of ignorant indifference. Its expressive character in speech, if continued as a current style, is that of coarse bravado or blunt rudeness, bluff arrogance, bragging defiance, etc. It has, then, no place in the elegant expression of speech, though it may be used to occasionally distinguish some em- phatic syllable that does not require the abruptness of the radical, and yet will not, from its structure, permit any form of stress requiring extension, as in the following lines: "This knows my punisher, therefore, as far From granting he, as I from begging peace." Examples of Thorough Stress. FIERCE COMMAND. — Aspirated Orotund. Impassioned Force. Rapid Utterance. **I conjure you, by that which you profess, (Howe'er you come to know it,) answer me. Though you untie the winds, and let them fight Against the churches; though the yesty waves Confound and swallow navigation up ; (338) Thorough Stress. 339 Though bladed corn be lodged, and trees blown down; Though castles topple on their warders' heads; Though palaces, and pyramids, do slope Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure Of nature's germins tumble all together. Even till destruction sicken, — answer me To what I ask you." — "■Macbeth,'" SHAKESPEARE. Leave wringing of your hands. Peace; sit you down, And let me wring your heart ; for so I shall, If it be made of penetrable stuff; If damned custom have not brazed it so, That it be proof and bulwark against sense. No, by the rood, not so. You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife. What wilt thou do? Thou wilt not murder me? Help, help, ho!" — " HamleL" Shakespeare. DENi NCiATiON AND CONTEMPT. — Orotund Quality, changing to Aspirated Guttural. Impassioned Force, Wide Intervals Thou! whose balance does the mountains weigh. Whose will the wild tumultuous seas obey, Whose breath can turn those watery worlds \o flame ^ Th.a.t flame to tempest, and that tempest tame." ''Hail, holy lave I thou word that sums all bliss." "God of xi\y fathers ! holy, just, and good! My God! ray father ! my unfailing hope!" '' Skirr the country round" SHORT QUANTITIES, RAPID MOVEMENT. •« Fib, and Tib, and Pinck, and Pin, Tick, and Quick, and Jill, and Jin^ Tit, and Nit, and Wap, and Win, ' The train that wait upon her." " Quips, and Cranks, and wanton ^?7/7/ her ! >^?7/ her ! tear and tatter her ! Smash her! i-r«j^ her." 356 MurdocJis Elocution. ' ' A speck^ a mist, a shape , I wist ! And still it neared and neared : As if it dodged a water-sprite It plunged, and tacked, and veered.''^ «' 7a//^ not to me of odds or match !^^ ♦'You common cry of cursf^ Quick Movement. '♦Come dance, elfins, dance! for my harp is in tune, The wave-rocking gales are all lulled to repose ; And the breath of this exquisite evening in June, Is scented with laurel and myrtle and rose. ♦'Each lily that bends to the breast of the stream, And sleeps on the waters transparently bright, Will in ecstasy wake, like a bride from her dream, When my tones stir the dark plumes of silence and night. GAYETY. ' Down the dimpled greensward dancing, Bursts a flaxen-headed bevy ; Bud-lipped boys and girls advancing; — Love's irregular little levee ! Rows of liquid eyes in laughter. How they glimmer ! How they quiver! Sparkling one another after, Like bright ripples on a river! Tipsy band of rubious faces. Flushed with joy's ethereal spirit, Make your mocks and sly grimaces At Love's self, and do not fear it." — Geo. Darley. Time. 357 On March 7th, June, July, October, too, the Nones you spy ; Except in these, those Nones appear On the 5th day of all the year. If to the Nones you add an 8, Of all the Ides you '11 find the date. Hence we have the 15th for the Ides of March, June, July, and October; and the 13th for every other month. — Nones and Ides. Moderate Movement. DELIGHT. — Natural Quality. Middle Pitch. Gentle Force. Waves and Intervals of a Second and Third. "Three times shall a young foot-page Svirim the stream, and climb the mountain, And kneel down beside my feet; * Lo ! my master sends this gage, Lady, for thy pity's counting! What wilt thou exchange for it ? ' •' And the first time, I will send A white rose-bud for a guerdon; And the second time, a glove ; But the third time, I may bend From my pride, and answer, ' Pardon If he comes to take my love.' •'Then the young foot-page will run, Then my lover will ride faster, Till he kneeleth at my knee : ' I am a duke's eldest son, Thousand serfs do call me master. But, O Love! I love but thee.'" — ^'Romance of the Swanks Nest,'" Mrs. E. B. Browning. 358 Murdoch's Elocution. DIDACTIC. — Natural Quality. Median Stress prevalent, with- out much Swell. Gentle Expulsive Force. Middle Fitch. Diatonic Melody, with Waves and Thirds. *' Read, not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted ; not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested : that is, some books are to be read only in parts ; others to be read, but not curiously ; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Reading makes a full man; conference, a ready man; and writing, an exact man; and, therefore, if a man write little, he has need of a great memory ; if he confer little, he has need of a present wit; and if he read little, he has need of much cunning to seem to know that he does not." — Bacon. Deliberate Movement. The grandeur and dignity with which Job acknowledges God's justice, calls forth dignity of movement and orotund quality. His earnestness demands expulsion. The pitch is varied, both in sentential form and intonation. Median swell is the prevailing stress in the form of waves of a second. ."Then Job answered and said, I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he can not answer him one of a thousand. *^ He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered ? Which removeth the mountains, and they know not : which overturneth them in his anger. ** Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. " Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not ; and sealeth up the stars. Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. '• Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number." Time, 359 Slow Movement. SERIOUS STYLE. — Full Natural Qiiality. Gentle Force. Clear Raiical Movement. Middle Pitch. Diatonic Melody, with occasional Thirds and Waves. " > ot eloquence, but truth, is to be sought in the Holy Scriptures, every part of which must be read with the same spirit by which it was V ritten. In these, and all other books, it is improvement in holinc ss, not pleasure in the subtlety of thought, or the accuracy of expre ;sion, that must be principally regarded. We ought to read those parts that are simple and devout, with the same affection and deliglit as those of high speculation or profound erudition. What- ever liook thou readest, suffer not thy mind to be influenced by the chara:ter of the writer, whether his literary accomplishments be great or small. Let thy only motive to read be the love of truth; and, nstead of inquiring who it is that writes, give all thy attention to tie nature of what is written. Man passeth away like the shad< ws of the morning ; but ' the word of the Lord endureth for- ever ; ' and that word, without respect of persons, in ways infinitely vario IS, speaketh unto all." — ''Reading the Scriptures and other Holy Books, ^^ A'Kempis. SOLEMNITY. ' God! this is a holy hour: — Thy breath is o'er the land; 1 feel it in each little flower Around me where I stand — In all the moonshine scattered fair. Above, below me, everywhere, — In every dew-bead's glistening sheen, In every leaf and blade of green, — And in this silence grand and deep Wherein thy blessed creatures sleep." — Wm. Motherwell. 360 Murdoch's Elocution. Slowest Movement. DESOLATION. — Lmv Pitch. Slightly Aspirated. Suppressed Force.. Median Waves. The Refrain here is Semitonic. "And ever when the moon was low, And the shrill winds were up and away, In the white curtain, to and fro, She saw the gusty shadow sway. But when the moon was very low, And the wild winds bound within their cell, The shadow of the poplar fell Upon her bed, across her brow. She only said, *The night is dreary. He Cometh not,' she said; She said, * I am aweary, aweary, I would that I were dead ! ' **A11 day within the dreamy house, The doors upon their hinges creak'd ; The blue fly sung in the pane ; the mouse Behind the mouldering wainscot shriek'd. Or from the crevice peer'd about. Old faces glimmered thro' the doors. Old footsteps trod the upper floors, Old voices called her from without. She only said, » My life is dreary. He cometh not,' she said ; She said, * I am aweary, aweary, I would that I were dead ! ' " — '■^Mariana,'" Tennyson. Low Pitch. Suppressed Force. Orotund, slightly Aspiraied. The changes in sentential pitch and intonation at pauses will prevent monotony. What is eternity? Can aught Paint its duration to the thought? Tell every beam the sun emits, Hjl^ Time. 36 1 When in sublimest noon he sits; Tell every light-winged mote that strays Within his ample round of rays; Tell all the leaves and all the buds, That crown the gardens and the woods; Tell all the spires of grass the meads Produce, when spring propitious leads The new-born year; tell all the drops The night upon their bended tops Sheds in soft silence, to display Their beauties with the rising day ; Tell all the sand the ocean laves. Tell all its changes, all its waves, Or tell, with more laborious pains, The drops its mighty mass contains. Be this astonishing account Augmented with the full amount Of all the drops the clouds have shed, Where'er their watery fleeces spread, Through all time's long continued tour, From Adam to the present hour; Still short the sum : it can not vie With the more numerous years that lie Imbosomed in eternity." — ''Eternity,'" Dr. Thomas Gibbons. Rapid Movement. Orotund. High Pitch. Loud Concrete^ with Waves. "We come! we come! and ye feel our might. As we're hastening on in our boundless flight; And over the mountains, and over the deep. Our broad invisible pinions sweep Like the spirit of liberty, wild and free. And ye look on our works, and own 'tis we; Ye call us the Winds; but can ye tell Whither we go, or where we dwell ? M." E — 31. 362 Murdoch's Elocution. Our dwelling is in the Almighty's hand; We come and we go at his command, Though joy or sorrow may mark our track, His will is our guide, and we look not back; And if, in our wrath, ye would turn us away, Or win us in gentle airs to play. Then lift up your hearts to him who binds, Or frees, as he will, the obedient Winds!" — ♦« The Winds;' Miss H. F. Gould. High Pitch. Gentle Force. Natural Quality. Intervals of a Third and Waves of the same. "The Spring — she is a blessed thing! She is mother of the flowers ! She is the mate of birds and bees, The partner of their revelries. Our star of hope through wintry hours. Up ! let us to the fields away, And breathe the fresh and balmy air; The bird is building in the tree, The flower has opened to the bee, And health and love and peace are there." — '■^ Spring^'' Mary Howitt. Natural Quality. High Pitch. Light Radical. Moderate Force. Diatonic Melody., with Waves of the Second. "The cock is crowing, The Stream is flowing, The small birds twitter, The lake doth glitter; The green field sleeps in the sun ; The oldest and youngest Are at work with the strongest; Time. '^6'^ The cattle are grazing, Their heads never raising; There are forty feeding like one! " Like au army defeated The snow hath retreated, And now doth fare ill On the top of the bare hill; The ploughboy is whooping — anon — anon; There's joy in the mountains; There's life in the fountains; Small clouds are sailing, Blue sky prevailing, The rain is over and gone ! " — '■^Written in March,'''' Wordsworth. Chapter XXX. Pauses. 233. Pauses may be divided into two classes: (i) Pauses of Sense, which mark the divisions of. dis- course, for the purpose of simply presenting the meaning clearly and distinctly, independent of emotion or passion, their place and relative length being determined by the grammatical structure of the language. (2) Pauses of Emotion, which sometimes coincide in place with the pauses of sense, but are usually superadded to these, and depend upon emotion, passion, or strongly significant emphasis. Pauses of Sense. 234. By distinguishing sentences into their component parts and several kinds, some principles and rules may be given hy which the student may be guided with regard to correct pausing. A Sentence is an assemblage of words conveying a de- claration, an interrogation, a petition, or a command. The essential of every sentence is a subject or nominative, and a finite verb. Either of these may be modified or unmod- ified. A Clause is a simple sentence (one subject and one finite verb) united to some other sentence of equal value, or de- pendent upon some word in a sentence as a modifier. (364) Pauses. 365 Clauses are also called members of a sentence of which they form a part, and are either co-ordinate or subordinate; as, "This is the man who was born blind ^^ (subordinate). A Phrase is a group of several words not making com- plete sense when uttered alone, but used to modify some other part of the sentence; as, "Truth will at last prevail." Seiitences may be simple, complex, or compound. A simple senteace consists of a nominative and verb, either of which may be simple or modified by words or phrases ; as, "Alexander wept." Or, "Alexander wept for the fate of Darius." Or, "The great Alexander wept for the fate of Darius." A complex sentence consists of one principal proposition, some part or parts of which are modified by a dependent clause or clauses; as, . . ''God, who is great, rules the universe." A compound sentence is composed of two or more sen- tenc ;s or members of equal rank; as, " industry is the guardian of innocence, and adversity is the scho< 1 of piety." T le members of a compound sentence may be individu- ally simple, complex, or compound. The following is an inst; nee where each member is compound : " The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israt 1 doth not know, my people do not consider." Compound sentences are further divided into the period or < ompact sentence, and the loose sentence : P' Period is composed of two or more simple sentences or nembers, each of which, independent of the other, doei not form complete sense; or if they do, the latter o 66 Murdoch's Eloctition, modifies the former, or inversely, the connection in all cases between the parts being very close. (a) A Direct Period is that in which the first member is dependent for sense upon the latter, or in which the sense is not completely formed until the close : •'Though many things exceed the capacity of our wits, yet they are beheved." (b) The Limited Period is that form of compact sentence in which, although the first part forms sense alone, it is nevertheless modified by the second, and does not, there- fore, form complete sense until the close : ** Many things are believed, though they exceed the capacity of our wits." A Loose Sentence contains several members, the first one or more of which form complete sense without being modified by the latter, which usually adds some reflection, illustration, remark, or example: •'Persons of good taste expect to be pleased at the same time they are informed; and think that the best sense always deserves the best language." With reference to the principal division of compound sentences, when read simply to develop the sense, we have the following rules: 235. Rule L — In every Direct period the principal pause comes at that part where the sense begins to form^ or the ex- pectation excited by the first member begins to be answered. "Though he slay me, || yet will I trust in him." Rule IL — The principal pause of an inverted period should be placed at that part where the latter member begins to modify the former. Thus : Pauses. 2>^J " 1 very man that speaks and reasons, is a grammarian and a logician, !| though he may be utterly unacquainted with the rules of gn.mmar and logic." Rile III. — A Loose Sentence requires a longer pause between its fir'st member {usually a period direct or inverted) and the additional member which does not 7nodify it. "I'ersons of good taste expect to be pleased | at the same time they ire informed ; H and think that the best sense always deserves the bast language." Subordinate pauses divide the subordinate members of com})Ound sentences, or the parts of a simple or complex sente nee. Pauses aid in conveying the ideas in a sentence by sepa- rating such as are only related, and by uniting those that are closely associated in sense. In order to determine the seve al degrees of union between words, so as to be able to d vide them in accordance with this principle, we must cons ider the following : all the words of a simple or com- plex sentence may be divided into two general classes — thos'i that modify and those that are modified. T le words which we may consider as modified by all othe's are the nominative and its verb. The modifiers are, however, themselves modified by other words, and thus the words of a sentence become divisible by pauses into superior and subordinate classes, each being composed of vords more closely united among themselves than the several classes are with each other. T D illustrate : the substantive and verb, with their modi- fiers, as the two principal classes of every sentence, admit mos; readily of a pause between them. While the modi- fiers of these words are divided into subordinate classes, Sep; rable by pauses from the words they modify, and from eacii other, according as they possess modifiers of their 368 Murdochs Elocution, own, to which they are more closely united than to the superior words they themselves immediately modify. The same principle holds in modifiers of the third degree. The places, then, for pausing, in every sentence, are very numerous, increasing always with the complexity of the sentence. With this in view, the following rules will be better understood and applied: 236. Rule I. — When the nominative of a sentence consists of more than one word, or of one important or emphatic word, it should have a pause after it. "The great and invincible Alexander | wept for the fate of Darius." ••The fashion of this world | passeth away. To be virtuous | is to be happy." •• Vice I is a monster of so frightful mien, As, to be hated, needs but to be seen." •'Self-love I forsook the path it first pursued, And formed the public in the private good." ••Weeping | may endure for a night; but joy | cometh in the morning." •• Our schemes of thought in childhood | are lost in those of youth." •* Hatred and anger | are the greatest poison to the mind." Rule II. — Where the adjective follows the substantive or noun it modifies, and has modifiers of its own, constituting a descriptive phrase, it should be separated from its noun by a short pause. '* He was a man | learned and polite." "It was a calculation | accurate to the last degree, I Pauses. 369 "It was a sight | wonderful to behold." "He possesses a style | grand in its simplicity." Rule III. — A nou7i which has modifiers^ and stands in apposition with a noun preceding^ whether single or modified^ must be separated from the latter hy a short pause. "Lincoln, | President of the United States." 'George, | King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland." "Paul, I the apostle of the Gentiles." ** Your house is finished, sir, at last, A narrower house, | a house of clay." " When first thy sire to send on earth, Virtue, | his darling child, designed — To thee he gave the heavenly birth. And bade thee form her infant mind." If the nouns in apposition are single, no pause is re- quired. Thus: President Lincoln. The Apostle Paul. King George. Rule IV. — (i) If an adverb is modified, constituting an advei bial phrase, it should be separated by a pause, both from its vi rb and from what follows. "lie owed his success | in great measure | to the exertions of his frient s." "Then must you speak Of one who loved | not wisely, [ but too well." (2 If a single adverb follows the verb it modifies, it must be si barated from what follows by a pause. "]Ie did not act wisely, | and, therefore, has much to regret." Tfjo Murdoch's Elocution. Rule V. — (i) A phrase or clause intervening between the nominative and verb, is of the nature of a parenthesis, and must be separated from both by a pause. "When the Romans and Sabines were at war, and upon the point of battle, the women, | who were allied to both, | interposed with so many entreaties that they prevented the mutual slaughter." "Joseph, I who happened to be in the field at the time, | saw the carriage approach, and, | in an ecstasy of delight, | hastened to meet it." (2) Similarly, a phrase or clause coming between an active verb and its object is separated from both by a pause. ** I saw, I standing beside me, | a form of diviner features, and a more benign radiance." "Thou knowest, | come what may, | that the light of truth can never be put out." (3) A phrase or clause coming between a verb and its auxiliary, must also be separated from both by a pause. " This will, I I fear, | affect his happiness. It must, | of neces- sity, I have alarmed him." "It will, I I think, | interfere seriously with his plans." Rule VI. — Nouns in the case absolute or independent are divided from what follows by a short pause. "Death, | great proprietor of all, 'tis thine To tread out empires, and to quench the stars." " If a man borrow aught of his neighbor, and it be hurt or die, ( the owner thereof not being with it, | he shall surely make it good." Pauses. 37 Rlle VII. — A short pause always takes place at an ellipsis or oiiission of words. There is no rule for pausing more universal than this, — the pause seeming to take the place of the words left out. "The vain man takes praise for honor; the proud man, | cere- mony for respect; the ambitious man, | power for glory." '♦To err is human; to forgive, | divine." "ik.dd to your faith virtue; and to virtue, | knowledge; and to knowledge, | temperance; and to temperance, 1 patience." "Homer was the greater genius; Virgil, | the better artist." Tlie following specific rules are referable to the general rules of ellipsis just given. (i^ If several subjects belong in the same manner to one verb^ or SiVeral verbs in the same manner to one subject, every one of tie subjects or verbs should take a short pause. " Cliches, I pleasure, | and health | become evils to those who do not l.now how to use them." •♦ My I hopes, | fears, | joys, | pains, | all center in you." *' 'rie went into the cavern, | found the instruments, | hewed down the t ees, and, in one day, | put the vessels in a condition for sailing." (2) Similarly, if there are several adjectives belonging in the sami manner to one substantive, the latter is to be considered as i,i every case but one omitted, since every adjective must have its i wn noun. A short pause, therefore, should come after each adjec- tive but the last, when they precede a noun, and when the} follow it, they should be separated from the noun and from each other. 372 Murdoch^ s Elocution, •*A good, I wise, | learned man is an ornament to the common- wealth." A man, | wise, ( learned, | and good, is an ornament to the com- monwealth." The same principle of pausing holds where several sub- stantives belong in the same manner to one adjective. (3) If several adverbs belong in the same manner to one verb, each adverb may be considered as having its own verb omitted, and therefore demands a pause. Where they precede the verb, each takes a pause after it except the last; if they follow, a pause must succeed the verb and every adverb. •'To love I wisely, | rationally, | and prudently | is, in the opinion of lovers, not to love at all." Wisely, | rationally, | and prudently to love, is, in the opinion of lovers, not to love at all." The same principle obtains in the case of several verbs having but one adverb. Rule VIII. — The relative pronouns who, which, and that (when in the nominative case), conjunctive adverbs, conjunc- tions, prepositions, and all parts of speech used for transition and connection, generally require, and always admit of, a short pause before them. ** A man can never be obliged to submit to any power, unless he can be satisfied | who is the person | who has a right to exercise it." "You'll rue the time | that clogs me with this answer." "He continued steadfast ] while others wavered." " It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman, | Which gives the stern'st good-night." Pauses. 2)11 "Death is the season | which brings our affections to the test." "'Tis now the very witching time of night, | When churchyards yawn." "This is the spot | where he is wont to walk." **I will not let thee go | except thou bless me." "This let him know, | Lest, willfully transgressing, he pretend surprisal." "I wrote I because it amused me; I published | because I was told it would please." "It is more blessed to give | than to receive." Prepositions and conjunctions are always more closely united with the words they precede than those they follow. Froi 1 the preceding rules, the student will perceive how few are the grammatical connections which absolutely re- fuse a suspension of vocality for the sake of taking breath. The only words, indeed, which seem too intimately con- nected to admit a pause between them are the article and subs:antive, the substantive and adjective in . their natural order, and the preposition and the noun it governs. I have introduced the old rhetorical rules for pausing in fill, because in teaching reading, of late, the subject has been much neglected. Audible punctuation demands a g] eater number of pauses than are used in writing, for the reason that the voice of the reader takes the place of the written page to the hearer; hence, audible pausing is as ]iecessary to a clear understanding of a subject as the punctuation marks which aid the eye. 1 he reader who observes the rules of pausing where the sen ;e permits, and utilizes these pauses to renew his breath, will never be compelled to break in upon the sense, and, the efore, weaken or obscure it. 374 Murdoch's Elocution, The length of pauses is only relative; the following marks distinguish four comparative degrees of duration : Longest (|| ||); long (1|); short ( | ); shortest ( ' ). Pauses of Emotion. 237. The pauses of emotion or of emphasis, as the term indicates, depend upon the expression which is to be given language, and are not determined by the grammatical form, though sometimes coincident with the ordinary divi- sions of sense. We have seen that in the pauses of sense there is a cer- tain relative proportion as to the length; with the pauses of emotion this is not the case. A pause of some length is often used, either immediately before or after some word or phrase of peculiar importance, on which we wish to fix the attention of the hearer. The pause before awakens curiosity or expectation; and the pause after refers the mind back to, or holds it upon, the last utterance. This may be called the emphatic pause. It produces a most striking effect, but, like all other strong emphasis, should not be used unless justified by the im- portance of the case. **And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is [ charity." "And Nathan said unto David, Thou | art the man." ** He woke | to die!" "But hush! I hark! | a deep sound strikes like a rising knell." "Socrates died like a philosopher, but Jesus Christ like a | God," (or 1 like a God). " As long as an armed foe remained in my country, I would never lay down my arms; no; never, || never, || || never." Pauses. 375 In all intensely impassioned language expressive of that' labor of the mind which seems to choke and retard utter- ance, as in strong and suppressed grief, rage, etc., frequent pauses occur, arising from the necessity of deep inhalation and consequent expansion, to refill the lungs after the air has leen driven from them. The necessary effort must be perceptible, and is an aid in natural expression. The mental suffering causes a loss of the holding power, and ive speak in the exhausting breath when only two or three words can be uttered in one expiration, and these remarkable inhaling pauses produce Broken Melody. We have an example of this in the language of Eve imploring Adan's forgiveness, as found in ^^ Paradise Lost:" "On me | exercise not Thy hatred | for this misery befallen, On me | already lost, || me than thyself More»^miserable ! || || both | have sinned, || but thou | Against God | only, 1 1| against God | and thee ; || And to the place of judgment' will return, || There | with my cries' importune Heaven, that all The sentence | from thy head removed, may light On me, || sole cause' to thee | of all this woe, |1 Me, II me only, Ijjust object of His ire !" 238. The sudden transitions from one state of feeling to ancther, which mark almost all passionative language, are in naost all cases preceded by a pause. In all language, the pauses correspond in length with the character of the mo/ement. When the movement is slow, as in awe, deep gri ;f, solemnity, etc. , the pauses are long -, while in lan- gu;.ge of hasty passion or eager impatience, etc., or in gay and bright emotions, where the movement is rapid, the pa ises are correspondingly short. ^Considering pauses from another point of view, they m: y be regarded as almost universally the result of empha- sis (and in some cases of accent) for every emphatic or 376 Mm^docli s Elocutio7i. strongly accented word is a sort of central point or nu-> cleus, around which others less impressive, and intimately related in sense, naturally cluster, the whole forming a group between pauses, unless several equally strong empha- ses succeed each other, when the words stand alone be- tween pauses. Sentences, then, whether simple, complex, compact, or loose, are composed of a number of words, which accents or emphases tie together^ as it were, into groups resembling long words, to be marked off by a pause of greater or less extent. These have been termed oratorical portions or "oratorical words." They have been also called ''em- phasis words." The following marked passages will illus- trate the division of sentences on this principle — the italics indicate the emphasis : " Alexander — at — a — feast surrounded — by — flatterers heated — with — wine overcome — by — rage led — by — a concu-bine is — a — forcible — example that — the — conqueror — of — king- doms may — have — neglected the — conquest — of — himself. ^^ '• Is — it — not — monstrous, that — this— player — here, But — in — 2l— fiction, in — a — dream — of — passion, Could — force — his — soul so — to — his — own — conceit" **If — it — were — done, when — His — done, then — 'twere well — 'T were — done quickly : If — the — assassination Could trammel — up — the — consequence, and — catch, — With — his — surcease — success." Correct grouping, which is effected by pausing, may be called the articulation of sentences. In the language of crit- icism, in the present day, it is not an uncommon thing to hear it spoken of as distinct articulation. Exercises in Pausing. •'He gave' to misery | all' he had — || a tear, He gain'd | from Heaven — || 'twas all he wish'd — |[a friend." Pauses, 2>77 "'Tis hard to part | when friends are dear, | Perhaps | 'twill cost a sigh, || a tear; Then steal away, || give little warning, || Choose thine own time ; || Say not [ good night; |i but in that happier clime ( Bid me | good morning." *Thy shores | are empires | changed | in all | save thee — Assyria, || Greece, || Rome, || Carthage, || what are they ? " "Dark heaving, || boundless, || endless, || and sublime." " "'he war is inevitable || — and let it come! || || I repeat it, 1| sir, [[ ||' let i' II come." " [f thou be'st he | — but O, || how fallen! || how changed! " [| "Here lies the great, — | false marble! || Where? || 1| Nothing II but sordid dust || lies | there." " And his family ! — | but he is gone; || that noble heart |1 beats j no riore." |1 "This world, | 'tis true. Was made j for Caesar — || but for Titus || too." "Her neck is bared — 1| the blow is struck — || the soul is passed! away ! || 1| T le bright — || the beautiful || is now || || a bleeding piece of clay ! " "But come, | thou goddess, | fair' and free, | In heav'n | yclep'd | Euphrosyne, f And of men j heart-easing Mirth; | Whom I lovely Venus | at a birth, j With I two sister graces | more, [ To ivy-crowned Bacchus | bore." "Hop, I and Mop, | and Drap so clear, | Pip, I and Trip, | and Skip, ( that were, t To Mab I their sovereign dear, — | Her special maids j of honor." M.E.-32. Chapter XXXI. Rhythmus or Measure of Speech. 239. All speech is composed of a succession of heavy and light sounds, or accented and unaccented syllables, produced by the alternate action and reaction of the larynx, this organ being subject to the law of pulsation and remission common to all muscular effort. From this peculiarity in the construction of language, it may be divided into rhythmical or accentual measures, as in music, containing a heavy and a light portion of sound, and being of about equal time value. Taking the mark (/\) to represent the heavy or. ac- cented sounds, and the mark (.-. ) the light or unaccented, and the bars ( | | ), as in music, to distinguish and sepa- rate one measure from another to the eye, the pulsation and remission of the voice producing a measure may be illustrated as follows : Spirit I spirited | spiritual | spiritually. The pulsative act never occurs upon more than one sylla ble of a measure, because if two or more consecutive sylla- bles are accented, or uttered with the pulsative action of the organ, there will unavoidably be either a remissive action at the termination, or a pause corresponding with the remission, by which the organs recover themselves after pulsation. Thus, if the word hunt be uttered twice under accent there will be a perceptible hiatus between them corresponding to the remiss action, which pause or (378) Measure of Speech, 379 rest, with the pulsative action on hunt, would constitute the time of a full measure. The repetition of the word occu- pies the same time as | hunter | hunt. The unaccented portion of a measure may, however, be divic.ed among as many as four syllables, as illustrated in the vord spiritually, already marked, this word occupying no greater length of time for the utterance than the shorter wore I, spirit, each filling a measure, or defining the simple acticn and reaction of the organs, A single syllable of quantit){ may constitute a measure, for it may be extended over the time of a full measure, its radical constituting the pulsative and heavy portion, and the v^anish the unaccented or light. Thus, the word Hail! utte ed with extended time, admits of the pulsation and re- mise ion of the voice as clearly as if it consisted of two written syllables, thus: | Hail! | A .'. 240. A Perfect Measure of speech may consist, then, of one 'syllable or of any number, not exceeding five, uttered by \ pulsative and remiss action of the voice. .'^ n Imperfect Measure consists of one in which either the ace jnted or unaccented portion of the measure is wanting. Tht silence is represented in the marking by the following syn bol (7). which indicates the rest of the voice. Thus: •? In- I comparable I 7 at- | tack 7 A .-. A .-. .-. A .-. A iin Immutable Syllable, such as tack, is incapable of fill- ing a measure having no extent of vanish upon which the reniss action may take place. M41. Altogether, there are five kinds of measure which eni er into language : . The Emphatic Measure, which consists of one syllable, utl ired with long quantity, as : | Roll | on. | 380 Murdoc/is ElocMtion. 2. The Common Measure, which consists of two syllables, as: Spirit I water | nature. 3. The Triple Measure, which consists of three syllables, the remissive portion of the measure being divided be tween two, as : Spirited | comedy | natural. A .-. A .'. .-. A .-. .-. 4. The Quadruple Measure, consisting of four syllables, the remissive action being divided between three of them, as : Spiritual | comfortable | naturally. A.-. .-. A .-. .-. A .-. .-. .-. 5. The Accelerated Measure, which consists of five sylla- bles, four being apportioned to the unaccented portion of the measure. It is called the base foot, and contains the greatest number of syllables admissable to one pulsative and remiss effort of the organs; it is not, except in the rapidity of colloquial utterance, much employed: Spiritually | voluntarily A .-. .-. .-. .-. A .-. .-. .-. .-. If the I soul I •y be I happily dis- | posed •^ [everything becomes | capable of af- | fording enter- | tainment. A .•• .-. .-. .-. A .-. .-. .-. A Such a measure necessitates extreme acceleration or ra- pidity in its utterance, and would, therefore, in a more dig- nified reading, be broken up into two measures; thus. Capable | •? of af- | fording. A • • ' • • A • Measure of Speech. 381 Shikespeare and Milton, the poets most distinguished for the happy mechanism of their verse, never employed more than four syllables in a measure. The common and triple measure predominates in all poetry. Prose embraces all kind; in its less regulated utterances. 242. In the study of this subject, it must be remembered that there are not only s)^lables, but many words, in sen- tenc'is, that are unaccented, and such words belong to the remiss portions of the different speech measures. Ir the sentence, "Truth is the basis of excellence," the words truth, basis, and excelleiice have accented syllables. The other words have no accents. The latter must, there- fore, be, as it were, ''hooked on" to the more prominent words in the different measures of speech in such a man- ner that they may be pronounced during the remiss action of tie voice. They will thus neither receive an undue sig- nificance, nor interfere with the general flow of utterance during the sentence. V'ords, independently of each other, convey but one, certiin, limited meaning. By uniting them together, these sigr ifications are either restrained or enlarged. In this unison, the most significant words adopt the accent, whilst the others are slurred over as unaccented syllables of the sane word. The whole is known as an oratorical word, anc it is either comprised within one measure, or is broken up in such a manner as to form imperfect measures. There are also certain parts of speech that are naturally slui red over in discourse to give prominence to more im- portant words; as, articles, conjunctions, prepositions, auxil- iaries, relatives, unimportant pronouns, the verb to be, and sor letimes the adjective. Connected discourse throws the ac- cei t upon words of more significance, to which these become un ted as modifying syllables. They are then pronounced du ing the remiss action of the vocal organs, and belong to the unaccented portion of the different speech measures. 382 MurdocJi s Elocution. If I say, Water — boy — in — fish — saw — a — the, as though I were reading the words from a vocabulary, each word will have the same accentual importance, no one being of more significance than the others, and each will occupy a full measure of speech. But if I now join these words so as to make a complete sentence of them, a change will takej)lace in their utterance; cyie half of them will lose their accents, and will be slurred over to give prominence to the more important words : The — boy saw a — fish in — the — water. The sentence becomes one of four significant words to which modifying syllables are added to show the relation these words bear to each other. Divided or scored according to the measure of speech, they would stand as follows : •7 The I boy 7 | saw */ | 7 a | fish 7 | *7 in the | water.* A .•• A A .-. A .-. A •. A .-. .-. A .-. 243. When the relative value of the accented and the unaccented syllables of speech is not observed, or is oves- borne by extreme effort to articulate distinctly, the result is a mouthing utterance, by which the unaccented syllables are brought into undue prominence, and the natural move- ments of the voice through the measure of speech de- stroyed. This tedious and halting utterance is observable in the reading of the child who takes every word to be of equal value, and proceeds by accent or heavy movement alone, thus: The I boy •f | saw 7 | a 7 | fish */ | in 7 | the [ water. A .-. A .-. A A .•. A ••. A .-. A .-. A .-. Instead of the smooth flowing utterance of the measured * These groups of words have the effect of one long word, and have been called oratorical words. For a full explanation of ora- toncal words see Emphasis, If 264. Measure of Speech. 383 sounds as first scored in this example according to the natuial utterance. On the other hand, language is often enfeebled by allow- ing Nords to drop from the organs on the remiss action whicti should have an accentual value. In this way, the nour is often sunk to a subordinate position, as if implied or understood in the sentence, while the adjective main- tains a prominent position. Thus, in Mercutio's descrip- tion of Queen Mab, I have heard these lines read in the folio A^ing manner : "7 Her I wagon spokes | made of long | spinner's legs. ^\hen, in order to convey the just emphasis, it would ado] it the following measure : ^ Her I wagon | spokes | made of | long | spinner's | legs. , /. .-. A .-. A .-. A A .-. A .-. A .*. Tiis is a frequent fault of emphasis, serving to give un- due prominence to the adjective and slurring the noun. 244. Emphasis falling upon different words of the same sentence under different significations will alter the divi- sion 5 of its measures. To illustrate : / I 7 will I walk with him. A.-. A .-. A 1 hat is, not you will walk with him. •7 I I will I walk with him. 1 hat is, I am determined to walk with him. I will I walk I with him. That is, I will not ride. I will I walk with | him. That is, not with her. 384 MurdocJi s Elocution. 245. Two or more accented syllables of long quantity, following in immediate succession, are generally extended over the time of a whole measure, though this is at the option of the reader or speaker, and according to the sense or sentiment of the language. Thus, the following line may be read according to either of the scorings here given. The heavy (l\) and light (.*. ) marks will be omitted in the scorings to follow : Rocks, 1 caves, [ lakes, | fens, | bogs, and [ shades of j death, Or, Rocks, •f I caves, •y | lakes, •? | fens, •f | bogs, and | shades of | death. Two or more immutable syllables coming together always f equire a measure for each, with a pause on the unaccented portion. Back, •y I back •^ | on your | lives. Mutable syllables, however, if strongly emphatic, may be extended so as to fill up their respective measures when coming in immediate succession, thus : Yet, I O I Lord | God, | most | holy. 246. The voice always moves from heavy to light, or from accent to unaccented. If, therefore, a line or sen- tence begins with an unaccented syllable, the first measure is necessarily imperfect, the accented portion being marked by a rest, thus: •^ In the I second | century | •f of the | Christian | era. •y How I vain | •^ are | all things j here be- | low. Measure of Speech. 385 Respiration, measure, and rhythm ahke require pauses, whicli prevent the words from becoming entangled with each other, and enable the mind to perceive their connec- tions and meaning with perfect facility. A whole measure, or even two or more, may be pissed over in silence when the longer pauses of discourse require such continued suspension of the voice. Thus, in the fol- lowing sentence, before quoted as strongly emphatic, a pausi of an entire measure would occur, beside the shorter rests arising from the imperfect measures. Back •^ I "^ to thy I punishment ! | •f •f | false | fugitive. P luses extending through more than a measure are illus- trate d in the scoring of the next passage : Then shall be | brought to | pass | •^ the | saying, | •^ "f | Dea ;h I iy is I swallowed | up •^ | •^ in | victory. 1 •y ^ | •y •y I O | deatti ! | where is thy | sting? | ^^ •^ | t^ t^ | O | grave ! 1 •/ ^ I whe -e is thy | victory ? | •^ •^ | •^ *^\^ The | sting of | death | •^ is I sin ; 1 "y •^ I •^ and the [ strength of | sin | •^ is the | law. 2^7. From the accentual character of words, imperfect mei sures must often occur in speech, and their pauses, to- get ler with the measures of complete silence, permit a corstant supply of breath to the speaker without destroying the rhythm of language. ' 'he pauses which a clear utterance of the meaning re- quires are always proportioned in their length to the pre- vai.ing character of the emotions which predominate in any given passage, and consequently to the current of tin e, during the audible successions of the sounds of the vo ce from phrase to phrase, or from clause to clause, in ev :ry sentence. The necessity of the close observance of mt asured beats and frequent rests in reading, until the sti dent has acquired a perfect control over the pulsative M. E.— 33. ^86 Murdoch's Elocution. action of speech in its relation to force and measure, will readily be perceived by attempting to read with impas- sioned force any piece of vehement or bold declamation, such as Macduff's "Awake! awake! ring the alarm bell," etc. 'Unless a metrical rhythmus is observed in such reci- tation, with frequent pauses, however short, added to those marked in the punctuation, the reader will find himself constantly out of breath. 248. In the production of speech, the muscles of the larynx are subservient to the will in a certain sense of conformity to the laws of other related organic actions con- trolling the processes of inspiration and expiration. The pulsation and remission of the heart acts at periodic inter- vals with the action and reaction of the glottis, both func- tions being necessarily sympathetic with the intermitting regularity of the organic function of breathing. Thus, by a subtle law of natural affinity, these compli- cated movements, partly voluntary and partly involuntary, when not interfered with, produce a general effect without any interference with individual laws. The whole of this wonderful mechanism works by the natural laws of pulsa- tive and remiss action. The single pulsing act of each organ with its remiss operation, or that by which the ex- erted organs regain their position, may be illustrated in the repeated movements of opening and shutting the hand. It must be apparent that any disturbance of the periodic and closely related action of the heart, lung^, and glottis must result in injury or destruction to such sensitive organ- ism. If, then, a person's method of speaking be such as interferes with these processes, just in proportion to the de- gree of interference will it be injurious to the general health and to that of the organs themselves, and in the same pro- portion imperfect and ineffective as an expressive agent. 249. The word rhythm implies, by its etymology, a refer- ence to the flow or current of the stream of voice through Measure of Speech, 387 the measure of speech. There are two different modes of emp oying the measures of speech : one proceeds by regu- lar lepetitions or recurrence of the same measure, and is calkd verse; the other presents no regularly ordered succes- sion or arrangement of any of these measures, but employs all, and is called prose. All poetry is based upon either the common or the triple measure, its rhythmus, in either case, consisting for the mos: part of either of these two measures, and constituting eithir common or triple time poetry. EXAMPLE OF COMMON TIME POETRY. Knc w I then thy | self, ^ | 7 pre | sume not | God to | scan ; | •7 The I proper | study | ^^ of 1 man | kind | •y is | man. | EXAMPLE OF TRIPLE TIME POETRY. •^ What a 1 rapturous ] song, | •f When the | glorified | throng | •jf In the I spirit of ] harmony | join. In either style of poetry, other measures besides that giv ng its character to the verse, are occasionally intro- du( ed, and rests of various lengths render the imperfect meisure a necessity. An emphatic measure is also occa- sio lally used to relieve the ear from the monotony of the un ^aried successions of the same measure. :;50. The great art of the poet consists in such a nice adjustment of the different measures, and of the several res:s of the voice, as shall produce an agreeable variety wi hout disturbing too much the regularity of the mech- an sm of his verse. 388 Mui^docJi s Elocution. The difference between the mechanism of prose and verse consists in the indiscriminate employment of all the measures of speech in prose, whereas in verse either the common or triple measure prevails. An agreeable rhythm in prose, however, requires that while there are no fixed responses in the measures, there is a certain regularity in their recur- rence, and in the adjustment of pauses, which produces an effect something akin to the rhythmical flow of verse. The poetical spirit pervading elevated prose naturally demands the harmonious effects of numbers, and an artistic writer will adopt in such cases that rhythmical flow of words which approaches very nearly to the regularity of poetry, and is called numerous prose. In certain states of exaltation, numbers present them- selves so readily to the mind that verses of all kinds may be frequently found in the prose writings of an author. Charles Dickens, in his most imaginative passages, displays so exact an ear for the metrical flow of sound in language that many passages from his novels display a rhythm as regular and beautiful as that of poetry itself. The same is true of Scott, and of our own Irving, and indeed of many of the best prose writers. But the rhythm of prose is necessarily much more varied than that of verse; first, be- cause a verse is included within comparatively small limits, while prose often runs through long periods ; and, secondly, because verse is always in some degree uniform, and flows in one stream, while prose, unless it be varied in its rhyth- mus, offends by monotony. 251. The best poetical rhythmus is that which admits of occasional deviations from the current of accentuation, so ordered that they may not continue long enough to de- stroy the general character of regularity, whilst the most skillfully arranged prose is that constantly showing the be- ginning of a regular rhythmus, or metrical succession, which loses itself in a new series of measures before the ear has Measure of Speech. 389 time to become impressed with ahy determinate order of acceit or quantity. Tlie rhythmical beauty of language arises as much from the pauses or rests of the voice as from the admeasure- men: of the syllables to a certain metrical order. Pauses, properly employed, give an agreeable effect of variety to langaage, dividing the portions of discourse into what are called pausal sections. By varying the number of ac- centual measures between the boundaries of these pauses, an agreeable effect is produced, which is lost in the mo- notcny of more regularly measured divisions. This may be i lustrated by an extract taken from the writings of the Rev. Robert Hall: Without God in the World. " ^ The ex | elusion | •^ of a Su | preme | Being, | ^ and of a | supcrin | tending | providence, | | tends di | rectly | •^ to the de I struction | •^ of | moral | taste. | | | •^ It | robs the | uni- ver^ e I •^ of | all | finished | •^ and con | summate | excel- len( e, | | even in i | dea. | | | "7 The | admi | ration of per act | wisdom and | goodness, | •y for | which we are forr led. | •^ and which | kindles | ^ such un | speakable rap ure | •^ in the | soul, 1 | finding in the | regions of | scept cisi 1 I nothing | ^^ to | which it corres | ponds, | droops j ^ and Ian juishes. | | | •^ In a | world | ^ which pre | sents a | fair spe :tacle | •^ of | order and | beauty, | •^ of a | vast | family, | noi rished | •^ and sup | ported | •^ by an Al | mighty | Par- ent ; | I •^ in a I world, | •^ which | leads the de | vout | mind, ste:) by I step, | •^ to the | contem | plation | •^ of the | 'first fail I •^ and the | first | good, | | "^ the | sceptic | "^ is en | com- pa5 sed with I nothing | •^ but ob ] scurity, ( meanness, | *^ and dis I order. | | | ' When we re | fleet on the | manner | "^ in | which the i | dea of I Deity | •^ is | formed, | | •^ we | must be eon | vinced | ^ thi t I such an i | dea, | intimately | present to the | mind, | mv st I have a most | powerful ef | feet | •^ in re | fining the j 390 Murdoch's Elocution. moral | taste. | | | "^ Com | posed of the | richest | ele- ments, I •^ it em I braces, | ^ in the | character ] "^ of a be | nefi- cent I Parent | *^ and Al | mighty | Ruler, | •^ what | ever is | venerable | "^ in | wisdom, | | •^ what | ever is | awful | •^ in au- | thority, | | ^ what | ever is | touching | •^ in | goodness." | | j The following passage from Dickens, whose writings abound in similar instances, will furnish an example of the charm of rhythmic prose : " Dear, | gentle, | patient, | noble | Nell | was | dead. | *7 7 | A .•. A .-. A .■• A .-. A .•. A .•• A .*. A .-. 7 Her I little | bird, | 7 a | poor 7 | slight 7 | thing, | 7 the | A .-. A .-. A .-. A .-. A A A .-. A pressure of a | finger would have | crushed, 7 | 7 was | stirring | A .-. .-. .-. A .-. .-. .-. A .-. A .-. A .-. nimbly | 7 in its | cage, [ 7 and the | strong | heart | 7 of its | A .-. A .-. .-. A .-. A .-. .-. A •• A .-. A .-. .-. child- I mistress | 7 was | still | 7 and | motionless | 7 for | ever. A .-. 252. From the preceding study of principles and exam pies, the student will now be prepared to understand the following definition of rhythm, in our language, considered in its broadest and most comprehensive sense. Rhythm in speech is a measured succession of sounds in which accent^ quantity^ and pause are so proportioned and arranged as to produce upon the ear an agreeable smooth- ness and regularity of effect. 253. Rhythmus has been well described by a Greek writer as supporting or sustaining the voice. This it does by leading it with an easy step through every variety of melody, stress, quantity, and movement, with that perfect and natural regularity of organic action by which, no matter how rapid or vehement the utterance, the words are pre- vented from stumbling against or running into each other, as it were, and thus thwarting the expectation of both the mind and the ear. Measure of Speech. 391 Within the limits of artistic eifect, therefore, rhythm is an ad and an ornament to utterance, but it will become a defo "mity if made too prominent and obtrusive. Thus, whih the lack of a firmly marked rhythm produces a wan- dering and uncertain effect upon the ear, on the other banc I, the extreme of marking the time or ''beat" of the meaiure too pointedly, and with a jerking accent, offends the iar, resembling a music lesson in which the measure is accompanied by a heavy or exaggerated beat, in order to impiove the pupil whose organ of time is dull. A strongly marked rhythm in reading, especially in verse, will also become a weary monotony if the melody be not diversified to meet the demands of a just variety, and the expressive character of the language. 2j4. A thorough knowledge of the rules governing ver- sification is very necessary in a study of rhythm; this should be studied from a standard text-book of rhetoric. Accent, quantity, and pause being of equal value in rhy hm, the metrical construction of a poem must be un- derstood before it can be well rendered. /. poem must not only be perfect in its form, — and meter alojie, is the mechanical part, — but it must equally charm the ear in delivery. In the recitation of a poem, we add to its iccents, or metrical feet, for the purpose of expression, tim^, and pause; this never interferes with the accent, for the reason that the accent always marks the strong beat of the measure. In Iambic verse the scansion would be : Advanced | in view | they stand | a hor | rid front. | * (Conforming to the rules of rhythm, the same line would be rendered thus : •y/.d I vancedin | view | *^ they | stand | •^a | horrid | front. •^ | The teacher should allow the student to write a line upon the bla:kboard in one of these forms of verse, and then mark it as it sh( uld be read. 392 Murdoch' s Elocution. Anapestic meter moves in the same manner; trochaic and dactylic, beginning with the accented syllable, move with the rhythm. For a complete study of prosodial and rhythmical accent combined, see the ' ' Revision of Vocal Culture j^' by the Rev. Francis T. Kussell. •7 "My I Lords, •^ | •^ "^ | I am a | mazed, I •^ •^ | yes, ndy ] Lords, •f I I am a | mazed at his | Grace's | speech. I 7 *? I "f 7 I •^ The I noble | Duke | can not | look be | fore him, | •^ be | hind him, I •f or on I either | side of him, | •f with | out •^ | seeing | some •f I noble | peer •f | *^ who | owes his | seat •f | in this | house I •f to his sue | cessful ex | ertions | *^ in the pro | fession | •^ to I which •^ I I be I long. "^ | t^ t^ | t^ t^ | Does he not | feel •jf I that it is as | honorable | •y to | owe it to | these | •^ as to | being the | accident | "^ of an | accident ? | "^ «7 | "^ «7 | •^ To | all these I noble | Lords, •jf | •^ the | language of the | noble | Duke •y I is as j applicable ] and as in | suiting | •^ as it | is to my | self •jf I "^ "^ I •^ •^ I But I I do not I fear •^ | ^^ to | meet it | single [ •f and a | lone. •^ | •^ •^ | •^ •^ | No one | venerates the | peerage | more than | I do. | •^ "^ | But, my | Lords, •^ | •^ I | must •^ \ say •7 I •^ that the 1 peerage | •f so | licited | me, | •^ "^ | •^ not ] I | •/thelpeerage. |-7«7|7«;| " Nay, •^ I more, | "^ "f | •^ I | can and | will ty | say ^^ | •^ "^ | that, as a | peer of | parliament, | •^ •^ | "^ as | speaker | •^ of this | right I honorable | house, | ^7 "^ | "^ as | keeper of the | great *^ \ seal, •^ I •^ "^ I •^ as I guardian | ^ of his | majesty's | con- science, I •y •^ I •^ as I Lord | High | Chancellor of | England, | •7 •^ I nay, •^ | even in | that | character | •^ a | lone, | •^ in | which the | noble | Duke •^ | •^ would | think it an af | front •^ | •f to be con | sidered, | •^ but | which | character | none can de I ny "^ | me, "^ j "^ •^ | as a | Man, •^ | •^ 1 | am at this | mo- ment I as re | spectable, | •/ *f I 7 ^ ^^^ 7 I ^^^^^ ^^ I ^^^' f I •7 as I much re | spected, | ^ as the | proudest | peer «7 | •^ I | now I look I down upon." | •/ •/ | — Lord Thur low's Reply to the Duke of Grafton. " Most I potent, | grave, | •^ and | reverend | signiors, | •7 My I very | noble, | "^andap | proved | good | masters; | •^•y | That I have | taken a | way | •^ this | old man's | daughter, | Measure of Speech. 393 It is I most I true ; | •^ "^ | true, | •^ I have | married her ; | •f T le I very | head and | front | •^ of my of | fending | •7 Hath I this ex | tent, [ •^ •^ | no | more. I •/ "7 7 7 | Rude I •^ am | I in j my | speech, | •7 Aid I Uttle I bless'd | «7 with the | set | phrase of ] peace; ] •7 FDr I since | these | arms of | mine | •^ had | seven | years | pith, I •7 Til I now, I •^ some | nine | moons | wasted, | •^ they have | us'd I •f Their | dearest | action | *^ in the | tented | field; | •7 And I little | •^ of this | great | world | •^ can | I | speak | Mo] e than per j tains | •t to | feats of | broil | ^ and | battle ; | •7 A nd, I therefore, | little | •f shall I | grace my | cause, | •f III I speaking ] ^ for my | self: ] "^ "^ | yet | •^ by your | pa- tience, I I will a I round, | •^ un | varnish'd | tale de | liver." ] — '* Othello,'' Shakespeare. "Once I more | unto the | breach | dear | friends! \m^\ once | more; | "f 7 | •7 ( )r I close the | wall up | ^ with our | English | dead. | y^ \ •f In I peace I ^ "f I */ there's | nothing | so be | comes a | man | •7 As I modest | stillness | •^ and hu | mility. | •^ 7 | Bu ; when the | blast of | war | •f "t | blows in our | ears, | Then | imitate the | action | ^ of the | tiger: | Sti Ten the | sinews, | •f •t | summon | up the | blood, | •7 Dis I guise ] fair | nature | •* with | hard | favor'd | rage. | TI en I lend the | eye | •t a | terrible | aspect ; | •7» I Let it I pry | thro' the | portage of the | head, | Li ce the | brass | cannon ; | let the | brow o'er | whelm it, j •7 Vs I fearfully, | as doth a | galled rock | •/ ^ | •7 3'er 1 hang and 1 jutty | *^ his con | founded | base •7 ^ 1 Swill'd with the \ wild | "^ and | wasteful | ocean." | *^ •j — Address of Henry V to his Troops. 394 Murdoch's Elocution, " Hail ! j holy | Light, | | offspring of | Heav'n | first | born, ( I Or of the E | ternal | | co-e | ternal | beam, | | May I ex | press | thee | un | blam'd? | ] •^ Since | God | •} is I light. I •7 And I never | •^ but in | unap | proached | light | Dwelt from e | ternity, | [ dwelt | then in | thee, | I Bright I effluence | "^ of | bright | essence | incre | ate. | | •7 Or I hears't thou | rather, | | pure e | thereal | stream, | •j Whose I fountain | who shall | tell ? | | •^ Be | fore the | sun, I •^ Be I fore the | Heav'ns | thou | wert, | | and at the | voice | •f Of I God I I as with a ( mantle, | •f didst in | vest | •f The I rising | world of | waters | | dark | •^ and j deep, | j Won from the | void | *^ and | formless | infinite." | ] — " Apostrophe to Light,'^ MiLTON. POETIC EXPRESSION IN PROSE. "Then | sang | Moses | •y and the | children of | Israel | this | song I •^ unto the | Lord, | •^ and | spake, | saying, | •^ I will | sing unto the | Lord, | •y for he hath | triumphed | gloriously: | I I •^ the I horse | *^ and his | rider | *^ hath he | thrown into the I sea. | | | •t The | Lord | •^ is my | strength and | song, | •^ and I he is be | come my sal | vation; | | he is | my | God, j •7 and I I will pre | pare him an | habi | tation; | | •f my | father's | God, j "^ and | I will ex | alt him. | | | •/ The \ Lord | •^ is a I man of | war : | •^ Je | hovah | •^ is his | name. | | | Pharaoh's | chariots ] •y and his | host | •^ hath he | cast into the I sea : | | | •f his | chosen | captains | also | •^ are | drowned in the | Red | Sea. | | | •^ The | depths | •^ have | covered them : I I •? they | sank into the | bottom | •y as a | stone. | | | Thy I right | hand, | O | Lord, | is be | come | glorious in | power : I | thy | right | hand, | O | Lord, | "f hath [ dashed in | pieces | •? the | enemy. | | I •f And in the | greatness of thine | excellency | thou hast | over | thrown | them | *^ that | rose up a I gainst thee ; | | "f thou | sentest forth thy j wrath, | •^ which con I sumed them, | "^ as | stubble. [ | | •t And with the | blast of thy I nostrils | •^ the | waters | •^ were | gathered to | gether, I I •f the I floods I stood | upright | •^ as an | heap, ] ^ and the I depths | •^ were con | gealed | •y in the | heart of the | Measure of Speech. 395 sea. I I I •t The | enemy | said, | I will pur | sue, \ I will | over I take, | I will di [ vide the | spoil ; | •^ my | lust | •^ shall be I %i tisfied | •y up | on them : j | "^ I will | draw my | sword, | •7 my I hand shall des | troy them. | | | Thou didst | blow with thy I \/ind, | •^ the | sea | covered them : | | •^ they | sank as | lead I ^ in the | mighty | waters." | | | — Song of Moses, Exodus xv, i. "•f The I armaments, | •^ which | thunderstrike | •^ the | walls | «y Cf I rock-built | cities, | | bidding | nations | quake, | •r And I monarchs | | tremble | *^ in their | capitals, | I *^ The I oak le | viathans, | •^ whose | huge | ribs | make | •7' 1 heir | clay ere j ator | •^ the | vain | title | take, | •jf C f I lord of I thee, | ^ and | arbiter of ] war! | These are thy | toys, | | and as the | snowy | flake, | •^ They | melt into thy ] yeast of | waves, | •^ which | mar | •7 /. I like the Ar ] mada's | pride, | or | spoils of | Trafal- | gar. I I •^ Thy I shores are | empires, ] ] chang'd in | all | save | thee, I I iy As I Syria, [ | Greece, | | Rome, [ | Carthage, | | what are ] they? | •7 Thy I waters | wasted them ] | while they were | free, | I tf And I many a | tyrant | since: ] | •^ their | shores | 7 o I bey I •7 The 1 stranger, | slave, | •f or [ savage; | ^ their de | cay | •^ Has I dried up | realms | •y to | deserts, [ | not | so | thou, I I Ur I changeable, | | save to thy | wild | waves ] play: | | Ti ne | writes | no | wrinkle ] "^ on | thine | azure | brow ; | I inch as ere ] ation's | dawn | 7 be | held, | | thou | roUest | now. I I I Tl ou I glorious | mirror, | where the Al | mighty 's | form | Glasses it | self in I tempests; I •^ in I all | time, | C: Im I ^ or con \ vuls'd, | [ •/ in | breeze, I ^^ or | gale, | ^ or I storm, | I Icing the | pole, | or in the | torrid | clime | Dirk I heaving; | | boundless, | | endless, | | *^ and sub- | hme." 1 I — " The Ocean,^' Byron. Chapter XXXII. Accent. *55' When a word of two or more syllables is pro- iidunced simply without significance or emotion, there is always at least one of the syllables distinguished from the others by certain audible means : this distinction constitutes accent. All syllables are either long (indefinite or mutable), or short (immutable) ; the first admitting prolongation of time ; the second can not be lengthened without a mispronuncia- tion of the syllable or word. The syllable of a word can not be given on an interval wider than the second without rendering the word in some degree significant or expressive; simple accentual distinc- tion, then, can not be effected by the employment of any of the wider intervals of pitch. But the application of force and time, or of stress and quantity, in connection with the interval of a second, are the appropriate means of accentuation. These elements, when conjoined with this interval, are necessarily moderate, and their degree on the accented syllable is only relatively greater than that affect- ing the other syllables of the word. Radical stress, quantity, and the loud concrete are in general the means for producing accent on immutable, in- definite, and mutable syllables. To illustrate : in the word particular, the syllable tic being incapable of extension on the concrete, can only be brought under special notice by a sharp ictus of radical stress, combined with a discrete (396) Accent, 397 rise of a tone. All immutable syllables receive accentual distil. ction in this way, as in the following words: Mc^tory, Ic^tus, Detect^ Dock^et, Tickle, Pick^le, Convict^, Tick^et, Knact'', It^erate, Pic^ture, Ac^tion. Tl le word beware' illustrates the application of the tefnporal accent, or that produced by time or quantity. Hire the accented syllable is indefinite, and receives no addi;ion of force to distinguish it from the adjacent sylla- bles, but simply a slight extension of time. The greater number of indefinite syllables take the temporal accent; of such are, ^o^ly, Glo^rious, Dole^ful, HLarm^ful, Need^ful, Groan''ing, Sale^ful, Per'Tume, Game^some. It will be observed that the syllables not under the acc( nt are always more or less slurred, or thrown into com- pare tive insignificance, both as regards force and time, whether they be long or short. The word perfume', as a verli, is accented on the second syllable, and is extended in lime; the first syllable is uttered lightly, and with a rapi d concrete. Let the accent be reversed, as in the noun perfume ; the first syllable is pronounced with a clear per- cus: ion ; the second, although retaining its long vowel sou id, will be very lightly and quickly uttered. 256. The loud concrete may be employed to accent such woids as beg'ging, godHy, etc., in which the syllables are of suft cient length to obviate the necessity of the radical per- cusiion to give them accentual prominence. This, how- ever, may be added to the loud concrete in accenting mu ;able syllables. The accent of the radical stress is not, the 1, confined to immutable syllables, nor the loud con- cre;e to mutable. 398 Murdoch's Elocution. Radical stress may be given on a syllable of long quan- tity, as in the word to'tal^ while many long syllables, having the temporal accent, unite with it the force of the loud concrete, as in the yf or ^s revenge^ ^ anoint' ^ lo'calj dole^ful, revolu'tion, etc. In the last instance, the indefinite sylla- ble lu makes a radical descent of a tone from the line of the other syllables. This difference of a tone in radical pitgh, either rising or falling, often aids in effecting the accentual impression. Accent may thus be defined as the fixed but inexpres- sive distinction of one syllable from the rest, in every word of two or more syllables, by the moderate application of force or time, or of both, in connection with the interval of a simple second. 257. In the ordinary treatment of accent, it is resolved into mere force, but, we have seen, it is by no means de- pendent on this element alone; in fact, the most frequent form of accent is the temporal, as in English words the accented syllables are generally the longest. Accent is the source of much variety in speech, and forms, when adjusted in accordance with the law of organic action, the measure of rhythmus of both poetry and prose. When a word is invested with some particular signifi- cance of meaning in its relation to other words, it becomes emphatic, and requires some more prominent display of force or other vocal elements tl^an are employed to produce simple accentual distinction. This display, however, is always effected on the accentual syllable, which may, there- fore, be regarded as the seat of life; in a word, emphasis may be said to occasionally enforce or adorn the accent, when the word to which it belongs is used to convey a par- ticular meaning in its relation to thought or passion. I Chapter XXXIII. Emphasis. 25 S. Emphasis is the distinctive utterance of one or mort words, by means of which they are made to impress the Iiearer with the full effect of their various degrees and peculiarities of meaning. The word emphasis means, Hter- ally, ''speaking into," and implies a recognition of that powi:r which spoken language or true eloquence possesses, of entering into both ear and mind, or heart, as occasion requ res. A ; accent acts among syllables, so emphasis acts among worc.s, the former serving to give distinctness and unity to wore s, the latter to give distinctness and unity to the thoughts or emotions of sentences, by pointing out and en- forcing the peculiar meaning of many of the words which com )ose them. E nphasis may, then, be regarded as the peculiar distinc- tion of individual words, for the purpose of enforcing their thought and passion through the agency of the more im- pres ive of the vocal elements^ comprehended under the seve-al heads of pitch, time, force, quality, etc., or of their com )inations. T le object of emphasis being to elevate words into im- port mce, it may be applied throughout the current of lan- gua^e to single words, as they stand related in sense to several words in succession; or it may be employed on solit iry interjections; or on one or two words forming an excl mation, for the purpose of enforcing their sentiment or passion. (399) 400 Murdoch! s Elocution. 259. It now remains to inquire what gives a word em- phatic value, or what constitutes its claim to emphasis or unusual distinction. First. — Words are emphatic when they possess a mean- ing which points out or distinguishes something as distinct or opposite to some other thing. This opposition consti- tutes an antithesis, which may be either expressed or un- derstood. As an example of the antithesis expressed, we have the following couplet from Pope : **'Tis hard to say, if greater lack of skill Appears vcs. writings or xn judging ill." Writing and judging are both emphatical, standing directly contrasted. An antithesis understood is exemplified by the following : ** Approach, and read, for thou canst read, the lay, Grav'd on the stone, beneath yon aged thorn." Here the words thou canst are emphatical, as they are opposed to / can not, which are understood. In some cases, the antithesis is not so obvious, as in the following, in which Marcus Brutus, in Addison's *' Cato,'^ expresses his indignation at the behavior of Caesar : "I am tortured even to madness, when I think Of the proud victor." That is, not only when I hear and speak of him, but even when I think of him. Also, in the following lines: "'Twas base and poor, unworthy of a man, To forge a scroll so villainous and loose, — And mark it with a noble lady's name." Emphasis, 401 Hire the antithesis to man understood is sotne baser creat.ire. That is, it might be worthy of some baser creature, but not of a manly man. 260. Whenever the contrariety or antithesis is expressed, we liave no difficulty in knowing which are the emphatic wore s, but when it is only understood, it is more difficult to distiiguish. The best means of determining the emphasis in such sentences, is to take the word we suppose to be empiatic, and try whether it will admit of those words being supplied which an emphasis on it would suggest. If \/-e find that this paraphrasing the sentence serves to briny the meaning out clearly, as it seems to be intended by the author, we may be sure the emphasis is well plac id. \\e may, then, take this as a general rule: Whenever words are contrasted with, contradistinguished from, or op- posed to, other words, they are always emphatical; empha- sis hrough antithesis is the most frequent form. Antithetic emphasis is called single when a contrast is limi :ed to two points, thus : "You were paid \.q fight Alexander, not to rail at him." Ii becomes double or triple emphasis when the contrasts are double or triple, as in the following examples : "I would rather be \\\& first man in that villagey Than the second in Rome.'''' *' He raised a mortal to the skies. She drew an angel downy The emphasis of an expressed antithesis is never so str( ng as that of an antithesis understood, because, in the latter case, the point unexpressed is only made obvious by the strong enforcement of its contrary expressed, which see ns to suggest it. M. E.-34. 402 Murdoch's Elocution, Second. — Words may also be emphatic when they express strong emotion, or enforce an idea which does not imply contrast, but in which the ' ' peculiar eminence of the thought is solely considered." Of these, we have examples in all strong interjections or exclamations, as in the follow- ing examples, the appropriate expression of which has been already described: *«Ye Gods! ye Gods, must I endure all this!" *^ Angels and ministers of grace, defend us!" 261. We also have innumerable instances of the absolute emphasis in words used to announce, designate, or partic- ularize a subject, as thus : **Well, honor is the subject of my story!" **It is my design to give an account of the Italian Opera, and of the progress it has made upon the English stage." There are also many words with simply more than an ordinary meaning, used to state, modify, qualify, etc., which do not suggest contrast, and which yet demand a certain amount of vocal coloring. Third, — Emphasis may be used to supply an ellipsis, and complete to the ear the grammatical construction, or to suggest other words, the meaning of which is implied as belonging to the sense of the word to be emphasized. In this case, the emphasis, by the peculiar significance it gives the word, colors it or charges it, as it were, with the sig- nificance of those the mind would supply in paraphrasing to develop the meaning. Thus, in the admiring exclama- tion of Hamlet : " What a piece of work is a man ! " Emphasis. 403 The word what should, by strong or proper emphasis, express the additional meaning of the word wonderful, and the sentence paraphrased would read thus : "What a wonderful piece of work is a man!" E camples of ellipsis : God knows when we shall meet again. God only knows if we shall ever meet again. Byr proper emphasis, the words omitted are, by strong sugrestion, in the peculiar mode employed, brought before the mind. Fourth. — Words become emphatic when they are used to mark^ the syntactical relations that are somewhat obscured by intervening words or clauses. In the following lines from Collins's '^ Ode to the Passions,'" the words in italics rec( ive emphasis to mark their grammatical relationship : " When cheerfulness, a nymph of healthiest hue, Her bow across her shoulder flung, Her buskins gemmed with morning dew, Blew an inspiring air, — that dale and thicket rung, The hunter's call, to Faun and Dryad known." Here the phrases inspiring air, and hunter's call, are in ap} osition ; but there is an intervening clause, the verb of wh ch might seem to take call as its object. To avoid a reaiing that would put this construction upon the lan- gu:ge, hunter'' s call and the phrase with which it is so clo iely related must both be emphasized. In this case, the second phrase seems to refer the ear back to the for ner, and thus to preserve the connection. 404 Murdochs Elocution, In the following lines of Byron, we find the same neces- sity for an emphatic connection : "And Jura answers, through her misty shroud, Back to the joyous Alps, that call to her aloud." These words or phrases occur between words forming what is termed the emphatic tie. Rush speaks of them as "the flight of the voice." They are rendered parenthetic by being given in more rapid movement, lower pitch, and monotone : "There was a Brutus once that would have brooked (The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome) As easily \ as a king." In the parenthesis we have the flight ; brooked as easily is the emphatic tie. Fifth. — When several words in succession require em- phasis, they form what is called an emphatic phrase. These, when repeated, are called cu?nulative emphasis. We have "examples of the emphatic phrase in the hnes already quoted to illustrate the appealing question : "Judge me, ye Gods! Wrong I mine enemies? And if not so, how could I wrong my bi'other ? '''' "What man could do Is done already, Heaven and earth will witness, If Rome must fall, that we are innocent." "There was a time, then, my fellow citizens, when the Lacedae- monians were sovereign masters both by sea and land, when their troops and forts surrounded the entire circuit of Attica, while this state had not one ship, not one wall.'''' 262. To sum up the preceding view of the several cir- cumstances or conditions demanding emphasis, we have the following : Emphasis. 405 1. The Emphasis of Antithesis, which enforces the thoujjhts or passions of words through contrast. 2. Absolute Emphasis, or the enforcement of thought or passion on one word or a succession of words, from their own pecuhar expressive character, independent of any con- trast with, or opposition to, other words. 3. Emphasis of Ellipsis, which enforces a word for the purpDse of supplying the meaning of others omitted in the cons ruction. 4. The Emphatic Tie, which distinguishes certain words for tie purpose of connecting them upon the ear, to point out their grammatical relations where the syntax is obscure. T( > these may be added : Tlie Emphatic Phrase, which enforces the thought or pass on of several words in close succession in a phrase or clause. 2^3. Emphasis should not be too frequent, nor too pre- cise in detail, — in striving to particularize too much, the gentral effect of significance is weakened. A proper ob- serv ition of the necessity of superior and inferior, as regards the )bject in the presentation of thought or passion by the agei cy of words, will lead us to select the important from the unimportant, and thus help the ear and the mind to perceive the real meaning of the language. In order to arri -e at a just employment of emphasis, we must, then, con; ider the relative value of all words composing language coiT prehended under the following threefold division : 1 Unaccented. 2 Accented. 3 Emphatic. I I almost every sentence there are certain words which rec( ive no more vocal acknowledgment than the unac- cen ;ed syllables of polysyllabic words, unless they have son e unusual or peculiar significance, and, when uttered in coniexion with a word bearing an accent, can not be dis- 4o6 Murdoch! s Elocution, tinguished by the ear from the unaccented syllables of that word. To this class of words belong all conjunctions: as, and^ but^ or, if, etc.; the articles the, an, a; all prepositions, as for, from, with, in; the verb to be, throughout its modifi- cations; and the pronominal adjectives my, his, her, our, some, etc.; also, personal and relative pronouns, such as /, thou, which, who, that, etc.,* when employed for words understood between the speaker and hearer. In fine, all such words as merely connect sentences, denote ordinary relations, express simple existence, and qualify other words, without adding a new idea. These words have been called enclitics, — ''hooked on" to others. To illustrate, take the following sentence as a plain statement of fact: "Censure is the tax a man pays to the public for being eminent." And, if correctly pronounced, it will sound as if it con- tained five polysyllabic words, as follows : "Cen^sure is — the — tax'', a — man — pays'', to — the — pub'^ic, for — being— em^inent. " Although no words in this sentence are emphatic, still those marked with the accent, tax, pays, etc., receive a certain distinction from the other words sinking into the same obscurity as the unaccented syllables. If these link words, however, were given an equal degree of vocal value with the accented words, we should find that the sentence would lack that light and shade which is necessary to convey a clear picture of the thought. Besides words which are emphatic from some peculiarity of meaning, there are, then, always many superior, through accent alone, to the particles and similarly obscure words. In the plainest utterance of thought, therefore, there are differences in the values of words, which subordinate some Emphasis. 407 and elevate others into a certain prominence in con- tras;. 254. The student must not, then, in his study of empha- sis, confound the distinction between words which take vocil prominence from a peculiarity of meaning, and those which have distinction from only a general or ordinary meaning, or more meaning than the particles, connections, etc., for it must be borne in mind that there is a certain force of meaning inherent in the simple verbal forms of the substantives, verbs, and other important parts of speech, suficient to declare, when related in sentences, the ordi- nal y sense of language, without recourse to peculiar sig- nifcance in sound. 'The first degree of distinction, then, between words in sei tences, arises from the importance of the nouns, verbs, etc., over particles and unimportant words. This distinc- tioi naturally takes place on a large proportion of words in every ordinary sentence. [t will also be found that in all cases the accented words attract to them the unaccented words, either preceding or following, most intimately related in sense, thus forming wl at to the ear appears like one long word. Groups of wcrds thus related have been termed oratorical portions of a sentence, or "oratorical words." Thus: •' He ofF-'ers — me some — advice'' which — he — believes'' to— ^be — gODd''." I — have — seen^ — him and — I — think^ — he — corresponds^ with — th J — descrip''tion. Let — us — proceed'' by — recollec''tion. 265. Before passing to that distinction of words called p operly emphatic, I wish to direct the attention to the fact tl at, in the utterance of all language, words which repre- 4o8 Murdoch s Elocution. sent ideas or things with which the hearer is supposed to be acquainted are not naturally the object of communica- tion, and are, therefore, always expressed by such a sub- ordination of effect as is suitable to mark them, rather as an allusion to an idea understood, than as the presentation of a new idea. On the other hand, those things of which our hearers are not fully informed, or which they might possibly miscon- ceive, are brought into such prominence as makes it im- possible for the hearer to overlook or mistake them. If, then, any part of speech in a sentence is understood be- tween the hearer and speaker, or in apposition with some- thing preceding or understood, it loses its ordinary value and falls into comparative obscurity or insignificance. This, of course, does not hold when a word is repeated to en- force the idea, as in the sentence : "Verily, verily^ I say unto you." With this understanding, we will next consider emphatic words. Taking the sentence : "Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution," We would have four *' oratorical words," accentual only, thus: *' Ex^ercise and — tem''perance strength^'en the — constitution." But if the sentence be as follows : ** Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent consti- tution," The word indifferent^ from its peculiar meaning, becomes emphatic, and is raised above the level of the merely ac- centual words of the sentence, Now, as accented words Emphasis. 409 possess the power to attract the connections, etc., that are most closely related to them, so emphatic words possess the sams attractive power for accented words that are inti- mately connected with them, and are similarly subordi- nate. Thus it is, in the preceding sentence, with the word con- stitution, which, while it does not becontfe so obscure as the una:cented words and syllables, is much less prominent than the other accented words of the sentence, and bears the relation of a sort of secondary accent to the emphatic oratorical word. This point is farther illustrated by the following sentence: Avaro — covets — wealth and — not — learning. The point of the statement is the preference of Avaro-^ not that he covets — that being implied by the preference ex- preised — but that he covets — wealth. The verb covets^ the efore, from its subordinate significance in the sentence, takis the rank of the secondary accent in the oratorical wo]d, similarly to the noun constitution in the preceding sen :ence. Thus, the sentence given would read as follows : ' Ex^ercise and — tem^perance strength^en even — zxi— indifferent — con ititution." ' 'his sentence exhibits the threefold distinction as to the relitive value of words. A word either preceding or fol- lov ing an emphatic word is apt to be, through the very im )ort of the emphasis, in a measure understood, and is,, therefore, thrown into comparative obscurity. 166. In very strong emphasis, there may be a secondary errphasis in the oratorical word, which has a positive em- ph %tic value of its own, and which yet is so closely related an 1 subordinated to the stronger as to be attracted to it, into one group. In this case, however, the relative values M. E.— 35. 4io Murdoch's Elocution. remain in about the same proportion as before. This is exemplified in the following passionative lines: ♦'If — thou — dost — SLANDER — ^r and torture — me^ never — pray more." Again, words th|t do not represent an idea supplied by the emphasis, retain, in connection with the emphatic word, their full accentual value, as in the instance of the noun rage in the following lines from Pope's Prologue to " CatOj'' arranged here according to the explanations already given : *' Brit^ons, attend''! Be — worth^ like — this approved'', And— show'' you — have — the — vir''tue to^be — moved''. With — honest scorn the— ^rst — famed — Cato — viewed Rome learn''ing— arts'' from — Greece'', whom — she — subdued^; Our'' — scene preca''riously subsists'' too^ long'' On — French translation, and — Italian song''. Dare'' to — have — sense — yourselves assert'' the — stage; Be — ^justly warm'd'' with — your — own'' native — rage ; Such'' — plays alone'' should — please'' a — British — ear, As — Cato's self had — not disdained^ to — hear''." The words marked with the accent are of about equal relative value, — accentual. Honest scorn is expressive, ex- pressing an implied antithesis (viewed not only with dislike, but scorn). The word first is also emphatic, pointing out Cato, the Censor, in opposition to Cato, the hero of the Prologue. Yourselves is strongly emphatic, as opposed to otJiers understood. The word native is highly emphatic, as opposed to foreign understood. But rage is too significant a word to be lightly pronounced, and takes color from native. Walker says, ''If we pronounce the accented sylla- ble stronger, the unaccented will be strong likewise;" e. g., ^^ Forward, the Light Brigade." Here ward borrows force from For, and it becomes an oratorical word. Emphasis. 4 1 26 7. The relation of the emphatic words to others of lesser value is further illustrated by the following extract from a speech of Lord Mansfield's, arranged in the same manaer as the preceding: "I — am — sure'', were — the — noble — Lords'' as — well — acquainted as — / — am with — but — half—\\i^ — difficulty and — delays — occasioned in — the — courts^ of jus''tice under — the — pretence^ of priv^ilege, they —would — not, nay'', they — could — not oppose this bill.'''' Here, it will be seen, the emphatic word wdl naturally attracts the word acquaitited, the latter being in a sense understood; while half attracts difficulty in the same way, in addition to the several intimately related monosyllables, maV ing an oratorical word of eight syllables. Delays is em- pha;ic, meaning not only difficulties (understood) but also delays. The italics indicate emphasis, while the simple accent shows that the remaining oratorical words are sim Dly the accentual groups of the plain current of speech. Tht last three words are instances of what are called simple ora orical words; i. e., having no enclitics. This arises her J from the balance of value being about equal between the words, each having an individual importance not to be yie^ded to either of the others. The preceding examples wil show how comparatively few words in the current of ordinary discourse become positively emphatic. 268. In the language of strong passion, the frequency of emphasis is of course increased proportionally to the increased excitement in the state of mind, which naturally enl Drees a greater number of words. Thus, in the follow- ing instances of highly impassioned language, the emphasis fals frequently, as: 'Back to — thy — punishment, false — fugitive, and — to — thy — spe ;d add — wings. ^^ •' Whence and — 7jvhat art — thou execrable — shape." 412 Murdoch's Elocution. «« If — thou — dost — slander her, and — torture — me, Never pray more : abandon — all — remorse ; On — horror's — head horrors accumulate-. Do — deeds — to — make — heaven — weep^ all — earth — amaz'dy For — nothing— c^.vis,i — thou to — damnation — add, Cr^a/^r— than— that. ' ' 269. Such a treatment of language as is here described, not only facilitates the vocal presentation of its meaning, by preserving those correct proportions as to greater and less in the value of words, by which the thought or passion is made to stand out clearly to the mind, but also, by affording constant opportunities for pauses between the ora- torical words, it places them more strikingly upon the ear, adding at the same time to the ease of delivery by allowing for constant recovery of the breath. Every strongly emphatic oratorical word, in fact, de- mands a pause as an organic necessity, arising from the necessary expenditure of breath on a collection of sounds, one of which, at least, is forcible. For this reason, in- deed, emphasis may be considered the key to pausing in sen- tences. See ^ 200. Unless language is very rapid, and in many of the words slurred, as in conversation, the accentual portions of a sentence generally demand a brief pause, also, as in the following emphasis: " Avaro, I who — is— a— miser, | vi^ishes — for — wealth I and — large — possessions." Sometimes, however, in more familiar utterance, two oratorical portions will be thrown together between a pause with much the effect of two accents. To illustrate: •« I — will— cer^tainly— wait^ — on— you || at — an— early— opportunity." Emphasis. 4 1 3 2 70. Emphasis proper is to be regarded as the extraordi- nary enforcement of the thought or passion of words by the more marked degrees of stress, wider intervals, extended waves, and pecuHar qualities of voice, for the purpose of exp-essing strong contradistinction or impressive degrees of emction, etc. Accentual Emphasis, on the other hand, will be the term applied to that moderate distinction of syllables effected by the extension of the temporal accent on the wave of the second, accompanied with that form of median stress called the temporal pressure, or by the final pressure on the interval or wave of a second, or by a clear, but not forcible, radical stress; — all of which give words a dis- tinctive character, without suggesting an antithesis or indi- cating any peculiar or significant meaning. itlthough the simple accentuation of words, as they stand disconnected from other words as the verbal signs of isolated ideas, is effected only by the radical stress, the loui concrete, and the slight temporal extension on the wa 'e of the second, still the accentuation of words in con- nected discourse may, by means of final stress, in connec- tio]i with the simple second or its waves, fulfill the deiiands of expressive vocal coloring without passing be}ond accentual limits, or the limits of moderation and dignity of the diatonic melody. A good example of the merely accentual emphasis is exliibited on the line from Byron used to illustrate variety in stress. See ^225. The analysis of the constituents of thii emphasis is there explained. ** Roll on, thou — deep and — dark blue ocean, roliy $7 1. Expressed antithesis often requires no more than ac< entual distinction, as in the following : Prospei/ity — gains — friends, but — adver^sity tries them." 414 Murdoch's Elocution. Here, friends and them both belong to the class of words understood, and fall into a subordinate position; gains and tries form with them simply an accentual word, with the temporal distinction on the first syllable. 272. Marking every important word in a sentence as strongly emphatical, and bringing the unaccented words into undue prominence, is the cause of that unnatural mouthing of language so offensive to good taste, which, while it gives a bombastic and turgid character to common words, lessens the attention to those which really deserve extraordinary distinction. Morever, the effort to be too significant or impressive, not only wearies the ear, but often misleads the under- standing by suggesting contrasts not intended, and ideas not to be implied, for, where emphasis does not aid in develop- ing the meanings it generally vitiates or distorts it. On the other hand, the connectives and other obscure words, where correctly pronounced, serve as the neutral background, as it were, to accentual distinctions, while both these and the accentual words form the less vivid color against which the striking effects of emphasis are brought into strong relief. Examples of Emphasis Classified according to their Predominant Elements of Effect. bold, imperative shouting. * To arms ! to arms ! to arms !' they cry." Awake ! awake ! Ring the alarm bell : — Murder and treason ! " Quality, full orotund. Force, — impassioned, very loud. Pitch,— high. Movement, — quick. Stress, — thorough. Intervals, — wide and unequal waves. Emphasis. 415 REVENGE. Hid all his hairs been lives, my great revenge H xd stomach for them all." 1 that the slave had forty thousand lives ! O le is too poor, too weak for my revenge ! " Quality, — intensely aspirated oro- tund. Force, — fiercely impassioned. Pitch, — low. Movement, — slow. Stress, — vanishing. Intervals, — downward fifths and octaves. SORROW. ' T tiy sad, sweet hymn at eve, the seas along, — Oh ! the deep soul it breathed ! the love, the woe, The fervor, poured in that full gush of song ! " Quality, — pure orotund. Force, — subdued. • Pitch, — low. Movement, — slow. Stress, — median. Intervals, — semi tonic, with waves. ECSTATIC JOY. Shout, shout around me! 1 et me hear thy shout, 1 hou happy shepherd boy ! " Quality, — pure orotund. Force, — impassioned, shouting. Pitch, — high. Movement, — lively. Stress, — loud concrete. Intervals, — wide waves and l tremor. SIMPLE NARRATIVE. ^ord Ronald brought a lily white doe 'o give his cousin, Lady Clare." Quality, — natural. Force, — light. - Pitch, — middle. Movement, — moderate. Stress, — unimpassioned radical. Diatonic melody. 4i6 Murdoch! s Elocution. WRATH, OR FIERCE ANGER. Back ! to thy punishment, false fugitive ! " Out, dunghill ! dar'st thou brave a nobleman ? " Quality, — harsh aspirated oro- tund. Force, — impassioned, very loud. Pitch, — low, as in deep and in- tense emotion. Movement, — quick, as in intense anger. Stress, — r a d i c a 1 impassioned, fiercest form. Intervals, — bold, downward. AWE. ' My heart is awed within me, when I think Of the great miracle that still goes on In silence round me : — the per- petual work Of thy creation, finished yet renewed forever ! " Quality, — orotund, lightly aspi- rated. Force, — subdued, by deep emo- tion. i Pitch, — very low, as in profound yet tranquil emotion. Stress, — median. Intervals, — prevalent downward, and waves of a second. ^ Movement, — very slow. Every selection should be carefully analyzed, as in the preceding studies, with reference to the movements of the voice to be employed. For exercises in emphasis, refer to passages in Force, and its different degrees, — Stress, Quality, etc. 273. The difficulty does not, as a general thing, lie so much with readers or speakers in the placing of their emphasis, as in the unvaried employment of some partic- ular means for all cases. Many persons, for example, either hammer or puncture every emphatic word with a Emphasis, 417 sharp radical stress, thus annihilating both beauty and pro- priety^ in expression. In fact, the idea so generally obtains that emphasis is force ^ or stress alone, that the claims of quartity as the other great essential in distinction is too oftei ignored. Tlie beauty as well as the utility of emphasis must be considered by the artistic reader; therefore, variety in the forms of emphatic distinction, obtained through the use, not only of stress, but of time, quality, and intonation, or of their several combinations, should be a primary consid- erat on in seeking to obtain agreeable and natural effects; while gradation in degree^ according as the thought, senti- mert, or passion shall call for the greater or less enforce- mert, is the other great point of effect to be held in view in the application of this vivifying principle. 274. As a further illustration that the words not under the accent bear the same relation to the sentence with the unaccented syllables of single words, we will find that the sou ids of their elements are affected in the same manner. Thus, in the following example, le — offers vac some — advice which — he — believes to — be — good, e, in me, is as unprotracted a sound as e in devout. ^Many words suffer a similar corruption of their vowel SOI nds from distinct to obscure, as in the case of the un- ac( ented syllables of many single words pointed out in the prt ceding reference. Of this class are of, and, the, from, then, can, are, shall, etc. Others again retain the distinct sounds of their vowels, although uttered with the rapid CO icrete of similar unaccented syllables ; of such are by, my, thy, it, you, your, he, 7ne, she, etc! [n extremely colloquial utterance, even some of the di tinct sounds here named become obscure, as in my, you, ycur, which become respectively almost like the sound of 4i8 Murdoch's Elo action . y, in dainty, ye the same as the not preceding a vowel, ("an indefinite sound," says Smart, "not to be specified on paper,") and yer in lawyer. The discretion of the speaker will lead him to proper variations in familiar conversation. In enforcing too great nicety or precision in articulation, the unaccented syllables of words, and unaccented monosyllables, are apt to be given undue distinctness, and thereby raised above their proper vocal value in the word or sentence, thus produc- ing pedantry or mouthing. The following stanza sometimes is effective in drawing attention to the prominence often given the unimportant words : "The current is oft evinced by straws, And the course of the wind by the flight of a feather; So a speaker is known by his ands and his ors. These stitches that fasten his patchwork together." "The sounds of all the vowels of unaccented and short sylla- bles," says Webster, "are so nearly alike that it must be a nice ear which distinguishes the difference in the last syllable of such words as altar, alter, murmur, manor, manner, satyr, etc. In words of this class, if the accent is laid on the proper syllable, and the vowel of that syllable properly pronounced, the pronunciation of the word will doubtless be correct." The same may be said to apply to the oratorical word, whether formed by accent or emphasis. In the attempt to utter with distinctness all the syllables of the language, the articulation is sometimes allowed to interfere with the natural pulsation and remiss action of the organs. See ^243. This is, in many cases, due to the imperfect manner in which *the phonic system is taught. I- call especial attention to this, not to depreciate the value of articulative distinctness, but to warn the pupil against sacrificing the natural attributes of our tongue, existing in Emphasis. 419 accent and measure^ to an undue enforcement of articulative preci iion, a tendency towards which exists in the exagger- ated pronunciation, now much in vogue, of such words as cutor, educator, etc., which gives the unaccented and naturally obscure sound of the final syllable almost the same vocal prominence as the syllable rightfully bearing the accent.* *Ior further studies in emphasis and expression, the student is referrad to '■'■Revision of Vocal Cuiture,'"'' by Rev. F. T. Russell, also 10 " Hill's Essay on the Dramatic Passions," to be found in the author's ^'- Plea for Spoken Language.'''' Chapter XXXIV. Interjections ajtd Exclamatory Sentences. n 275. Interjections or exclamations may, be said to con- stitute an epitome of all expression, as they compress into a single word or phrase all, and sometimes more than all, of the meaning, force, and impressiveness that could be conveyed by the merely literal character of an entire sen- tence. Indeed, many interjections and exclamations may be regarded as elliptical sentences, — the ellipsis being the effect of a quick and forcible expression of feeling or passion which does not wait for literal words, but vocally concentrates the meaning and force of the words omitted upon the brief utterance. They are the nearest approach in speech to the natural inarticulate language of man.* There may be as many kinds of interjections and excla- mations as there are modes of feeling and passion ; thus, they may be said to cover the entire gamut of expression, every mental energy and passion being illustrated by their various uses in composition. They may be found in all outbursts of Joy, grief, rage, hatred, love, fear, terror, etc., as O! Alas! Alack! Mercy! O God! Heavenly powers ! Angels and ministers of grace defend us! Help! help! Ho! Look! Lo! Behold! Save mt\ Nothing will better serve to illustrate the aggregation of the several elements of expression in producing one effect *See Interjectional Theory of Language, author's '' Plea for Spoken Language.''^ (420) Interjections and Exclamations. 421 than a study of exclamations. One element, it is true, may, by its dominant character, usurp the attention by its proninence to the ear, producing the prevailing effect in appropriate utterance. 2; 6. Thus, force, pitch, time, and quality, the prime char- acte-istics of all effective speech, may be heard in one com Dined effort of impassioned utterance, as in the imper- ative exclamation of irresistible authority and fierce pas- sion in the word ""Begone!" uttered by an enraged superior to an irritating inferior. In this single word, as it burets upon the ear, we have a combination of all the effects of loud or extreme force, low pitch, wide downward inteval, prolonged time, thorough, radical, or final stress, and orotund quality. All of these functions of voice are blei ded in the utterance of the single word, or, rather, in its accented syllable; and the effect produced upon the ear depends on the combination of all these vocal agents, mel ;ed and welded into one lava mass of passion. 1 he voice, impelled by the moving power of mind, in- stigated by one burst of emotion, sends the whole mass of conglomerated elements compressed into one syllabic utter- anc i, as a weapon hurled at the offender. He who dis- chages it, acts under the influence of an instinct which mal es him deal his verbal blow in the spirit which Milton attr butes to his angel champion in combat, swaying his sword for the blow "which should not need repeat." / similar instance of the powerfully emphatic character of ;. single exclamation is to be found in the authoritative con mand of Othello, uttered to part the combatants en- gag 3d in the lawless brawl : "Hold! on your lives!" 1 [ere it is not alone the mere loudness of the word Ho d! which gives it commanding power, but an explosive opt ning, wide, down-sweeping intonation, and bold, round, 422 Murdoch's Elocution. orotund quality, the natural voice of military authority. The emphasis of expression, in this case, is nothing less than the union of all these elements of utterance. If even a single one of them be omitted, the expressive result is defective and unnatural. The genuine burst of strong emotion instinctively demands the union of all its audible effects in one thunder tone of utterance, which overpowers the ear, quells the heart, and compels obedience. 277. As exclamations are usually forcible expressions of emotions, they are best expressed by the downward intonation, either concrete or discrete, or in waves termi- nating downward, still some of the lighter and more ad- mirative forms of exclamation may be executed on the rising intervals. The wide discrete descent would take place on such words as Shocking! Bitter! Wretched! Hateful! when uttered as impassioned exclamations. The moderate temper of the sentiment expressed in the following exclamation might take the form of a downward interval, or direct wave of the second, third, or, if more plaintive, of the semitone: «*0 withered truth!" As the downward intervals are the appropriate intonation of strong exclamatory emotion or emphasis, expressive of surprise, wonder, fear, distress, deep sorrow, so the up- ward movements are often used to express the tender, pathetic, and joyous emotions, as in the following expres- sion of joyous thanksgiving : ** • Great God!^ she cried, 'he's safe! the battle's won!"* " God be praised! the march of Havelock ! " The shortest exclamation, like the shortest interrogative sentences, consists of a monosyllabic word, and this may Interjections and Exclamations. 423 be almost any part of speech, excepting, perhaps, the artide, preposition, or conjunction. This serves to set the power of vocal expression in the strongest light, for it seeris to produce almost the effect of speaking without woris. From the monosyllable, the exclamation varies in extent through all degrees of ellipsis to the full syntax of a sentence, though few sentences are not abridged by the intensity of concentrated passion. The utterance of emotional language of an intense char- acter is one of the most effective means of securing that union of force and precision of articulation which all im- passioned expression requires. The combination of intense force and exact articulation serves to give life and charac- ter to sentiment by giving keen edge to language as the instrument of thought and feeling. This effect we find to be greatly heightened when the expression of emotion is, as t were, interpreted by the very sound of the component elements of words as they strike upon the ear. Hence, the effect of the explosive utterance and aspirated charac- ter of such interjections as Bah, so expressive of ridicule anc contempt. Pah! of disgust. Pooh! of contempt. Hah! of startling surprise. Tut! and Pshaw! of impa- tiei ice. :;78. The following exercises will, therefore, be of two- fol'l value to the student, and should be carefully practiced with every form of expression of which they are capable, and which their various verbal forms indicate as appro- priite. For example, the simple exclamation Ha! may be varied through every form of expression of which lan- gu ige is capable. Interrogation, surprise, acquiescence, lo\e, hate, aversion, terror, fear, amazement, etc. The student's knowledge of the elements of expression, already studied in detail, must guide him in adapting the sirgle words, and those of the exclamatory sentences gi^ en, to their appropriate forms of utterance. 4^4 Murdoch's Elocution. Interjections. Interjections are monosyllabic in form, and spontaneous : they burst instantaneously from the organs. They should be practiced on the concrete intervals of all degrees, and on the waves, as in Chapter VII. Then in different de- grees of force, in heavily aspirated or orotund quaHties, also in slow and rapid movement: Hold! Ho! Hail! Halt! Hush! Behold! Lo! See! Hist! Fire! Look! In contempt, we have: Pshaw! Pish! Pugh! Fie! Foh! Faugh! Tush! Tut! Fudge! Bah! In rejecting, we find : Away! Begone! Avast! Avaunt! Quit my sight! Go! Hence! The simple ejaculations may be given in different emo- tions : O! Oh! Ah! Ha! Aha! Alas! Alack! Oh, ho! Mum! Hey-day! Heigh-ho! Hoity, toity! Heavens! Good Heavens! Gracious goodness! Hem! Silence! Peace! Cour- age! Woe! Horrid! Ahoy! Shocking! Humph! Fare thee well! Farewell! Tut! tut! Exclamations. All exclamatory sentences should be practiced as in 1F1I64, 65, in elementary form, and afterwards as studies in the different emotions. infuriate anger. •• False wizard, avaunt ! " ** Down, soothless insulter ! " Down, down, your lances down Bear back both friend and foe." Interjections and Exclamations, 425 "A wicked day, and not a holy day." ■ Avaunt ! and quit my sight ! Let the earth hide thee Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold ! " "Oh! hell kite!" •'Pluto and Hell! all hurt behind!" RAGE. "Blow wind, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!" " Fellow, begone ! " "You told a lie, an odious, damned lie; Upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie ! " AUTHORITY. " A horse ! a horse ! my kingdom for a horse ! " " Lay on, Macduff; And damned be him that first cries, * Hold, enough ! ' " "Mend and charge home! Come on!" "Hold, hold! for your lives!" "Hold, hold! the general speaks to you." DESPONDENCY. " O life ! thou art a galling load. Along a rough, a weary road. To wretches such as I ! " "Work! Work! Work! My labor never flags." M. E.-36. 426 Murdoch s Elocution, CONTEMPT. "Tush! tush! fear boys with bugs!" DISGUST. ♦*And smelt so! pah!'* HORROR. "Oh, God! it is a fearful thing To see the human soul take wing In any shape, in any mood." "O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!" "O villain,' villain, smiling, damned villain!" SURPRISE, MINGLED WITH HORROR. "O my prophetic soul! my uncle!" SELF-REPROACH. "O fool! fool! fool!" " O grace ! O heaven forgive me ! " "O wretched fool. That liv'st to make thine honesty a vice ! O monstrous world ! " " Reputation, reputation, reputation ! O, I have lost my repu- tation ! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, lago, my reputation ! " Interjections and Exclamations. 427 GRIEF. Nurse. — O lamentable day ! Lady Capulei.—V^\iQ.Vs the matter? Nurse. — Look ! look ! O heavy day ! Lady Capulet. — O me ! O me ! My child, my onjy life, Revive, look up, or I will die with thee!" "O Desdemona ! Desdemona ! dead! Oh ! Oh ! Oh ! " "O, woe is me! To have seen what I have ^een, see what I see ! " hw exercise of broken melody occurs in the choking utterance of Cordelia's words, repeated by the gentleman in describing her grief to Kent: Kent. — Made she no verbal question ? GenUman. — 'Faith, once, or twice, she heaved the name oi father Pantingly forth, as if it pressed her heart; Cried, Sisters! sisters! — shame of ladies! sisters! Kent! father! sisters! What? i' the storm? z' the night? Let pity not be believed! — There she shook The holy water from her heavenly eyes, And clamor moistened ; then away she started To deal with grief alone." PITY AND COMMISERATION. 'Oh! the cry did knock Against my very heart! Poor souls! they perished." '•Alas! Ah, me!" **0h, help him, you sweet heavens!" ♦' Alas, he 's mad ! " Why, how now, Adam ! — no greater heart in thee ? " 428 Murdoc/is Elocution. AMAZEMENT. "O wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful wonderful! and yet again wonderful, and after that out of all whooping." •'Behold, how great a matter a little tire kindleth!" "0, what men dare do! what men may do! What men daily do, not knowing what they do ! " GRATITUDE. "Thanks! champion, thanks." "Now blessings light on him that first invented sleep! It covers a man all over, thoughts and all, like a cloak ; it is meat for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, heat for the cold, and cold for the hot." "Now all the blessings Of a glad father compass thee about ! " REGRET. "Alas! how light a cause may move Dissension between hearts that love ! " " Ah ! why will kings forget that they are men, And men that they are brethren ? " DELIGHT. " O Life ! how pleasant in thy morning, Young Fancy's rays the hills adorning ! " ••Come, gentle Spring! ethereal mildness! come." Interjections and Exclamations. 429 '•Ah, happy hills! ah, pleasing shade!" "O music! sphere-descended maid, Friend of pleasure, wisdom's aid ! " " How sweet, how passing sweet is solitude ! " " Those evening bells ! those evening bells ! How many a tale their music tells." ADMIRATION. " Beautiful as sweet ! • And young as beautiful ! and soft as young ! And gay as soft! and innocent as gay! " " Good, tender, cheerful, happy, wise. The child's heart, with the strong man's thought ! " " Oh ! speak again, bright angel ! " JOY. " Ring, joyous chords ! ring out again ! A swifter still and a wilder strain." "Joy! joy forever! my task is done!" *'Io! they come, they come!" "Up! let us to the fields!" *' O my soul's joy ! If after every tempest come such calms, May the winds blow till they have waken'd death ! " "Toy! Joy! Columbia's friends are trampling through the shad : ! " 43 o Murdocli s Elocution, " Happy day ! " '* Beautiful ! " " And, oh ! if there be an Elysium on earth, It is this, it is this ! " COURAGE. "Liberty's in every blow! Let us do or die." " How sleep the brave who sink to rest. By all their country's wishes blessed ! " " Up ! comrades ! up ! in Rokeby's halls Ne'er be it said our courage falls." REPROOF. «* O shame! where is thy blush?" " Yet here, Laertes ! aboard, aboard, for shame HUMOROUS. "O Miss Baily, Unfortunate Miss Baily ! " " O Sophonisba ! Sophonisba, O ! " «'0 Amos Cottle! Phoebus! What a name!" " Up ! up ! my friend, and quit your books, Or surely you'll grow double: Up! up! my friend, and clear your looks; Why all this toil and trouble ? " I Interjections and Exclamations. 431 Benvolio. — Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo. Mercutio. — Without his roe, like a dried herring; O flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified ! " "Well! Well! here's a puddle in a storm." 'By my grandfather's beard, here's matter for merriment." *' By the Lord, I knew ye, as well as he that made ye." " Flat burglary as ever was committed." '' Why, this is flat perjury, to call a prince's brother villain." " By the mass, 't is morning ; Pleasure and action make the hours seem short." " Here 's a tempest in a tea-pot ! all cry and no wool ! " ' O villain ! thou wilt be condemned into everlasting redemption for ;his." SELECTIONS. MISCELLANEOUS READINGS IN PROSE. Eulogy on Wendell Phillips. When he first spoke at Faneuil Hall some of the most renowned American orators were still in their prime. \^ ebster and Clay were in the Senate, Choate at the bar, Eiward Everett upon the Academic platform. From all these orators Phillips differed more than they differed from ec ch other. Behind Webster, and Everett, and Clay, there WIS always a great organized party, or an intrenched con- servatism of feeling and opinion. They spoke accepted views. They moved with masses of men, and were sure 01 the applause of party spirit, of political traditions, and 01 established institutions. Phillips stood alone. He was not a Whig nor a Democrat, or the graceful panegyrist of ail undisputed situation. Both parties denounced him. Ke must recruit a new party. PubHc opinion condemned h m. He must win public opinion to achieve his purpose. Tie tone, the method of the new orator, announced a new s] irit. It was not a heroic story of the last century, nor the c( ntention of contemporary politics; it was the unsuspected h< roism of a mightier controversy that breathed and burned in his words. With no party behind him, and ap- M. E.-37. (433) 434 Murdocli s Elocution, pealing against established order and acknowledged tradi- tion, his speech was necessarily a popular appeal for a strange and unwelcome cause, and the condition of its success was that it should both charm and rouse the hearer, while, under cover of the fascination, the orator unfolded his argument and urged his plea. This condition the genius of the orator instinctively perceived, and it deter- mined the character of his discourse. He faced his audience with a tranquil mien, and a beam- ing aspect that was never dimmed. He spoke, and in the measured cadence of his quiet voice there was intense feeling, but no declamation, no passionate appeal, no su- perficial and feigned emotion. It was simple colloquy — a gentleman conversing. Unconsciously and surely the ear and heart were charmed. How was it done ? Ah ! how did Mozart do it — how Raphael? The secret of the rose's sweetness, of the bird's ecstacy, of the sunset's glory — that is the secret of genius and of eloquence. What was heard, what was seen, was the form of noble manhood, the courteous and self-possessed tone, the flow of modulated speech, sparkling with matchless richness . of illustration, with apt allusion, and happy anecdote, and historic parallel, with wit and pitiless invective, with melodious pathos, with stinging satire, with crackling epigram and limpid humor, like the bright ripples that play around the sure and steady prow of the resistless ship. Like an illu- minated vase of odors, he glowed with concentrated and perfumed fire. The divine energy of his conviction ut- terly possessed him, and his '* Pure and eloquent blood Spoke in his cheek, and so distinctly wrought, That one might almost say his body thought." Was it Pericles swaying the Athenian multitude? Was it Apollo breathing the music of the morning from his lips ? Miscellaneous Readings in Prose, 435 It vas an American patriot, a modern son of liberty, with a sDul as firm and as true as was ever consecrated to un- selfish duty, pleading with the American conscience for the chained and speechless victims of American inhumanity. — George Wm. Curtis. The Character of Our Saviour. The character of Jesus is perfectly original. It is unlike every thing which had ever appeared in the world. There had, indeed, been eminent persons who had assumed the office of instructors of mankind in religion and virtue. But Jesus differed widely from them all in the nature of his doctrine, in his mode of instruction, in his habits of lift, and manner of conversation, in the character which he assumed, in the dignity of his conduct, in the authority of his language, in the proofs which he exhibited of a divine commission, and in the manner in which he left thdse proofs to make their proper impression upon the mi ad without himself drawing the genuine conclusions. He claimed to be the Messiah, the distinguished person- agi foretold by the prophets, and expected by the Jews. Bi t the form was totally different from that in which he Wc' s expected to appear, from that which an impostor would hav^e worn, which all impostors did actually put on, and wl.ich the writer of a fictitious narrative would naturally hav^e represented. He was expected to appear in all the sp endor of a prince and a conqueror. He actually ap- ptared under the form of a pauper and a servant. The character which he thus assumed, so entirely new, so utterly unexpected, and in many respects so very offen- si e to his countrymen, he sustained with the most becom- ing propriety. The circumstances in which he was placed 436 Murdoclis Elocution. were numerous, various, and dissimilar to each other; some of them were very critical and difficult; nevertheless, upon all occasions he maintains the character of a prophet of God, of a teacher of truth and righteousness, with the most perfect consistency and dignity; in no instance does he forget his situation; upon no occasion, in no emer- gency, however sudden or unexpected, under no provoca- tion, however irritating, is he surprised or betrayed to do any thing unworthy of himself, or unbecoming the sublime and sacred mission with which he was charged. To support the consistency of a fictitious character through a considerable work, even though the character is drawn from common life, is a mark of no ordinary capacity and judgment. But to adhere from beginning to end to truth of delineation in a character perfectly original, in cir- cumstances various and new, and especially where super- natural agency is introduced, is characteristic of genius of the highest order. Attempts to represent a perfect charac- ter have failed in the hands of the greatest masters. De- fects are visible in the portraits of the philosopher and the hero, notwithstanding the masterly penciling and exquisite coloring of Plato and Xenophon. But the obscure and illiterate evangelists have succeeded to perfection. Not one writer only, but four. Not in describing different characters, in which they would not have been liable to have interfered with each other, but in the representation of the same unblemished and extraordinary character, to which each has contributed something which the rest have omitted, and yet all are perfectly consistent and har- monious. The unity of character is invariably preserved. Admit that this character actually existed; allow that there was such a person as Jesus of Nazareth, and that the historians describe nothing but what they saw and heard, and to which they were daily witnesses, and the wonder ceases; all is natural and easy; the narrators were honest Miscellaneous Readings in Prose. 437 and competent witnesses, and Jesus was a true prophet of the Most High. Deny these facts, and the history of the evangelists instantly swells into a prodigy of genius, — a sublime fiction of the imagination, which surpasses all the most celebrated productions of human wit. The ilHterate Gali eans eclipse all the renowned historians, philosophers, and poets of Greece and Rome. But who will affirm, or who could believe this, of these simple, artless, unaffected writers? It is incredible, it is impossible, that these plain and unlettered men should have invented so extraordinary, so highly finished a romance. Their narrative, therefore, mus: be true. The prophet of Nazareth is a real person, and his divine legation is undeniable. I know not how this argument may appear to others, but to me it carries the force of almost mathematical demonstration. I can not conceive a proof which can be more satisfactory to a candid, an intelligent, and well informed mind. The Human Voice. I GRIEVE to say it, but our people, I think, have not gen jrally agreeable voices. The marrowy organisms, with skii s that shed water like the backs of ducks, with smooth surj ices neatly padded beneath, and velvet linings to their sinking pipes, are not so common among us as that other pat ern of humanity, with angular outlines and plain sur- faces, arid integuments, hair like the fibrous covering of a cDcoanut in gloss and suppleness as well as color, and voi :es at once thin and strenuous, — acidulous enough to prcduce effervescence with alkaHes, and stridulous enough to >ing duets with the katydids. I think our conversa- tional soprano, as sometimes overheard in the cars, arising fro n a group of young persons, who may have taken the 438 Murdochs Elocution. train at one of our great industrial centres, for instance, — young persons of the female sex, we will say, who have bustled in full-dressed, engaged in loud, strident speech, and who, after free discussion, have fixed on two or more double seats, which having secured, they proceed to eat apples and hand round daguerreotypes, — I say, I think the conversational soprano, heard under these circumstances, would not be among the allurements the old enemy would put in requisition, were he getting up a new temptation of St. Anthony. There are sweet voices among us, we all know, and voices not musical, it may be, to those who hear them for the first time, yet sweeter to us than any we shall hear until we listen to some warbling angel in the overture to that eternity of blissful harmonies we hope to enjoy. But why should I tell lies? If my friends love me, it is be- cause I try to tell the truth. I never heard but two voices in my life that frightened me by their sweetness They made me feel as if there might be constituted a creature with such a chord in her voice to some string in another's soul, that, if she but spoke, we would leave all and follow her, though it were into the jaws of Erebus. Our only chance to keep our wits is, that there are so few natural chords between others' voices and this string in our souls, and that those which at first may have jarred a little, by-and-by come into harmony with it. But I tell you this is no fiction. You may call the story of Ulysses and the Sirens a fable, but what will you say to Mario and the poor lady who followed him ? Whose were those two voices that bewitched me so? They both belonged to German women. One was a chambermaid, not otherwise fascinating. The key of my room at a certain great hotel was missing, and this Teutonic ^naiden was summoned to give information respecting it. The simple soul was evidently not long from her mother- Miscellaneous Readings in Prose. 439 laid, and spoke with sweet uncertainty of dialect. But to hear her wonder and lament and suggest, with soft, liquid inflexions, and low, sad murmurs, in tones as full of seiious tenderness for the fate of the lost key as if it had been a child that had strayed from its mother, was so win- ning, that, had her features and figure been as delicious as her accents, — if she had looked like the marble Clytie, for instance, — why, all I can say is ... I was only going to say^ that I should have drowned myself. For Lake Erie w.is close by; and it is so miich better to accept asphyxia, w lich takes only three minutes by the watch, than a mes- al'iance, that lasts fifty years to begin with, and then passes abng down the line of descent (breaking out in all man- ner of boorish manifestations of feature and manner, wtiich, if men were only as short-lived as horses, could be rtadily traced back through the square roots and the cube r( ots of the family stem on which you have hung the aimorial bearings of the De Champignons or the De la ]\!orues, until one came to beings that ate with knives and s;.id ''Haow?"), that no person of right feeling could have hasitated for a single moment. The second of the ravishing voices I have heard was, a> I have said, that of another German woman — I suppose I shall ruin myself by saying that such a voice could not have come from any Americanized human being. ... It 1 ad so much woman in it, — muliebrity, as well as femi- leity; — no self-assertion, such as free suffrage introduces i ito every word and movement ; large, vigorous nature, running back ^to those huge-limbed Germans of Tacitus, 1 ut subdued by the reverential training and tuned by the I indly culture of fifty generations. Sharp business habits, ; lean soil, independence, enterprise, and east winds are lot the best things for the larynx. Still, you hear noble 'oices among us, — I have known families famous for hem, — but ask the first person you meet a question, and 440 Murdoch's Elocution. ten to one there is a. hard, sharp, metalHc, matter-of-busi- ness clink in the accents of the answer, that produces the effect of one of those bells which small trades-people con- nect with their shop-doors, and which spring upon your ear with such vivacity, as you enter, that your first impulse is to retire at once from the precincts. — Oliver Wendell Holmes Love of Change. We must note carefully what distinction there is between a healthy and a diseased love of change; for as it was in healthy love of change that the Gothic architecture rose, it was partly in consequence of diseased love of change that it was destroyed. In order to understand this clearly, it will be necessary to consider the different ways in which change and monotony are presented to us in nature; both having their use, like darkness and light, and the one in- capable of being enjoyed without the other; change being most delightful after some prolongation of monotony, as light appears most brilliant after the eyes have been for some time closed. I believe that the true relations of monotony and change may be most simply understood by observing them in music. We may therein notice, first, that there is a sub- limity and majesty in monotony which there is not in rapid or frequent variation. This is true throughout all nature. The greater part of the sublimity of the sea depends on its monotony ; so also that of desolate moor . and mountain scenery; and especially the sublimity of motion, as in the quiet, unchanged fall and rise of an engine beam. So also there is sublimity in darkness which there is not in light. Again, monotony, after a certain time, or beyond a cer- tain degree, becomes either uninteresting or intolerable, and the musician is obliged to break it in one or two ways : Miscellaneous Readings in Prose. 441 either while the air or passage is perpetually repeated, its notes are variously enriched and harmonized; or else, after a certain number of repeated passages, an entirely new passiige is introduced, which is more or less delightful acco'ding to the length of the previous monotony. Nature, of course, uses both these kinds of variation perpetually. The sea-waves, resembling each other in general mass, but none like its brother in minor divisions and curves, are a monotony of the first kind; the great plain, broken by an emergent rock or clump of trees, is a monotony of the seco id. Farther: in order to the enjoyment of the change in either case, a certain degree of patience is required from the hearer or observer. In the first case, he must be sat- isfied to endure with patience the recurrence of the great mas: es of sound or form, and to seek for entertainment in a careful watchfulness of the minor details. In the second case, he must bear patiently the infliction of the monotony for some moments, in order to feel the full refreshment of the change. This is true even of the shortest musical passige in which the element of monotony is employed. In (ases of more majestic monotony, the patience required is s( considerable that it becomes a kind of pain, — a price paic for the future pleasure. Again: the talent of the composer is not in the monotony, but in the changes: he ma) show feeling and taste by his use of monotony in cer- tain places or degrees; that is to say, by his various em- plo}ment of it; but it is always in the new arrangement or invtntion that his intellect is shown, and not in the mo- not( ny which relieves it. I astly : if the pleasure of change be too often repeated it c jases to be delightful, for then change itself becomes moi otonous, and we are driven to seek delight in extreme and fantastic degrees of it. This is the diseased love of cha ige of which we have above spoken, 442 Murdocli s Elocution, From these facts we may gather generally that monotony is, and ought to be, in itself painful to us, just as darkness is; that an architecture which is altogether monotonous is a dark or dead architecture; and, of those who love it, it may be truly said, ''they love darkness rather than light." But monotony in certain measure, used in order to give value to change, and, above all, that transparent mo- notony which, like the shadows of a great painter, suffers all manner of dimly suggested form to be seen through the body of it, is an essential in architectural as in all other composition; and the endurance of monotony has about the same place in a healthy mind that the endurance of darkness has : that is to say, as a strong intellect will have pleasure in the solemnities of storm and twilight, and in the broken and mysterious lights that gleam among them, rather than in mere brilliancy and glare, while a frivolous mind will dread the shadow and the storm ; and as a great man will be ready to endure much darkness of fortune in order to reach greater eminence of power or felicity, while an inferior man will not pay the price; exactly in like manner a great mind will accept, or even delight in, mo- notony which would be wearisome to an inferior intellect, because it has more patience and power of expectation, and is ready to pay the full price for the great future pleasure of change. But in all cases it is not that the noble nature loves monotony any more than it loves dark- ness or pain. But it can bear with it, and receives a high pleasure in the endurance or patience, a pleasure neces- sary to the well-being of this world; while those who will not submit to the temporary sameness, but rush from one change to another, gradually dull the edge of change itself, and bring a shadow and weariness over the whole world from which there is no more escape. ^JOHN RUSKIN. Miscellaneous Readings in Prose. 443 Selection from Speech in the Knapp Trial. [ Selected from the argument made by Daniel Webster in the trial of John F. Knapp for the murder of Joseph White, Esq., of Salem, Essix County, Mass., April 6, 1830.] (Gentlemen, it is a most extraordinary case. In some respects it has hardly a precedent anywhere; certainly no]ie in our New England history. The deed was executed with a degree of self-possession and steadiness equal to the wickedness with which it was planned. The circumstances now clearly in evidence spread out the whole scene before us. Deep sleep had falen on the destined victim, and on all beneath his roof. A healthful old man, to whom sleep was sweet, the first sound slumbers of the night held him in their soft though strmg embrace. The assassin enters through the window, already prepared, into an unoccupied apartment. With no seless foot he passes the lonely hall, half lighted by the mcon; he winds up the ascent of the stairs, and reaches tho door of the chamber. Of this he moves the lock by soi't and continued pressure, till it turns on its hinges with- ou: noise, and he enters and beholds his victim before him. Tl e room was uncommonly open to the admission of light. Tl e face of the innocent sleeper was turned from the mur- derer, and the beams of the moon resting on the gray lo« ks of the aged temple, showed him where to strike. Tl e fatal blow is given! and the victim passes, without a st] uggle or a motion, from the repose of sleep to the repose of death! It is the assassin's purpose to make sure work; ard he yet plies the dagger, though it was obvious that life hrd been destroyed by the blow of the bludgeon. He e\en raises the aged arm, that he may not fail in his aim at the heart, and replaces it again over the wounds of the p( niard. To finish the picture, he explores the wrist for 444 Murdoch's Elocution. the pulse. He feels for it, and ascertains that it beats no longer ! It is accomplished. The deed is done. He re- treats, retraces his steps to the window, passes out through it as he came in, and escapes. He has done the murder — no eye has seen him, no ear has heard him. The secret is his own, and it is safe. 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 that it is safe. Not to speak of that Eye which glances through all disguises, and beholds everything as in the splendor of noon, such secrets of guilt are never safe from detection, even by men. True it is, generally speak- ing, that '' Murder will out." True it is, that Providence hath so ordained, and doth so govern things, that those who break the great law of heaven by shedding man's blood, seldom succeed in avoiding discovery. Especially in a case exciting so much attention as this, discovery must come, and will come sooner or later. A thousand eyes turn at once to explore every man, every thing, every circumstance connected with the time and place; a thou- sand ears catch every whisper; a thousand excited minds intensely dwell on the scene, shedding all their light, and ready to kindle the slightest circumstance into a blaze of discovery. Meantime, the guilty soul can not keep its own secret. It is false to itself; or rather it feels an irre- sistible impulse of conscience to be true to itself. It labors under its guilty possession, and knows not what to do with it. The human heart was not made for the residence of such an inhabitant. It finds itself preyed on by a torment which it dares not acknowledge to God or man. A vulture is devouring it, and it can ask no sympathy or assistance either from heaven or earth. The secret which the mur- derer possesses soon comes to possess him, and like the evil spirits of which we read, it overcomes him and leads Miscellaneous Readings in Prose. 445 hiir whithersoever it will. He feels it beating at his heart, risixg to his throat, and demanding disclosure. He thinks the whole world sees it in his face, reads it in his eyes, anc almost hears its workings in the very silence of his thojghts. It has become his master. It betrays his dis- creion, it breaks down his courage, it conquers his pru- dei ce. When suspicions from without begin to embarrass him, and the net of circumstances to entangle him, the fati.l secret struggles with still greater violence to burst for h. It must be confessed, it will be confessed, there is no refuge from confession but suicide, and suicide is con- fession. Parallel Between Pope and Dryden. N acquired knowledge, the superiority must be allowed to Dryden, whose education was more scholastic, and who, be ore he became an author, had been allowed more time for study, with better means of information. His mind ha ; a larger range, and he collects his images and illustra- tiois from a more extensive circumference of science. Diyden knew more of man, in his general nature; and Pcpe, in his local manners. The notions of Dryden were fojmed by comprehensive speculation; those of Pope, by minute attention. There is more dignity in the knowledge of Dryden, and more certainty in that of Pope. Poetry was not the sole praise of either; for both ex- ce led likewise in prose : but Pope did not borrow his prose frcm his predecessor. The style of Dryden is capricious ar d varied ; that of Pope is cautious and uniform : Dryden ol eys the motions of his own mind ; Pope constrains his m nd to his own rules of composition. Dryden is some- tiiies vehement and rapid; Pope is always smooth, uniform, ard gentle. Dryden's page is a natural field, rising into 446 Murdoch! s Elocution. inequalities, and diversified by the varied exuberance of abundant vegetation; Pope's is a velvet lawn, shaven by the scythe and levelled by the roller. Of genius — that power that constitutes a poet; that quality, without which, judgment is cold, and knowledge is inert; that energy which collects, combines, amplifies, and animates — the superiority must, with some hesitation, be allowed to Dryden. It is not to be inferred, that of this poetical vigor. Pope had only a little, because Dryden had more; for every other writer, since Milton, must give place to Pope; and even of Dryden it must be said, that if he has brighter paragraphs, he has not better poems. Dry- den's performances were always hasty; either excited by some external occasion, or extorted by domestic necessity; he composed without consideration, and published without correction. What his mind could supply at call, or gather in one excursion, was all that he sought, and all that he gave. The dilatory caution of Pope enabled him to con- dense his sentiments, to multiply his images, and to ac- cumulate all that study might produce, or change might supply. If the flights of Dryden, therefore, are higher, Pope continues longer on the wing. If of Dryden's fire the blaze is brighter; of Pope's the heat is more regular and constant. Dryden often surpasses expectation, and Pope never falls below it. Dryden is read with frequent astonishment, and Pope with perpetual delight. — ^Johnson. Benevolence and Charity. Form as amiable sentiments as you can of nations, com- munities of men, and individuals. If they are true, you do them only justice; if false, though your opinion does not alter their nature and make them lovely, you yourself Miscellaneous Readings in Prose. 447 are more lovely for entertaining such sentiments. When you feel the bright warmth of a temper thoroughly good in your own breast, you will see something good in every one about you. It is a mark of littleness of spirit to confine yourself to some minute part of a man's character: a man of g merous, open, extended views, will grasp the whole of it; A^ithout which he can not pass a right judgment on any part. He will not arraign a man's general conduct for two or three particular actions; as knowing that man is a chargeable creature, and will not cease to be so, till he is unit strewed with the finest sand, and successively assumed th€ most different forms. At one moment, it seemed to rise out of the earth, like the garden of the Hesperides; at another, it exhibited the rugged rocks and caverns of Thrace. The subterraneous pipes conveyed an inexhausti- bk supply of water; and what had just before appeared a le\el plain, might be suddenly converted into a wide lake, CO 'ered with armed vessels, and replenished with the mon- sters of the deep. ;n the decorations of these scenes, the Roman emperors displayed their wealth and liberality; and we read, that, on va ious occasions, the whole furniture of the amphitheatre CO isisted either of silver, or of gold, or of amber. The poit who describes the games of Carinus, in the character of a shepherd, attracted to the capitol by the fame of their m: gnificence, affirms, that the nets designed as a defence ag linst the wild beasts, were of gold wire ; that the porticos w( re gilded ; and that the belt or circle, which divided the se -eral r^nks of spectators from each other, was studded wi:h a precious mosaic of beautiful stones. —Gibbon. 454 Murdoch' s Elocution. DRAMATIC READINGS. Dialogue Between King John and Hubert. King John. — Come hither, Hubert. O my gentle Hubert, We owe thee much; within this wall of flesh There is a soul counts thee her creditor, And with advantage means to pay thy love; And, my good friend, thy voluntary oath Lives in this bosom, dearly cherished. Give me thy hand. I had a thing to say, — But I will fit it with some better time. By heaven, Hubert, I am almost asham'd To say what good respect I have of thee. Hubert. — I am much bounden to your majesty. King John. — Good friend, thou hast no cause to say so yet: But thou shalt have : and creep time ne'er so slow, Yet it shall come for me to do thee good. I had a thing to say, — but let it go : The sun is in the heaven, and the proud day. Attended with the pleasures of the world, Is all too wanton, and too full of gawds. To give me audience : — If the midnight bell Did, with his iron tongue and brazen mouth Sound on into the drowsy race of night; If this same were a churchyard where we stand, And thou possessed with a thousand wrongs; Or if that surly spirit, melancholy. Had bak'd thy blood, and made it heavy, thick, (Which, else, runs tickling up and down the veins, Making that idiot, laughter, keep men's eyes. And strain their cheeks to idle merriment, A passion hateful to my purposes;) Or if that thou could'st see me without eyes. Hear me without thine ears, and make reply Without a tongue, using conceit alone. Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound of words ; Then, in despite of brooded, watchful day, I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts: Dramatic Readings. 455 But ah ! I will not : — Yet I love thee well ; And, by my troth, I think, thou lov'st me well. Hubert. — So well, that what you bid me undertake, Though that my death were adjunct to my act, By heaven, I would do it. Kin ^ John. — Do not I know thou would'st? Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye On yon young boy : I '11 tell thee what, my friend. He is a very serpent in my way; And wheresoe'er this foot of mine doth tread He lies before me : Dost thou understand me ? Thou art his keeper. Hubert. — And I '11 keep him so. That he shall not offend your majesty. Kh g John. — Death. Hubert. — My lord? Kivg John. — A grave. Hubert. — He shall not live. Kh g John. — Enough. I could be merry now. Hubert, I love thee. Well, I '11 not say what I intend for thee : Remember. — * ' King John, ' ' SHAKESPEARE. Scene from "The Iron Chest." . aldo. — I will, my lord. Poh nius. — You shall do marvellous wisely, good Reynaldo, Before you visit him, to make inquire Of his behaviour. 462 Murdoch' s Elocution. Reynaldo. — My lord, I did intend it. Polonius. — Marry, well said : very well said. Look you, sir, Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris; And how, and who, what means, and where they keep, What company, at what expense; and finding. By this encompassment and drift of question. That they do know my son, come you more nearer Than your particular demands will touch it : Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of him; I As thus, — ' I know his father, and his friends, And, in part, him ; ' — do you mark this, Reynaldo ? Reynaldo. — Ay, very well, my lord. Polonius. — 'And, in part, him; but,' you may say, 'not well: But, if 't be he I mean, he 's very wild ; Addicted so and so : ' and there put on him What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank . As may dishonour him ; take heed of that ; But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips, As are companions noted and most known To youth and liberty. Reynaldo. — As gaming, my lord. Polonius. — Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarreling, Drabbing : — you may go so far. Reynaldo. — My lord, that would dishonour him. Polonius. — 'Faith, no ; as you may season it in the charge. You must not put another scandal on him, That he is open to incontinency ; That 's not my meaning : but breathe his faults so quaintly. That they may seem the taints of liberty : The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind ; A savageness in unreclaimed blood. Of general assault. Reynaldo. — But, my good lord, — Polonius. — Wherefore should you do this? Reynaldo. — Ay, my lord, I would know that. Polonius. — Marry, sir, here's my drift; And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant : You laying these slight sullies on my son. As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i' the working. Dramatic Readings. 463 Mark you, Your party in converse, him you would sound, Having ever seen, in the prenominate crimes. The youth you breathe of, guilty, be assur'd, He closes with you in this consequence; 'Good sir,' or so; or, 'friend, or gentleman,' — According to the phrase and the addition. Of man, and country. Reynxldo. — Very good, my lord. Polo tius, — And then, sir, does he this, — he does — What was I about to say? By the mass, I was about to say something: — Where did I leave? Reyn xldo. — At, ' closes in the consequence. At friend, or so, and gentleman.' Poloiius. — At, closes in the consequence, — Ay, marry; He closes with you thus : — • I know the gentleman ; I saw him yesterday, or 't other day. Or then, or then ; with such, and such ; and, as you say, There was he gaming ; there o'ertook in his rouse : There falling out at tennis ; ' or perchance, • 'I saw him enter such a house of sale,' (Videlicet, a brothel,) or so forth. — See you now ; Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth : And thus do we of wisdom and of reach, With windlaces, and with assays of bias, By indirections find directions out ; So, by my former lecture and advice. Shall you my son. You have me, have you not? Reyn, Ido. — My lord, I have. Polo, ius. — God be wi' you ; fare you well. Reym Ido. — Good my lord ! Poloi ius. — Observe his inclination in yourself. Rey7ii Ida. — I shall, my lord. P0I07 iui. — And let him ply his music. Reyn, Ida. — Well, my lord. — Shakespeare. 464 Murdochs Elocution. BIBLE READINGS. The Prodigal Son. And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the . portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger ! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son : make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had com- passion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him. Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: Bible Readings. 465 jii'or this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was los;, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field : and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these thi igs meant. And he said unto him. Thy brother is come; and thy fatiier hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering, said to his father, Lo, these many yejrs do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time th) commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 3ut as soon as this thy son was come, which hath de- voured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fat ed calf. And he said unto him. Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. t was meet that we should make merry, and be glad : for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was los;, and is found. -St. Luke. Select Passages from the Book of Job. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and sai i, Vho is this that darkeneth counsel by words without kn )wledge ? jird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thte, and answer thou me. Vhere wast thou when I laid the foundations of the ea] th ? declare, if thou hast understanding. 466 Murdoch! s Elocution. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy ? Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thiclj darkness a swaddling band for it. And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors. And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place ? Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? Where is the way where light dwelleth ? and as for dark- ness, where is the place thereof? Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or be- cause t|ie number of thy days is great? By what way is the iight parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth? Who hath divided a water-course for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; Bible Readings. 467 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? (^lanst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? (^anst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thcu guide Arcturus with his sons? Jvnowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? (^anst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abund- ance of waters may cover thee? (llanst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say umo thee, Here we are? Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath giv2n understanding to the heart? Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? ('anst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of bis nostrils is terrible. ' He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither tur leth he back from the sword. ' 'he quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield. ] le swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage : nei ;her believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. ] le saith among the trumpets. Ha, ha ! and he smelleth the bat :le afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting. .Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said, ^ hall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him ? he that reproveth God, let him answer it. 468 Murdoch's Elocution. Then Job answered the Lord, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Selection from the Book of Isaiah. The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing : the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart. Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing : for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water : in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring ipen, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there ; but the redeemed shall walk there : And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 469 MISCELLANEOUS READINGS IN POETRY. The Vision of Sir Launfal. first prelude. Over his keys the musing organist, Beginning doubtfully and far away, First lets his fingers wander as they list. And builds a bridge from Dreamland for his lay: Then, as the touch of his loved instrument Gives hope and fervor, nearer draws his theme, First guessed by faint auroral flushes sent Along the wavering vista of his dream. Not only around our infancy Doth heaven with all its splendors lie ; Daily, with souls that cringe and plot, We Sinais climb and know it not; Over our manhood bend the skies; Against our fallen and traitor lives The great winds utter prophecies ; With our faint hearts the mountain strives, Its arms outstretched, the druid wood Waits with its benedicite; And to our age's drowsy blood Still shouts the inspiring sea. Earth gets its price for what Earth gives us; The beggar is taxed for a corner to die in. The priest hath his fee who comes and shrives us, We bargain for the graves we lie in ; At the Devil's booth are all things sold. Each ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold ; For a cap and bells our lives we pay, Bubbles we earn with a whole soul's tasking : 'Tis heaven alone that is given away, 'Tis only God may be had for the asking; 470 Murdoch's Elocution. No price is set on the lavish summer, And June may be had by the poorest comer. And what is so rare as a day in June ? Then, if ever, come perfect days; Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune, And over it softly her warm ear lays : Whether we look, or whether we listen. We hear life murmur, or see it glisten; Every clod feels a stir of might, An instinct within it that reaches and towers, And, groping blindly above it for light. Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers; The flush of life may well be seen Thrilling back over hills and valleys; The cowslip startles in meadows green, The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice. And there 's never a leaf nor a blade too mean To be some happy creature's palace ; The little bird sits at his door in the sun, Atilt like a blossom among the leaves. And lets his illumined being o'errun With the deluge of summer it receives ; His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings, And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings; He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest, — In the nice ear of Nature which song is the best ? Now is the high-tide of the year. And whatever of life hath ebbed away Comes flooding back, with a ripply cheer, Into every bare inlet and creek and bay ; Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it, We are happy now because God wills it ; No matter how barren the past may have been, 'T is enough for us now that the leaves are green ; We sit in the warm shade and feel right well How the sap creeps up and the blossoms swell ; We may shut our eyes, but we can not help knowing That skies are clear and grass is growing ; The breeze comes whispering in our ear. That dandelions are blossoming near. Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 471 That maize has sprouted, that streams are flowing, That the river is bluer than the sky. That the robin is plastering his house hard by ; And if the breeze kept the good news back, For other couriers we should not lack ; We could guess it all by yon heifer's lowing, — And hark ! how clear bold chanticleer, Warmed with the new wine of the year, Tells all in his lusty crowing ! Joy comes, grief goes, we know not how; Everything is happy now. Everything is upward striving; 'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true As for grass to be green or skies to be blue, — 'T is the natural way of living : Who knows whither the clouds have fled ? In the unscarred heaven they leave no wake ; And the eyes forget the tears they have shed, The heart forgets its sorrow and ache; The soul partakes the season's youth. And the sulphurous rifts of passion and woe Lie deep 'neath a silence pure and smooth, Like burnt out craters healed with snow. SECOND PRELUDE. Down swept the chill wind from the mountain peak. From the snow five thousand summers old ; On open wold and hill-top bleak It had gathered all the cold. And whirled it like sleet on the wanderer's cheek ; It carried a shiver everywhere From the unleafed boughs and pastures bare; The little brook heard it and built a roof 'Neath which he could house him, winter-proof; All night by the white stars' frosty gleams He groined his arches and matched his beams ; Slender and clear were his crystal spars As the lashes of light that trim the stars ; 472 Murdoch's Elocution. He sculptured every summer delight In his halls and chambers out of sight ; Sometimes his tinkling waters slipt Down through a frost-leaved forest-crypt, Long, sparkling aisles of steel-stemmed trees Bending to counterfeit a breeze ; Sometimes the» roof no fretwork knew But silvery mosses that downward grew ; Sometimes it was carved in sharp relief With quaint arabesques of ice-fern leaf ; Sometimes it was simply smooth and clear For the gladness of heaven to shine through, and here He had caught the nodding bulrush-tops And hung them thickly with diamond drops. Which crystalled the beams of moon and sun, And made a star of every one • No mortal builder's most rare device Could match this winter-palace of ice; 'Twas as if every image that mirrored lay In his depths serene through the summer day, Each fleeting shadow of earth and sky, Lest the happy model should be lost. Had been mimicked in fairy masonry By the elfin builders of the frost. — James Russell Lowell Extracts from "The Voyage of Life." "Could I remount the river of my years." — Byron. One sweet spring morn, when skies were bright, And the earth was green and gay, — When fields were bathed in golden light. And feathery mist-wreaths, thin and white. Were hung on cliff and mountain height. Like chaplets twined by the hand of Night To bind the brow of Day, — All playfully along the wild. Quaffing the breezes pure and mild, Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 473 A thoughtless, merry-hearted child, I took my careless way ! Clappjpg my hands in childish glee, I ran along the lakelet's side, Which, to my vision, seemed to be The margin of the boundless sea. When suddenly I espied, Beneath a spreading chestnut-tree A light skiff, dancing merrily Upon the glistening tide. Shouting, I waked the echoes round. And forward sprang, with one glad bound, To reach the feathery oar; Then, leaping lightly to the boat, Feeling my little bark afloat, I glided from the shore. Which in the distance faded fast, As, skimming along, I fleetly passed, And my gallant vessel gayly cast The crystal waves aside, — While the rising sun which met my sight. Beaming aslant o'er the mountain height. Pencilled before me, clear and bright, A glittering path of golden light Along the trembling tide; And, closely following in my wake. Gleaming above each billowy flake, Bright fish, at play 'Mid the flashing spray, Darted, like silver shafts, away. Where'er my paddle plied ! I floated on : — the river spread Wider and deeper than before. And boldly now the current sped, While, fast receding from the shore, My agile vessel swiftly flew, When, lo ! uprisings met my view. An angry cloud on. the heavens' bright blue, M. E.-40. - 474 Murdoch's Elocution. And it hung, like a pall, with a sable hue, The heaving waters o'er, — While the lightning glared the darkness through, And I heard the thunder roar! I floated on : — the storm came fast. The billows leaped in the furious blast, And rain, and hail. Athwart the gale. Shot from the flaming skies. While hideous shapes, among the waves, Like spectres waked from watery graves, Around me seemed to rise ! Weary and weak, I floated on, 'Mid the tempest's shriek, and the lightning's flash, 'Mid the rushing waves, and the thujider's crash! — My vessel o'erwhelmed, and my paddle gone, I clung to the wreck, and I floated on! Fearless, I rode the torrent o'er. Regardless of its deafening roar. While boldly on my brave bark sped, Leaping the rocks which lined its bed, Borne on the billows, till at last I floated below, and the flood was past ! Past! But, alas! 'twas the river no more. With its bright blue waves and sylvan shore. With its broad green banks and leafy bowers. Its warbling birds and its" fragrant flowers! — 'Twas the bright, blue, beautiful river no more, But a gloomy gulf, with a desolate shore, And barren banks, which faded away In a dreary mist that over them lay; — And wearily now I labored on, For my spirit was sad, and my strength was gone ! Then backward I gazed, With enraptured surprise, Where the sinking sun blazed, In the bright western skies,—- Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 475 Where the river still rolled, Stained with crimson and gold, While the mountains and hill-tops were bathed in its dyes! And I turned my light boat, firmly grasping my oar, And resolved to remount to the river once more, — For I felt that the river alone could restore The hopes I had lost 'mid the cataract's roar ! But I struggled in vain up the foaming ascent, As the whirl of the wild waves my feeble oar bent. For the stream, rushing on with impetuous flow, Still cast my frail skiff to the eddies below : — Then, aweary and worn, as I stood in my bark, I saw the sun sink, and the waters grow dark; — %ut, afar from the billows on which I was tost, My heart wandered back to the joys it had lost, — To the meadow, the woodland, the brook, and the bowers. To the glittering lakelet, the birds, and the flowers, — And lamenting the scenes which could meet me no more, I fell down and wept by that desolate shore ! Long years have sullenly worn away. Since once, at the close of a sweet spring day, A gentle child was seen to guide A fragile skiff o'er that torrent's tide. From rock to rock, it tremblingly fell. But he managed his little vessel well. And, borne on the billows' " furious flow. Came safely down to the gulf below ; — Then, turning his boat, he strove to regain The river above, but he strove in vain, And, aweary, he wept in his shattered bark, As the night came on, and the gulf grew dark ! Long years have sullenly worn away; — But ever, as on that sweet spring day. You may see that frail skiff floating o'er The billows which break on the desolate shore; — But a gray old man, with a furrowed brow And a trembling hand, guides the vessel now ; And toilsomely still he strives to regain The river above, but he strives in vain ; 476 Murdoch's Elocution. And his straining eyes are dimmed with tears, As he pines for the bliss of his early years, — When, over the river of childhood's day, His light skiff gallantly glided a«way, And, aweary, he weeps in his shattered bark, As the night comes on, and the gulf grows dark. —Francis DeHaes Janvier. New England's Chevy Chase. 'TWAS the dead of the night. By the pine-knot's red ligl|t Brooks lay, half asleep, when he heard the alarm — Only this, and no more, from a voice at the door : ♦• The Red Coats are out and have passed Phipps's farm ! " Brooks was booted and spurred ; he said never a word ; Took his horn from its peg, and his gun from the rack ; To the cold midnight air he led out his white mare, Strapped the girths and the bridle and sprang to her back. Up the North Country Road at her full pace she strode. Till Brooks reined her up at John Tarbell's to say : ♦' We have got the alarm — they have left Phipps's farm; You rouse the East Precinct and I '11 go this way." John called his hired man, and they harnessed the span; They roused Abram Garfield, and Garfield called me. "Turn out right away, let no minute-man stay — The Red Coats have landed at Phipps's ! " says he. By the Powder-House Green seven others fell in ; At Nahum's the Men from the Saw-Mill came down ; So that when Jabez Bland gave the word of command. And said, " Forward, March ! " there march forward The Town. Parson Wilderspin stood by the side of the road. And he took off his hat, and he said, " Let us pray ! O Lord, God of Might, let Thine Angels of Light Lead Thy Children to-night to the Glories of Day ! Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 477 And let Thy Stars fight all the Foes of the Right, As the Stars fought of old against Sisera." And from heaven's high Arch those Stars blessed our March, Till the last of them faded in twilight away. And with Morning's bright beam, by the bank of the stream, Half the Country marched in, and we heard Davis say : "On the King's own Highway I may travel all day, And no man hath warrant to stop me," says he, " I 've no man that 's afraid, and I '11 march at their head." Then he turned to the boys — " Forward, March ! Follow me." And we marched as he said, and the Fifer, he played The old " White Cockade," and he played it right well. We saw Davis fall dead, but no man was afraid — That Bridge we 'd have had, though a Thousand Men fell. This opened the Play, and it lasted all Day, We made Concord too hot for the Red Coats to stay ; Down the Lexington Way we stormed — Black, White, and Gray : We were first at the Feast, and were last in the Fray. They would turn in dismay, as Red Wolves turn at bay. They leveled, they fired, they charged up the Road : Cephas Willard fell dead ; he was shot in the head As he knelt by Aunt Prudence's well-sweep to load. John Danforth was hit just in Lexington street, John Bridge, at that lane where you cross Beaver Falls ; And Winch and the Snows just above John Munroe's — Swept away by one swoop of the big cannon balls. I took Bridge on my knee, but he said : " Don't mind me : Fill your horn from mine — let me lie where I be. Our Fathers," says he, " that their Sons might be free, Left their King on his Throne and came over the Sea; And that man is a Knave or a Fool who, to save His life, for a Minute would live like a Slave." Well ! all would not do. There were men good as new, — From Rumford, from Saugus, from towns far away, — Who filled up quick and well for each soldier that fell, 47^ Murdochs Elocution, And we drove them, and drove them, and drove them all Day. We knew, every one, it was War that begun When that morning's marching was only half-done. In the hazy twilight at the coming of Night, I crowded three buck-shot and one bullet down, 'Twas my last charge of lead, and I aimed her and said: "Good luck to you, Lobsters, in old Boston Town." In a barn at Milk Row, Ephraim Bates and Thpreau, And Baker and Abram and I made a bed ; We had mighty sore feet, and we 'd nothing to eat. But we 'd driven the Red Coats, and Amos, he said : •* It's the first time," says he, "that it's happened to me To march to the sea by this road where we 've come; But confound this whole day but we 'd all of us say. We'd rather have spent it this way than to home." The hunt had begun with the dawn of the sun, And night saw the Wolf driven back to his Den. And never since then, in the memory of Men, Has the old Bay State seen such a hunting again. — Edward Everett Hale, Song of the Greek Bard. The isles of Greece, the isles of Greece! Where burning Sappho loved and sung, Where grew the arts of war and peace, — Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung! Eternal summer gilds them yet, But all, except their sun, is set. The Scian and the Teian muse. The hero's harp, the lover's lute, Have found the fame your shores refuse; Their place of birth alone is mute Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 479 To sounds which echo further west Than your sires' "Islands of the Blest." The mountains look on Marathon — And Marathon looks on the sea ; And musing there an hour alone, I dream'd that Greece might still be free; For standing on the Persians' grave, I could not deem myself a slave. A king sat on the rocky brow Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis ; And ships, by thousands, lay below, And men in nations; — all were his! He counted them at break of day — And when the sun set where were they? And where are they? And where art thou, My country? On thy voiceless shore The heroic lay is tuneless now — The heroic bosom beats no more! And must thy lyre, so long divine, Degenerate into hands like mine ? Must we but weep o'er days more blest? Must we but blush ? Our fathers bled. Earth ! render back from out thy breast . A remnant of our Spartan dead ! Of the three hundred grant but three, To make a new Thermopylae ! What, silent still ? and silent all ? Ah ! no ; — the voices of the dead Sound like a distant torrent's fall. And answer, "Let one living head, But one, arise, — we come, we come ! " 'Tis but the living who are dumb. In vain — in vain ; — strike other chords ; Fill high the cup with Samian wine! 480 Murdoch' s Elocution, Leave battles to the Turkish hordes, And shed the blood of Scio's vine! Hark ! rising to the ignoble call — How answers each bold Bacchanal ! You have the Pyrrhic dance as yet, Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx gone? Of two such lessons, why forget The nobler and the manlier one? You have the letters Cadmus gave — Think ye he meant them for a slave? Fill high the bowl with Samian wine! We will not think of themes like these ! It made Anacreon's song divine : He served — but served Polycrates — A tyrant; but our masters then Were still, at least, our countrymen. The tyrant of the Chersonese Was freedom's best and bravest friend; That tyrant was Miltiades! Oh that the present hour would lend Another despot of the kind ! Such chains as his were sure to bind. Fill high the bowl with Samian wine! Our virgins dance beneath the shade — I see their glorious black eyes shine; But gazing on each glowing maid, My own the burning tear-drop laves. To think such breasts must suckle slaves. Place me on Sunium's marbled steep, Where nothing, save the waves and I, May hear our mutual murmurs sweep ; There, swan-like, let me sing and die: A land of slaves shall ne'er be mine — Dash down yon cup of Samian wine — Byron, Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 481 The Destruction of Sennacherib. The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold ; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset were seen; Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown. That host on the morrow lay wither'd and strown. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass'd ; And the eyes of the sleepers wax'd deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heav'd, and forever grew still ! And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, But through it there roll'd not the breath of his pride: And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf. And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf. And there lay the rider distorted and pale, With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail; And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown. And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail, And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal; And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord! — Byron. Sandalphon. Have you read in the Talmud of old. In the Legends the Rabbins have told Of the limitless realms of the air, — Have you read it, — the marvellous story Of Sandalphon, the Angel of Glory, Sandalphon, the Angel of Prayer ? M. E.— 41. 482 Murdoch's Elocution. How, erect, at the outermost gates Of the City Celestial he waits. With his feet on the ladder of light, That, crowded with angels unnumbered, By Jacob was seen, as he slumbered Alone in the desert at night ? The Angels of Wind and of Fire Chaunt only one hymn, and expire With the song's irresistible stress; Expire in their rapture and wonder. As harp-strings are broken asunder By music they throb to express. But serene in the rapturous throng. Unmoved by the rush of the song. With eyes unimpassioned and slow, Among the dead angels, the deathless Sandalphon stands listening breathless To sounds that ascend from below; — From the spirits on earth that adore, From the souls that entreat and implore In the fervor and passion of prayer; From the hearts that are broken with losses, And weary with dragging the crosses Too heavy for mortals to bear. And he gathers the prayers as he stands, And they change into flowers in his hands. Into garlands of purple and red; And beneath the great arch of the portal, Through the streets of the City Immortal Is wafted the fragrance they shed. It is but a legend, I know, — A fable, a phantom, a show. Of the ancient Rabbinical lore; Yet the old mediaeval tradition, The beautiful, strange superstition, But haunts me and holds me the more. Mtscellaneo7^s Readings in Poetry. 483 When I look from my windoM' at night, And the welkin above is all white, All throbbing and panting with stars, . Among them majestic is standing Sandalphon the angel, expanding His pinions in nebulous bars. And the legend, 1 feel, is a part Of the hunger and thirst of the heart, The frenzy and fire of the brain. That grasps at the fruitage forbidden. The golden pomegranates of Eden, To quiet its fever and pain. — Longfellow. The Ride of Collins Graves. An incident of the flood in Massachusetts, on May 16, 1874. No song of a soldier riding down To the raging fight from Winchester town; No song of a time that shook the earth With the nations' throe at a nation's birth ; But the song of a brave man, free from fear As Sheridan's self or Paul Revere ; Who risked what they risked, free from strife, And its promise of glorious pay — his life ! The peaceful valley has waked and stirred. And the answering echoes of life are heard: The dew still clings to the trees and grass. And the early toilers smiling pass. As they glance aside at the white-walled homes, Or up the valley, where merrily comes The brook that sparkles in diamond rills As the sun comes over the Hampshire hills. What was it, that passed like an ominous breath- Like a shiver of fear, or a touch of death ? 484 Murdoch' s Elocution, What was it? The valley is peaceful still, And the leaves are afire on top of the hill. It was not a sound — nor a thing of sense — But a pain, like the pang of the short suspense That thrills the being of those who see At their feet the gulf of Eternity ! The air of the valley has felt the chill : The workers pause at the door of the mill ; The housewife, keen to the shivering air, Arrests her foot on the cottage stair, Instinctive taught by the mother love. And thinks of the sleeping ones above. Why start the listeners? Why does the course Of the mill-stream widen? Is it a horse — • Hark to the sound of his hoofs, they say — That gallops so wildly Williamsburg way ! God! what was that, like a human shriek From the winding valley? Will nobody speak? Will nobody answer those women who cry As the awful warnings thunder by? Whence come they ? Listen ! And now they hear The sound of the galloping horse-hoofs near ; They watch the trend of the vale, and see The rider who thunders so menacingly, W^ith waving arms and warning scream To the home-filled banks of the valley stream. He draws no rein, but he shakes the street With a shout and the ring of the galloping feet ; And this the cry he flings to the wind : ^ "To the hills for your lives! The flood is behind!" He cries and is gone; but they know the worst — The breast of the Williamsburg dam has burst ! j The basin that nourished their happy homes J Is changed to a demon — It comes! it comes! I A monster in aspect, with shaggy front Of shattered dwellings, to take the brunt Of the homes they shatter — white maned and hoarse, Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 485 The merciless Terror fills the course Of the narrow valley, and rushing raves, With Death on the first of its hissing waves, Till cottage and street and crowded mill Are crumbled and crushed. But onward still, In front of the roaring flood is heard The galloping horse and the warning word. Thank God ! the brave man's life is spared ! From Williamsburg town he nobly dared To race with the flood and take the road In front of the terrible swath it mowed. For miles it thundered and crashed behind. But he looked ahead with a steadfast mind ; "They must be warned!" was all he said, As away on his terrible ride he sped. When heroes are called for, bring the crown To this Yankee rider; send him down On the stream of time with the Curtius old ; His deed as the Roman's was brave and bold, And the tale can as noble a thrill awake. For he offered his life for the people's sake. — John Boyle O'Reilly. P/RAPHRASE OF ShAKESPEARE'S CrABBED AgE AND YoUTH. Out, out, Old Age! aroint ye! I fain would disappoint ye, Nor wrinkled grow and learned Before I am inurned. Ruthless the hours, and hoary, That scatter ills before ye ! Thy touch is pestilential. Thy lays are penitential; 486 MurdocJis Elocution. With stealthy steps thou stealest, And life's warm tide congealest; Before thee vainly flying, We are already dying. Why must the blood grow colder, And men and maidens older? Bring not thy maledictions, Thy grewsome, grim, afflictions, Thy bodings bring not hither. To make us blight and wither ; When this thy frost hath bound us. All fairest things around us Seem Youth's divine extortion. In which we have no portion. "Fie, Senex ! " saith a lass now, "What need ye of a glass, now? Though flower of May be springing. And I my songs am singing. Thy blood no whit the faster Doth flow, my ancient master ! " Age is by Youth delighted. Youth is by Age aff'righted ; Blithe, sunny May and joysome, Still finds December noisome. Alack ! a guest unbidden, Howe'er our feast be hidden, Doth enter with the feaster, And make a Lent of Easter ! I would thou wert not able To seat thee at our table; I would that altogether. From this thy wintry weather. Since Youth and Love must leave us, Death might at once retrieve us. Old wizard, ill betide ye ! I can not yet abide ye I Ah, Youth, sweet Youth, I love ye ! There's naught on earth above ye! Thou purling bird uncaged, That never wilt grow aged, — Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 487 To whom each day is giving Increase of joyous living ! Soft words to thee are spoken, For thee strong vows are broken ; All loves and lovers cluster To bask them in thy lustre. Ah, girlhood, pout and dimple, Half-hid beneath the wimple ! Ah, boyhood, blithe and cruel. Whose heat doth need no fuel. No help of wine and spices, And frigid Eld's devices! All pleasant things ye find ye, And to your sweet selves bind ye. For ye alone the motion Of brave ships on the ocean ; All stars for ye are shining. All wreaths your foreheads twining; All joys, your joys decreeing. Are portions of your being. — All fairest sights your features, Ye selfish, soulful creatures! Sing me no more distiches Of glory, wisdom, riches; Tell me no beldame's story Of wisdom, wealth, and glory ! To Youth these are a wonder : To Age, a corpse-light under The tomb with rusted portal Of that which seemed immortal. I, too, in youth's dear fetter. Will love my foeman better, — Aye, though his ill I study, — So he be young and ruddy. Than comrade true and golden. So he be waxen olden. Ah, winsome Youth, stay by us : I prithee, do not fly us ! Ah, Youth, sweet Youth, I love ye! There 's naught on earth above ye ! 488 Murdoch's Elocution. Antony and Cleopatra. I AM dying, Egypt, dying, Ebbs the crimson life-tide fast. And the dark Plutonian shadows Gather on the evening blast; Let thine arm, oh Queen, enfold me. Hush thy sobs and bow thine ear, Listen to the great heart secrets Thou, and thou alone, must hear. Though my scarred and veteran legions Bear their eagles high no more. And my wrecked and scattered galleys Strew dark Actium's fatal shore ; Though no glittering guards surround me. Prompt to do their master's will, I must perish like a Roman, Die the great Triumvir still. Let not Caesar's servile minions Mock the lion thus laid low; 'Twas no foeman's arm that felled him, 'Twas his own that struck the blow— His who, pillowed on thy bosom, Turned aside from glory's ray — His who, drunk with thy caresses, Madly threw a world away. Should the base plebeian rabble Dare assail my name at Rome, Where the noble spouse, Octavia, Weeps within her widowed home. Seek her; say the gods bear witness,. Altars, augurs, circling wings, That her blood, with mine commingled, Yet shall mount the thrones of kings. And for thee, star-eyed Egyptian ! Glorious sorceress of the Nile, Light the path to Stygian horrors Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry, 489 With the splendors of thy smile; Give the Caesar crowns and arches, Let his brow the laurel twine, I can scorn the senate's triumphs, Triumphing in love like thine. I am dying, Egypt, dying; Hark ! the insulting foeman's cry. They are coming; quick, my falchion, Let me front them ere I die. Ah, no more amid the battle Shall my heart exulting swell, Isis and Osiris guard thee, Cleopatra, Rome, farewell ! — Wm. H. Lytle. Thomas Buchanan Read. Tic following poem was suggested by a visit to the tomb of Mr. Read at Lau el Hill, Philadelphia. I STAND within a garden, where the fairest flowers bloom. And art and nature harmonize, in beauty and perfume ; But, on this mound, a sepulchre its granite tribute rears, And here I lay a garland, wet with many loving tears. I mourn for one whose mind was like a many-sided gem, Effulgent with prismatic rays, — a regal diadem : A friend, whose kindly influence was like the golden light, Which, at its dawning, dissipates the shadows of the night. A poet, gifted to evoke weird music from his lyre ; To fill the hearts of listening throngs with patriotic fire ; To draw the aged and the young, enchanted, to his feet, Inspiring faith, and hope, and love, in accents soft and sweet. A poet-artist, by whose touch, as on a mirror thrown, Imagination's fairest forms, in living lines were shown : — Whose pictures were all poems, full of fancy, grace and thought;, Whose poems were all pictures, with immortal beauty wrought.. 1=— Francis DeHae? Janvier.. 490 Murdocli s Elocution, Song from ''The Wild Wagoner of the Alleghanies. I. Where sweeps round the mountains The clQud on the gale, And streams from their fountains Leap into the vale, — Like frighted deer leap when The storm with his pack Rides over the steep in The wild torrent's track, — Even there my free home is; There watch I the flocks Wander white as the foam is On stairways of rocks. Secure in the gorge there In freedom we sing, And laugh at King George, where The Eagle is king. II. I mount the wild horse with No saddle or rein, And guide his swift course with A grasp on his mane ; Through paths steep and narrow, And scorning the crag, I chase with my arrow The flight of the stag. Through snow-drifts engulfing, I follow the bear, And face the gaunt wolf when He snarls in his lair, And watch through the gorge there The red panther spring, And laugh at King George, where The Eagle is king, Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 491 III. When April is sounding His horn o'er the hills, And brooklets are bounding In joy to the mills, — When warm August slumbers Among her green leaves. And harvest encumbers Her garners with sheaves, — When the flail of November Is swinging with might. And the miller December Is mantled with white, — In field and in forge there The free-hearted sing, And laugh at King George, where The Eagle is king. — T. Buchanan Read. Dying in Harness. Only a fallen horse, stretched out there on the road, Stretched in the broken shafts, and crushed by the heavy load; Only a fallen horse, and a circle of wondering eyes Watching the 'frighted teamster goading the beast to rise. Hold ! for his toil is over — no more labor for him ; See the poor neck outstretched, and the patient eyes grow dim ; See on the friendly stones how peacefully rests the head — Thinking, if dumb beasts think, how good it is to be dead; After the weary journey, how restful it is to lie With the broken shafts and the cruel load — waiting only to die. Watchers, he died in harness — died in the shafts and straps — Fell, and the burden killed him : one of the day's mishaps — One of the passing wonders marking the city road — A toiler dying in harness, heedless of call or goad. 492 Murdoch's Elocution, Passers, crowding the pathway, staying your steps awhile, What is the symbol ? Only death — why should we cease to smile At death for a beast of burden ? On, through the busy street That is ever and ever echoing the tread of the hurrying feet. What was the sign ? A symbol to touch the tireless will ? Does He who taught in parables speak in parables still ? The seed on the rock is wasted — on heedless hearts of men. That gather and sow and grasp and lose — labor and sleep — and then- Then for the prize ! — a crowd in the street of ever-echoing tread — The toiler, crushed by the heavy load, is there in his harness — dead! — John Boyle O'Reilly. Mary of Castle Gary. Saw ye my wee thing? saw ye my ain thing? Saw ye my true-love down by yon lea? Crossed she the meadow, yestreen, at the gloaming? Sought she the burnie, where flowers the haw-tree ? Her hair it is lint-white; her skin it is milk-white; Dark is the blue o' her saft-rolling ee! Red, red her ripe lips, and sweeter than roses; Where could my wee thing wander frae me?" I sawna your wee thing ; I sawna your ain thing ; Nor saw I your true-love down by yon lea ; But I met my bonnie thing late in the gloaming, Down by the burnie where flowers the haw-tree. 'Her hair it was lint-white; her skin it was milk-white; Dark was the blue o' her saft-rolling ee! Red were her ripe lips, and sweeter than roses; Sweet were the kisses that she gae to me." It wasna my wee thing; it wasna mine ain thing; Is wasna my true-love ye met by the tree ;, Proud is her leal heart, and modest her nature; .She never lo'ed ony till ance she lo'ed me. I Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 493 "Her name it is Mary; she's frae Castle Gary, Aft has she sat when a bairn on my knee ; Fair as your face is, were't fifty times fairer, Young braggar, she ne'er wa'd gie kisses to thee." "It was then your Mary; she's frae Castle Gary; It was then your true-love I met by the tree; Proud as her heart is, and modest her nature, Sweet were the kisses that she gae to me." Sair gloomed his dark brow ; blood red his cheek grew ; Wild flashed the fire frae his red-rolling ee ! "Ye's rue sair this morning your boasting and scorning, Defend ye, fause traitor, fu' loudly ye lie!" "Awa wi' beguiling," cried the youth smiling; Aff gade the bonnet, the lint-white locks flee; The belted plaid fa'ing, her white bosom sha'ing, Fair stood the loved maid wi' the dark-rolling ee! **Is it my wee thing? is it mine ain thing? Is it my true-love here that I see ? " "0, Jamie, forgie me! your heart's constant to me — I '11 never mair wander, dear laddie, frae thee." — Hector Macneil. The Spinning-Wheel Song* Mellow the moonlight to shine is beginning; Glose by the window young Eileen is spinning ; Bent o'er the fire, her blind grandmother, sitting, Is croaning, and moaning, and drowsily knitting — "Eileen, achora, I hear some one tapping." "'Tis the ivy, dear mother, against the glass flapping." "Eileen, I surely hear somebody sighing." "'Tis the sound, mother dear, of the summer wind dying. Merrily, cheerily, noisily whirring. Swings the wheel, spins the reel, while the foot's stirring; Sprightly, and lightly, and airi4y ringing, Thrills the sweet voice of the young maiden singing. 494 Murdoch's Elocution. "What's that noise that I hear at the window, I wonder?" •*'Tis the little birds chirping the holly-bush under." <*What makes you be shoving and moving your stool on, And singing all wrong that old song of 'The Coolun?'" There 's a form at the casement — the form of her true love — And he whispers, with face bent, "I'm waiting for you, love Get up on the stool, through the lattice step lightly. We'll rove in the grove while the moon's shining brightly.' Merrily, cheerily, noisily whirring. Swings the wheel, spins the reel, while the foot 's stirring ; Sprightly, and lightly, and airily ringing, Thrills the sweet voice of the young maiden singing. The maid shakes her head, on her lip lays her fingers, Steals up from her seat— longs to go, and yet lingers; A frightened glance turns to her drowsy grandmother, Puts one foot on the stool, spins the wheel with the other. Lazily, easily, swings now the wheel round ; Slowly and lowly is heard now the reel's sound ; Noiseless and light to the lattice above her The maid steps — then leaps to the arms of her lover. Slower — and slower — and slower the wheel swings; Lower — and lower — and lower the reel rings ; Ere the reel and the wheel stop their ringing and moving, Through the grove the young lovers by moonlight are roving. — John Francis Waller. Catawba Wine. This song of mine Is a song of the Vine, To be sung by the glowing embers Of wayside inns. When the rain begins To darken the drear Novembers. I Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 495 It is not a song Of the Scuppernong, From warm Carolinian valleys, Nor the Isabel And the Muscadel That bask in our garden alleys. Nor the red Mustang, Whose clusters hang O'er the waves of the Colorado, And the fiery flood Of whose purple blood Has a dash of Spanish bravado. For richest and best Is the wine of the West, That grows by the Beautiful River; Whose sweet perfume Fills all the room With a benison on the giver. And as hollow trees Are the haunts of bees, Forever going and coming ; So this crystal hive Is all alive With a swarming and buzzing and humming. Very good in its way Is the Verzenay, Or the Sillery soft and creamy ; But Catawba wine Has a taste more divine, More dulcet, delicious, and dreamy. There grows no vine By the haunted Rhine, By Danube or Guadalquiver, Nor on island or cape, That bears such a grape As grows by the Beautiful River. 49^ Murdoch! s Elocution. Drugged is their juice For foreign use, When shipped o'er the reeling Atlantic, To rack our brains With the fever pains, That have driven the Old World frantic. To the sewers and sinks With all such drinks, And after them tumble the mixer; For a poison malign Is such Borgia wine, Or at best but a Devil's Elixir. While pure as a spring Is the wine I sing. And to praise it, one needs but name it; ' For Catawba wine Has need of no sign, No tavern-bush to proclaim it. And this Song of the Vine, This greeting of mine. The winds and the birds shall deliver To the Queen of the West, In her garlands dressed. On the banks of the Beautiful River. — Longfellow. The King of Yvetot. There reigned a king in Yvetot, But little known in story. Who, stranger all to grief and woe. Slept soundly without glory. His night-cap tied by Jenny's care (The only crown this king would wear,) He 'd snooze ! Ha, ha, ha ! Ho, ho, ho ! The merry monarch of Yvetot. I Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 49; His jolly court he held each day, 'Neath humble roof of rushes green, And on a donkey riding gay Through all his kingdom might be seen, A happy soul ; and thinking well, His only guard was — sooth to tell — His dog. Ha, ha, ha ! Ho, ho, ho ! The merry monarch of Yvetot. No harsh exacting lord was he. To grasp more than his folks could give, But mild howe'er a king may be, His Majesty you know, must live; And no man e'er a bumper fill'd. Until the jovial prince had swill'd His share. Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! The merry monarch of Yvetot. He ne'er sought to enlarge his States; But was a neighbor just and kind. A pattern to all potentates, Would they his bright example mind. The only tears he ever caused to fall, Was when he died — which you can't call His fault. Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! The merry monarch of Yvetot. — Beranger. Nearer, My God, to Thee. Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee ! E'en though it be a cross That raiseth me ; Still all my song shall be, — Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee! M. E.— 42. 498 Mtu'doch's Elocution. Though, like the wanderer, The sun gone down. Darkness be over me, My rest a stone; Yet in my dreams I 'd be Nearer, my God, to Thee, — Nearer to Thee ! There let the way appear. Steps unto heaven ; All that Thou sendest me. In mercy given ; Angels to beckon me Nearer, my God, to Thee, — Nearer to Thee! Then with my waking thoughts, Bright with Thy praise, Out of my stony griefs. Bethel I '11 raise ; So by my woes to be Nearer, my God, to Thee', — Nearer to Thee! Or if on joyful wing, Cleaving the sky. Sun, moon, and stars forgot, Upward I fly; Still all my song shall be, — Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee. — Sarah F. Adams. A Hymn. When all thy mercies, O my God, My rising soul surveys, Transported with the view, I'm lost In wonder, love, and praise. Miscellaneous Readings in Poetry. 499 O how shall words with equal warmth, The gratitude declare, That glows within my ravished breast? — But Thou canst read it there ! Thy providence my life sustained, And all my wants redrest, When in the silent womb I lay. And hung upon the breast. To all my weak complaints and cries Thy mercies lent an ear. Ere yet my feeble thoughts had learnt To form themselves in prayer. Unnumbered comforts to my soul Thy tender care bestowed, Before my infant heart conceived From whence those comforts flowed. — Joseph Addison. A Safe Stronghold. Translated by Thomas Carlyle from the German of Martin Luther. A Safe Stronghold our God is still, A trusty shield and weapon ; He '11 help us clear from all the ill That hath us now o'ertaken. The ancient prince of hell Hath risen with purpose fell; Strong mail of craft and power He weareth in this hour — On earth is not his fellow. By force of arms we nothing can — Full soon were we down-ridden ; But for us fights the proper man, Whom God himself hath bidden, Ask ye, Who is this same ? 500 Murdoch^ s Elocution, Christ Jesus is His name, The Lord Zebaoth's Son — He and no other one Shall conquer in the battle. And were this world all devils o'er. And watching to devour us, We lay it not to heart so sore — Not they can overpower us. And let the prince of ill Look grim as e'er he will, He harms us not a whit; For why? His doom is writ — A word shall quickly slay him. God's word, for all their craft and force. One moment will not linger; But, spite of hell, shall have its course— 'Tis written by His finger. And though they take our life, Goods, honor, children, wife. Yet is their profit small ; These things shall vanish all — The city of God remaineth. I INDEX. Prose Extracts. title. page A [an Higher than his Dwelling-place 138 I atent Principles of Religion 138 I nwritten Music 140 I ecollections of a Gifted Woman 140 The Professor at the Breakfast Table 141 1 he Musical Instrument 142 1 he Sketch-book . . . ". 1 58 'J he Nature of True Eloquence 163 1 he Music of Nature 182 i .nalysis of Hamlet's Speech 203 ^v^'ords 296 ( •ualities of a Well Regulated Mind 298 ( » come, let us sing unto the Lord . . . . . 300 Manners ........... 3*^9 I .ecitation 310 l-partacus to the Gladiators at Capua 310 !■ ong of Israel . . 311 'he Nobility of Labor . . .^ 312 ' 'aste and Genius . . 317 J-outh Carolina and Massachusetts 330 ] atriotism . 336 'he beauty of Israel is slain upon Thy high places . . . 341 ' hen Job answered and said ...... 358 ] .eading the Scriptures and other Holy Books . . . 359 ^ v^ithout God in the World 389 ] ,ord Thurlow's Reply to the Duke of Grafton . . . 392 i- ong of Moses ......... 394 (501) 502 Index. Poetical Extracts. FIRST LINE. A bow-shot from her bower eaves A fool, a fool! — I met a fool i' th' forest . Alack, I am afraid they have awak'd . And ever when the moon was low And here his course the chieftain staid And shall the mortal sons of God And wherefore should these good news make me sick Angels and ministers of grace defend us As Sir Launfal made morn through the darksome gat At midnight in his guarded tent . Away ! — away ! — and on we dash . Ay, Proteus, but that life is alter'd now Ayr gurgling kiss'd his pebbled shore .. Beshrew your heart, for sending me about . Breathes there a man with soul so dead But, lo ! the dome — the vast and wondrous dome But William answer'd short .... Come pensive Nun devout and pure Content! the good, the golden mean . Death is here, and death is there Down the dimpled greensward dancing Hail! holy Light, offspring of Heav'n first born Hear what Highland Nora said . He who hath bent him o'er the dead . Him have I seen ! oh, sight to cheer . How far, how very far it seemed I charm thy life from the weapons of strife I chatter over stony ways .... I conjure you, by that which you profess . I had a dream, which was not all a dream I said to the rose ...... Is there a way to forget to think Index. 503 1 IRST LINE. ]t was an eve of autumn's holiest mood ] who essayed to sing in earlier days . l^ast came Joy's ecstatic trial .... l^eave wringing of your hands .... l.et me play the Fool l.ochiel, Lochiel, beware of the day Lord Cardinal, to you I speak .... Most potent, grave, and reverend signiors . r^ lever, lago. Like to the Pontic Sea . (•h for a tongue to curse the slave (»h listen, man, a voice within us speaks the startling word C'h sweet is the sound of the shuttle and loom . ( nee at midnight, just as Arktos .... C nee more unto the breach, dear friends C n me exercise not thy hatred for this misery befallen C now forever, Farewell the tranquil mind . C sleep, O gentle sleep C woe to you, ye lofty halls .... lick clouds away, and welcome day (^ ueen of the silver bow, by thy pale beam S ;arch there, nay, probe me S ng the bridal of nations .... S ) as I sat upon Appledore .... S )me words on language may be well applied S ay, lady — stay for mercy's sake . S ay you that bear the corpse, and set it down T :hassan Ouglou is on T lat I did love thee, Caesar, O 't is true T le angel with great joy received his guests T le armaments, which thunder-strike the walls of rock cities ........ T le cock is crowing, the stream is flowing . built 504 Index. Then sing, ye birds, sing, sing a joyous song The spring, she is a blessed thing The vaults beneath the mosaic stone . They do me wrong and I will not endure it Thou from primeval nothingness didst call . Three times shall a young foot-page 'T is a time for memory and for tears . Too hard to bear! why did they take me thence 299 362 293 326 158 357 335 329 Upon the king! let us our lives, our souls 139 Waken, lords and ladies gay .... War ! war ! no peace ! peace is to me a war We come! we come! and ye feel our might What is eternity ? What ! while our arms can wield these blades Whence and what art thou, execrable shape When Duncan is asleep .... Who is it that hath warn'd us to the walls Within 'twas brilliant all and light With thee, sweet Hope, resides the heavenly light 160 339 361 360 165 325 171 155 317 336 Yet, like some sweet, beguiling melody Yon deep bark goes where traffic blows 162 337 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY BERKELEY Return to desk from which borrowed. This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. iE 20Apr'54MC '^PRC 1954 LU .v;!^ t^^ ^ KJL25 67-4PM ,; ■ ■ ?• I J— P; ^ g INTER-LIBRARY LOAN AUG 4 1967 LOAN DEPT. LD»l-X00m-ll,'49(B7146sl6)476 iKS' Z'Stni 5^ win UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY n '.'.r5