mm Hi H H KM m^tfrJWli HraraffiS r«B^'t ■I ■*WA ^m m m i ORTHOPHONY, VOCAL CULTURE. A. MANUAL OF ELEMENTARY EXERCISES FOR THE CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE IN ELOCUTION. FOUNDED UPON DR. JAMES RUSH'S " PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN VOICE," AND THE SYSTEM OF VOCAL GYMNASTICS INTRODUCED BY MR. JAMES E. MURDOCH. COMPILED BY WILLIAM RUSSELL, AUTHOR OF " LESSONS IN ENUNCIATION," ETC. REEDITED BY REV. FRANCIS T. RUSSELL, M. A. FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF ORATORY AT TRINITY AND HOBART COLLEGES. Seventy- Ninth Edition. BOSTON AND NEW YORK : HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY. 1896. AUG »1 191? Copyright, 1882, By FRANCIS T. RUSSELL. All rights reserved. The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A. Electrotyped and Printed by H. 0. Houghton & Company. 1 oJ tin .:* su^ To JAMES E. MURDOCH, Esq. THE EMINENT ELOCUTIONIST AND TRAGEDIAN, AND FORMER ESTEEMED ASSOCIATE OF THE ORIGINAL COMPILER OF THIS VOLUME, STfje following Manual IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE EDITOR. PEEFACE. " The design of the exercises presented in this manual is to furnish the groundwork of practical elocution, and what- ever explanations are needed for the training of the organs and the cultivation of the voice. The system of instruction adopted in the present volume is founded on Br. Rush's treatise, ' The Philosophy of the Human Voice,' and is designed as a practical synopsis of that work, with the ad- dition of copious examples and exercises, selected for the purpose of facilitating the application of theory to practice. We hope, however, that the use of this manual will induce students and teachers to consult, for themselves, that in- valuable source of instruction, for an ample and complete statement of the theory of vocal culture, in connection with an exact analysis of the vocal functions. " The exercises embodied in the following pages are de- signed equally for the assistance of two classes of students, — at very different stages of progress in general education, but requiring, alike, the benefit of a thorough-going course of practice in elocution : young learners, whose habits of utterance are, as yet, forming ; and adults, whose profes- sional duties involve the exercise of public speaking. To the former, this manual will furnish the materials for a progressive cultivation and development of the vocal or-* gans for the useful purposes of education, and as a grace VI PREFACE. ful accomplishment. To the latter, it affords the means of correcting erroneous habit in the use of the organs of speech, and of acquiring the command of an easy, healthful, and effective mode of managing the voice in the act of reading or speaking in public." — From the original Preface in the year 1845. After forty years of use as a philosophical text-book, it has been deemed advisable to revise, and somewhat to rearrange, the subject-matter of " Orthophony." The work, as originally done, was so faultless and complete in all its parts, in arrangement and execution, that the editor has found it extremely difficult to alter it for the better. But he believes that the changes, which are numerous, are im- provements, and will adapt the work still better for use, as a text-book, in our institutions of learning, and for class or private study. The text throughout has been thoroughly revised, simplified, and condensed. Much of the discursive matter under each scientific head has been rejected, as wider study of the art has rendered unnecessary so much of explanation. Such treatment was essential forty years ago, when the philosophical and natural principles of the art were not recognized. The same high standard of literary excellence in the selections used as illustrations has been maintained, and by the introduction of new examples and a rearrangement of the old, it is hoped that new life has been infused into the well-known treatise, and that it can still be used by those who for years have found it the most helpful text-book apon the subject. It should be observed that it is not the purpose, in follow- ing the exercises under each division of a subject, to sug- PREFACE. Vll gest that all the examples should be used at any one lesson or drill. Care should be exercised to adapt the drill in every case to the strength and vocal condition of the student. Acknowledgments are due to Messrs. James Miller & Co. for their courtesy in granting the use of selections from Mrs. Browning's poems, and also to Messrs. Clark & Maynard for permission to copy a few prints of the vocal organs from Hutchison's " Physiology and Hygiene." F. T. R. August, 1882. Note. At the time of the proposed revision of the present volume, two years ago, Mr. Murdoch, supposing that the editor's work was to be somewhat different in character, forming a new and independent treatise (which was not designed), and having, moreover, in view the publication of his own book on Elocution, then in preparation, suggested that his name should be removed as far as possible from "Vocal Culture," lest the two books should be confounded the one with the other. Mr. Murdoch's valuable work, " Analytic Elocution," having recently appeared, this danger is now removed, and his permission having been gained to record once more the proper recognition of the admi- rable system of " Vocal Gymnastics," first taught by him on the basis of Dr. Rush's "Philosophy," his name appears again upon the title-page. December, 1884. CONTENTS. ♦ Introductory Observations ...... jdii CHAPTER I. Respiration, or Exercises in Breathing • • • 1 Additional Breathing Exercises • « . 3 CHAPTER IX Orthoepy 5 Tonic Elements . . . , . • • » 7 Subtonic Elements • .10 Atonic Elements .....••• 12 Vowels and Diphthongs . . • • . • .14 Vocal and Diphthongal Elements . . . ., • 15 Consonantal Elements . - . . . • • .16 Labial Sounds • • • 16 Dental Sounds .18 Palatic Sounds 20 Aspirated Element ....... 20 Nasal Sounds 20 Lingual Sounds . . . . . • . .21 Exercises in Enunciation ....... 23 Words containing Tonic Elements .... 23 "Words containing Subtonic Elements ... 28 Words containing Atonic Elements .... 31 Words containing Syllabic Combinations . . 32 Exercise in Transition from one class of Elements to another . 35 Exercise in Transition from one class of Organic Ac- tions to another 35 Exercise in Difficult Combinations of Elements . 36 Pronunciation ......... 40 CHAPTER IIL Mode of Utterance 40 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. Quality of Voice 42 Whispering 42 Pure Tone 45 Examples of Pure Tone 49 Subdued or Softened Force 49 Moderate Force 52 Sustained Force 66 Orotund Quality ......... 67 Effusive Orotund .68 Expulsive Orotund 72 Explosive Orotund 76 Aspirated and Pectoral Quality . . . . . 78 Effusive Utterance 80 Expulsive Utterance ...... 82 Explosive Utterance . . . . . .83 CHAPTER V. Force 85 Exercises in Force 88 Suppressed Force 88 Subdued Force 90 Moderate Force 92 Declamatory Force 95 Impassioned Force . . . . . . .96 Shouting and Calling . . . ... . 97 Examples of Transition in Force 97 CHAPTER VI. Stress ........... .101 Radical Stress . . . . . . . . .102 Median Stress 106 Vanishing Stress . . . . . . , . .113 Compound Stress . 116 Thorough Stress 118 Tremor, or Intermittent Stress . . . . 121 CHAPTER VII. Melody .124 Pitch 125 Middle Pitch . 121 CONTENTS. XI Low Pitch 128 Very Low Pitch 130 High Pitch . 131 Very High Pitch .134 Transition in Pitch 136 The Phrases of Sentential Melody 141 The Slide 145 The Slide of Emotion . . . . ' . . .150 The Distinctive Slide 154 The Mechanical Slide 157 The Wave, or Circumflex 159 The Monotone 165 Semi tonic or Chromatic Melody 171 CHAPTER VIIL Time 176 Quantity . . . . . . , . . . 176 Exercises in Quantity 178 Pauses 188 Poetic and Oratorical Pauses 190 Ehetorical Pauses 194 Grammatical Pauses . . . . . . . 197 Movement 197 Examples of Slowest Movement . . . .199 Examples of Slow Movement . . . . . 200 Examples of Moderate Movement .... 201 Examples of Animated or Lively Movement . . 202 Examples of Brisk, Gay, or Quick Movement . . 203 Examples of Rapid or Quickest Movement . . 205 Transition in Movement 206 Accent 208 Syllabic Accent 208 Rhythmical Accent 210 Examples of Rhythm . 213 Prosodial Accent, or Metre 217 Iambic Metre 218 Trochaic Metre 221 Anapestic Metre 222 Notation of Rhythmical and Prosodial Accent comhined 224 CHAPTER IX. Emphasis and Expression ....... 227 Impassioned Emphasis 228 Xll CONTENTS. Unimpassioned Emphasis . . . t . . . . 229 Examples 230 Arbitrary Emphasis 235 Expression 239 Tables for Daily Exercise ...... 241 Engraved Illustrations op the Vocal Organs . . 248 Description of the Organs op Voice , . . . 253 Miscellaneous Pieces for General Practice . . 262 I. A Sea-voyage. Irving 262 II. Death of Morris. Scott . . . . . 266 III. Eulogy of President Garfield. Blaine . • . • . 268 IV. Chatham's Rebuke of Lord Suffolk ... 270 V. Patrick Henry's Speech in Favor of the War of In- dependence 271 VI. Passing Away. Pierpont 272 VII. Battle of Waterloo. Byron .... 274 VIII. Satan rallying the Fallen Angels. Milton . . 276 IX. Hymn to Mont Blanc. Coleridge . . . 278 X. Rhyme of the Duchess May. E. B. Browning . 280 XI. The Uses of Knowledge. Alison . . . 295 XII. The Last Hours of Sir Walter Scott. Lockhart . 297 XIH. Specimen of the Eloquence of John Adams. Webster 299 XIV. Slavery opposed to Nature. Brougham . . . 301 INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. OETHOPHONY,i OR THE SYSTEMATIC CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. The term orthophony is used to designate the art of cul- tivating the yoice, for the purposes of speech, reading, dec- lamation, recitation, or singing. This art, like all others, is founded on certain principles, the knowledge of which con- stitutes science. The principles of orthophony are derived from the sciences of anatomy and physiology, as regards the structure and action of the vocal organs, from the science of acoustics, as regards the formation of sound, in general, and from the science and art of music, as regards the regu- lation of vocal sound, in particular. Dr. Rush's exact and scientific analysis of elocution in his masterly treatise, " The Philosophy of the Human Voice," enables the teacher to carry elementary cultivation to an extent previously unattainable, and, even yet, too little known by those who have not paid special attention to 1 The terms phonation (the act of producing vocal sound), and phon- ology (the science of voice) are in current use among physiologists. But the systematic cultivation of the vocal organs, on the elements of expres- sive utterance, is a branch of education for which our own language fur- nishes no appropriate designation. The compiler of this manual has ventured to adopt, as a term convenient for this purpose, the word orthophony, — a modification of the corresponding French word " or- thophonies used to designate the art of training the vocal organs. The etymology of this term, when traced to the original Greek words, — signi- fying cwrect and voice, — sanctions its use in elocution, on the same groand with that of " orthoepy," in grammar XIV INTRODUCTION. the subject The actual benefits, however, arising from the practical applications of Dr. Rush's system are equally felt in the exactness of intelligence which it imparts, regarding all the expressive uses of the voice, and the force, freedom, and brilliancy of effect which it gives to the action of the vocal organs, whether in the utterance of expressive emo- tion, or of distinctive meaning addressed to the understand- ing, by the process of unimpassioned articulation. The methods of practical training, founded on the theory and the suggestions of Dr. Rush, are attended by a per- manent salutary influence of the highest value. They pro- duce a free and powerful exertion of the organs of respira- tion, a buoyancy of animal life, an exhilaration of spirits, and an energetic activity of the whole corporeal frame, — • all highly conducive to the well-being of the juvenile pupil, not less than to his attainment of a spirited, effective, and graceful elocution. The correspondent benefits conferred on adults, by a vigorous course of vocal gymnastics, are of perhaps still higher moment for the immediate purposes of life and usefulness. The sedentary habits of students and professional men render them liable not only to organic disability of utterance, and to injury of the lungs, but to numerous faults of habit, in their modes of exerting the organs of speech, — faults which impair or counteract the intended effect of all their efforts in the form of public reading or speaking. The daily practice of vocal exercises is the only effectual means of invigorating the organic system, or correcting faults of habit in utterance, and the surest means, at the same time, of fortifying the inward frame against the exhausting effects of professional exer- tion, when either pursued too long in succession or prac- tised at too distant intervals, — both serious evils, and nearly equal in the amount of injury which they occasion. The compiler of the present work could enumerate many cases in which voice and health, equally impaired, have been restored in a few months, or even weeks, of vocal INTRODUCTION. XV training, — and still more in which new and brilliant powers of expression have been elicited in individuals who have commenced practice with little hope of success and with little previous ground for such hope, — confirmed wrong habits of utterance, debilitated organs, and sinking health having all united their depressing and nearly ruin' ©us influence on the whole man. ORTHOPHONY. CHAPTER I. RESPIRATION, OR EXERCISES IN BREATHING. Gymnastic and calisthenic exercises are invaluable aids to the culture and development of the voice, and should be sedu- lously practised, when opportunity renders them accessible. But even a slight degree of physical exercise, in any form adapted to the expansion of the chest, and to the freedom and force of the circulation, will serve to impart energy and glow to the muscular apparatus of voice, and clearness to its sound. There is, therefore, a great advantage in introducing some preliminary muscular actions, as an immediate prepara- tion for vocal exercise. These actions may be selected from the system of preparatory movements taught at gymnastic establishments ; or they may be made to consist in regulated walking, with a view to the acquisition of a firm, easy, and graceful carriage of the body, with appropriate motion of the arms and limbs, — in the systematic drill in gesture, in its various forms, for the purpose of obtaining a free, forcible, and effective use of the arm, as a natural accompaniment to speech, — or in the practice of attitude and action combined, in the most vivid style of lyric and dramatic recitation, so as to attain a perfect control over the whole corporeal frame, for the purposes of visible expression. Some preliminary exercises, such as the preceding, having been performed, and a sufficient period for rest and tranquil 1 Z ORTHOPHONY. breathing having elapsed, the next stage of preparatory- action may be as in the following directions : — 1. Attitude of the Body, and Position of the Organs. Place yourself in a perfectly erect but easy posture ; the weight of the body resting on one foot ; the feet at a mod- erate distance, the one in advance of the other ; l the arms akimbo ; the fingers pressing on the abdominal muscles, in front, and the thumbs on the dorsal muscles, on each side of the spine ; the chest freely expanded and fully projected ; the shoulders held backward and downward, the head per- fectly vertical. 2. Exercises in Deep Breathing. Having thus complied with the preliminary conditions of a free and unembarrassed action of the organs, draw in and give out the breath very fully, and very slowly, about a dozen times in succession. Let the breathing be deep and tranquil, but such as to cause the chest to rise fully and fall freely, and at every effort fill the lowest air cells of the lungs. 3. Exercise in " Effusive " or Tranquil Breathing. Draw in a very full breath, and send it forth in a pro- longed sound of the letter h. In the act of inspiration, take in as much breath as you can contain. In that of expira- tion, retain all you can, and give out as little as possible, — merely sufficient to keep the sound of h audible. But keep i The habit of keeping the chest open and erect is indispensable to the production of a full, round tone of voice. But it is of still higher value, as one of the main sources of health, animation, and activity. The effect on the student of the preceding exercises in breathing is usually soon perceptible in an obvious enlargement of the chest, and habit- ually erect attitude, an enlivened style of movement, a great accession of general bodily vigor, an exhilarated state of feeling, and an augmented ac- tivity of mind. To persons whose habits are studious and sedentary, an& especially to females, the vigorous exercise of the organs of respiration and of voice is in every point of view an invaluable discipline. ADDITIONAL BREATHING EXERCISES. 3 it going on as long as you can sustain it. In this style of respiration the breath merely effuses itself into the sur- rounding air. 4. Exercise in " Expulsive " or Forcible Breathing. Draw in a very full breath, as before, and emit it, with a lively expulsive force, in the sound of h, but little prolonged, in the style of a moderate whispered cough. The breath in this style of expiration is projected into the air. Repeat this exercise, as directed in the statement preceding. 5. Exercise in " Explosive " or Abrupt Breathing. Draw in the breath, as already directed, and emit it with a sudden and violent explosion, in a very brief sound of the letter h, — in the style of an abrupt and forcible, but whis- pered cough. The breath is, in this mode of expiration, thrown out with abrupt violence. Repeat this exercise as before directed. The above exercises ■ are sufficient for ordinary use, but the following are also of service in expanding and strength- ening the lungs. Caution should be observed in these, and indeed all forms of vocal training, that no discomfort be created by the exertion. Practice will soon render even the most difficult drill agreeable. But if forced be- yond the natural power of endurance, the breathing exer- cises will injure rather than develop the voice. ADDITIONAL BREATHING EXERCISES. Sighing. Sighing, as a natural effort, designed to relieve the lungs and accelerate the circulation, when depressing emotions or organic impediments cause a feeling as if the breath were pent up, consists in a sudden and large inspiration and a full, strong, effusive expiration." In vocal training it be- comes a most efficacious means of free, unembarrassed res- 4 ORTHOPHONY. piration, and consequently of organic energy and of full voice. It should be repeated as the other exercises, and practiced through both the nostrils and the mouth ; the former being its gentler, the latter its more forcible form. It should be produced also in the tremulous style of inspi- ration, in which the sigh resembles a series of prolonged and subdued sobs. Sobbing. Sobbing, as an instinctive act, consists in a slightly con- vulsive, subdued, and whispering gasp, by which an instan- taneous supply of breath is obtained, when the stricture caused by the suffocating effect of grief would otherwise obstruct or suspend too long the function of inspiration. The practice of the sob facilitates . the habit of easy and rapid inspiration, and the expression of pathetic emotion. Gasping. Gasping is an organic act corresponding somewhat to sobbing, but much more violent, as belonging to the expres- sion of fierce emotions. Its effects as an exercise, in disci- plining the organs, are very powerful, and its use in vehe- ment expression in dramatic passages highly effective, and, indeed, indispensable to natural effect. Panting. Panting, as a natural act, in a highly excited state of cir- culation, whether caused by extreme muscular exertion or by intense emotion, consists in sudden and violent inspira- tion and expiration, the latter process predominating in force and sound. It is the only form of respiration practicable in high organic excitement. The practice of panting as an exercise imparts energy to the function of respiration, and vigor to the organs. Its effect is inseparable from the ex pression of ardor and intense earnestness in emotion. ORTHOEPY. 5 CHAPTER II. ORTHOEPY. The term orthoepy (correct speech) comprehends all that part of elocution which pertains to the organic functions of articulation, and its audible result, which we term enuncia- tion. It will be a matter of convenience, at the same time, to take into view the subject of pronunciation, or, in other words, enunciation as modified by the rules of sound and accent which are drawn from the usage of a particular lan- guage. To pronounce a word properly, implies that we enunciate correctly all its syllables, articulate distinctly the sounds of its letters, and accent properly according to pre- vailing cultivated usage. We commence with the study of articulation, as a func- tion of the smaller organs of voice, including the larynx and the circumjacent parts, the mouth and its various por- tions and appurtenances. Our preceding observations ap- plied to the use of the larger organs, the cavity and mus- cles of the chest, etc., and referred to the act of respiration, preparatory to the production of vocal sound, whether in speech or in music. We are now occupied with the func- tions of speech. Propriety of pronunciation is justly regarded as an insep- arable result of cultivation and taste. We recognize an educated person by his mode of pronouncing words ; and we detect slovenliness in mental habit, or the absence of culture, with no less certainty, in the same way. What- ever thus holds true of pronunciation — a thing subject to the law of prevailing good custom merely, and liable, there- fore, to various interpretations in detail — is still more em- phatically applicable to distinct enunciation, the unfailing characteristic of correct intellectual habits, and the only means of exact and intelligible communication by speech. 6 ORTHOPHONY. But a distinct enunciation is wholly dependent on the action of the organs, — on their positions and their move- ments, — on the force and precision of their execution. The breath having been converted into sound by the use of the component portions of the larynx, passes on to be modified or articulated into definite forms by the various parts of the mouth, and by the action of the tongue. The functions of the organs in articulation must obviously be determined by the character of the sound which in any case is to be executed. We shall find advantage, there- fore, in first considering the character of the component elementary sounds of our language, as a guide to the mode of exerting the organs in producing them. Dr. Rush, in his " Philosophy of the Voice," has adopted an arrangement of the elementary sounds of our language which differs from that of grammarians, and is founded on a more strict regard to the vocal properties of each ele- ment, a classification which is more convenient for the purposes of elocution, as well as more exact in relation to the facts of speech. Dr. Rush's arrangement we shall fol- low in this branch of our subject, as it is best adapted to the purposes of instruction. On a very few points of detail, however, we shall take the liberty to vary from Dr. Rush's system, where precision and accuracy of instruction seem to require such varia- tion. Dr. Rush's mode of classifying the elementary sounds of our language presents, first, those which he has denomi- nated " Tonic " elements, as possessing the largest capacity for prolongation of sound, and other modifications of tone. The following are the TONIC ELEMENTS. " TONIC ELEMENTS. I. Simple Sounds. 9. Ai, as in Ai-r. 1. 2. 3. A, A, A, as in A-ll. as in ^l-rm. as in A-n. 10. U, as in #p. 11. 0, as in O-r. 12. 0, as in 0-n. 4. 5. E, 00, as in JE-ve. as in Oo-ze. II. Compound Sounds. OO, 1 as in Jj-oo-k. 13. ^4, as in J.-le. 6. E, as in JS-rr. 14. /, as in I-ce. 7. E, as in i£-nd. 15. 0, as in 0-ld. 8. I, as in I-n. 16. Ou, as in 0w-r. The following elements of the same class are omitted by Dr. Rush. But they seem to be indispensable in teaching, which requires exact and close discriminations in order to obtain accuracy in practice. 17. Oi, as in Oi-l. 18. U, as in Use, sounding long in the verb, short in the noun. (The student's attention should be directed to the fol- lowing observations, previous to practising the preceding sounds.) The a in such words as ale, Dr. Rush has very justly represented as consisting of two elements: 1st. The "rad- ical," or initial sound, with which the name of the letter a commences ; and 2d. The delicate " vanish," or final sound, with which, in full pronunciation, and in singing, it closes, — bordering on e as in eve, but barely perceptible to the ear. This element obviously differs, in this respect, from the acute e of the French language, which begins and ends with precisely the same form of sound and positions of the organs of speech ; while the English a, as in ale, requires a slight upward movement of the tongue, to close it with pro- priety ; and hence its " vanish " approaches to the sound of e. 1 A shorter quantity, but the same in quality, with oo in ooze. 8 ORTHOPHONY. The i of ice, in like manner, will, on attentive analysis, be found to consist of two simple elements : 1st, a as in at ; 2d, i as in in. Walker, in his system of orthoepy, de- fines this element as commencing with the a in father. But such breadth of sound is, in our own day, justly regarded as the mark of a drawling and rustic pronunciation, while good taste always shrinks from the too flat sound, which this ele- ment receives in the style of dialectic error in Scotland or Ireland, or in the style of fastidious and affected refinement, as if " ayee." The o of old, although not so commonly recognized as a compound element, will be found, on analysis, to belong properly to that class. Thus, if we observe closely the pro- nunciation of a native of continental Europe in speaking English, we shall find that the letter o in such words as old sounds a little too broad, and does not close properly. The foreign pronunciation lacks the delicate " vanish," approach- ing to oo in ooze, although not dwelling on that form of sound, but only, as it were, approximating to it ; as the let- ter a, in just and full utterance for public speaking, and for singing, closes with a slight approach to e in eve, but does not dwell on that element. That this compound form of the " tonic " o in old is a genuine tendency of the organs, in the pronunciation of our language, may be observed in the current fault of the utter- ance which characterizes the popular style of England, and in which, the vanish of this element is protruded to such an extent as to justify American caricaturists in representing it by the spelling of "powst rowd," for post road. The element on in our is obviously a compound of o as in done, — the same with u in up, — and a short or " vanish- ing " quantity of oo in ooze. The negligent style of popular error makes this element commence with a as in arm, or a in at ; and the local style of rustic pronunciation in New England makes it commence with e in end. Ai, as in the word air, though not recognized by Dr. TONIC ELEMENTS. 9 Rush, nor by many other writers on elocution, as a separate element from a in ale, is obviously a distinct sound, approach- ing to that of e in end, but not forming so close a sound to the ear, nor executed by so much muscular pressure in the organs. The literal flat sound, however, of a in ale, if given in the class of words air, rare, care, etc., constitutes the peculiarity of local usage in Ireland, as contradistinguished from that of England. Popular usage in England and America inclines, no doubt, to the opposite extreme, and makes a in air too nearly like a prolonged sound of a as in an. In the southern regions of the United States, this sound is even rendered as broad as that of a in arm. But while good taste avoids such breadth of sound, as coarse and uncouth, it still preserves the peculiar form of this element, as differing both from a in ale, and e in end, and lying, as it were, between them. U in up seems to have been merged by Dr. Rush in the element e in err, which would imply that the latter word is pronounced " urr." But this is obviously the error of neg- ligent usage, whether in the United States or in England. In the latter country it is the characteristic local error of Wales. In the usage of New England and of Scotland there is, no doubt, a too prevalent tendency to pronounce err, earth, mercy, etc., with a sound too rigidly close, like that of e in merit; thus, "air" " airth," "maircy" But cultivated and correct pronunciation, while it avoids this preciseness, draws a clear though close distinction between the vowel sounds in urn and ear 71. Mr. Smart, in his " Practice of Elocution," describes the element in question with perfect exactness and just dis- crimination. " Er and ir are pronounced by unpolished speakers just like ur, as indeed, in some common words, such as her, sir, etc., they are pronounced, even by the most cultivated ; but in words of less common occurrence there is a medium be- 10 ORTHOPHONY. tween ur and air which elegant usage has established as the just utterance of e and i joined to the smooth r" 1 in or and o in on are apparently considered by Dr. Rush and by Walker as modifications of a in all. Admit- ting, however, the identity of quality in these elements, — their obvious difference in quantity, and in the position and pressure of the muscles by which, as sounds, they are formed, together with the precision and correctness of articulation, demand a separate place for them in elementary exercises designed for the purposes of culture, which always implies a definite, exact, and distinctive formation of sounds. Oi in oil, though omitted in the scheme of Dr. Rush, are evidently entitled to a distinct place in the classification of the elements of our language, on the same ground on which a separate designation is assigned to ou in our. This compound element oi is formed by commencing with the o in on, and terminating with the i in in. Popular and negligent usage inclines to two errors in this diphthong : 1st, that of commencing with o in own instead of o in on ; 2d, that of terminating with a short sound of a as in ale, instead of i in in. The appropriate sounds are as mentioned above. The compound element u as in use, although obviously formed of a short quantity of e in eve and of oo in ooze, is entitled to a place in the classification of the elements of our language, not merely as being a sound represented by a distinct character, as in the name of the letter u, but as con- stituting a peculiar diphthongal element. " SUBTONIC " ELEMENTS. These elements are so denominated by Dr. Rush " from their inferiority to the * tonics,' in all the emphatic and ele- gant purposes of speech, while they admit of being ' into- nated,' or carried ' concretely' (continuously) through the intervals of pitch." i The Practice of Elocution. By B. H. Smart. London, 1820. SUBTONIC ELEMENTS. 11 1. L, as in L-ull. 1 9. £, as in G^g. 2. M, as in JS^ai-m. io. r, as in V-al-ve. 3. jsr, as in N u-n. 11. z, as in Z-one. 4. R, as in i?-ap. 12. ^, as in A-z-ure 5. R, as in Fa-r. 2 13. T, as in T-e. 6. iv>, as in Si-ng. 14. JF, as in TT-oe. 7. i?, as in B-a,-be. 15. 2 7 ^ as in TR-en. 8. A as in D-i-d. Compound of 8 and 12 . 16. e/^ as in ^oy. The first six of the " subtonic " elements, I, m, n, r (hard), r (soft), and ng, have an unmixed " vocality " throughout : the seventh, eighth, and ninth, b, d, g, have a " vocality," terminating in a sudden and explosive force of sound: the remaining " subtonics," v, z, zh,y, w, th,j, have an " aspiration " (whispering sound of the breath) joined with their vocality. The fourth of these elements — ras in rap — differs from the fifth, — r as in far, — in having a harder and clearer sound, executed by a forcible but brief vibration of the tip of the tongue against the first projecting ridge of the inte- rior gum, immediately over the upper teeth ; while the lat- ter has a soft murmuring sound, caused by a slight vibration of the whole fore part of the tongue, directed towards the middle part of the roof of the mouth. The common errors of careless usage substitute the " soft " for the " bard " r, and omit the " soft " r entirely ; thus, "fdh " for far. Another class of errors consists in rolling, or unduly prolonging the sound of the " hard " r, and substituting the hard for the " soft " sound. 1 In arranging the "subtonics," words have, in as many cases as prac- ticable, been selected for examples which contain a repetition of the ele- ment under consideration. The design of this slight deviation from Dr. Bush is to present each element as impressively as possible to the ear. 2 Added to Dr. Rush's arrangement, for the reasons mentioned in subse- |uent observations on this element See last paragraph of this page. 12 ORTHOPHONY. The greater prolongation of sound, which takes place in the average of singing notes, or in impassioned recitation, renders a slight comparative " roll " of the " hard " r un- avoidable, at the beginning of a word. But it is a gross error of taste to prolong this sound, in the style of foreign accent, as in French and Italian pronunciation ; or to sub- stitute the rough sound of the " hard " r for the delicate murmur of the " soft " r. The "subtonic" elements numbered 13 and 14 — y as in ye, and w as in woe — are, it may be remarked, not properly separate elements from e in eve and oo in ooze, but only extremely short " quantities " of the same " qual- ities " of vowel sound which are exhibited in these words. They require, however, a closer position of the organs for their execution ; and hence, for the purposes of prac- tical instruction, they may be advantageously studied as dis- tinct elementary sounds. " ATONIC " ELEMENTS. These elements are thus designated by Dr. Rush from their want of « tonic " property, — " their limited power of variation in pitch." " They are all properly 'aspirations,' and have not the sort of sound called ' vocality.' They are produced by a current of the whispering breath, through certain positions of parts, in the internal and external mouth." 5. G " soft," and S, as in 1. P, as in P-i-pe. 2. T, as in ^-en-*. 3. G, " hard," and K, as in G-&-ke. 4. F, as in F-i-fe. Gompound of 2 and 8. 9. Gh, as in Gh-uv-ch. 1 1 Wh, which Dr. Rush has recognized as a distinct element, are but ap. parently such. They differ in no respect from the separate elements, w and C-ea-se. 6. H, as in Re. 7. Th, as in Th-m. 8. Sh, as in Push. ATONIC ELEMENTS. 13 To some persons the foregoing analysis may seem unnec- essarily minute. But exactness in articulation cannot exist without close discrimination and careful analysis. Many of the worst errors in -the enunciation of words are owing to slight oversights of the true sound of a letter. Without strict attention to details, there can, in this particular, be no security for accurate execution. The very common error, for example, of reading or singing the word faith as if it were written "fai-eeth," is merely an act of negligence re- garding the " vanish," or final portion of sound, in the diph- thong at, which — although it is unavoidably analyzed by the voice, in the utterance of singing, to a greater extent than in that of reading — should never be dissected in the unnatural style which has just been mentioned. We have omitted, as will have been observed, that part of Dr. Rush's analysis which presents the " tonic " ele- ments a as in awe (identical with a in all), a in arm, and a in an, as diphthongal. Correct reading and appropriate singing alike forbid the " vanish " of these sounds to be rendered apparent to the ear. It is one of the acknowl- edged improprieties of enunciation which permits the word awe to terminate in any form approaching — even in the most distant degree — the negligent style of " awer." Let it be admitted that the " vanish," or final portion of the sound, in such elements, is but an unavoidable, acciden- tal " vocule," inseparably attached to the " radical " or initial sound, when we utter it by itself ; and it becomes, from its very nature, a thing which judgment and taste would alike require to be sunk out of notice to the ear, in the enuncia- tion of syllables or words. h, only that, in the modem orthography of words, they are inverted, a-« to their order. The ancient orthography of the language placed them a n they stand in orthoepy. Ew ; thus Hioeat, Hwen, etc. The sound is pro- duced by placing the lips in position for w and enunciating h at the same time. 14 ORTHOPHONY. The preceding arrangement of the elementary sounds of the language, as presented by Dr. Rush, exhibits them in a manner very clear and distinct, as results of organic action, — or as sounds formed by the voice. But to ascertain their character with perfect accuracy of knowledge, for the pur- poses of vocal practice and culture, it becomes important to examine them closely, in connection with the exact position and movement of the organs, during the process of execu- tion. Classified, in this light, the audible elements of our lan- guage may be conveniently designated by the terms in use previous to Dr. Rush's arrangement. We will commence with the VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. These elements, generally, are formed by the act of " ex- piration" modified into vocality by the larynx, and the adjoining organs, aided by the tongue, the palate, the lips, etc., which give definite and distinctive character to the sounds of the voice, as rudiments of speech. The enunciation of vowels and diphthongs demands at- tention principally to the free and expansive opening of the mouth, together with a strict attention to the action of the particular organ or organs by which each element receives its peculiar character as a definite sound. Much attention in the execution of these sounds is required to the action of the organs at the moment of commencing and at that of closing each sound. The sound of the voice in the utter- ance of the first audible portion of articulate sounds, Dr. Rush has termed the " radical " (initial) movement ; the sound uttered in the concluding portion of an articulatiou he has termed the " vanishing " (final) movement. Each of these points of articulate sound demands the closest dis- crimination, as regards both the voice and the motion or action of the organs. If the latter is not exact, the former will be more or less incorrect or vague, confused, and in- definite. The " radical " movement always demands clear. VOCAL AND DIPHTHONGAL ELEMENTS. 15 ness, force, precision, and spirit in the execution ; the "vanish" requires nice and delicate finish, perfect exact- ness, but no undue marking or prominence. It should resemble, in its effect on the ear, that of a light but definite touch on the piano. "In just articulation, the words are hot to be hurried over, nor precipitated, syllable over syllable ; nor, as it were, melted together into a mass of confusion : they should be neither abridged, nor prolonged, nor swallowed, nor forced, and — if I may so express myself — shot from the mouth ; they should not be trailed nor drawled, nor let slip out carelessly, so as to drop unfinished. They are to be delivered out from the lips, as beautiful coins newly issued from the mint, deeply and accurately impressed, perfectly finished, neatly struck by the proper organs, distinct, sharp, in due succession, and of due weight." * The precision and force of the " radical " portion of a sound are gained by deep inspiration and a preliminary rallying, or gathering of impulse on the organs, — some- what as we brace the muscles before the exercise of jump- ing or diving, — and then causing an instantaneous explo- sion of the accumulated and compacted breath, iu the form of clear, cutting sound. In practising the following elements, this explosive, radical movement should be carried up from the slightest style of a suppressed cough to the most violent exertion, or the loudest style of coughing. The preliminary practice of a repeated actual cough is the best preparatory discipline for the species of organic action which constitutes the " radical " portion of any articulate sound. VOCAL AND DIPHTHONGAL ELEMENTS, corresponding to the "tonics" of Dr. Rush, and executed principally by the action of the larynx, with the mouth mors or less open : — 1 Austin's Chironomia, pp. 38, 39. 16 ORTHOPHONY. I. Simple Sounds 11. O-Y. 1. .4-11. 12. O-n. 2. i-rm. 3. ^-n. II. Compound Sounds. 4. B-ve. 13. .4-le (original element 5. OO-ze, and 4). L-oo-k. 14. 7-ce (3 and 4). 6. ^-rr. 15. O-ld (original element 7. ^-nd. and 5). 8. 7-n. 16. Ou-r (10 and 5). 9. ^-r. 17. Oi-1 (12 and 8). 10. £7-p. 18. Use (4 and 5). CONSONANTAL ELEMENTS, corresponding to the " subtonic " and " atonic " sounds in the classification of Dr. Rush : — I. Labial Sounds. These are — in consonance with their designation — formed by the action of the lips. They may be enumerated as follows : — 1. B-&rbe. 2. P-i-pe. 3. M-Sii-m. 4. W-oe. 5. V-sd-ve. 6. F-i-fe. The " subtonic " b is formed by a firm compression of the lips, which arrests the escape of the breath, and causes, by this occlusion of the mouth, a murmuring resonance of the voice in the cavity of the chest and in the interior of the head and mouth. The pressure of the lips, in the formation of this sound, is increased to a maximum, or chief point, at which. the lips are suddenly opened, and a slight explosive effect produced, which consummates the character of the sound, and causes a " vocule," or slight and obscure vowel sound, resembling e in err, to follow the effort of the organs. 1 This and the following element being formed by means both of the lower lip and the upper teeth, are, on this account, sometimes called "labialr dentals." ARTICULATION. 17 ♦ The " atonic " p is produced by an intense compression of the lips, which prevents the possibility of any audible sound till the forcible " aspirated," or whispering, explosion, following the maximum of the pressure, is heard, accompa- nied by the same " vocule " which attends the sound of b, but in p is only an aspiration, or whisper. The precision of these two elements of speech is de- pendent wholly on the full force of the labial compression and the intensity of the following explosion by which they are produced. In impassioned utterance, the force of the organic action, in the articulation of these sounds, must be carried to the utmost degree, and executed with instanta- neous precision and the most vivid effect. The " subtonic " m is articulated by a very gentle com- pression of the lips, attended by a murmur in the head and chest, resembling somewhat that which forms the character of the " subtonic " b, but differing from it in the sound, be- ing accompanied by a free, steady, equable " expiration " through the nostrils. In extremely impassioned utterance, this gentle element is made to assume the character of in- tensity by increasing the force of the labial compression to a maximum, and exploding the sound in a manner similar to that of b. This element is not followed, as b or p, by a " vocule ; " its own distinctive character of sound, through- out, being very nearly of the " tonic," or purely vocal nat- ure. The " subtonic " element v), as in woe, is formed by rounding the lips, as in articulating oo in ooze, but slightly compressing them, and holding them closer to the teeth ; a brief vocal murmur is formed by the breath, as modified by the larynx, escaping through this partial opening of the lips, and at the same time, in a very slight degree, through the nostrils. This sound has not, from its nature, much independent energy ; neither does it admit of pro- longation. But it becomes forcible and impassioned, to some extent, by increasing the pressure of the lips, and ex- 2 18 ORTHOPHONY. ploding the sound, somewhat in the manner of m and 6, when rendered intense. The " subtonic " v is articulated by the sound of the voice being modified by bringing the upper front teeth close upon the ridge of the under lip, and at the same time slightly raising the upper lip so as to prevent its interfering with the contact of the upper front teeth and the lower lip. A murmuring resonance, bordering on aspiration, is thus produced in the head and chest, by the partial escape of breath between the teeth and the lip. This element, as mentioned before, has, on this account, been sometimes de- nominated " labio-dental," from its dependence on both these organs. The " atonic " f is executed as v, with the difference only arising from a closer compression of the teeth and the lip, a more forcible expulsion of the breath, and an aspirated or whispering character in the sound. This element, also, is sometimes denominated " labio-dental," being formed as the preceding. II. " Dental " Sounds. These are all modified, as their name imports, by the aid of the teeth. But, like many other articulate sounds, they are founded on and imply an action of the tongue, although this circumstance is not indicated in the designation of such elements. 1. D-i-d. 2. T-en-t. 3. 7%-in. 4. TH-me. Compound of 1 and 5. 9. J-oj. 5. A-z-ure. 6. Vu-sh. 7. C-ea-se. 8. Z-one. Compound of 2 and 6. 10. Ch-ur-ch. The " subtonic " d is articulated by a partial vocal mur. mur, modified by pressing the tip of the tongue with great energy against the interior ridge of gum, immediately over ARTICULATION. 19 the upper front teeth. This pressure is but an instantane- ous effort ; yet it evidently comes to a maximum just before the explosion, from which it takes its peculiar character, is executed. This explosion necessarily produces the " vo- cule " e as in err. The " atonic " t is executed in a similar manner, except- ing the absence of vocal murmur, an intense percussive pressure of the tongue, and an aspirated explosion, which takes place in the act of withdrawing the tongue from the gum. The " atonic " th, as in thin, is executed by a forcible " aspiration," modified by a slight horizontal parting of the lips and a forcible pressure of the end of the tongue against the upper front teeth. The " subtonic " TH, as in thine, is executed by a simi- lar position of the organs, but a vocalized emission of the breath forming a gentle resonance. The " subtonic " z, as in azure, is formed by a partially vocal sound, modified by gently raising the whole fore part of the tongue towards the roof of the mouth, and allowing the breath to escape between it and the teeth. The " atonic " sh is formed in a similar manner, as re- gards the position of the organs, but with more pressure, and by means of " aspiration," not " vocality," in the emis- sion of the breath. The " atonic " sound of s, or the soft sound of c, as in the word cease, is articulated by pressing, with intense force, the tip of the tongue against the interior gum, immediately over the front teeth. Through the extremely small aperture thus formed, aided by the horizontal parting of the lips and the cutting effect of the edges of the teeth, the sibilation, or hiss, is formed, which gives the peculiar character of this element. The " subtonic " z, as in zone, is formed by nearly the same position of the organs as the preceding element, but with very slight pressure, and by means of " vocalized," not " aspirated," sound. 20 ORTHOPHONY. III. " Palatic " Sounds. These are so termed from their depending on the palatt for their distinctive character. They are enumerated as fol- lows : — 1. G " hard," and K, as in C-a-he ; 2. G, as in G-SL-g ; 3. Y, as in T-e. The " atonic " c " hard," or k, is executed by opening the mouth, retracting and curving the tongue with great force, and exploding an aspiration against the palate. The " subtonic " g, as in gag, is formed by similar move- ments and positions of the organs, but less forcible, and by means of " vocality " instead of " aspiration." The " subtonic "# is articulated by a similar process, still less forcible, and by means of " expulsion," not " explosion," as regards the character of the function and the sound. IV. "Aspirated " Element. H, as in ff-e. This sound is formed by a forcible emission of the breath, in the style of a whisper, and a moderate opening of all the organs of speech. V. " Nasal " Sounds. 1. N, as in N-u-n ; 2. Ng, as in Si-ng ; or N, as in I-rc-k. The " subtonic " n is articulated by a vocalized breathing through the nose, the lips parted freely, and the end of the tongue pressing vigorously against the interior ridge of gum immediately above the upper front teeth. The (t subtonic " ng is formed by a vocalized breathing, directed against the nasal passage and the back part of the veil of the palate, and by a retracted and elevated position of the lower part of the tongue, which partly shuts th« ARTICULATION. 21 nasal passage, and causes it, at the same moment, to become resonant. VI. " Lingual " Sounds. These elements are so called from their special depend- ence on the action of the tongue. They are the following*. 1. L, as in L-u-ll ; 2. R, as in i?-ap ; 3. R, as in F-a-r. These are all " subtonic " elements. The first is formed by a moderate opening of the mouth, and the utterance of a vocalized sound, modified by raising the tongue towards the roof of the mouth, and pressing the end of it very gently against the interior ridge of gum immediately above the upper front teeth. The " subtonic " r, as in rap, is an element formed by vivid and energetic vibration of the tip of the tongue against the interior ridge of gum immediately over the up- per front teeth, forming a partially vocalized sound, clear and forcible, but very brief. It should never extend to a prolonged trill, or roll. This element is sometimes desig- nated as " initial " r, from its occurring at or near the begin- ning of words and syllables ; and sometimes " hard," or " rough," r, from its comparative force, as contrasted with r at the end of a word, which is always soft in sound. This element follows, but never precedes, a consonant ; thus, pray, brass, crape, green, dread, tread, scream, spread, etc. The " subtonic " r, as in far, is a softer sound, of longer duration, modified by a slight and gentle vibration of the whole fore part of the tongue, retracted, and rising towards the roof of the mouth, but not actually touching it. The just observance of the true character of this and the preced- ing element is, as was mentioned before, a point of great mo- ment in enunciation, and decides its style, as regards taste and culture. The designation of " soft," or " smooth," r is sometimes given to the " final " r, as it is a more delicate and liquid sound than the " hard," or " initial," r. This element occurs at the end of words, and before, but never 22 ORTHOPHONY. after, a consonant; t\ms,war, star, fair, ire, ear, oar, farm, barn, card, harp, part, mercy, servant, person, etc. Note. — It is one of the great inconveniences of our lan- guage, that we have so few letters or characters by which to designate its sounds ; and it is not less a defect in it, that we have the same element sometimes represented by a great variety of letters, and the combination of letters. Thus, the element a, in ale, is heard also in aid, lay, weigh, survey, etc. A, in arm, is heard, also, in aunt. A, in all, is heard in awe, laud, etc. A, in what, was, wash, etc., is used to represent the same sound with o, as in on, or not. A, as in rare, is heard, also, in air, prayer, etc. E, as in eve, occurs, also, in the sound of ee in eel ; ea, in eat; ie, in field; ei, in seize. E, in end, occurs in the form of ea in head. E, in err, is the same sound which occurs in heard, and in ■firm. Y, except its peculiar sound in ye, is but a repetition of i, long or short ; thus, rhyme, hymn, etc. 0, in old, is repeated in oak, course, own, etc. Oo, in ooze, and oo, in foot, recur in the sounds of o in move ; u, in true ; o, in wolf ; u, in pull; ui, in fruit, etc. The diphthongal sound oi, as in oil, is heard, always, in oy. The sound of u, in use, occurs also in the form of iew in view ; eau, in beauty. The diphthong ou, in our, is repeated in the sound of ow in down, etc. F, as a sound, recurs in the form of ph and gh ; as in phrase, laugh, etc. J, and g " soft," are, on the other hand, but combinations of the sounds of d, and of z as in azure. Ch, in church, are but repetitions of the sound of t and sh. The sound of sh is found, also, in the words nation, gra- cious, ocean, etc. G " soft " is identical with *. ENUNCIATION OF WORDS. 23 S is, in multitudes of instances, but a repetition of z, as, for example, in houses, diseases, etc. The sound of k is repeated in the form of c " hard ; " ch, as in chorus ; and q, as in queen, N, in ink, is identical with ng. X is but a repetition, in sound, of Jcs, gz, z, or hsh , thus, ex, example, Xerxes, Alexia, etc. It is unnecessary, however, to enlarge on these inconsis- tencies in the forms of our language. It is sufficient, per- haps, for our present purpose, to suggest the fact, that the orthography of words may sometimes afford no guidance to orthoepy, but, rather, may apparently mislead. The ear should, in all cases, be trained to the utmost exactness and precision, in detecting and seizing the true element of sound, independently of the form or combination of letters, by which it may be represented. WORDS to be practised in the same style as the exercises on sylla- bles, each component element kept perfectly clear and dis- tinct : — I. Tonic Elements. — Simple Sounds. One error, often made in the following class of words, is to pronounce them nearly as if written oall, etc. Some- times we hear the coarse error of dividing the sound of a, in such words, into two parts : thus, O-ull, io-ull, etc. To a cultivated ear, this sound is peculiarly displeasing, as asso- ciated with low and slovenly habit. 1. A, as in -4-11. all war law awful water 2. A, as in A-rm. The two current errors in this class of sounds are, 1st, as in the local usage of New England, flattening it down to a in an ; 2d, as in the custom of the Middle States, making it 24 ORTHOPHONY. as broad as a in all. The former style causes the pronunci- ation of "farm," "part," "father;" the latter, that of " fawrm," " pawrt," " farther." harm bar mart balm daunt 3. A, as in A-n. Common errors: 1st, a flattened down to e in end, nearly ; thus, " dence," " pess," the local usage of the Middle States ; 2d, a made as broad as a in arm ; thus, "dance" (as if darnce), "pass," the customary fault of New England. add band mass last slant dance had hand pass mast chant lance mad land grass past grant glance 4. E, as in E-ve. There is . seldom any error made in the enunciation of such words as the following, except the slight one arising from not distinguishing between the longer sound of ee be- fore a "subtonic," as in feel, and the shorter before an " atonic," as in feet. The explosive force of the organic action in executing an " atonic " compresses the preceding vowel ; the gentle and gradual sliding of the ee into a " subtonic " allows it a longer duration. theme feel heed | week feet deep 5. O 0, as in Oo-ze ; 0, as in L-oo-k. The sound of this element needs attention to the same distinction as in case of the ee. Before a " tonic " element it is prolonged ; before an " atonic," it is shortened. The difference is exemplified for the former in tool, for the latter in took. cool boom moon hook hoop foot ENUNCIATION OF WORDS. 25 Exceptions. Good, wood, stood, tfhich have the oo short, though before a " subtonic." 6. E, as in i£-rr. The just, not overdone, distinction between urn and earn is the object to be kept in view in practising on the follow ing words. This class of sounds is so liable to mispronun ciation that it needs close and repeated attention. See re marks on the " tonic " element, e in err, in the discussion o elementary sounds. err serve earth 1 firm 1 mercy merciful erst verse earl gird person terminate herb stern pearl girl servant perfectly 7. E, as in i£-nd. The common error in the following class of words is that of allowing the vowel to approach the sound of a in ale ; thus, " taill" for tell. Other errors are such as " stiddy," for steady, " maysure," for measure. elk hence let bell den bed ready steady measure pleasure general genuine 8. I, as in In. The common error of careless articulation in this element makes it approach the a of ale; thus, " sainn," for sin. An opposite error in foreign style, or in bad taste, gives "seen" for sin ; " ceetee," for city, etc. din dim bid ill lip bit 9. A, as in Ai-v. Sometimes carelessly enunciated as a in an, prolonged ; thus, " aer" for air ; sometimes too fastidiously flattened, 1 The same element with e in err, though differently spelled. 26 ORTHOPHONY. and reduced to a in ale ; thus, " aer," for air. The true sound lies between. bare fare hair stare barely aware 10. U, as in ££p. The error in enunciating this element is that of forming the sound in a coarse, guttural style, which makes it ap- proach the sound of o in on. This fault is prevalent in the usage of the Middle States. up bud gum dun but done 11. 0, as in O-v. Three errors are extensively prevalent in the mode of enunciating this element : 1st, a local error of New Eng- land, which gives a double sound for a single one, com- mencing with o in old, and ending with u in up, or a in an ; thus, "nour" or "noar," for nor; 2d, a local error of the Middle States, which makes the sound too broad, and re- sembling the a in arm ; thus, " ndr" for nor ; 3d, a long and drawling sound, which has a coarse and slovenly char- acter ; thus, cawrd, for cord. orb 1 born cork sort form 12. 0, as in On. A prevalent local error in Massachusetts, in the follow- ing class of sounds, exists in the words loss, lost, soft, etc., which are pronounced nearly with o as in old; thus, " loass" " loast," " soaft," etc., and sometimes with a double instead of a single sound ; thus, " loast" etc., for lost. The local error of usage in the State of Connecticut verges to the op- posite extreme, in such words, and gives for o a sound too nearly like that of a in an ; thus, " lass," etc., for loss. 1 The r of these words is soft,, but never silent, as in the style of faulty usage. ENUNCIATION OF WORDS. 27 on mob bog rod lop loss odd rob dog god 1 sop toss 13. A, as in A-le. The common error in the enunciation of this element is that of making its " vanish " too conspicuous ; thus, " aeel" for ale. An opposite error is not uncommon : that of omitting the delicate " vanishing " sound entirely, which makes the style of enunciation coarse and negligent. ace day hail lade make came 14. I, as in I-ce. The two errors to be avoided in enunciating this element are, 1st, that of commencing with too broad a sound ; thus, " aece" for ice (dece) ; 2d, that of commencing it with too flat a sound ; thus, " aece," for ice. See remarks on " tonic " elements. dice bide life lime fight dive rice ride rife time light hive vice side wife prime might rive 15. 0, as in 0-ld. A prevalent error in the local usage of New England makes this o too short ; thus, " horn" for home. A com- mon error of the Middle States makes the sound too broad ; thus, "farce" for force. oh g° bold home lone hope lo wo cold loam bone mope so foe hold foam stone grope both ford fort course gore boat oath sword port force more coat sloth forge sport source pour dote 16. Ou, as in Ou-r. The prevailing errors on this element are " dur" " aur* 1 Frequently mispronounced "gawd," "goad," "goad," or "gad." 28 ORTHOPHONY. and " eur," for our (p sounding as in done). The first two of these errors are current in the pronunciation of the Southern and Middle States ; the last in that of New Eng- land. out how loud cow fowl crown ounce now cloud count howl drown owl vow proud gown growl frown 17. Oij as in Oi-\. The two errors usually exhibited in enunciating this ele- ment are, 1st, beginning the diphthong with the sound of o in own, instead of that of o in on ; 2d, closing with a sound resembling a in ale, instead of i in in. boil toil joy coin broil rejoice coil soil hoy join spoil appoint foil coy toy loin groin avoid 18. U, as in Use (long, as in the verb; short, as in the noun). The common errors in articulating this compound ele- ment consist in, 1st, turning the whole sound into oo as in ooze ; 2d, making the diphthong commence with a in ale, instead of e in eve, shortened, or of the sound of y in yet. use tune feud cue human student constitution cure dupe hew due useful stupid institution lure fume few sue humor stewing revolution II. " Subtonic " Elements. 1. L, as in L-u-ll. loll lie lad all weal dull 2. M, as in M-ai-m. The common error in the enunciation of this element ENUNCIATION OF WORDS. 29 is that of sounding it too slightly, and in a slack and lag- ging style. mine may move am him hum 3. iV", as in JN-u-n. The common fault of enunciation in this, as in the pre- ceding element, is a want of that force which belongs to energetic and animated utterance. nine nay now an den din 4. i?, as in i?-ap (r initial, before a vowel, or after a consonant). The error to be avoided in articulating this element is that of prolonging it into a " roll," or that of substituting for it the soft sound of r " final." A correct articulation in this instance always presents to the ear a firm, clear, and distinct, but very brief sound. raw red rid ream robe rude rub rye rent rim reel rose rule ruff ray rest rip reap roam rue rust brag brave grave crane pray trade stray brass brain grim crag prate track stride brad braid groan cry prone tread strut 5. i?, as in Fa-r (r final, or before a consonant). The error most frequent in the articulation of this ele- ment is that of omitting it, through inadvertency. This fault is one of the conspicuous peculiarities of the style of pronunciation prevalent among the uncultivated classes of the city of London. But it is not less so, even among educated people, in the United States. The soft r, being one of the few liquid consonants which our language possesses, should never be omitted in enunciation. At the same time it should never be converted into the opposite, r as in rap, as it often is, in the style of foreigners ; neither should it ever 30 OETHOPHONY. be dwelt upon, or prolonged in sound. It is properly but a " vanish," in its effect on the ear, as its vibrating and mur- muring articulation prevents it from becoming forcible or distinct. The tongue should execute it with a delicate motion adapted to its slight and evanescent character. hare bar ear ire ore lure bur dare car fear hire core pure cur fare mar hear mire door sure pur orb arm earn dark pear art burn horn harm fern hark marl dart turn form farm learn lark whirl part churn murmur former charmer warmer warbler burner forlorn Exercise on words containing both sounds of JR. (The difference in the sounds of the hard and the soft r should be exactly observed.) rare rear roar reared i roared rarely drier error horror terror brier prior truer crier regular barrier terrier merrier farrier carrier courier 6 . Ng, as in Si-ng (or n, before g hard or k). king gong hang hung bank ink ring wrong bang tongue rank sink wing prong rang sprung drank wink hanging ringing lancing mangling haranguing twanging winging glancing dangling prolonging swinging bringing dancing wrangling besprinkling 7. B, as in B-&-be. The forcible execution of this and the two following ele- ments in a very clear and compact form is often indispen- sable to the full effect of vivid emotion. babe ball bead blab mob curb 8. D, as in D-i-d. ilid dawn den laid mad bed ENUNCIATION OF WORDS. 31 9. G, as in G-a-g. gag gave gall gull hag log 10. V, as in V-al-ve. valve vaunt cave leave velvet survive 11. Z, as in Z-one (or s flat), zone maze has daisies disease 12. Z, as in A-z-ure (or s as in measure). seizure measure vision composure derision 13. Z as in Ye. ye yes young yawn yearly yea you youth yell yellow way 14. W, as in JP-oe. was ware wed wine 15. TR, as in TB-ine. they than then thee bathe beneath 16. J, as in ^oy (and G soft). joy jar jilt page giant judge III. " Atonic " Elements. (All " atonies," from their utter want of vocality, need great force and precision in their articulation.) 1. P, as in P-i-pQ. pulp pall pile pale paper pulpy 2. T, as in T-en-t. tight tall top . mat tatter total 32 ORTHOPHONY. 3. G hard, and K, as in G-a-ke ; and Q, as in #-ueen. key cane queen creak deck cork 4. F, as in F-i-fe. file off fade say hail thank sham chair fell file off hoof 5. S sharp, and G soft, as in O-ea-se. see sauce mass source 6. If, as in H-q. heel hit had hat ceaseless hot 7. Th, as in Th-in. through thong thrust hath breath 8. Sh, as in Tush. shine share shroud ash hush 9. Gh, as in Gh-xxx-ch. check march chine fetch IV. Syllabic Combinations. 1. Initial Syllables. The common faults in the enunciation of syllables con- sist in a slack, obscure articulation of the single elements of which they are composed, and in addition the fault of negligently allowing a vowel sound to intervene between the consonants ; thus, " bala," for bid. True taste will never allow a slovenly style of articulation, but will always maintain a neat, clear, and exact sound of every element, in whatever combination it may occur. El, cl,jl, gl, pi, si, spl. Blame, bleed, blow, blest. Claim, clean, clime, close, ENUNCIATION OF WORDS. 33 clot. Flame, flee, fly, flit. Glare, gleam, glide, gloss. Place, plea, ply, please. Slay, sleep, slide, slew. Spleen, splice, splay. Br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, spr, tr, sir, shr. (The following words need attention to a clear, distinct enunciation of the hard r, free, however, from prolonga- tion and roll.) Brave, bread, brink. Crave, creep, cried, crust. Drain, dream, dry, drop. Frame, free, fro, freeze. Grain, green, grind, ground. Pray, preach, pry, proud. Spray, spring, sprung, sprang. Trace, tree, try, trust, track, tread, trip, true. Stray, street, strife, strength. Shrine, shroud, shrub, shriek. Sm, sn, sp, st. Small, smite, smote. Snare, sneer, snow, snug. Space, speed, spike, spear. Stay, steer, stile, stop. 2. Final Syllables. Ld, If, Ik, Im, Ip, Is, It, he. Bold, hailed, tolled. Elf, wolf, gulf, sylph. Milk, silk, bulk, hulk. Elm, helm, whelm, film. Help, gulp, alp, scalp. Falls, tells, toils. Fault, melt, bolt, hilt. Elve, delve, revolve. M'd, ms, nd, ns, nh, nee, nt. Maim'd, claim'd, climb'd, gloom'd. Gleams, streams, climes, stems. And, band, hand, land, lined, moaned. Gains, dens, gleans, suns. Bank, dank, drink, link. Dance, glance, hence, ounce. Ant, want, gaunt, point. Rb, rd, rk, rm, rn, rse, rs (rz), rt, rve, rb'd, rk'd, rrrfd, rnd, rst, rv'd. Barb, orb, herb, curb; barb'd, orb'd, curb'd, disturb'd. Hard, herd, hir'd, board, lord, gourd, bar'd, barr'd. Hark, 3 84 ORTHOPHONY. lark, jerk, stork, work ; mark'd, jerk'd, work'd. Arm, harm, farm, alarm ; arm'd, harm'd, alarm'd. Earn, learn, scorn, thorn, burn, turn, worn, shorn ; earn'd, scorn'd, burn'd, turn'd. Hearse, verse, force, horse ; dar'st, burst, first, worst, hears'd, vers'd, forc'd, hors'd. Bars, bears, hears, wears, pairs, tares, snares, repairs. Mart, dart, start, hurt, pert, girt. Carve, curve, serve, starve ; carv'd, curv'd, serv'd, starv'd. Sm, s'n, sp, st, ss'd, h, ct, k'd, ft, f'd, pt, p'd, p'n, k'n, Vn^ v'n, fn. Chasm, schism, prism, criticism, witticism, patriotism. 1 Reas'n, seas'n, ris'n, chos'n. Asp, clasp, grasp, wasp, lisp, crisp. Vast, mast, lest, dost, must, lost, mist ; pass'd, bless'd, gloss'd, miss'd. Makes, quakes, likes, looks, streaks, rocks, crooks. Act, fact, respect, reject ; wak'd, lik'd, look'd, rock'd. Waft, oft, left, sift ; quaff 'd, scoff 'd, laugh'd. Apt, wept, crept ; sipp'd, supp'd, slop'd, pip'd, popp'd. 1 Op'n, rip'n, weap'n, happ'n. Tak'n, wak'n, weak'n, tok'n, drunk'n. Sadd'n, gladd'n, lad'n, burd'n, hard'n, gard'n. Grav'n, heav'n, riv'n, ov'n, ev'n, giv'n, wov'n. Bright'n, tight'n, whit'n. Lst, mst, nst, rst, dst, rdst, rmdst, rndst. CalPst, heal'st, till'st, fill'st, roll'st, pull'st. Arm'st, eharm'st, form'st, harm'st. Canst, runn'st, gain'st, against [agenst). Durst, worst, erst, first, bar'st, barr'st, hir'st. Midst, call'dst, fill'dst, roll'dst. Heard'st, guard'st, reward'st, discard'st. Arm'dst, harm'dst, form'dst, charm'dst. Learn'dst scorn'dst, burn'dst, turn'dst. Ble, pie, die, rl, bVd, dVd, pVd, rid. Able, feeble, bible, double ; troubl'd, babbl'd, bubbl'd, doubl'd. Ample, steeple, triple, topple ; tripl'd, toppl'd, 1 and E should never be heard, in these and similar words, unless in ainging, and then only when a verse demands the syllable as a requisite to metre. ENUNCIATION OF WORDS. 35 dappl'd, crippl'd. Cradle, saddle, idle, bridle; cradl'd s saddl'd, idl'd, swaddl'd. Marl, hurl, whirl ; world, huiTd, whirl 'd, furl'd. Ngs, ngst, ng'd, ngdst. Rings, wrongs, hangs, songs ; hang'dst, sing'st, wrong'st, bring'st ; wrong'd, hang'd, clang'd ; wrong'dst, throng'dst. V. Exercise in transition from one class of Elements to another. The design of this exercise is to impress vividly on the mind the distinctive quality of each species of sound, and the effect of each on the organic action. The columns are to be read across the page. " Tonics." " Subtonics." " Atonies." A-il B-a-be PA-pe A-m DA-d T-en-t A-n G-*g C-SL-ke E-ve V-dX-ve F-i-fe Oo-ze Z-one <7-ea-se E-TT A-z-ure Pu-s/i i£nd TH-en Th-in I-n J-ud-ge Gh-nv-ch VI. Exercise in transition from one class of Organic Ac' tions to another. Labials. Dentals. Aspirate B-&-be Bid He P-i-pe T-en-t Nasals. M-ai-m Th-in N-u-n W-oe THAne Si-ng V-sii-ve J-OJ Linguals. F-i-fe Ch-ur-ch L-u-ll Palatics. A-z-ure i?-a-p O-a-he Tu-sh F-a-r G-&-g C-ea-se Ye Zone 36 ORTHOPHONY. VII. Exercise in difficult Combinations of Elements. 1. U, as in Use. Lucubration Iwgwbrious -ncalcwlable absolutely abstinently accessory accurately agitated adequately angularly antepenult architecture agriculture annihilate antipathy apocrypha apostatize appropriate assiduous assimilate associate auricular acquiescence acquisition alienation Institution constitution revolution Accwmwlate manipulate deglutition Incalculably superiority supremacy 2. Words of many syllables necessarily ordinarily momentarily temporarily voluntarily obediently immediately innumerable intolerable dishonorable ambiguously articulately collaterally colloquially affability agricultural allegorical alimentary astrological atmospherical Christianity chronological coextensively annihilation annunciation appreciation apologetic association circumlocution apocalyptic circumvolution coagulation colonization commemoration congratulatory authoritatively disinterestedly expostulatory dietetically disingenuousnes* Immutability compatibility ecclesiastical spirituality 3. Repetition of Elements. H&\\ ! heavenly harmony. Up the Aigh hill he Aeaved a huge round stone. Heaven's fir*; star alike ye see. ENUNCIATION OF WORDS. 37 Let it wave proudly o'er the good and brave. The supply laste still. And gleaming and streaming and steaming and beaming, And rushing and flushing and brushing and gushing, And flapping and rapping and clapping and slapping, And curling and whirling and purling and twirling, Retreating ana? beating and meeting and sheeting, Delaying and straying and playing and spraying, Advancing and glancing and prancing and dancing, Recoiling, turmoilin^r and toiling and boiling, And thumping and flumping and bumping and jumping, And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing, And so never ending, but always descending, Sounds and motions for ever and ever are blending, All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar ; And this way the water comes down at Lodore. It is the firs£ step that cosfa. The deed was done in bvoad day. Norce now was left to tell the mournful tale. Ta&e care that you be not deceived, — dear friends. Zie /ightly on her, earth ! her step was /ight on thee. Thou was£ struck dumb with amazement. Can no one be found faithful enough to warn him of his danger ? No one dared do it. A good deal of disturbance ensued. He gave him good advice which he did not take. A dar& cloud spread over the heavens. Had he but heeded the counsel of Ais friend, he might feave been saved. He came at las* too late to be of any service. The magistrates stood on an elevated platform. 38 ORTHOPHONY. THE SIEGE OF BELGRADE. (Alliterative use of the Elements.) An Austrian army, awfully arrayed, Boldly, by battery, besieged Belgrade ; Cossack commanders cannonading come — Dealing destruction's devastating doom ; Every endeavor, engineers essay, For fame, for fortune, fighting furious fray ! Generals 'gainst generals grapple, grasping good. How honors Heaven heroic hardihood ! Infuriate, indiscriminate in ill, Kindred kill kinsmen, kinsmen kindred kill ! Labor low levels loftiest longest lines — Men march 'mid mounds, 'mid moles, 'mid murderous mines; Now noisy, noxious, noticed nought Of outward obstacles opposing ought. Poor patriots, partly purchased, partly pressed ; Quite quaking, quickly quarter, quarter quest, Reason returns, religious right redounds, Suwarrow stops such sanguinary sounds. Truce to thee, Turkey, triumph to thy train ! Unjust, unwise, unmerciful Ukraine ! Vanish vain victory, vanish victory vain ! Why wish ye warfare ? Wherefore welcome were Xerxes, Ximenes, Xanthus, Xaviere? Yield, ye youths ! ye yeomen, yield your yell ! Zeno's Zapater's Zoroaster's zeal, And all attracting, arms against acts appeal. It is a fact familiar in the experience of most teachers, that after the utmost care in the sytematic cultivation of the utterance of young readers, by regular analytic exercises, such as the preceding, the influence of colloquial negligence ENUNCIATION OF WORDS. 39 in habit is so powerful, that the same individual who has just articulated with perfect exactness the elements on a column, while he is kept mechanically on his guard against error by express attention to details, will immediately, on beginning to read a page of continuous expression of thought, relapse into his wonted errors of enunciation. To correct this tendency no resort is so effectual as that of studying analytically a few lines previous to commenc- ing the usual practice of a reading lesson. The attention must first be turned to the words as such, as forms of ar- ticulation, — then to their sounds in connection with their sense. The following will be found useful modes of practising such exercises as are now suggested. Begin at the end of a line, sentence, or paragraph, so as to prevent the possi- bility of reading negligently, then, 1st, articulate every ele- ment in every word, separately and very distinctly, through- out the line or sentence ; 2d, enunciate every syllable of each word, throughout the line or sentence, clearly and ex- actly ; 3d, pronounce every word in the same style ; 4th, read the line or sentence from the beginning forward, with strict attention to the manner of pronouncing every word ; 5th, read the whole line or sentence with an easy fluent enunciation, paying strict attention to the expression of the meaning, but without losing correctness in the style of pro- nunciation. This is, apparently, a merely mechanical drill ; but its effects are strikingly beneficial in a very short time. The habits of classes of young readers have thus been, in some instances, effectually changed within a very few weeks from slovenliness and indistinctness to perfect precision and pro- priety, united to fluency and freedom of style. To adults, also, the practice of such exercises as have been mentioned proves in the highest degree useful, as an effectual means of correcting erroneous habit, and of ac- quiring that distinctness of utterance which is so important • 40 ORTHOPHOffT. in the exercise of public speaking, or in that of private reading for social and literary purposes. An exercise of great practical value, as regards the for- mation of habits in enunciation, is to select from every reading lesson, before and after the regular consecutive reading of a piece, all words and phrases which contain difficult combinations, and repeat them often. PRONUNCIATION. A full statement of the rules of usage in pronunciation, as regards the accent of polysyllables, does not properly fall within the scope of this work, which is designed rather for the cultivation of the voice and the discipline of the organs than as a manual of orthoepy. The most impor- tant classes of errors in pronunciation have been already indicated. But this branch of the subject is discussed at greater length in several of the other elocutionary treatises prepared by the author of the present volume. A profitable daily exercise would be the reading aloud of those words in either of our standard national dictionaries in which the various authorities are found to differ, and to adopt as cor- rect the pronunciation in which the greater number of or- thoepists agree. CHAPTER III. MODE OF UTTEEANCE. Every sound of the human voice is characterized by one of three modes of utterance, or delivery of the breath. The utterance may be fully vocalized in resonant sound, or it may be entirely aspirated as in a whisper, and it may apply to any degree of force, pitch, movement, etc. The *Jiree modes of utterance are — MODE OF UTTERANCE. 41 1. Effusive, in which the breath is gently effused or breathed out, without voluntary or conscious effort or im- pulse ; as in all tranquil emotions, or where the depth of feeling overcomes the ordinary activity and variety in the expression, — in solemnity, reverence, melancholy, gloom, etc. Refer to examples of these feelings in the succeeding pages, for practice. Read aloud, also, with similar effusive utterance, the table of Tonic Elements, page 7. 2. Expulsive, which demands more of energy and im- pulse in the action of the vocal organs than in effusive ut- terance. It is used with all degrees of force, from the utterance of some quiet, moral sentiment or poetic de- scription to the greatest energy of impulsive feeling. Il- lustrations will be found on pp. 73-75. Repeat, also, the table of Subtonic Elements energetically, on page 11. 3. Explosive, which is abrupt, and at times violent in percussive effect as the sound strikes the ear. The power to produce the breath or voice with this clear, incisive percus- sion is one of the results of practice. Very few have the power to produce, at will, the distinct ictus of the unim- passioned explosive, as in the quiet uses of the Radical Stress, or the abrupt shock of the louder utterances of ex- plosion. Examples will be found on pp. 77, 78. Repeat, also, with explosive utterances, the table of Atonies. Fi- nally, review the three tables, giving each table with the three modes of utterance. 42 ORTHOPHONY. CHAPTER IV. QUALITY OF VOICE. WHISPERING. The progressive discipline of the organs, for the purposes of utterance, comprises the practice of every stage of audi- ble voice, from whispering to shouting and calling. We proceed now to the first stage of utterance, that of whis- pering, which is the nearest in style and effect to breath- ing, and forms the extreme of " aspirated " or breathing " quality." Whispering differs from even the " explosive," or strong- est form of the breathing exercises, in being articulated as a mode of speech, and in taking on, to a certain extent, the qualities of " expression ; " thus we not only use the whis- per for secret communication, but for the utterance of ex- cessive fear, or of deep awe, suppressed anger, or any other naturally violent emotion when it is kept down by some overawing restraint. Whispering, therefore, as a discipline of the organs of voice, carries on to a greater extent, and with more special effect, all the beneficial results of the exercises in full, deep, and forcible breathing. The whisper, even in its gentlest or " effusive " form, should, as a vocal exercise, be practised on the scale of public speaking, — that is to say, with a force sufficient to create full and distinct articulation and intelli* gible utterance in a large hall, or any similar apartment. In this form it is sometimes termed " the stage whisper." The function of whispering on this scale demands the full expansion of the chest, a deep inspiration, a powerful ex- pulsion of the breath, the practice of frequent pausing and re- newing the supply of breath, without which a forcible whisper cannot be sustained. It trains the student to close attention WHISPERING. 43 to his habit of breathing, and to the position of the body and the action of the organs. It thus facilitates the acquisi- tion of a perfect control over the organs of speech, — the prime requisite to easy and effective utterance. A subsidiary advantage attending this process of power- ful whispering consists in the greatly increased intensity which it produces in the organic function of articulation. The whisper being performed as if addressed to a person at the distance of a hundred feet from the speaker, compels a force of percussion in the tongue and the other minor or- gans of speech sufficient to compensate for the absence of the common round tone of the voice. The style of enunci- ation accordingly becomes that of the most intense earn- estness. The exercise now prescribed, therefore, is of im- mense advantage as a preparatory discipline to the organs of speech, as well as a process of training for full-toned and energetic use of the voice. 1. " Effusive " Whispering. This mode of utterance belongs to tranquil emotion when expressed in the language of deep-felt awe or profound repose, which represses, by an approach to fear, at the same time that it excites the voice by its intensity. The ex- tracts below are used simply as a convenient drill-exercise, and not necessarily indicating the full expression. Practise with the effusive whisper upon the table of Ele- ments and words. Exercise. Stillness of Night. — Byron. All heaven and earth are still, — though not in sleep, But breathless, as we grow when feeling most ; And silent, as we stand in thoughts too deep : — All heaven and earth are still : From the high host Of stars to the lulled lake, and mountain coast, All is concenter 'd in a life intense. 4A ORTHOPHONY. Pathos. Dying Request. — Mrs. Hemans. Leave me ! — thy footstep with its lightest sound, The very shadow of thy waving hair, Wakes in my soul a feeling too profound, Too strong for aught that lives and dies, to bear : — Oh ! bid the conflict cease ! 2. " Expulsive " Whispering. This species of exercise, being much more forcible than the preceding, and corresponding in energy to the style of bold declamatory utterance, it should be repeatedly per- formed with the utmost force of the whisper which the student can command, on the elements, syllables, and words, and on the following example, the tone of which implies the intensest force of earnest utterance, suppressed by appre- hension approaching to fear. Exercise. Military Command. — Anonymous. Soldiers ! You are now within a few steps of the en- emy's outpost. Our scouts report them as slumbering in parties around their watch-fires, and utterly unprepared for our approach. One disorderly noise or motion may leave us at the mercy of their advanced guard. Let every man keep the strictest silence, under pain of instant death ! Awe and Terror. Fate of MacGregor. — Hogg. All silent they went, for the time was approaching, The moon the blue zenith already was touching ; No foot was abroad on the forest or hill, No sound but the lullaby sung by the rill. PURE TONE. 45 3. " Explosive " Whispering. The " explosive " whisper, like the " explosive " breath- ing, imparts a still greater power to the vocal organs by the vivid, abrupt, and instantaneous force with which it bursts out. The explosive intensity of articulation, which it produces, calls at the same time for the utmost precision in the functions of the tongue, the lips, and all the minor instruments of enunciation. This style of whispering should be repeatedly practised on the elements, syllables, and words, and on the following exercise, which exemplifies the utterance of the most abrupt and intense alarm, at once exciting and suppressing the voice. Exercise. Military Command. — Anonymous. Hark ! I hear the bugles of the enemy ! They are on their march along the bank of the river. We must re- treat instantly, or be cut off from our boats. I see the head of their column already rising over the height. Our only safety is in the screen of this hedge. Keep close to it ; be silent ; and stoop as you run. For the boats ! For- ward! The exercises in whispering may now be repeated, on the preceding examples, in the form of a half whisper, which, as its name imports, lies half way between a whisper and the ordinary " quality " of the voice, or " pure tone." Pure Tone. True musical cultivation proceeds upon the assumption, and insists, with inevitable authority on the primary rule, that every human voice can and must utter " pure " tone. No failure, no remissness in this respect, is ever tolerated in appropriate training in vocal music. The result, as might be expected, corresponds to the pains taken to regu 46 ORTHOPHONY. late the position and action of the organs in elementary practice. All who are recognized as even tolerable singers utter every sound of the voice in the form of pure tone ; entirely free from pectoral gruffness, guttural suffocation, nasal twang, or oral thinness of quality ; and among pro- ficients in the art, whatever personal peculiarity of voice is suffered to exist, is such only as keeps within the limits of perfect purity, and serves rather to form a crowning grace from the hand of nature than in any sense a defect. A similar result will always be found to attend the diligent cultivation of the voice in the modes of utterance appro- priate in reading and conversation. Elements of Quality, which used separately in excess, and to the exclusion of other elements, impair Purity of Tone. 1. A hollow and false pectoral murmur, arising from an imperfect habit of breathing, in consequence of which the lungs are not furnished with a sufficient supply of air to produce full and clear tone. Another cause of this fault in utterance usually is the feeble action of the abdominal muscles, and therefore an inadequate expulsion of the breath, and a smothered or muffled quality of voice, which makes its sound appear buried within the frame or issuing directly from the chest. Full inspiration, the expulsive ac- tion of the abdominal muscles, and the cultivation of the middle notes of the voice, together with habits of healthful exercise and cheerful emotions, are the best remedies for a tendency to hollow pectoral tone. 2. A fault which bears a resemblance to the preceding is that of aspirated quality, by which a half-whispering effect of fear is imparted to every sound of the voice. This de- fect of utterance arises in part from the want of full and deep inspiration ; it arises sometimes from organic weak- ness, or from embarrassment, which causes a slight " rigor " of the organic parts, and consequently allows more breath to escape from the trachea than is converted into sound PURE TONE. 47 by the larynx. The condition of pure tone is that much breath should be drawn in, but little given out, and that the whole of what is suffered to escape should be converted into sound ; while in " aspirated quality " little is drawn in and much is given out. A due attention to the full expansion of the chest, to deep inspiration, and to the vigorous action of the abdominal muscles, is the chief preventive of the faulty habit of aspirated utterance. 3. Another bad quality of voice consists in what is termed guttural tone, a mode of utterance which seems to make the voice issue from an obstructed throat. This fault is of a twofold character : first, the soft, choked sound not un- usual in the utterance of persons inclined to fulness of habit and corpulence ; second, the hard, drj', and barking voice, which sometimes characterizes persons of an opposite habit and frame. The immediate organic cause of this bad quality of tone is an improper pressure of the muscles around the larynx, and the root of the tongue ; causing the voice in the one case apparently to issue from the pharynx or swallow instead of the larynx, and in the other to originate in the upper part of the throat only, cut off from all communication with either the chest or the mouth. The free expansion of the chest and the energetic action of the abdominal muscles, with the habit of opening the mouth freely when reading or speaking, are the surest means of avoiding or removing this great hindrance to pur- ity of tone. 4. Another fault is that commonly termed nasal tone, which makes the voice sound as if it came only through the nose. The chief security against this consists in the habit of fully expanding the chest, and the free opening of the mouth, not only in front, but in the back part, by rais- ing the veil of the palate, as is mechanically done in the act of coughing, in consequence of which the voice escapes in its proper direction, instead of being allowed to drift with force against the nasal passages while they remain 48 ORTHOPHONY. partially shut. At the same time care must be taken not to raise the veil of the palate so high as to stop the nasal passage entirely, in the style of obstruction caused by a cold, producing the utterance of " Cub id" for " Come in." A due degree of nasal ring is one of the component elements of a good voice. 5. Both the guttural and the nasal tones are combined, in the utterance of some readers and speakers ; and the effect is of course rendered, in such cases, doubly injurious. Sometimes the pectoral tone is blended with the other two, causing the extreme of impure tone in all its bad proper- ties. The effect of this species of voice is a grunting utter- ance, resembling that of the inferior animals, instead of the clear, resonant tone of the human being. 6. There is still another fault of utterance, which is yet more prevalent than those which have been described. It consists in what may be termed oral tone. It is the slight, ineffective voice of indifference, of feebleness, or fatigue, or the mincing tone of false taste. Oral tone is always as- cribed to the languid beauty or the trifling fop. It causes the vocal sound to issue from the mouth in a style which seems to make it lose all connection with the throat and the chest, and consequently to lose all its natural depth and ful- ness. The full expansion of the chest and the vigorous, appulsive action of the abdominal muscles which insures the energetic expulsion of the breath, together with the cultivation of the lower notes of the scale, in the habits of utterance, are the chief correctives of the tendency to the fault of the slender " oral " tone. False utterance, or impure tone, arises in all instances from the exclusive or undue, or it may be the imperfect use of one portion of the vocal organs, as is intimated in the designation of ".pectoral," " guttural," or " nasal " tone. These terms, however, are used not in strict propriety, as the larynx is the immediate source of all vocal sounds, PURE TONE. 49 but for the description of apparent effects. The sound of the voice is made up of a note, or tone, and its resonance. The former comes directly from the larynx ; the latter from the adjoining cavities of the chest, the pharynx, the mouth, the nostrils, and the interior of the head. True utterance and " pure tone " employ the whole apparatus of voice in one consentaneous act, combining in one perfect sphere of sound, if it may be so expressed, the depth of effect pro- duced by the resonance of the chest, the force and firmness imparted by the due compression of the throat, the clear, ringing property, caused by the due proportion of nasal effect, and the softening and sweetening influence of the head and mouth. The lightest effects of Pure Tone are chiefly the result of head and mouth resonance, and may properly be termed " Head Tone." The following exercises should be practised with the closest attention to the perfect purity of vocal sound, as associated with the spirit of deep-felt but gentle emotion. The perfect tranquillity and regularity of the breathing and the cautious and sparing emission of the breath are points of the utmost moment to the pure and perfectly liquid for- mation of voice. The mode of utterance required in the following exercises is " effusion" — not " expulsion " or " explosion," — a gentle, continuous emission of sound, ar- ticulate, but very soft ; as it always is in the utterance of subdued and chastened emotion. / EXAMPLES OF PURE TONE. I. SUBDUED OR SOFTENED FORCE. 1. Pathos. Elegy. — Gray. Here rests his head upon the lap of earth A youth, to Fortune and to Fame unknown ; Fair Science frown'd not on his humble birth, And Melancholy mark'd him for her own. 4 50 ORTHOPHONY. Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere, Heaven did a recompense as largely send : He gave to misery all he had — a tear, He gain'd from Heaven — 't was all he wish'd — a friend No farther seek his merits to disclose, Or draw his frailties from their dread abode, (There they alike in trembling hope repose,) The bosom of his Father and his God. 2. Solemnity. Essay on Man.— Pope. Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate, All but the page prescribed, their present state : From brutes what men, from men what spirits knows Or who could suffer being here below ? The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, Had he thy reason, would he skip and play ? Pleased to the last, he crops the flowery food, And licks the hand just raised to shed his blood. Oh, blindness to the future ! kindly given, That each may fill the circle mark'd by Heaven: Who sees with equal eye, as God of all, A hero perish, or a sparrow fall, Atoms or systems into ruin hurl'd, And now a bubble burst, and now a world. Hope humbly then ; with trembling pinions soar r Wait the great teacher Death ; and God adore. What future bliss, he gives not thee to know, But gives that hope to be thy blessing now. Hope springs eternal in the human breast : Man never is, but always to be, blest. The soul, uneasy and confined, from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come. PURE TONE. 51 3. Tranquillity. Life. — Mrs. Barbauld. Life ! we have been long together, Through pleasant and through cloudy weather. 'T is hard to part when friends are dear, Perhaps 't will cost a sigh, a tear ; Then steal away, give little warning, Choose thine own time ; Say not good-night ; but in that happier clime Bid me good-morning ! 4. Tranquillity. Country Paeson. — Goldsmith. Near yonder copse, where once the garden smil'd, And still where many a garden flower grows wild ; There, where a few torn shrubs the place disclose, The village preacher's modest mansion rose. A man he was to all the country dear, And passing rich with forty pounds a year ; Remote from towns he ran his godly race, Nor e'er had chang'd, nor wish'd to change his place ; Unskilful he to fawn, or seek for power, By doctrines fashion'd to the varying hour ; Far other aims his heart had learnt to prize, More bent to raise the wretched than to rise. His house was known to all the vagrant train, He chid their wanderings, but reliev'd their pain ; The long-remember'd beggar was his guest, Whose beard descending swept his aged breast ; The ruin'd spendthrift, now no longer proud, Claim'd kindred there, and had his claims allow'd ; The broken soldier, kindly bade to stay, Sat by his fire, and talk'd the night away ; Wept o'er his wounds, or tales of sorrow done, Shoulder'd his crutch, and show'd how fields were won. 52 ORTHOPHONY. Pleas'd with his guests, the good man learn'd to glow, And quite forgot their vices iu their woe ; Careless their merits or their faults to scan, His pity gave ere charity began. At church, with meek and unaffected grace, His looks adorned the venerable place ; Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway, And fools, who came to scoff, remain'd to pray. The service past, around the pious man, With steady zeal, each honest rustic ran ; E'en children follow'd with endearing wile, And pluck'd his gown, to share the good man's smile. His ready smile a parent's warmth expressed, Their welfare pleas'd him, and their cares distressed ; To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given, But all his serious thoughts had rest in heaven. As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head. ii. "moderate" force. Perfect purity of tone is indispensable not only to the effect of " subdued " force, which corresponds to the gentle style of passages marked "•piano" in music, and has been exemplified in the preceding exercises, but likewise to that degree of force which may be termed moderate, in contra- distinction to the energetic style of declamation, the bold tones of impassioned recitation, or, on the other hand, the suppressed or softened utterance of subdued emotion. " Moderate force " is a convenient designation of the usual utterance of didactic sentiment, in the form of essays or scientific and literary discourses, doctrinal and practical ser- mons, and other forms of address, not distinguished by vivid narration, graphic description, or impassioned feeling. The style of utterance in the " moderate " force of " pure PURE TONE. 53 tone " is gentle " expulsion," with a clear " radical move- ment," which keeps it from subsiding into mere " effusion," and yet does not extend to " explosion." The degree of force implied in this technical use of the word " moderate," is merely that which audible utterance, distinct articulation, and intelligible expression, demand for the ordinary pur- poses of public speaking, in those forms which address themselves to the understanding rather than the heart, and in which the speaker's great object in communication is to be understood, rather than to be felt. " Moderate force," as a technical designation in elocu- tion, exhibits pure tone in the following gradations. 1. " Grave" Style. The " grave " style differs from the " solemn " in the fact that the former is not marked by " effusive " or " subdued " force, but on the contrary assumes something of the " ex- pulsive " tone of firmness and authority, although in a gentle and moderate style. 1. Eternity of God. — Greenwood. The Throne of Eternity is a throne of mercy and love. God has permitted and invited us to repose ourselves and our hopes on that which alone is everlasting and unchangea- ble. We shall shortly finish our allotted time on earth, even if it should be unusually prolonged. We shall leave behind us all which is now familiar and beloved ; and a world of other days and other men will be entirely ignorant that once we lived. But the same unalterable Being will still preside over the universe, through all its changes ; and from his remembrance we shall never be blotted. We can never be where He is not, nor where He sees and loves and up- holds us not. He is our Father and our God forever. He takes us from earth, that He may lead us to heaven, that He may refine our nature from all its principles of corrup- 54 ORTHOPHONY. tion, share with us his own immortality, admit us to his er« erlasting habitation, and crown us with his eternity. Defence of Greenleaf. — G. S. Eillard. There is another class of considerations, in this case, which might be urged, — another class of emotions which might be addressed in my client's behalf. I might speak to you of the gloom which an unfavorable verdict will spread among a large circle of friends and relatives, of the anguish of his broken-hearted wife, of the withering blight which will fall upon his innocent children, of the deep, unmoving shadow which will settle upon his once cheerful hearth. But that stern fibre, which the mind and character de- rive from our northern skies, rebukes such attempts, and insures their failure, if made. Such chords, if skilfully struck, will tremble and vibrate for a moment, but will not draw the judgment from its place. Justice is deaf, passion- less, inexorable. Upon the guilty head the great axe must fall, no matter what chords of love it severs in its sweep. The Seven Ages. — Shakespeare. All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players : They have their exits and their entrances ; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms : And then, the whining school-boy with his satchel, And shining morning-face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school : And then the lover ; Sighing like furnace, with a woful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow : Then, a soldier ; Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, PURE TONE. 55 Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth : And then, the justice ; In fair round belly, with good capon lined, With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances, And so he plays his part : The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon ; With spectacles on nose and pouch on side : His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank ; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound : Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion : Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. The learner, after having practised the example of " grave " style, should repeat, in that tone all the " tonic " elements, — then a selection from the tabular exercises on words ; so as to acquire a perfect command of the force and pitch of " grave " style, as differing from the " solemn," on the one hand, and from the " serious," on the other. 2. " Serious " Style. This form of utterance differs from the preceding, in not possessing so low a pitch, — a milder form of the same gen- eral effect. The fault usually exhibited in " serious " style substitutes the deep and full-toned notes of the " grave " style for the moderate and less-marked character of the merely " serious." The purity of tone in this style is usu^ ally marred by the same cause as in the preceding instance of the " grave " utterance. The beauty and gentleness of the tone of serious feeling are thus lost ; and the " expres- sion " is untrue to the intended effect. When the " serious " tone has come fully under the stu- dent's command, by practice on the exercise subjoined, the 56 ORTHOPHONY. repetition of the elements, syllables, and words will serve to fix it definitely in the memory. 1. The Beauty of Virtue. — Blair. There is no virtue without a characteristic beauty to make it particularly loved of the good, and to make the bad ashamed of their neglect of it. To do what is right, argues superior taste as well as morals ; and those whose practice is evil feel an inferiority of intellectual power and enjoy- ment, even where they take no concern for a principle. Doing well has something more in it than the fulfilling of a duty. It is the cause of a just sense of elevation of char- acter ; it clears and strengthens the spirits ; it gives higher reaches of thought ; it widens our benevolence, and makes the current of our peculiar affections swift and deep. 2. Hamlet moralizes upon the Disgraceful Custom of Carousing by the King. — Shakespeare. Hora. Is it a custom ? Ham. Ay, marry is 't ; But to my mind, though I am native here And to the manner born, it is a custom More honor'd in the breach than the observance. This heavy-headed revel east and west Makes us traduced and tax'd of other nations : They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase Soil our addition, and indeed it takes From our achievements, though perform'd at height, The pith and marrow of our attribute. So, oft it chances in particular men, That for some vicious mole of nature in them, As in their birth, — wherein they are not guilty 5 Since nature cannot choose his origin ; — By the o'ergrowth of some complexion PURE TONE. 57 Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason ; Or by some habit that too much o'er-leavens The form of plausive manners ; — that these men, — Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect, Being nature's livery, or fortune's star, — Their virtues else — be they as pure as grace, As infinite as man may undergo — Shall in the general censure take corruption From that particular fault ; the dram of leav'n Doth all the noble substance of 'em sour, To his own scandal. 3. The Music of the Human Voice.— Willis. 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. She was a pure, high- hearted, impassioned creature, without the least knowledge of the world or her peculiar gift ; but her own thoughts had wrought upon her like the hush of a sanctuary, and she spoke low, as if with an unconscious awe. I could never trifle in her presence. My nonsense seemed out of place ; and my practised assurance forsook me utterly. She is changed now. She has been admired, and has found out her beauty ; and the music of her tone is gone ! She will recover it by and by, when the delirium of the world is over, and she begins to rely once more upon her own thoughts for company ; but her extravagant spirits have broken over the thrilling timidity of childhood, and the charm is unwound. 4. Defence of Greenleaf. — G. S. Hillard. I presume that no advocate, in a capital cause, was ever satisfied with his efforts in his client's behalf ; who did not feel, or fancy, on a sober reconsideration of his argument, that he might have done better. I am prepared to be dis- 58 ORTHOPHONY. turbed by this reflection hereafter ; and, if so, I must draw what comfort I can, from that I now feel, — that I have done what I could. I have endeavored to argue this cause fairly. I am not conscious of having misstated the facts in evidence, or laid down the law incorrectly ; and if I have, I shall be sure to hear of it before the case is through. In such cases, how- ever, there is no great difference between what can be ac- complished by the highest or the humblest faculties. The prisoner is saved, if at all, by the law and facts ; and by these, and these alone, do I solicit my client's acquittal. If I have failed, or been wanting, let them speak for me, and make up for my deficiencies. 3. "Animated" or Lively, Style. This mode of voice differs in three respects from the " serious ; " it has more force, a higher pitch, and a quicker movement ; and the comparatively greater force renders the purity of the tone still more conspicuous. The exercise in " animated " utterance should be ex- tended, as a matter of practice, to the elementary sounds, and to the repetition of the tables of words as far and as often as individuals or classes may seem to require. 1. Animal Happiness. — Paley. The air, the earth, the water, teem with delighted exist- ence. In a spring noon, or a summer evening, on which- ever side we turn our eyes, myriads of happy beings crowd upon our view. " The insect youth are on the wing." Swarms of new-born flies are trying their pinions in the air. Their sportive motions, their gratuitous activity, their con- tinual change of place, without use or purpose, testify their joy, and the exultation which they feel in their lately discov- ered faculties. PURE TONE. 59 Hudibras. — Butler. He was in logic a great critic, Profoundly skill'd in analytic ; He could distinguish, and divide A hair 'twixt south and south-west side ; On either which he would dispute, Confute, change hands, and still confute : He 'd undertake to prove, by force Of argument, a man's no horse ; He 'd prove a buzzard is no fowl, And that a lord may be an owl ; A calf an alderman, a goose a justice, And rooks Committee-men and Trustees. He 'd run in debt by disputation, And pay with ratiocination : All this by syllogism, true In mood and figure he would do. For rhetoric, he could not ope His mouth, but out there flew a trope ; And, when he happen'd to break off I' th* middle of his speech, or cough, H' had hard words ready to show why, And tell what rules he did it by. A 3. Sir Roger de Coverley. — Spectator. As Sir Roger is landlord to the whole congregation, he keeps them in very good order, and will suffer nobody to sleep in it besides himself ; for if by chance he has been surprised into a short nap at sermon, upon recovering out of it he stands up and looks about him, and if he sees any- body else nodding, either wakes them himself, or sends his servants to them. Several other of the old knight's partic- ularities break out upon these occasions. Sometimes, he 60 ORTHOPHONY. will be lengthening out a verse in the singing psalms, half a minute after the rest of the congregation have done with it ; sometimes, when he is pleased with the matter of his devo- tion, he pronounces Amen three or four times to the same prayer ; and sometimes stands up when everybody else is upon their knees, to count the congregation, or see if any of his tenants are missing. I was yesterday very much surprised to hear my old friend, in the midst of the service, calling out to one John Matthews, to mind what he was about, and not disturb the congregation. This John Matthews, it seems, is remarka- ble for being an idle fellow, and at that time was kicking his heels for his diversion. This authority of the knight, though exerted in that odd manner which accompanies him in all the circumstances of life, has a very good effect upon the parish, who are not polite enough to see anything ridic- ulous in his behavior ; besides that, the general good sense and worthiness of his character make his friends observe these little singularities as foils that rather set off than blemish his good qualities. As You Like It. — Shakespeare. Jacq. de B. Let me. have audience for a word or two. I am the second son of old Sir Roland, That bring these tidings to this fair assembly : Duke Frederick, hearing how that every day Men of great worth resorted to this forest, Address'd a mighty power, which were on foot In his own conduct, purposely to take His brother here, and put him to the sword : And to the skirts of this wild wood he came ; Where, meeting with an old religious man, After some question with him, was converted Both from his enterprise and from the world ; His crown bequeathing to his banish'd brother, PURE TONE. 61 And all their lands restor'd to them again That were with him exil'd. This to be true, I do engage my life. 4. " Gay" or Brisk, Style. This mode of utterance has all the characteristics of the u animated " style, carried to a greater extent. The tone to which we now refer, being that of exhilarated feeling, its pitch is higher, its force is greater, and its " movement " quicker than that of an utterance, which, as in the preced- ing instance, does not go beyond the style of animation or liveliness, merely. Gayety and vividness of expression are in their proper sphere as important to appropriate effect in reading, as any of the opposite qualities of seriousness and gravity are in theirs. We can never, without these properties of voice, give natural expression to many of the most pleasing forms of composition, — to such in particular as derive their power over sympathy from their presenting to us what the poet has termed " the gayest, happiest attitude of things," or from the glowing and exhilarating colors in which lan- guage sometimes delights to invest the forms of thought. Dramatic scenes, sketches of life and manners, vivid delin- eations of character, all demand the utterance of exhila- rated emotion. Unaided by the effect of such expression, the finest compositions fall flat and dead upon the ear, and leave our feelings unmoved or disappointed. The exercise of brisk and exhilarated utterance should be repeatedly practised on the elements, syllables, and words contained in the tables, as a means of fixing definitely and permanently in the ear the requisite properties of voice. A clear and perfectly pure, ringing voice, corresponding to what the musician terms " head tone," is the standard of practice in this branch of elocution. 62 ORTHOPHONY. 1. L' Allegro. — Milton. Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee Jest and youthful Jollity, Quips and Cranks, and wanton Wiles, Nods and Becks and wreathed Smiles, Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, And love to live in dimple sleek ; Sport that wrinkled Care derides, And Laughter holding both his sides. Come, and trip it, as you go, On the light fantastic toe ; And in thy right hand lead with thee The mountain-nymph, sweet Liberty ; And, if I give thee honor due, Mirth, admit me of thy crew, To live with her, and live with thee, In unreproved pleasures free. To hear the lark begin his flight, And singing startle the dull Night, From his watch-tower in the skies, Till the dappled Dawn doth rise ; Then to come in spite of sorrow, And at my window bid good-morrow, Through the sweet-brier or the vine, Or the twisted eglantine. n/ 2. Queen Mab. — Drayton, She mounts her chariot with a trice, Nor would she stay for no advice, Until her maids, that were so nice, To wait on her were fitted, But ran herself away alone ; PURE TONE. 63 Which when they heard, there was not one But hasted after to be gone, As she had been diswitted. Hop, and Mop, and Drap so clear, Pip, and Trip, and Skip, that were To Mab their sovereign dear, Her special maids of honor ; 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. Upon a grasshopper they got, And what with amble and with trot, For hedge nor ditch they spared not, But after her they hie them. A cobweb over them they throw, To shield the wind if it should blow, Themselves they wisely could bestow, Lest any should espy them. 5. "Humorous," or Playful, Style. Perfect purity of tone is indispensable to the utterance of fanciful and humorous emotion. The playful and the mirth- ful style of utterance seems to be voice let loose from all restraints which would impose upon it any rigidness, dry- ness, or hardness of sound. Humor goes beyond mere gayety or exhilaration, in the unbounded scope which it gives to the voice : its tones are higher, louder, and quicker in " movement." The following exercises should be practised with all the playful, half -laughing style of voice which naturally belongs to this vivid effusion of blended humor and fancy. The practice of the elements, in the same style, in sounds, and words, will be of the greatest service for imparting the en- 64 ORTHOPHONY. tire and free command of the appropriate tone of humor ; and even a frequent repetition of the act of laughter will be found highly useful, as a preparative for this style of ex- pression, by suggesting and infusing the perfect purity of tone which naturally belongs to hearty and joyous emotion. 1. Mercutio's Description of Queen Mab. — Shakespeare. Oh ! then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you. She comes In shape no bigger than an agate stone On the forefinger of an alderman, Drawn by a team of little atomies Athwart men's noses, as they lie asleep ; Her wagon-spokes made of long spinners' legs, The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers ; The traces, of the smallest spider's web, The collars, of the moonshine's watery beams : Her whip of cricket's bone ; the lash of film ; Her wagoner, a small gray-coated gnat ; Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut, Made by the joiner squirrel, or old grub, Time out of mind the fairies' coachmakers. And in this state she gallops, night by night, Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love, O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees, O'er ladies' lips, who straight on kisses dream ; Sometimes she gallops o'er a courtier's nose, And then dreams he of smelling out a suit ; And sometimes comes she with a tithe-pig's tail Tickling a parson's nose, as 'a lies asleep, Then dreams he of another benefice : Sometimes she driveth o'er a soldier's neck, And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats, Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades, Of healths five fathom deep : and then anon PUEE TONE. 65 Drums in his ear ; at which he starts and wakes ; And, being thus frighted, swears a prayer or two, And sleeps again. 2. Humor and Mirth. Jacques, in As You Like It. — Shakespeare. A fool, a fool ! I met a fool i' the forest, A motley fool ; — a miserable world ; As I do live by food, I met a fool ; Who laid him down, and basked him in the sun, And railed on lady Fortune in good terms, In good set terms, and yet a motley fool ! 3. Quiet Humor. Vicar of Wakefield. — Goldsmith. As we lived near the road, we often had the traveller or stranger visit us, to taste our gooseberry-wine, for which we had great reputation ; and I profess, with the veracity of an historian, that I never knew one of them find fault with it. Our cousins, too, even to the fortieth remove, all remembered their affinity without any help from the Her- ald's Office, and came very frequently to see us. Some of them did us no great honor by these claims of kindred; as we had the blind, the maimed, and the halt among the number. However, my wife always insisted that, as they were the same flesh and blood, they should sit with us at the same table ; so that if we had not very rich, we gener- ally had very happy friends about us ; for this remark will hold good through life, that the poorer the guest the better pleased he ever is with being treated ; and as some men gaze with admiration at the colors of a tulip, or the wing of a butterfly, so I was by nature an admirer of happy human faces. However, when any one of our relations was found 5 66 ORTHOPHONY. to be a person of a very bad character, a troublesome guest, or one we desired to get rid of, — upon his leaving my house, I ever took care to lend him a riding-coat, or a pair of boots, or sometimes a horse of small value ; and I al- ways had the satisfaction to find he never came back to re- turn them. By this the house was cleared of such as we did not like ; but never was the family of Wakefield known to turn the traveller or the poor dependent out of doors. III. " SUSTAINED FORCE. Galling. A call is the highest and intensest form of " pure tone," and, when extended to a vast distance, becomes, it is univer- sally known, similar to music in the style of its utterance. A high note is required in order to reach to remote dis- tance ; and perfect purity of tone is also indispensable, as a condition of the easy emission of the prodigious force of voice which calling demands, and which, in continuous ef- fort, it must sustain. It is the maximum, or highest degree of vocal force. But if unaccompanied by perfectly pure quality of sound, it pains and injures the organs. Its true mode is a long-sustained and exceedingly powerful singing tone. In this form its use in strengthening the organs, and giving firmness, compactness, and clearness to the voice, is very great. The student, in practising the call as a vocal exercise, must see to it that the utmost purity of tone is kept up, as the exercise will otherwise be injurious. The more atten- tive he is to sing his words, in such exercises, the more easy is the effort, and the more salutary the result. The style of utterance in this exercise is that of vigorous, sustained, and intense " effusion,'' but should never become abruptly " explosive" The following example should be practised on the scale indicated, not on the stage, but in historical fact, as when OROTUND QUALITY. 67 the herald stood on the plain at such a distance as to be out of bow-shot, and called out his message so as to be fully audible and distinctly intelligible to the listeners on the distant city wall. The elementary tables of sounds and words should be repeatedly practised, in the form of calling, till the student can command a full, clear, ringing, and musical call, or any form of sound which admits this function of the voice. Example. The Herald's Call. — Shakespeare. Rejoice, you men of Angiers ! ring your bells : King John, your king and England's, doth approach : — Open your gates, and give the victors way ! Orotund Quality. The " orotund quality " is produced by the wide and free opening of the mouth, especially the pharynx, — the back part of the interior mouth, — and requires full and deep inspiration and expiration of the breath, in order to assist in opening all the resonant chambers of the chest, throat, and head. Purity of sound is also one of its con- stituent elements. It is expressive of the utmost depth, intensity, and sublimity of emotion, and of the noblest moral sentiments. The audible expression of masculine force, courage, energy, delight, and admiration depends for expression upon this quality. It is the natural voice for public speaking "when great interests are at stake and strong passions excited " ; and is justly regarded by Dr« Rush as the highest perfection of the cultivated utterance of the public speaker. In forming this quality the fullest resonance of the head, throat, and chest voices is heard. In some degrees of feel- ing one or another of these resonances may be heard above the others, as in reverence, where the chest resonance pre- 68 ORTHOPHONY. dominates, or as in admiration, which is uttered with a fuller mingling of the head voice in the sound. The property of voice defined by the term " orotund " exists, also, in certain physical and mechanical relations of the corporeal organs. Thus we hear it in the audible func- tions of yawning, coughing, and laughing ; all of which, when forcibly performed, are attended with a sudden and powerful expansion of the organic parts, and a ringing ful- ness, roundness, and smoothness of sound. The effect of " effusive orotund " on the voice is identi- cal in its quality with the soft, but round and deep tone of a prolonged yawn, — a form of voice which comes, ob- viously, from the peculiarly wide and free position of the organs in that act. Hence arises the suggestion to repeat voluntarily the effort of loud and prolonged yawning, and watch its peculiar effect on the sound of the voice, and con- tinue and prolong the sound in the form of the yawn, till it can be executed at pleasure ; and practise, also, upon the tables of the elements. \J I. " EFFUSIVE OROTUND." This designation is applied to that species of utterance in which the voice is not sent forth from the organs by any obvious voluntary expulsion, but is rather suffered to effuse itself from the mouth into the surrounding air. It resem- bles the insensible and unconscious act of tranquil breath- ing, as contrasted with the effort of panting. " Effusive pure tone " is obtained chiefly by skilful withholding of the breath, and using the larynx so gently and so skilfully that every particle of air passing through it is converted into sound. " Effusive orotund " demands a wider opening of the organs, and a freer and firmer use of them, so as to produce a bolder and rounder tone, with a gentle and sus- tained swell of utterance, as contrasted with the " exput give " and " explosive " forms of this quality. EFFUSIVE OROTUND. 69 The modes of feeling or emotion which are expressed by "effusive orotund voice" are pathos, when mingled with grandeur and sublimity, and solemnity and reverence, when expressed in similar circumstances. Pathos, divested of grandeur, subsides into " pure tone," merely. The same result takes place in the utterance of solemnity, if unaccom- panied by sublimity. But reverence, always implying grand- eur or elevation in its source, is uniformly uttered by the " orotund " voice. Gray's " Elegy," for example, if read without " orotund," becomes feeble and trite in its style ; Milton's " Paradise Lost," if so read, becomes dry and flat ; and the language of devotion, uttered in the same defective style in prayer, or in psalms and hymns, becomes irreverent in its effect. The mode of securing the advantages of " orotund " utter- ance is, in the first place, to give up the whole soul to the feeling of what is read or spoken in the language of grave and sublime emotion. The mere superficial impression of a sentiment is not adequate to the effects of genuine and inspiring expression. But few readers seem fully to feel the difference between the quiet and passive state, in which we sit and give up our imagination to be impressed by the language of. an author, and the communicative and active energy requisite, to stamp even such an impression on the minds of others. In the former case we are but involuntary, or at the most con- sentaneous recipients ; in the latter we are the positive and voluntary creators of effect. y EXAMPLES OF " EFFUSIVE OROTUND.' 1. Pathos and Gloom, or Melancholy, united with Grrandeur. Ossian's Apostrophe to the Sun. — MacpJierson. O thou that rollest above, round as the shield of my fathers ! whence are thy beams, O sun ! thy everlasting 70 OETHOPHONY. light ? Thou comest forth in thy awful beauty : the stars hide themselves in the sky ; the moon, cold and pale, sinks in the western wave. But thou thyself movest alone : who can be a companion of thy course ? The oaks of the mountains fall ; the mountains themselves decay with years; the ocean shrinks and grows again ; the moon herself is lost in the heavens ; but thou art forever the same, rejoicing in the brightness of thy course. When the world is dark with tempests, when thunders roll and lightnings fly, thou look- est in thy beauty from the clouds, and laughest at the storm. — But to Ossian thou look est in vain ; for he be- holds thy beams no more ; whether thy yellow hair floats on the eastern clouds, or thou tremblest at the gates of the west. But thou art, perhaps, like me, — for a season : thy years will have an end. Thou wilt sleep in thy clouds, careless of the voice of the morning. v 2. Sublimity and Awe. Niagara. — Brainard. The thoughts are strange that crowd into my brain, While I look upward to thee. — It would seem As if God poured thee from his " hollow hand," And hung his bow upon thine awful front ; And spake in that loud voice, which seemed to him Who dwelt in Patmos for his Saviour's sake, " The sound of many waters ; " and had bid Thy flood to chronicle the ages back, And notch his centuries in the eternal rock ! Deep calleth unto deep ! — And what are we, That hear the question of that voice sublime ? Oh ! what are all the notes that ever rang From war's vain trumpet, by thy thundering side ? Yea, what is all the riot man can make, In his short life to thy unceasing roar ? And yet, bold babbler, what art thou to Him EFFUSIVE OROTUND. 71 Who drowned a world, and heaped the waters far Above its loftiest mountains ? — a light wave, That breaks, and whispers of its Maker's might ! ^ 3. Pathos and Sublimity. Rome. — Byron. O Rome ! my country ! city of the soul ! The orphans of the heart must turn to thee, Lone mother of dead empires ! and control In their shut breasts, their petty misery. What are our woes and sufferance ? — Come and see The cypress, hear the owl, and plod your way O'er steps of broken thrones and temples, Ye ! Whose agonies are evils of a day : — A world is at our teet as fragile as our clay. The Niobe of nations ! there she stands, Childless and crownless, in her voiceless woe ; An empty urn within her withered hands, Whose holy dust was scattered long ago ; — The Scipios' tomb contains no ashes now ; The very sepulchres lie tenantless Of their heroic dwellers : — dost thou flow, Old Tiber ! through a marble wilderness ? Rise, with thy yellow waves, and mantle her distress ! 4. Solemnity and Sublimity combined. Milton's Invocation of Light. Hail ! holy Light, — offspring of Heaven, first-born, Or of the Eternal coeternal beam May I express thee unblamed? since God is light, And never but in unapproached light, Dwelt from eternity, — dwelt then in thee, Bright effluence of bright Essence increate ! Or hear'st thou, rather, pure ethereal stream, 72 ORTHOPHONY. Whose fountain who shall tell ? — Before the sun, Before the heavens thou wert, and, at the voice Of God, as with a mantle did'st invest The rising world of waters, dark and deep, Won from the void and formless infinite. II. "EXPULSIVE OROTUND. For description of expulsive utterance, see page 41. " Expulsive orotund " belongs appropriately to earnest or vehement declamation, to impassioned and poetic excitement of emotion, and consequently to whatever language is ut- tered in the form of shouting. It arises from the forcible action of the abdominal muscles, added to a full expansion of the chest, and deep inspiration. The first-mentioned of these styles, — the declamatory, is exemplified in public address or debate, on exciting occa- sions. The second is heard in the utterance of the lighter degrees of passion. The third form of " expulsive orotund " is the impas- sioned and the voluntary burst of emotion, which transcends the customary forms and effects of speech, and, in the spirit of enthusiastic excitement, utters itself in shouts and excla- mations. The forcible and manly eloquence of Demosthenes, or of Chatham, divested of the full " expulsive " utterance of deep and powerful emotion, would become ridiculous in its effect on the ear and the imagination. The same would be true of the style of our own eminent countryman, Webster. Depth, weight, and fulness of tone formed a powerful ef- fect in all his utterance on great and exciting occasions, in marked contrast with his impassive and almost apathetic ut- terance when not aroused by interest or feeling. To form the voice to the extent of the full property of " expulsive orotund," care should be taken to maintain a perfectly erect attitude of body, the chest fully expanded EXPULSIVE OROTUND. 73 and projected, and the shoulders depressed, — to maintain, also, a vigorous play of the abdominal muscles, and to prac- tise the organic act of prolonged coughing, in a moderate form, which is the natural mechanical function most nearly resembling " expulsive orotund." The elements of the lan- guage should be practised in a similar style ; and to these exercises should be added the repeated and energetic prac- tice of the following examples. Practice on the " crying " voice, or weeping utterance of sorrow, is another expedient for rendering nature's processes conducive to culture ; the act of crying being, in its mech- anism, a perfect " expulsive orotund." » EXAMPLES OF " EXPULSIVE OROTUND." 1. " Declamatory " Style. Webster's Speech of John Adams. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote ! Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. My judg- ment approves this measure ; and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope, in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it ; and I leave off, as I began, that, live or die, survive or perish, I am for the declaration. It is my living sentiment ; and, by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentiment : — inde- pendence now and independence forever ! 2. Oratorical Invective. V Against Warren Hastings. — BurJce. By the order of the House of Commons of Great Brit- ain, I impeach Warren Hastings of high crimes and misde- meanors. I impeach him in the name of the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament assembled, whose parliamentary trust he has abused. 74 ORTHOPHONY. I impeach him in the name of the Commons of Great Britain, whose national character he has dishonored. I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whose laws, rights, and liberties he has subverted. I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whose property he has destroyed, whose country he has laid waste and desolate. , I impeach him in the name of human nature itself, which he has cruelly outraged, injured, and oppressed, in both sexes. And I impeach him in the name and by the virtue of those eternal laws of justice, which ought equally to pervade every age, condition, rank, and situation, in the world. ^ Hotspur. — Shakespeare. Send danger from the east unto the west, So honor cross it from the north to south, And let them grapple. — Oh ! the blood more stirs, To rouse a lion, than to start a hare. By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap, To pluck bright honor from the pale-faced moon ; Or dive into the bottom of the deep, Where fathom-line could never touch the ground, And pluck up drowned honor by the locks ; So he, that doth redeem her thence, might wear, Without corrival, all her dignities. But out upon this half-faced fellowship ! 3. " Impassioned " Poetic Style. Carey's Ode on Eloquence. Where rests the sword ? — where sleep the brave ? Awake ! Cecropia's ally save From the fury of the blast ! Burst the storm on Phocis' walls, — Rise ! or Greece forever falls ; Up ! or Freedom breathes her last ! EXPULSIVE OROTUND. 75 4. u Impassioned Expression." — Poetic Invective : Epic Style. Moloch's Address. — Milton. My sentence is for open war : of wiles, More unexpert, I boast not : them let those Contrive who need, or when they need, — not now. For, while they sit contriving, shall the rest, Millions that stand in arms, and, longing, wait The signal to ascend, sit lingering here, Heaven's fugitives, and for their dwelling-place Accept this dark opprobrious den of shame, The prison of his tyranny who reigns By our delay ? No ! let us rather choose, Armed with hell flames and fury, all at once O'er heaven's high towers to force resistless way, Turning our tortures into horrid arms Against the Torturer ; when, to meet the noise Of his almighty engine, he shall hear Infernal thunder, and, for lightning, see Black fire and horror shot, with equal rage, Among his angels, and his throne itself Mixed with Tartarean sulphur and strange fire, — His own invented torments. v/< 5. Ecstatic Joy. William Tell, to the Mountains on regaining his Liberty. J. S. Knowles. Ye crags and peaks, I 'm with you once again ! I hold to you the hands you first beheld, To show they still are free. Ye guards of liberty, I 'm with you, once again ! I call to you With all my voice ! — I hold my hands to you To show they still are free ! 76 ORTHOPHONY. \ III. "explosive orotund." The " explosive " form of the " orotund " utterance bears the same relation to " effusive " and " expulsive orotund " that " explosion " in breathing, or whispering, bears to " ef- fusion " and " expulsion " in those forms. It implies an in- stantaneous burst of voice with a quick, clear, sharp, and cutting effect on the ear. See Modes of Utterance, p. 40. This mode of voice proceeds from a violent and abrupt exertion of the abdominal muscles, acting on the diaphragm, and thus discharging a large volume of air previously in- haled. The breath, in this process, is as it were dashed against the glottis or lips of the larynx, causing a loud and instantaneous explosion. " Explosive orotund " is the language of intense passion ; it is heard when the violence of emotion is beyond the con- trol of the will, and a sudden ecstasy of terror, anger, or any other form of intensely excited feeling, causes the voice to bur^t forth involuntarily from the organs, with a sudden and startling effect. It exists only in the extremes of abrupt emotion, as in the burst of anger, or the shout of courage, and admits of no gradations. This form of the human voice is one of the most impres- sive in its effect. By a law of our constitution it acts with an instantaneous shock on the sympathetic nerve, and rouses the sensibility of the whole frame ; it summons to instant action all the senses ; and in the thrill which it sends from nerve to brain, we feel its awakening and inciting power over the mind. With the rapidity of lightning it penetrates every faculty and sets it instinctively on the alert. We hear the " explosive orotund quality " exemplified in the sudden alarm of fire, in the short and sharp cry of terror or of warning, at the approach of instant and great danger, in the eruptive curse of furious anger, in the abrupt exclamation of high-wrought courage, and in the burst of frantic grief. In reading and recitation, it belongs appro« EXPLOSIVE OROTUND. 77 priately to the highest ecstatic effects of lyric and dramatic poe- try, as the language of intense passion. To gain the full command of " explosive orotund " voice, the practice of the elements, of syllables and words, in the tones of anger and terror, should be frequently repeated, along with the following and similar examples. The me- chanical and moderate practice of the acts of coughing and laughing is one of the most efficacious modes of imparting to the organs the power of instantaneous " explosion." Like all other powerful forms of exertion, it should not, at first, be carried very far ; neither should it be practised with- out a due interspersing of the gentler and softer exercises of voice. Pursued exclusively, it would harden the voice, and render it dry and unpleasing in its quality. Intermin- gled with the other modes of practice, it secures thorough- going force and clearness of voice, and permanent vigor and elasticity of organs. EXAMPLES OF "EXPLOSIVE OROTUND." 1 . Courage. ("Explosive" Shouting.) BOZZARIS TO HIS BAND OF SULIOTES. — HalUck. 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 ! 2. Scorn and Defiance. Paradise Lost. — Milton. Satan (to Death). Whence and what art thou, execrable shape ! That dar'st, 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 asked of thee : T8 ORTHOPHONY. Retire ! or taste thy folly ; and learn by proof, Hell-born ! not to contend with spirits of hearen. Wrath and Threatening. Death (in reply). 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 horror seize thee, and pangs unfelt before ! 8. Infuriate Anger. The Doge of Venice, on the eve of his execution, in the con. cluding words of his curse on the city. — Byron's Marino Fa- lter i. Thou den of drunkards with the blood of princes ! Gehenna of the waters ! thou sea Sodom ! Thus I devote thee to the infernal gods ! Thee and thy serpent seed ! ( To the executioner.) Slave, do thine office ! Strike as I struck the foe ! Strike as I would Have struck those tyrants ! Strike deep as my curse J Strike — and but once ! v / 4. Anger. Antony, to the conspirators. — Shakespeare. Villains ! you did not threat, when your vile daggers Hacked one another in the sides of Caesar ! You showed your teeth like apes, and fawned like hounds, And bowed like bondmen, kissing Caesar's feet ; Whilst damned Casca, like a cur, behind, Struck Caesar on the neck. — Oh ! flatterers ! Aspirated and Pectoral Quality. The emotions which are naturally expressed by the strongest form of " aspirated quality " are principally of that class which an eminent writer on the passions has de« ASPIRATED AND PECTORAL QUALITY. 79 nominated " malignant," from their peculiar character and effect, as contrasted with those of others which he denom- inates " genial." The former class includes fear, hatred, aversion, horror, anger, and all similar feelings ; the latter, love, joy, serenity, tenderness, pity, etc. PECTORAL QUALITY. The resonance in " pectoral quality " is confined to the chest. Like all other vocal sounds it is vocalized in the larynx, but is made to vibrate entirely in the chest. In its purity of sound it is confined to low notes, but when aspi- rated may be forced to a high pitch. It is used in the expression of gloom, despair (not frenzied), awe, deep solemnity, profoundest reverence, etc. The "aspirated quality," in the "pectoral" form, belongs usually to despair, deep-seated anger, revenge, excessive fear, horror, and other deep and powerful emotions. Other emotions, however, besides those which may be designated as " malignant," partake of " aspirated quality." Awe may be mentioned as an example, which, when pro- found, is always marked by a slight aspiration and a " pec- toral quality." Joy and grief too, become " aspirated " when highly characterized. Ardor and intense earnestness of emotion are always " aspirated." The fervent expres- sion of love, and even of devotion, admits, accordingly, of " aspirated " utterance. " Aspiration," like " tremor," thus becomes a natural sign of extremes in feeling ; and these two properties united, form the acme or highest point of " expression." The " aspirated quality," in the " guttural " form, be- longs in various degrees to all malignant emotions. In its stronger expression it gives a harsh, animal, and sometimes even fiend-like character to human utterance, as in the mal- ice and revenge of Shylock. In a reduced, though still highly impassioned degree, it gives its peculiar choking effect to the utterance of anger. 80 ORTHOPHONY. In the yell of rage and fury " aspiration " is displaced by perfectly " pure tone " of the loudest sound, — by a law of man's organization, which it is unnecessary here to analyze, but which seems to make all the extremes, or utmost reaches of human feeling, musical in their effect. Joy and the extremes of both grief and anger may be mentioned as illustrations. Aversion, disgust, displeasure, impatience, dissatisfaction, and discontent, all, in various degrees, combine " aspirated " utterance and " guttural quality." It will be of great service to power of " expression," to render the command of " aspiration " easy by frequent rep- etition on elements, syllables, and words, selected for tha purpose. I. " EFFUSIVE " UTTERANCE. 1. Gloom. Shipwreck. — Wilson. Now is the ocean's bosom bare, Unbroken as the floating air ; The ship hath melted quite away, Like a struggling dream at break of day. No image meets my wandering eye, But the new-risen sun and the sunny sky. Though the night-shades are gone, yet a vapor dull Bedims the waves so beautiful ; While a low and melancholy moan Mourns for the glory that hath flown. y / V t 2. Despair and Melancholy. he Ancient Mariner. — Coleridge. Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide, wide sea ! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony. ASPIRATED AND PECTORAL QUALITY. 81 3. Horror and Awe. Ghost, to Hamlet. — Shakespeare. I am thy father's spirit, Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, And for the day confined to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid To tell the secrets of my prison-house, I could a tale unfold whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul ; freeze thy young blood ; Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres 5 Thy knotted and combined locks to part, And each particular hair to stand on end, Like quills upon the fretful porcupine : But this eternal blazon must not be To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O list ! If thou didst ever thy dear father love. 4. Horror and Fear : the effect transcending that of aw$i the " aspiration " nearly a whisper. Macbeth, meditating the murder of Duncan. — Shakespeare. v Now o'er the one half world Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse The curtain'd sleep ; now witchcraft celebrates Pale Hecate's offerings ; and wither'd murder, Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf, Whose howl 's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace, With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design Moves like a ghost. — Thou sure and firm-set earth ! Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear The very stones prate of my whereabout, And take the present horror from the time, Which now suits with it. 82 ORTHOPHONY. II. "EXPULSIVE UTTERANCE. 1. Horror and Amazement : "aspiration " increased by " expulsion." Hamlet, to ti^e Ghost of his Father. — Shakespeare. ^ What may this mean, That thou, dead corse, again, in complete steel Eevisitest thus the glimpses of the moon, Making night hideous ; and we fools of nature So horridly to shake our disposition With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls ? 2. Fear and Awe. • The Mourning Bride. — Johnson. Almeria. It was a fanciful noise, for all is hush'd. Leonora. It bore the accent of a human voice. Almeria. It was thy fear ; or else some transient wind Whistling through hollows of this vaulted aisle. We '11 listen ! — Leonora. Hark ! Almeria. No! All is hushed and still as death. 'Tis dreadful ! How reverend is the face of this tall pile, Whose ancient pillars rear their marble heads To bear aloft its arch'd and ponderous roof, Looking tranquillity. It strikes an awe And terror on my aching sight. The tombs And monumental caves of death look cold, And shoot a chillness to my trembling heart. Give me thy hand, and let me hear thy voice. Nay, quickly speak to me, and let me hear — My own affrights me with its echoes. ASPIRATED AND PECTORAL QUALITY. 83 \ 3. Fear. ("WTuspering Voice: "Guttural Quality.") Caliban, conducting Stephano and Trinculo to the cell op Prospero. — Shakespeare. Pray you tread softly, — that the blind mole may not Hear a foot fall : we are now near his cell. Speak softly ! All 's hushed as midnight yet. See'st thou here ? This is the mouth o' the cell : no noise ! and enter. in. "explosive utterance. ("Guttural and Pectoral Quality.") 1. Hatred. Shylock, regarding Antonio. How like a fawning publican he looks ! I hate him for he is a Christian ; But more, for that, in low simplicity He lends out money gratis, and brings down The rate of usance here with us in Venice. If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him ! He hates our sacred nation ; and he rails, Even there where merchants most do congregate, On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift, Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe, If I forgive him! 2. Hatred. Shylock/ to Antonio. — Shakespeare. Signior Antonio, many a time and oft, In the Rialto, you have rated me About my moneys and my usances ; Still have I borne it with a patient shrug ; 84 ORTHOPHONY. For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe. You call me — misbeliever, cut-throat, dog, And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine, And all for use of that which is mine own. Well then, it now appears, you need my help : Go to then ; you come to me, and you say, " Shylock, we would have moneys:" you say so % You, that did void your rheum upon my beard, And foot me, as you spurn a stranger cur Over your threshold : moneys is your suit. What should I say to you ? Should I not say, " Hath a dog money ? Is it possible A cur can lend three thousand ducats ? " Or Shall I bend low, and in a bondman's key, With bated breath and whisp'ring humbleness, Say this : " Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last ; You spurn'd me such a day ; another time You call'd me dog ; and for these courtesies I '11 lend you thus much moneys." J 3. Horror, Terror, and Alarm. Macbeth, to the Ghost of Banquo. — Shakespeare. Avaunt ! and quit my sight ! Let the earth hide thee ! Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood: is cold ! Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Which thou dost glare with ! Hence, horrible shadow ! Unreal mockery, hence ! J 4. Revenge. ("Guttural, Aspirated, and Pectoral Quality.") Shylock, referring to the pound of flesh, the penalty at- tached to Antonio's bond. — Shakespeare. If it will feed nothing else it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hindered me of half a million ; FORCE. 85 laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my na- tion, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated my enemies. And what 's his reason ? I am a Jew ! Hath not a Jew eyes ? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions ? Is he not fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same dis- eases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same summer and winter, as a Christian is ? If you stab us, do we not bleed ? If you tickle us, do we not laugh ? If you poison us, do we not die ? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge ? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility ? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example ? Why, revenge. The villany you teach me, I will execute ; and it shall go hard, but I will better the instruction. CHAPTER Y. FORCE. A primary characteristic of utterance, as expressive of emotion, is the degree of its energy or force. The effect of any feeling on sympathy is naturally inferred from the de- gree of force with which the sound of the voice, in the utter- ance of that feeling, falls upon the ear of the hearer. The cause of this impression upon the mind is obviously the law of organic sympathy, by which one part of the human frame naturally responds to another. A powerful emotion not only affects the heart and the lungs, and the other invol- untary agents of life and of expression, but starts the ex- pulsory muscles into voluntary action, and produces voice, the natural indication and language of feeling. The degree of force, therefore, in a vocal sound, is intuitively taken as 86 ORTHOPHONY. the measure of the emotion which causes it. Except only those cases in which the force of feeling paralyzes as it were the organs of the voice, and suggests the opposite measure of inference, by which a choked and struggling ut- terance, a suppressed or inarticulate voice, or even absolute silence, becomes the index to the heart. The command of all degrees of force of voice must evi- dently be essential to true and natural expression, whether in reading or speaking. Appropriate utterance ranges through all stages of vocal sound, from the whisper of fear and the murmur of repose to the boldest swell of vehe- ment declamation and the shout of triumphant courage. But to give forth any one of these or the intermediate tones with just and impressive effect, the organs must be disciplined by appropriate exercise and frequent practice. The want of due training for the exercise of public readV ing or speaking, is evinced in the habitual undue loudness of some speakers and the inadequate force of others. Force of utterance, however, has other claims on the at- tention of students of elocution besides those which are in- volved in correct expression. It is, in its various gradations, the chief means of imparting strength to the vocal organs, and power to the voice itself. The due practice of exer- cises in force of utterance does for the voice what athletic exercise does for the muscles of the body ; it imparts the two great conditions of power, vigor and pliancy. It is a matter of great moment, in practising the exercise in force, to observe at first with the utmost strictness, ilt rule of commencing with the slightest and advancing to the most energetic forms of utterance. When practice has im- parted due vigor and facility, it will be a useful variation of order to commence with the more powerful exertions of the voice and descend to the more gentle. It is a valuable at- tainment, also, to be able to strike at once, and with perfect ease and precision, into any degree of force, from whisper* ing to shouting. FORCE. 87 The perfect command of every degree of force, and an exact discrimination of its stages, as classified by degree and character of emotion, are indispensable to correct and im- pressive elocution. Extensive and varied practice on force, in all its gradations, becomes therefore an important point in the vocal culture connected with elocution. For drill ex- ercises repeat tables of Elements in the musical gradations of " pianissimo " (very soft), " piano " (soft), " mezzo pi- ano " (moderately soft), "mezzo" (moderate), "mezzo forte" (moderately loud), "forte" (loud), and "fortis- simo " (very loud), in successive stages, commencing with the slightest and most delicate sound that can be uttered in "pure tone," and extending to the most vehement force of shouting and calling in the open air and with all the power that the voice can yield. Persons who practise such exercises several times a day, 1 for ten or fifteen minutes at a time, will find a daily gain in vocal power and organic vigor to be the invariable result : every day will enable them to add a degree to their scale of force. The kind of exercise now recommended, if presented in a form addressed to the eye, might be marked thus : — • •#••••• o Each dot represents in this scale, one and the same sound, 1 It may not be improper to remark here, that vocal exercise should be practised at a point of time as nearly as may be intermediate to the hours assigned for meals; as the organs are then in their best condition, — neither embarrassed nor exhausted, as regards the state of the circulation. The rule of the Italian vocal training, which prescribes powerful and con- tinued exertion of voice, before breakfast, with a view to deepen the " reg- ister," implies a state of organs already inured to fatigue ; and the stereo- type direction of the old physicians, to declaim after dinner, with a view to promote digestion, implies either a meal in the poet's style of "spare fast, that oft with gods doth diet," or a strength of the digestive organ that can render it callous to the powerful shocks which energetic declamation always \mparts by impassioned emotion to that chief "local habitation" of the "sympathetic " nerve. 88 ORTHOPHONY. er word, repeated with a gradually increasing force. The repetition of the same sound, for at least a dozen times, is preferred to a change of elements, because by repetition the ear becomes as it were a more exact judge of the suc- cessive degrees of force, when not distracted by attention to anything else than the one point of mere loudness. EXERCISES IN FORCE. I. " SUPPRESSED " FORCE. 1 Whispering. (" Effusive " Utterance.) Pathos. Dying Request. — Mrs. Hemans. Leave me ! thy footstep with its lightest sound, The very shadow of thy waving hair, Wakes in my soul a feeling too profound, Too strong for aught that lives and dies, to bear — Oh ! bid the conflict cease ! (" Expulsive " Utterance.) Rapture. The Dying Christian. — Pope. Hark ! they whisper, — angels say, " Sister spirit ! come away ! " l "Suppressed" force is not limited exclusively to the forms of the whis- per, or the half-whisper. Still, it is usually found in one or other of these ; and, on this account, although sometimes intensely earnest and energetic in the expression of feeling, it is a gradation of utterance which, in point of " vocality," ranks below even the " moderate " and " subdued " forms of "pure tone." We regard, at present, its value in vocal force, — not i| u expression." FORCE. 89 (" Explosive " Utterance.) Terror. Lines on the Eve op Waterloo. — Byron. The foe ! they come, they come ! Effusive Half-whisper. Awe and Tenderness. Evening Prayer at a Girl's School. — Mrs. Eemans. Hush ! *t is a holy hour : — the quiet room Seems like a temple, while yon soft lamp sheds A faint and starry radiance through the gloom And the sweet stillness, down on young bright heads, With all their clustering locks, untouched by care, And bowed — as flowers are bowed with night — in prayer, / Expulsive Half-whisper. Horror. Eugene Aram. — Hood. Down went the corse with a hollow plunge, And vanished in the pool ; Anon I cleansed my bloody hands, And washed my forehead cool, And sat among the urchins young That evening, in the school. Explosive Half-whisper. Frenzied Fear. Ancient Mariner. — Coleridge. About, about, in reel and rout, The death-fires danced at night ; 90 ORTHOPHONY. The water, like a witch's oils, Burnt green and blue, and white. And every tongue, through utter drought, Was withered at the root ; We could not speak, no more than if We had been choked with soot. II. " SUBDUED " FORCE. ("Pure Tone : " " Effusive ' ' Utterance. ) 1. Tranquillity. Night. — Montgomery. Behold the bed of death, — This pale and lovely clay ! Heard ye the sob of parting breath ? Marked ye the eye's last ray ? No ; — life so sweetly ceased to be, It lapsed in immortality. 2. Profound Repose, Evening in a Grave- yard — Bailey. I Ve seen the moon climb the mountain's brow, I 've watched the mists o'er the river stealing ; But ne'er did I feel in my breast, till now, So deep, so calm, and so holy a feeling : 'T is soft as the thrill which memory throws Athwart the soul in the hour of repose. Thou Father of all ! in the worlds of light, Fain would my spirit aspire to Thee ; And, through the scenes of this gentle night, Behold the dawn of eternity : For this is the path which Thou hast given, The only path to the bliss of heaven. FORCE. 91 3. Tenderness. To an Infant. — Coleridge. Poor stumbler on the rocky coast of woe, Tutored by pain each source of pain to know ! Alike the foodful fruit and scorching fire Awake thy eager grasp and young desire ; Alike the good, the ill, offend thy sight, A^nd rouse the stormy sense of shrill affright. Untaught, yet wise ! mid all thy brief alarms Thou closely clingest to thy mother's arms, Nestling thy little face in that fond breast Whose anxious heavings lull thee to thy rest ! ( ' ' Orotund Quality : " " Effusive ' ' Utterance. ) 1. Pathos and Sublimity. * Wolsey, on his downfall. — Shakespeare. Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness ! This is the state of man : To-day he puts forth The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms, And bears his blushing honors thick upon him : The third day comes a frost, a killing frost ; And — when he thinks, good easy man, full surely His greatness is a ripening — nips his root ; And then he falls as I do. I have ventured, — Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, — This many summers, in a sea of glory, But far beyond my depth : my high-blown pride At length broke under me, and now has left me Weary and old with service, to the mercy Of a rude stream that must forever hide me ! 2. Reverence. The Hymn of the Seasons. — Thomson. These, as they change, Almighty Father ! these Are but the varied God. The rolling year 92 ORTHOPHONY. Is full of Thee. And oft Thy voice in dreadful thunder speaks ; And oft at dawn, deep noon, or falling eve, By brooks and groves, in hollow-whispering gales. — In Winter, awful Thou ! with clouds and storms Around Thee thrown, tempest o'er tempest rolled, — Majestic darkness ! On the whirlwind's wing, Riding sublime, Thou bidd'st the world adore, And humblest Nature, with Thy northern blast. in. "moderate" force. ("Pure Tone: " "Expulsive" Utterance.) " Grave 11 Style. Undue Indulgence. — Alison. The inordinate love of pleasure is equally fatal to hap- piness as to virtue. To the wise and virtuous, to those who use the pleasures of life only as a temporary relaxation, as a resting-place to animate them on the great journey on which they are travelling, the hours of amusement bring real pleasure : to them the well of joy is ever full ; while to those who linger by its side, its waters are soon dried and exhausted. I speak not now of those bitter waters which must min- gle themselves with the well of unhallowed pleasure, — of the secret reproaches of accusing conscience, — of the sad sense of shame and dishonor, — and of that degraded spirit, which must bend itself beneath the scorn of the world : I speak only of the simple and natural effect of unwise in- dulgence ; that it renders the mind callous to enjoyment ; and that even though the " fountain were full of water," the feverish lip is incapable of satiating its thirst. Alas ! here, too, we may see the examples of human folly: we may see around us, everywhere, the fatal effects of unre- strained pleasure ; the young, sickening in the midst of every pure and genuine enjoyment ; the mature, hastening FORGE. 93 with hopeless step, to fill up the hours of a vitiated being ; and, what is still more wretched, the hoary head wandering in the way of folly, and with an unhallowed dotage, return- ing again to the trifles and the amusements of childhood. " Serious " Style. Influence of Learning. — Moodie. If learned men are to be esteemed for the assistance they give to active minds in their schemes, they are not less to be valued for their endeavors to give them a right di- rection, and moderate their too great ardor. The study of history will teach the legislator by what means states have become powerful ; and in the private citizen it will inculcate the love of liberty and order. The writings of sages point out a private path of virtue, and show that the best empire is self-government, and that subduing our passions is the noblest of conquests. / " Animated" or IAvely, Style. Cheerfulness. As Tou Like It. — Shakespeare. Duke Senior. 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 ? Here feel we not the penalty of Adam, The seasons' difference ; as the icy fang, And churlish chiding of the winter's wind, Which when it bites and blows upon my body, Even till I shrink with cold, I smile, and say, — This is no flattery ; these are counsellors, That feelingly persuade me what I am. Sweet are the uses of adversity ; Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, 94 ORTHOPHONY. Wears yet a precious jewel in his head ; And this our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything. " Gay" or Brisk, Style. Habits of Expression. — Spectator. Next to those whose elocution is absorbed in action, and who converse chiefly with their arms and legs, we may consider the professed speakers, — and, first, the emphatical, — who squeeze and press and ram down every syllable with excessive vehemence and energy. These orators are re- markable for their distinct elocution and force of expres- sion : they dwell on the important particles of and the, and the significant conjunction and, — which they seem to hawk up, with much difficulty, out of their own throats, and to cram, — with no less pain, — into the ears of their auditors. These should be suffered only to syringe (as it were) the ears of a deaf man, through a hearing trumpet ; though I must confess that I am equally offended with the whisperers, or low speakers, who seem to fancy all their ac- quaintance deaf, and come up so close to you that they may be said to measure noses with you. I would have these oracular gentry obliged to talk at a distance, through a speaking trumpet, or apply their lips to the walls of a whispering gallery. The wits, who will not condescend to utter anything but a bon mot, and the whistlers, or tune- hummers, who never talk at all, may be joined very agreea- bly together in a concert ; and to these " tinkling cymbals " I would also add the " sounding brass," the bawler, who inquires after your health with the bellowing of a town« crier. " Humorous " Style. The Critic. — Sterne. " And what of this new book the whole world makes Buch a noise about ?" " Oh ! 't is out of all plumb, my J »-) FORCE. 95 lord, — quite an irregular thing ! — not one of the angles at the four corners was a right angle. I had my rule and compasses, my lord, in my pocket ! " " Excellent critic ! " " And for the epic poem your lordship bid me look at — upon taking the length, breadth, height, and depth of it, and trying them at home upon an exact scale of Bossu's — 't is out, my lord, in every one of its dimensions." " Admira- ble connoisseur ! And did you step in to take a look at the great picture, on your way back ? " " 'T is a melan- choly daub, my lord ! — not one principle of the i pyramid/ in any one group ! — and what a price ! — for there is noth- ing of the coloring of Titian, — the expression of Eubens, — the grace of Raphael, — the purity of Domenichino, — the corregiescity of Corregio, — the learning of Poussin, — the airs of Guido, — the taste of Caracci, — or the grand contour of Angelo ! " IV. " DECLAMATORY " FORCE. V The American Union. — Webster. While the Union lasts, we have high, exciting, gratify- ing prospects spread out before us, for us and for our chil- dren. Beyond that I seek not to penetrate the veil. God grant that, in my day, at least, that curtain may not rise I God grant that on my vision never may be opened what lies behind. When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the sun in the heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union ; on States dissevered, discordant, belligerent ; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fra- ternal blood ! Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now known and honored throughout the earth, still " full high advanced," — its arms and trophies streaming in their original lustre, — not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a sin- gle star obscured ; bearing, for its motto, no such misera- / 96 ORTHOPHONY. ble interrogatory as, " What is all this worth ? " nor those other words of delusion and folly, " Liberty first, and Union afterwards," — but everywhere, spread all over, in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart, — " Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable ! " \J V. " IMPASSIONED " FORCE. (" Aspirated Pectoral " and "Explosive Orotund.") Imprecation and Wrath. The Cukse of Marino Faliero. —Byron. Ye elements ! in which to be resolved I hasten, let my voice be as a spirit Upon you ! — Ye blue waves ! which bore my banner, Ye winds ! which fluttered o'er as if ye loved it, And filled my swelling sails, as they were wafted To many a triumph ! Thou, my native earth, Which I have bled for ! and thou foreign earth, Which drank this willing blood from many a wound ! Ye stones, in which my gore will not sink, but Reek up to heaven ! Ye skies, which will receive it ! Thou sun ! which shinest on these things, and Thou I Who kindlest and who quenchest suns ! — attest ! I am not innocent, but are these guiltless ? I perish, but not unavenged ; far ages Float up from the abyss of time to be, And show these eyes, before they close, the doom Of this proud city ; and I leave my curse On her and hers forever. FORCE. 97 VI. SHOUTING. ("Expulsive Orotund:" Intense Force.) RlENZI, TO THE CONSPIRATORS. — ByrOTl. Hark, — the bell, the bell ! The knell of tyranny, — the mighty voice That to the city and the plain, to earth And listening heaven, proclaims the glorious tale Of Kome re-born, and freedom ! VII. SHOUTING AND CALLING. ("Expulsive Orotund:" "Pure Tone:" Intense "Sustained" Force.) Macduff's Outcry on the Murder of Duncan. — Shakespeare. Awake ! awake ! Ring the alarm-bell : — Murder ! and treason ! — Banquo, and Donalbain ! Malcolm ! awake ! v/: EXAMPLES OF "TRANSITION" IN FORCE. 1. From Tranquillity and Reverence to Terror. (From "Subdued" to "Impassioned.") Mariner's Dream. — Dimond. %/ Subdued. His hardships seem o'er ; And a murmur of happiness steals through his rest ; — " O God ! Thou hast blest me ; — I ask for no more." Impassioned. Ah ! what is that flame which now bursts on his eye ? Ah ! what is that sound that now larums his ear ? 'T is the lightning's red glare, painting wrath on the sky ! 'T is the crashing of thunders, the groan of the sphere ! He springs from his hammock, — he flies to the deck, — Amazement confronts him with images dire ; Wild winds and mad waves drive the vessel a wreck, — The masts fly in splinters, — the shrouds are on fire ! 7 98 ORTHOPHONY. 2. Joy, Awe, and Terror. Shipwreck. — Wilson. * Joy- ("Loud" Force.) Many ports will exult at the gleam of her mast. / Awe. ("Subdued" Force.) Hush ! hush ! thou vain dreamer ! this hour is her last. Terror. ("Impassioned" Force.) Her keel hath struck on a hidden rock ; And her planks are torn asunder ; And down come her masts with a reeling shock, And a hideous crash like thunder ! s ' S. From Terror to Awe. (From "Impassioned" to " Subdued.") Mariner's Dream. — Dimond. Impassioned. Like mountains the billows tremendously swell, — In vain the lost wretch calls on Mercy to save ; — J Subdued. Unseen hands of spirits are ringing his knell ; And the death-angel flaps his broad wing o'er the wave ! 4. From Pathos to Authoritative Command. (From " Subdued " to " Loud.") Treasures op the Deep. — Mrs. Hemans. To thee the love of woman hath gone down, Dark flow thy tides o'er manhood's noble head, O'er youth's bright locks and beauty's flowery crown : — • TRANSITION IN FORCE. 99 Authoritative Command. ("Loud" Force.) \ Yet must thou hear a voice — Restore the Dead ! Earth shall reclaim her precious things from thee — Restore the Dead, thou Sea ! 5. From Reverence to Terror, then from Horror to Ea- gerness, returning to Horror, then from Reverence to Horror, and from Eagerness to Horror, Consternation, and Awe. (From " Suppressed " and " Subdued " to " Impassioned.") Bernardo del Carpio, the son of an imprisoned sire, being as- sured BY HIS FALSE KING THAT HE SHALL AGAIN SEE HIS FATHER, MEETS NOT THE LIVING PERSON BUT HIS LIFELESS BODY : HENCE THE ALTERNATIONS OF EXCITED AND CONFLICTING FEELINGS. — Mrs. H em- ails. Reverence. v ("Subdued" Force.) A lowly knee to earth he bent, — his father's hand he took — Terror. ( ' ' Impassioned ' ' Force. ) What was there in its touch that all his fiery spirit shook ! Horror. ("Subdued" Force.) That hand was cold ! a frozen thing : — it dropped from his like lead ! Eagerness. ("Suppressed" Force.) He looked up to the face above — Horror. ("Subdued" Force.) the face was of the dead ; 100 ORTHOPHONY. Reverence. (" Subdued" Force.) A plume waved o'er the noble brow — Horror. ("Subdued" Force.) that brow was fixed and white : Eagerness. ("Suppressed" Force.) He met at last his father's eyes — Horror. ("Subdued" Force.) but in them was no sight ! Consternation. ("Loud" Force.) Up from the ground he sprang, and gazed — Awe. ("Subdued" Force.) but who could paint that gaze ? They hushed their very hearts, that saw its horror and amaze. v STRESS. 101 CHAPTER VI. " STRESS." The force of utterance, in a sentence or a clause, may be on one phrase, or even on a single word. In the pronunci- ation of a word, it may be exclusively on one syllable. In the enunciation of a syllable, the organic force may lie chiefly on a single letter. In the sound of a letter, the force of the voice may lie conspicuously on the first, or on the last part of the sound, on the middle, or on both extremes ; or it may be distributed, with an approach to equalizing force, over all parts of the sound. It is these modes of ap- plying the force to different parts of a syllable which con- stitutes " stress." The classification of the forms of stress which may be used with any degree of force, is as follows : — 1st, " Radical Stress" or that in which the force of utter- ance is, usually, more or less " explosive," and falls on the "radical" (initial or first) part of a sound. 2d, " Median stress," that in which the force is " expul- sive " or " effusive," and swells out, whether slowly or rap- idly, at the middle of a sound. 3d, " Vanishing stress" or that which withholds the " ex- pulsive " or " explosive " force till the " vanish," or last mo- ment of the sound. 4th, " Compound stress," or that in which the voice, with more or less of " explosive " force, touches forcefully and distinctly on both the initial and the final points of a sound, but passes slightly and almost imperceptibly over the mid- dle part. 5th, " Thorough stress," in which the initial, middle, and final portions of a sound are all distinctively and impressively marked by special " expulsive force " of voice. 6th, " Tremor" tremulous, or " intermittent stress." 102 ORTHOPHONY. I. "RADICAL STRESS." This form of vocal force is exemplified in the mechanical act of coughing. 1 It imparts a percussive and abrupt open- ing to every syllable. In speech its highest form consists in the utterance of all sounds which embody startling and ab- rupt emotions, as fear, anger, etc. It exists also, although in a reduced form, in the tones of determined will, earnest argument, emphatic and distinct or exact communication, and other unimpassioned modes of expression. It addresses in clear, distinct style, the ear and the understanding. The defmiteness and decision of the speaker's intention, the clear conviction of his judgment, the distinctness of his percep- tions, and the energy of his will, are all indicated in this nat- ural language of voice. Carried to excess, it becomes, of course, a fault : it savors of dogmatical arrogance and as- sumption, of selfish wilfulness and self-conceit. Persuasion, not intimidation, is the soul of eloquence ; argument, not as- sertion, the instrument of conviction : sympathy, not oppo- 1 " There are so few speakers able to give a radical stress to syllabic ut- terance, with this momentary burst, which I here mean to describe, that I must draw an illustration from the effort of coughing. It will be perceived that a single impulse of coughing, is not, in all points, exactly like the abrupt voice on syllables ; for that single impulse is a forcing out of almost all the breath; yet if the tonic element ' a-we ' be employed as the vocality of coughing, its abrupt opening will truly represent the function of radical stress when used in discourse." " The clear and forcible radical stress can take place only after an inter- ruption of the voice. It would seem as if there is some momentary occlu- sion in the larynx, by which the breath is barred and accumulated for the purpose of a full and sudden discharge. This occlusion is most under com- mand, and the explosion is most powerful, on syllables beginning with a tonic element, or with an abrupt one preceding atonic* for, in this last case, an obstruction in the organs of articulation is combined with the function of the larynx above supposed." — Dr. Rush. "It is this " (radical stress) " which draws the cutting edge of words across the ear, and startles even stupor into attention : — this which lessens the fatigue of listening, and outvoices the stir and rustle of an assembly: — and it is the sensibility to this, through a general instinct of the animal ear, which gives authority to the groom and makes the horse submissive to bis angry accent." — lb. STEESS. 103 sition, the avenue to the heart. A uniform, hard " radical stress," therefore, can effect none of the best purposes of speech, and must ever be regarded as allied to violence and vulgarity, or the slang of party invective. The practice of the following examples should be accom- panied by an extensive and thorough course of discipline on all degrees of " explosion," in elements, syllables, and words, — advancing from the very slightest to the intensest form, and occasionally reversing the order, so as to reduce the function of explosion from its most impassioned to its merely intellectual character and expression. EXAMPLES OF " RADICAL STRESS." I. " IMPASSIONED RADICAL." 1. Anger and Scorn. (" Explosive " Utterance : " Aspirated Pectoral Quality.") Coriolanus, to the People. — Shakespeare. You common cry of curs ! whose breath I hate As reek o' the rotten fens, — whose loves I prize As the dead carcasses of unburied men, That do corrupt my air, — /banish you !' . 2. Anger, excited to Rage. The Lord of the Isles. — Scott. Lorn (about to assault Bruce). Talk not to me Of odds or match ! — When Comyn died, Three daggers clashed within his side. Talk not to me of sheltering hall ! — The Church of God saw Comyn fall ! On God's own altar streamed his blood ; While o'er my prostrate kinsman stood The ruthless murderer, even as now, — With armed hand and scornful brow, — Up ! all who love me ! — blow on blow I And lay the outlawed felons low 1 104 • ORTHOPHONY. II. " UNIMPASSIONED RADICAL. J In these examples the " radical stress " is merely of that gentle kind which gives distinctness and life to articulation, by a firm and clear " radical movement," and preserves the serious style from verging on the solemn, by " swell " and prolongation, or by drawling. The slightest form of a clear cough is the mechanical standard of organic action in this degree of " stress ; " and this distinction should be carefully observed ; for, when strong feeling is expressed in " grave," or in " serious," or in " animated " style, especially in po- etry, the " stress " changes to " median," for greater ex- pressive effect. 1. Animation. Meeting at Night. — Browning. A tap at the pane, — the quick, sharp scratch And blue spurt of a lighted match. 2. Didactic Composition : Grave Style. ("Pure Tone:" "Moderate Force:" "Grave" Style, —usual style of a Sermon, or of a Moral or Political Discourse. ) Immortality of the Soul. — Addison. How can it enter into the thoughts of man, that the soul, which is capable of such immense perfections, and of receiving new improvements to all eternity, shall fall away into nothing almost as soon as it is created? Are such abilities made for no purpose ? A brute arrives at a point of perfection that he can never pass : in a few years he has all the endowments he is capable of ; and were he to live ten thousand more, would be the same thing he is at pres- ent. Were a human soul thus at a stand in her accomplish- ments, were her faculties to be full blown, and incapable of farther enlargement, I could imagine it might fall away in- sensibly, and drop at once into a state of annihilation. But ean we believe that a thinking being which is in a perpetual STRESS. 105 progress of improvements, and travelling on from perfec- tion to perfection, — after having just looked abroad into the works of its Creator, and made a few discoveries of his infinite goodness, wisdom, and power, — must perish at her first setting out, and in the very beginning of her in- quiries ? 3. Poetic Composition : Animated Style. ("Pure Tone: " " Moderate Force: " "Lively" Style.) Spring. — Bryant. 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 ? The clouds are at play, in the azure space, And their shadows at play on the bright green vale, And here they stretch to the frolic chase, And there they roll on the easy gale. And look at the broad-faced sun how he smiles On the dewy earth that smiles on his ray, On the leaping waters and gay young isles, — Ay, look, and he '11 smile thy gloom away. 4. Poetic Composition : Gay Style. Spring. — Bryant. There 's a dance of leaves in that aspen bower, There 's a titter of winds in that beechen tree, There 's a smile on the fruit, and a smile on the flower And a laugh from the brook that runs to the sea ! 106 ORTHOPHONY. II. " MEDIAN STRESS." This form of " stress " Dr. Rush describes as " a gradual strengthening and subsequent reduction of the voice, similar to what is called a swell (swell and diminish) in the lan- guage of musical expression." " Median stress " has the form of " effusive " utterance in sublime, solemn, and pathetic emotions : it becomes." expul- sive " in those which combine force with grandeur, as in admiration, courage, authoritative command, indignation, and similar feelings. But its effect is utterly incompatible with the abruptness of " explosion," Its comparatively mu- sical character adapts it, with special felicity of effect, to the melody of verse, and the natural " swell " of poetic ex- pression. x This mode of " stress " is one of the most important in its effect on language, whether in the form of speaking or of reading. Destitute of its ennobling and expansive sound, the recitation of poetry sinks into the style of dry prose, the language of devotion loses its sacredness, the tones of ora- tory lose their power over the heart. There is a danger of this natural beauty of vocal expres- sion being converted into a fault by being overdone. The habit recognized under the name of " mouthing " has an ex- cessively increased and prolonged " median swell " for one of its chief characteristics. In this shape it becomes a great deformity in utterance, — particularly when combined with what is no infrequent concomitant, the faulty mode of voice known as " chanting " or " singing." The practice of " median stress," therefore, requires very close attention. The spirit of poetry and the language of eloquence — the highest effects of human utterance — render it indispensable as an accomplishment in elocution. But a chaste and discriminating ear is requisite to decide the just degree of its extent. STRESS. 107 EXAMPLES OF "MEDIAN STRESS.'* I. " EFFUSIVE " UTTERANCE. 1. Pathos. }" Pure Tone:" "Subdued Force:" Gentlest form of "Median Stress," - a barely perceptible swell.) In Memoriam. — Tennyson. Calm is the morn without a sound, Calm as to suit a calmer grief, And only through the faded leaf The chestnut pattering to the ground : Calm and deep peace in this wide air, These leaves that redden to the fall ; And in my heart if calm at all, If any calm, a calm despair : Calm on the seas, and silver sleep, And waves that sway themselves in rest, And dead calm in that noble breast Which heaves but with the heaving deep. 2. Solemnity. (" Swell " moderately increased.) Night Thoughts.— Young. The bell strikes one. We take no note of time But from its loss. To' give it then a tongue, Is wise in man. As if an angel spoke, I feel the solemn sound. If heard aright, It is the knell of my departed hours : Where are they ? With the years beyond the flood. It is the signal that demands dispatch : How much is to be done ! My hopes and fears Start up alarm 'd, and o'er life's narrow verge Look down — on what ? A fathomless abyss ; 108 ORTHOPHONY. A dread eternity ! how surely mine ! And can eternity belong to me, Poor pensioner on the bounties of an hour? 3. Composure. Cardinal Wolsey after his Downfall,. — Shakespeare. Cromwell. How does your grace ? Wolsey, Why well % Never so truly happy, my good Cromwell. I know myself now ; and I feel within me A peace above all earthly dignities, A still and quiet conscience. The kiug has cured me, I humbly thank his grace ; and from these shoulders, These ruined pillars, out of pity, taken A load would sink a navy, — too much honor. Oh, 't is a burden, Cromwell, 't is a burden, Too heavy for a man that hopes for heaven. L Pathos and Sublimity. ( Full and prolonged " swell." ) Treasures of the Deep. — Mrs. Eemans. Yet more ! the billows and the depths have more ! High hearts and brave are gathered to thy breast ! They hear not now the booming waters roar, The battle-thunders will not break their rest ; — Keep thy red gold and gems, thou stormy grave — Give back the true and brave ! 5. Solemnity, Sublimity, and Fervor. ( " Fullest swell." ) From the Book of Psalms. O sing unto the Lord a new song ; for He hath done mar- vellous things : his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten Him the victory. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth : make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the harp ; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet, make STRESS. 109 a joyful noise before the Lord the King. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof ; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands : let the hills be joyful together. II. "EXPULSIVE" UTTERANCE. " Pure Tone : " " Moderate " Force. 1. Grave Style. (Gentle and pure " Median Stress," without prolongation.) The Neglect of Religion. — Alison. The excuses of youth for the neglect of religion ar& those which are most frequently offered and most easily admitted. The restrictions of religion, though proper enough for maturer age, are too severe, it is said, for this frolicsome and gladsome period. Its consolations, too, they do not want. Leave these to prop the feeble limbs of old age or to cheer the sinking spirits of adversity. False and pernicious maxim ! As if, at the end of a stated number of years, a man could become religious in a moment ! As if the husbandman, at the end of a summer, could call up a harvest from the soil which he had never tilled ! As if man- hood, too, would have no excuses ! And what are they ? That he has grown too old to amend. That his parents took no pains with his religious education, and therefore his ignorance is not his own fault. That he must be making provision for old age ; and the pressure of cares will allow him no time to attend to the evidences, or learn the rules of religion. Thus life is spent in framing apologies, in making and breaking resolutions, and deferring amendment, till death places his cold hand on the mouth open to make its last excuse, and one more is added to the crowded congre- gation of the dead. 110 ORTHOPHONY. 2. Serious Style. Tenderness. A Brother's Love. — Browning. Mildred, I do believe a brother's love For a sole sister must exceed them all ! For see now, only see ! there 's no alloy Of earth that creeps into the perfect'st gold Of other loves — no gratitude to claim ; You never gave her life — not even aught That keeps life — never tended her, instructed, Enriched her, — so your love can claim no right O'er hers, save pure love's claim — that 's what I call Freedom from earthliness. You '11 never hope To be such friends, for instance, she and you, As when you hunted cowslips in the woods, Or played together in the meadow hay, Oh, yes — with age, respect comes, and your worth Is felt, there 's growing sympathy of tastes, There 's ripened friendship, there 's confirmed esteem, — Much head these make against the new-comer ! The startling apparition — the strange youth — Whom one half-hour's conversation with, or, say, Mere gazing at, shall change (beyond all change This Ovid ever sang about ! ) your soul — — Her soul, that is, — the sister's soul ! With her 'T was winter yesterday ; now, all is warmth, The green leaf's springing and the turtle's voice, " Arise, and come away ! " Come whither ? — far Enough from the esteem, respect, and all The brother's somewhat insignificant Array of rights ! all which he knows before — Has calculated on so long ago ! I think such love, (apart from yours and mine,) Contented with its little term of life, STRESS. Ill Intending to retire betimes, aware How soon the back-ground must be place for it, I think, am sure, a brother's love exceeds All the world's in its unworldliness. 3. Delight. The Bard. — Gray. Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr blows, While proudly rising o'er the azure realm, In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes ; Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm. 4. Declamatory Force. Resistance to Oppression. — Sheridan. Shall we be told that the exasperated feelings of a whole people, goaded and spurred on to clamor and resist- ance, were excited by the poor and feeble influence of their secluded princesses ? or that they could inspire this enthusi- asm and this despair into the breasts of a people who felt no grievance, and had suffered no torture ? "What motive, then, could have such influence in their bosoms? What motive ! That which Nature, the common parent, plants in the bosom of man, and which is congenial with, and makes part of his being, — that feeling which tells him that man was never made to be the property of man ; but that, when through pride and insolence of power, one human creature dares to tyrannize over another, it is a power usurped, and resistance is a duty, — that principle which tells him that resistance to power usurped is not merely a duty which he owes to himself and to his neighbor, but a duty which he ewes to his God, in asserting and maintaining the rank which He gave him in the creation ! — to that common God, who, where He gives the form of man, whatever may be the complexion, gives also the feelings and the rights of man, — that principle which neither the rudeness of ignorance can stifle, nor the enervatiGn of refinement extinguish, — that 112 ORTHOPHONY. principle which makes it base for a man to suffer when he ought to act ; which, tending to preserve to the species the original designations of Providence, spurns at the arrogant distinctions of man and vindicates the independent quality of his race. 5. Impassioned Force. (A full and gushing " swell " of grief.) Antony, before the Conspirators. — Shakespeare. That I did love thee, Caesar, oh ! 't is 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 bayed, brave hart, Here didst thou fall ; and here thy hunters stand, Signed in thy spoil, and crimsoned 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 ! 6. Shouting and Calling. The strongest "swell" of which the voice is capable, the note prolonged.} Cinna, after the assassination of Caesar. — Shakespeare. Liberty ! Freedom ! Tyranny is dead ! — Run hence ! proclaim, cry it about the streets ! Cassius. Some to the common pulpits ! and cry out, Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement ! STEESS. 113 HI. "VANISHING STRESS." / ^W ^ -f-r The word " vanishing," in this use of it, is divested en- tirely of its usual meaning. It refers, as a technical term, merely to the last audible moment, or vanish of a vocal sound, — as the word " vanish " was technically used in speaking of the " vanishing movement " in the utterance of a sound or the enunciation of a letter. The force of utterance in the expression of emotions marked by " vanishing stress " begins with a light and gen- tie, and ends with a heavy and violent sound, which leaves off instantly and abruptly. It is exemplified, in its moral effect, in the language of a child stung to a high pitch of impatience or peevish feeling, and uttering, in the tone of the most violent ill- temper, its appropriate " I won't ! " or " You shan't ! " In such cir- cumstances the " explosion " of passion is deferred, or hangs for a moment on the ear, till the " vanish " or final part of the sound bursts out from the chest, throat, and mouth with furious vehemence ; leaving, in its abrupt ter- mination, an effect directly contrary to the dying wail of grief, or the gentle vanish of the tone of love. The obvious preparation of the organs for the vocal effect, in the expression of " vanishing stress," implies its compar- ative dependence on volition. Hence it is the natural utterance of determined purpose, of earnest resolve, of stern rebuke, of contempt, of astonishment and horror, of fierce and obstinate will, of dogged sullenness of temper, of stubborn passion, and all similar moods. It is the language, also, of peevishness and impatience, and, sometimes, of excessive grief. 114 ORTHOPHONY. EXAMPLES OF "VANISHING STRESS." 1. Determined Purpose and Earnest Resolve, ("Pectoral Quality:" "Declamatory" Force: Bold "Stress.") Webster, on Freedom of Debate. On such occasions, I will place myself on the extreme boundary of my right, and bid defiance to the arm that would push me from it. 2. ("Quality" and Force, as in Example 1: "Stress " more deliberate.) Otis, against "Writs of Assistance/' Let the consequences be what they will, I am deter- mined to proceed. The only principles of public conduct which are worthy of a gentleman or a man, are, to sacrifice estate, health, ease, applause, and even life, at the sacred call of his country. V/ 3. Shame and Self- Reproach. (" Aspirated Quality : " "Loud "Force: Emphatic " Vanishing Stress.") Cassio. — Shakespeare. I will rather sue to be despised, than to deceive so good a commander, with so slight, so drunken, and so indiscreet an officer. Drunk ! and speak parrot ? and squabble ? swagger? swear? and discourse fustian with one's own shadow ? O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee — devil ! 4. Stern Rebuke. ("Aspirated Pectoral Qualit}': " " Impassioned " Force : Vehement " Stress.") King Henry V., to Lord Scroop on the detection of his Trea* son. — Shakespeare. But oh 1 What shall I say to thee, Lord Scroop- thou cruel, Ungrateful, savage, and inhuman creature ! Thou that didst bear the keys' of all my counsels, That knew'st the very bottom of my soul, That almost might'st have coined me into gold, Wouldst thou have practised on me for thy use? STRESS. 115 5. Violent Grief and Desperation. $" Aspirated Quality: " " Impassioned" Force: Violent "Stress."} Romeo's Death. — Shakespeare. Oh, here Will I set up my everlasting rest ; And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars From this world-wearied flesh. — Eyes, look your last I Arms, take your last embrace ! and lips, oh, you The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss A dateless bargain to engrossing death ! — Come, bitter conduct, come unsavory guide ! Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on The dashing rocks thy seasick, weary bark ! V 6. Astonishment and Horror. (Extremely "Aspirated Pectoral Quality:" "Impassioned" Force: Excessive "Stress.") Macduff, on discovering the Murder of Duncan. — Shakespeare. Oh ! horror ! horror ! horrorj — Tongue nor heart, Cannot conceive, nor name thee ! Confusion now hath made his masterpiece ! Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope The Lord's anointed temple, and stole thence The life o' the building. Approach the chamber, and destroy your sight With a new Gorgon ! 7. Fierce and Stubborn Will. "Aspirated, Pectoral, and Guttural Quality:" "Impassioned" Vehe« mence : Excessive "Stress.") Shtlock, refusing to listen to Antonio. — Shakespeare. I '11 have my bond ; I will not hear thee speak. I '11 have my bond ; and therefore speak no more. 116 ORTHOPHONY. I '11 not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool, To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield To Christian intercessors. Follow not, I '11 have no speaking ! I will have my bond." V 8. Impatience. (Expressive elements as above, but increased.) Hotspur maddened against the King. — Shakespeare. Wor. Those same noble Scots, That are your prisoners, — Hot. I '11 keep them all ; By heaven, he shall not have a Scot of them. No, if a Scot would save his soul, he shall not. I '11 keep them, by this hand. Wor. You start away, And lend no ear unto my purposes. — Those prisoners you shall keep. Hot. Nay, I will ; that 's flat. — • He said, he would not ransom Mortimer ; Forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer ; But I will find him when he lies asleep, And in his ear I '11 holla — Mortimer ! Nay, I '11 have a starling shall be taught to speak Nothing but Mortimer, and give it him, To keep his anger still in motion. IV. " COMPOUND STRESS." This designation is applied to that form of " stress " which throws out the voice forcibly on the first and the last part of a sound, but slights, comparatively, the inter- mediate portion. It is, then, the application of a " radical " and a " vanishing " stress on the same sound, without au intervening " median." It is the natural mode of " expression," in the utterance STRESS. 117 of surprise, and sometimes, though less frequently, of other emotions, as contempt and mockery, sarcasm and raillery. The repetition of the exclamation indeed ! with the voice of extreme surprise, and, with the rising inflection, will show the use of compound stress upon the syllable deed. The careful and repeated practice of " compound stress " on elements, syllables, and words, should accompany the repetition of the following examples. To give these last, however, their true character and full effect, the imagina- tion must be wholly given up to the supposed situation of the speaker, so as to receive a full sympathetic impression of the feeling to be uttered. Vivid emotion only can prompt true expressive tone. EXAMPLES OF "COMPOUND STRESS." y 1. Extreme Surprise. ("Aspirated, Guttural, and Oral Quality:" "Impassioned" Force.) Queen Constance, when confounded with the intelligence op the union of lewis and blanche, and the consequent injury to her son Arthur. — Shakespeare. Gone to be married ! Gone to swear a peace ! False blood to false blood joined ! Gone to be friends ! Shall Lewis have Blanche, and Blanche these provinces ? It is not so ; thou hast misspoke, misheard, — Be well advised, tell o'er thy tale again : It cannot be ; — thou dost but say 't is so. /, 2. Surprise, Perplexity, and Contempt. The examples op "compound stress" occur in the words WHICH THE SERVANT REPEATS AFTER CORIOLANUS. He HAS EN- TERED, POORLY CLAD, AND UNRECOGNIZED, THE MANSION OF AuFID- IUS, AND IS ILL RECEIVED BY THE DOMESTICS, WHOM HE TREATS with harshness and disdain. — Shakespeare. Servant. Where dwellest thou ? Coriolanus. Under the canopy. Serv. Under the canopy ! Cor. Ay! 118 ORTHOPHONY. Serv. Where 's that ? Cor. F the city of kites and crows. Serv. V the city of kites and crows! — ("What an ass it is !) — Then thou dwellest with daws, too ? Cor. No : I serve not thy master. 3. Indignant Astonishment. Brutus, to Cassius. — Shakespeare. ("Orotund Quality: " "Impassioned" Force': Vehement " Stress.") Shall one of us that struck the foremost man Of all this world, but for supporting robbers, Contaminate our fingers with base bribes, And sell the mighty space of our large honors For so much trash as may be grasped thus ? \ I 'd rather be a dog, and bay the moon, r ^ Than such a Roman ! \ V. "THOROUGH STRESS." In this form, the syllables, as the term implies, are marked with force evenly throughout, upon the opening, middle, and close of each sound. The " thorough stress " is the natural mode of utterance in powerful emotion of that kind which seems, as it were, to delight in full and swelling expression, and to dwell upon and amplify the sounds of the voice. " Thorough stress " is, accordingly, the characteristic mode of " expression " in the utterance of rapture, joy, triumph, and exultation, lofty command, indignant emotion, disdain, excessive grief, or whatever high-wrought feeling seems for the time to wreak itself on 'expressive sound. It is obviously the language of extreme or impassioned feeling only. It abounds, accordingly, in lyric and dramatic poetry. It is found, however, in all vehement declamation in which the emotion is sustained by reflective sentiment, as in the excitement of virtuous indignation and high-souled contempt STRESS. 119 " Thorough stress " is one of the most powerful weapons of oratory, as well as one of the most vivid effects of nat- ural feeling. Indiscriminately used, it becomes ineffective, as savoring of the habit and mannerism of the individual, rather than of just and appropriate energy. In such cir- cumstances it becomes rant ; and when joined, as it some- times is, to the habit of " mouthing," it can excite nothing but disgust in a hearer of well-regulated taste. EXAMPLES OF "THOROUGH STRESS." 1. Courage. (" Orotund Quality : " " Impassioned " Force : Bold " Stress.") Bannockburn. — Burns. Lay the proud usurpers low ! Tyrants fall in every foe ! Liberty 's in every blow ! Forward ! let us do or die ! Warren's Address. — Pierpont. Stand ! the ground 's your own, my braves ! Will ye give it up to slaves ? Will ye look for greener graves ? Hope ye mercy still ? What 's the mercy despots feel ? Hear it in that battle peal ! Read it on yon bristling steel ! Ask it — ye who will. / 2. Patriotic Ardor : Lyric Style, V (Expressive elements as above, but increased in degree.) Old Ironsides. — Holmes. Nail to the mast her holy flag, Set every threadbare sail ; And give her to the god of storms, The lightning and the gale ! 120 ORTHOPHONY. 3. Indignation. ("Aspirated " Harsh Quality: Violent Force: Emphatic "Stress.") Hamlet to his Mother. — Skaftespeare. Look you now, what follows. Here is your husband, like a mildewed ear, Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes ? Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed, And batten on this moor ? Ha ! have you eyes ? You cannot call it love. And what judgment Would step from this to this ? What devil was 't That thus hath cozened you at hood-man blind ? O shame ! where is thy blush ! / 4. Vehement Indignation. ("Expulsive Orotund:" "Declamatory" Force: Vehement "Stress.") Chatham's Rebuke of Lord Suffolk. These abominable principles, and this more abominable avowal of them, demand the most decisive indignation. I call upon that right reverend and this most learned Bench to vindicate the religion of their God, to defend and support the justice of their country. I call upon the bishops to in- terpose the unsullied sanctity of their lawn, upon the judges to interpose the purity of their ermine, to save us from this pollution. I call upon the honor of your lordships to rev- erence the dignity of your ancestors, and to maintain your own. I call upon the spirit and humanity of my country to vindicate the national character. 5. Disdain. ("Expulsive Orotund:" "Impassioned" Force: Powerful "Stress.") Satan to Ithuriel and Zephon. — Milton. " Know ye not then," said Satan, filled with scorn, " Know ye not me ? — Ye knew me once no mate For you ; there sitting where ye durst not soar: Not to know me argues yourselves unknown, — The lowest of your throng." STRESS. 121 TREMOR, OR " INTERMITTENT STRESS." When by the hysterical or excessive force of impassioned feeling the breath is agitated into brief successive jets, in- stead of gushing forth in a continuous stream of unbroken sound, a tremor, or tremulous effect of voice, is produced, which breaks its " stress " into tittles or points, — much in the same way that a row of dots may be substituted to the eye for one continuous line. The human voice, in the case now in view, is as appropriately said to " tremble," as when we apply the term to the shivering motion of the muscular frame. The " tremor " of the voice is the natural expression of all emotions which, from their peculiar nature, are attended with a weakened condition of the bodily organs ; such as extreme feebleness from age, exhaustion, sickness, fatigue, grief, and even joy and other feelings, in which ardor or ex- treme tenderness predominates. EXAMPLES OF TREMOR. 1. The Tremor of Grief and Feebleness. ("Pure Tone: " "Subdued" Force: Tremulous Utterance^hroughout.) Wolsey. — Shakespeare. O father Abbot, An old man, broken with the storms of state, Is come to lay his weary bones among ye ; Give him a little earth for charity. 2. Exhaustion and Fatigue. ("Aspirated Pectoral and Oral Quality:" "Suppressed" Force: "Tre- mor" throughout.) As you like it. — Shakespeare. Adam (to Orlando). Dear master, I can go no farther: Oh ! I die for food ! Here lie I down, and measure out my grave. Farewell I kind master. 1 .' / / .' 122 ORTHOPHONY. (" Pure Tone: " " Subdueji " Force of pathos : occasional " Tremor " of tenderness.) Orlando (to Adam), Why, how now, Adam ! no greater heart in thee ? Live a little ; comfort a little ; cheer thyself a little. For my sake be comfortable ; hold death a while at the arm's end ; I will here be with thee presently. Well said ! thou look'st cheerily : and I '11 be with thee quickly. Yet thou liest in the bleak air ; come, I will bear thee to some shelter. Cheerly, good Adam. 3. Sickness. King John, on the eve of his death, to Faulcon bridge. — Shakespeare. ("Aspirated Pectoral Quality:" u Suppressed " Force : Gasping and Tremulous Utterance.) O cousin, thou art come to set mine eye : My heart hath one poor string to stay it by, Which holds but till thy news be uttered ; And then all this thou seest, is but a clod And module of confounded royalty. y 4. Excessive Grief. Eve to Adam, after their fall and doom. — Milton. {** Aspirated Pectoral and Oral Quality: " " Impassioned " Force: Weep* ing Utterance: "Tremor" throughout.) Forsake me not thus, Adam : witness heaven What love sincere, and reverence in my heart I bear thee, and u&veeting have offended, Unhappily deceived : thy suppliant, I beg, and clasp thy knees ; bereave me not, Whereon I live, thy gentle looks, thj aid, Thy counsel, in this uttermost distress, My only strength and stay ; forlorn of thee WhitEer shaU I betake me, where subsist ? STRESS. 123 5. Extreme Pity. ("Pure Tone:" {'Impassioned " Force: Weeping and Tremulou* \/ Utterance.) fabLtSlr-eS*-- , The Tempest. — Shakespeare. A>^L^>^C- ^rtTV- Miranda {to her father). Oh! I have suffered With those that I saw suffer ! a brave vessel, Who had, no doubt, some noble creatures in her Dashed all to pieces. Oh ! the~cry did knock Against my very heart ! Poor souls ! they perished. Had I been any god of power, I would Have sunk the sea within the earth, or ere It should the good ship so have swallowed, and The freighting souls within her ! Teachers who are instructing classes will find great aid in the use of the black-board, for the purpose of visible illus- tration, in regard to the character and effect of the different species of "stress." Exercises such as the following may be prescribed for simultaneous practice in classes. (" Radical Stress.") [> All (Repeat six times in suc- cession, with constantly increasing force.) (" Vanishing Stress") <] (" Median Stress") <3> (" Compound Stress") £><] (" Thorough Stress") ^, (" Tremor.") .... To commence with a definite idea of the mode of " stress " in each instance, set out from the standard of a given emo- tion decidedly marked, and let the degree of emotion and the force of utterance be increased at every stage. Thus, let £> represent the " radical stress " on the sound of a, in the word all, in the following example of authoritative com- mand: u Attend all !" — <] the "vanishing stress" on the same element, in the following example of impatience and displeasure: "I said all, — not one or two." — <3> the " median stress " on the same element, in reverence and adoration : " Join all ye creatures in His praise ! " — 124 ORTHOPHONY. fX3 the " compound stress," in astonishment and surprise : " What ! all ? did they all fail ? " — O the " thorough stress," in defiance : " Come one — come all ! " — the " tremor " of sorrow : " Oh ! I have lost you all ! " — The practice of the examples and the elements should extend to the utmost excitement of emotion and force of voice. Review tables of elements with all forms of " stress." CHAPTER VII. "MELODY" The word " melody " is applied to speech as in music, to designate the successive notes of the voice in reading or discourse. The use of this term presupposes a certain " pitch," or initial note, whether predominating in a passage, or merely commencing it, and to which the subsequent sounds stand in the relation of higher or lower or identical. There is, how- ever, a marked difference between the " melody " of music and that of speech. The former has comparatively the pleas- iog effect of poetry : the latter may possess a degree of this charm, but it may, on the contrary, possess no such beauty : it may exhibit a succession of the most harsh and grating sounds, — or it may be but a succession of articulations, in the utterance of a fact addressed exclusively to the under- standing. In every case, however, the relations of sounds to each other, as measured by the musical scale, can be dis- tinctly traced ; and, on this account, the " melody of speech," or of " reading," is a phrase as truly significant as that oi the " melody " of a strain of music. (I PITCH. 125 Pitch. This term relates to the voice as high or low on the mu- sical scale, and the study of " pitch " as an element of " mel- ody " leads us accordingly to a classification of emotigns as characterized by comparatively high or low notes. The musician, when speaking of a strain of melody, can conven- iently refer to a precise note of the scale, by the exact let- ter which designates it, and which is produced by a given number of vibrations of sound, which may be scientifically marked. The elocutionist, on the contrary, derives his scale from feeling rather than from science or external rule. The natural pitch of human voices varies immensely, not only with sex and age, but in the accustomed notes of one individual, as differing from those of another. Due attention may, no doubt, enable the elocutionist to ascertain, in a given case, the precise note of the scale re- quired according to the organic formation and the vocal habit of an individual. But such a note might prove too low for the compass of voice in another person, or quite too high to be appropriate or impressive in another still, whose voice is naturally low-pitched. The language of elocution is accordingly limited to the familiar designation of "low" and "very low," "high" and " very high," when the scale is traced to any great extent beyond the " middle " or average pitch of utterance. This indefinite reference, however, is usually sufficient for the purposes of reading and speaking, which regard a general sympathetic effect, or feeling, rather than any which re- quires the precise measure of science. I. " MIDDLE " PITCH. The " middle " pitch of the voice is that of our habitual ut- terance on all occasions of ordinary communication in con- versation or address. It is the natural note of unimpassioned utterance, seeking to find its way to the understanding 126 ORTHOPHONY. rather than to the heart, and hence avoiding high or low pitch, as belonging to the language of feeling or of fancy. The proper standard of middle pitch, for the purpose of vocal practice, is that of serious and earnest conversation in a numerous circle. EXAMPLES OF "MIDDLE" PITCH. 1. Serious Didactic Style, ("Pure Tone : " " Moderate " Force: " Unimpassioned Radical," and gen- tle "Median Stress.") Pleasures of Knowledge. — Alison. How different is the view of past life, in the man who is grown old in knowledge and wisdom, from that of him who is grown old in ignorance and folly ! The latter is like the owner of a barren country, that fills his eye with the prospect of naked hills and plains, which produce nothing either profitable or ornamental : the former beholds a beau- tiful and spacious landscape, divided into delightful gardens, green meadows, and fruitful fields, and can scarce cast his eye on a single spot of his possessions that is not covered with some beautiful plant or flower. 2. Serious Narrative. ("Quality," "Force," and "Stress," as in tne preceding example.) Anecdote. Raleigh's cheerfulness, during his last days, was so great, and his fearlessness of death so marked, that the Dean of Westminster who attended him, wondering at his deport- ment, reprehended the lightness of his manner. But Ra- leigh gave God thanks that he had never feared death ; for it was but an opinion and imagination ; and, as for the manner of death, he had rather die so than in a burning fever ; that some might have made shows outwardly ; but he felt the joy within. PITCH. 127 / 3. Serious Description. \ / ("Quality," etc., as before.) Sea-voyaglng. — Irving. I have said that at sea all is vacancy. I should correct the expression. To one given up to day-dreaming, and fond of losing himself in reveries, a sea-voyage is full of sub- jects for meditation ; but then they are the wonders of the deep, and of the air, and rather tend to abstract the mind from worldly themes. I delighted to loll over the quarter- railing, or climb to the main-top on a calm day, and muse for hours together on the tranquil bosom of a summer's sea ; or to gaze upon the piles of golden clouds just peering above the horizon, fancy them some fairy realms, and people them with a creation of my own ; or to watch the gentle, undulat- ing billows rolling their silver volumes, as if to die away on those happy shores. 4. Animated Narrative Style. ("Pure Tone :"" Moderate " Force: Yivid "Radical Stress.") Julius C^esab. — J. S. Knowles. To form an idea of Csesar's energy and activity, ob- serve him when he is surprised by the Nervii. His soldiers are employed in pitching their camp. — The ferocious en- emy sallies from his concealment, puts the Roman cavalry to the rout, and falls upon the foot. Everything is alarm, con- fusion, and disorder. Every one is doubtful what course to take, — every one but Cresar ! He, causes the banner to be erected, — the charge to be sounded, — the soldiers at a distance to be recalled, — all in a moment. He runs from place to place ; — his whole frame is in action ; — his words, his looks, his motions, his gestures, exhort his men to remember their former valor. He draws them up, and causes the signal to be given, — all in a moment. The con- test is doubtful and dreadful : two of his legions are en- tirely surrounded. He seizes a buckler from one of the 128 ORTHOPHONY. private men, — puts himself at the head of his broken troops, — darts into the thick of the battle, — rescues his legions, and overthrows the enemy ! 5. Animated Didactic Style, in Public Discourse. ("Expulsive Orotund:" "Moderate" Force: Energetic " Radical " and "Median Stress.") Virtue. — Fawcett. Blood, says the pride of life, is more honorable than money. Indigent nobility looks down upon untitled opu- lence. This sentiment pushed a little farther, leads to the point I am pursuing. Mind is the noblest part of man ; and of mind, virtue is the noblest distinction. Honest man, in the ear of Wisdom, is a grander name, is a more high-sounding title than peer of the realm, or prince of the blood. According to the eternal rules of celestial precedency, in the immortal heraldry of Nature and of Heaven, Virtue takes place of all things. It is the nobility of angels ! It is the majesty of God ! II. " LOW " PITCH. This designation applies to the utterance of those feel- ings which we are accustomed to speak of as " deeper " than ordinary. Low notes seem the only natural language of grave emotions, such as accompany deeply serious and impressive thoughts, grave authority, or austere manner. EXAMPLES OF "LOW" PITCH. 1. Grave and Impressive Thought. ("Pure Tone:" "Moderate" Force: " Unimpassioned Radical" and Moderate "Median Stress.") Age. — Finlayson. That no man can promise to himself perpetual exemp- tion from suffering, is a truth obvious to daily observation. Nay, amid the shif tings of the scene in which we are placed, who can say that, for one hour, his happiness is PITCH. 129 secure ? The openings through which we may be assailed are so numerous and unguarded that the very next moment may see some message of pain piercing the bulwarks of our peace. Our body may become the seat of incurable disease. Our mind may become a prey to unaccountable and im- aginary fears. Our fortune may sink in some of those rev- olutionary tempests which overwhelm so often the treasures of the wealthy. Our honors may wither on our brow, blasted by the slanderous breath of an enemy. Our friends may prove faithless in the hour of need, or they may be separated from us forever. Our children, the fondest hope of our hearts, may be torn from us in their prime ; or they may wound us still more deeply by their undutifulnesys and misconduct. 2. Rebuke. ("Vanishing Stress:" "Expulsive Orotund: " "Declamatory" Force.) Cardinal Wolsey to Nobles. — Shakespeare. Now I feel Of what coarse metal ye are moulded, — envy. How eagerly ye follow my disgraces, As if it fed ye ! And how sleek and wanton Ye appear in everything may bring my ruin ! Follow your envious courses, men of malice ; You have Christian warrant for them, and, no doubt/ In time will find their fit reward. 3. (grave, Austere, Authoritative Manner. <" Expulsive ©rotund : " "Declamatory" Force: Firm "Median Stress.") @ATO, IN EEPLY TO ©TSAR'S MESSAGE THROUGH ©ECIUS. — Addisotl. My life is grafted on the fate of R@me. Would he save Gato, bid him sjaare his country. Bid him disband his legions, Restore the commonwealth to liberty, Submit his actions to the public censure, And stand the judgment of a Roman Senate, — Bid him do this, and Gato is his friend. // 130 ORTHOPHONY. III. This designation applies to the notes of thoso emotions which are of the deepest character, and which are accord- ingly associated with the deepest utterance.^ These are chiefly, the following : deep solemnity, awe, amazement, hor- ror, despair, melancholy, and deep grief* EXAMPLES OF "VERY LOW" PITCH. 1 . Deep Solemnity and Awe. (" Effusive and Expulsive Orotund:" "Subdued" Force: "Median Stress.") ^j Hamlet's Soliloquy. — Shakespeare. To be, or not to be, that is the question : Whether 't is nobler in the mind, to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them ? To die, — to sleep, — No more ; and, by a sleep, to say we end The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, — 't is a consummation Devoutly to be wished. To die, — to sleep ; — To sleep ! perchance to dream; — ay, there 's the rub % For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause : there 's the respect, That makes calamity of so long life : For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely., The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin ? PITCH. 131 2. Deep Solemnity, Sublimity, and Awe. |" Effusive and Expulsive Orotund: " " Subdued and Suppressed " Force: "Median Stress.") v/ Cato, i> t Soliloquy. — Addison. It must be so ; — Plato, thou reasonest well ! Else, whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, This longing after immortality ? Or whence this secret dread, and inward horror, Of falling into nought ? Why shrinks the soul Back on herself, and startles at destruction ? 'T is the Divinity that stirs within us : 'T is Heaven itself that points out an hereafter, And intimates Eternity to man. Eternity ! — thou pleasing, — dreadful thought ! Through what variety of untried being, Through what new scenes and changes must we pass! The wide, the unbounded prospect lies before me ; But shadows, clouds, and darkness rest upon it. J IV. "HIGH PITCH. The higher portion of the musical scale is associated with the notes of brisk, gay, and joyous emotions, with the excep- tion of the extremes of pain, grief, and fear, which, from their preternaturally exciting power, compress and render rigid the organic parts that produce vocal sound, and cause the peculiarly shrill, convulsive cries and shrieks which ex- press those passions. To give the voice suppleness, pliancy, and mobility, much attention must be bestowed on practice for the regulation of pitch. The following examples should be carefully repeated in conjunction with the elements and detached words, till the " high pitch" oijoy is perfectly at command. 132 ORTHOPHONY. EXAMPLES OF "HIGH" PITCH. 1. Delight. V Ode to a Skylark. — Shelley. ("Expulsive Orotund:" "Impassioned" Force? Expulsive "Median Stress.") Hail, to thee, blithe spirit ! Bird thou never wert, That from Heaven, or near it, Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. Higher still, and higher, From the earth thou springest, Like a cloud of fire ; The deep blue thou wingest, And singing still, dost soar, and soaring, ever singest,. 2. ("Pure Tone:" " High " Pitch : " Loud " Force. ) The Ode on the Passions. — Collins. But oh I how altered was its sprightlier tone, When Cheerfulness, a nymph of healthiest hue, -r- Her bow against 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. The oak-crowned Sisters, and their chaste-eyed Queen, Satyrs and Sylvan boys, were seen Peeping from forth their alleys green : Brown Exercise rejoiced to hear, And Sport leaped up, and seized his beechen spear. Last came Joy's ecstatic trial : — He, with viny crown advancing, First to tho lively pipe his hand addressed ; — But soon ho saw the brisk awakening viol, PITCH. 133 Whose sweet entrancing voice he loved the best. They would have thought, who heard the strain, They saw in Tempe's vale her native maids, Amidst the festal sounding shades To some unwearied minstrel dancing; "While, as his flying fingers kissed the strings, Love framed with Mirth a gay fantastic round, — Loose were her tresses seen, her zone unbound ; And he, amid his frolic play, As if he would the charming air repay, Shook thousand odors from his dewy wings. 3. Exultation. ("Quality,'' Force, and "Stress," as above, but more fully given.) \/ The Hymn of the Stars. — Bryant. Away, away ! through the wide, wide sky, — The fair blue fields that before us lie, — Each sun with the worlds that round him roll, Each planet, poised on her turning pole, With her isles of green, and her clouds of white, And her waters that lie like fluid light ! For the source of glory uncovers his face, And the brightness o'erflows unbounded space ; And we drink, as we go, the luminous tides In our ruddy air and our blooming sides ; Lo I yonder the living splendors play ! Away! on our joyous path, away! Away, away ! In our blossoming bowers, In the soft air wrapping these spheres of ours, In the seas and fountains that shine with morn, See Love is brooding, and Life is born ; And breathing myriads are breaking from night ; To rejoice like us, in motion and light 1 I,w 134 ORTHOPHONY. v. "vert high" pitch. The extreme of the upper part of the musical scale, as far as it is practicable to individuals, in the management of the voice, is the natural range of pitch for the utterance of ecstatic and rapturous or uncontrollable emotion. It belongs, accordingly, to high-wrought lyric and dramatic passages, in strains of joy, grief, astonishment, delight, tenderness, and the hysterical extremes of passionate emotion generally. The following examples, together with the elements and selected words, should be repeated, as daily exercises, for the purpose of training the organs to easy execution on high notes. EXAMPLES OF "VERY HIGH" PITCH. 1. Ecstatic Joy. ("Expulsive Orotund:" "Sustained" Force of Calling and Shouting: "Median Stress.") Song of the Valkyriur or Fatal Sisters to the Doomed War- rior. — Mrs. Ilemans. Lo ! the mighty sun looks forth ! — Arm ! thou leader of the north ! Lo! the mists of twilight fly — We must vanish, thou must die ! By the sword, and by the spear, By the hand that knows not fear, Sea-king ! nobly shalt thou fall ! There is joy in Odin's hall ! ™\. A-K 2. Astonishment. \ (" Expulsive Orotund : " " Impassioned " Force : " Thorough Stress." ) Dromio of Syracuse, on his being mistaken for his brother.— Shakespeare. This drudge laid claim to me ; called me Dromio ; swore I was assured to her ; told me what private marks I had about me, as the mark of my shoulder, the mole in my PITCH. 135 neck, the great wart on my left arm, — that I, amazed, ran from her as a witch ; and I think, if my breast had not been made of faith, and my heart of steel, she had trans- formed me to a curtail-dog, and made me turn i' the wheel. 3. Impassioned Lyric Style. ( ' ' Aspirated and: Harsh Quality : " " Im passioned ' ' Force : ' ' Radical ^J Stress.") Alexander's Feast. — Dryden. Now strike the golden lyre again ; A londer yet, and yet a louder strain. Break his bands of sleep asunder, And rouse him like a rattling peal of thunder. Hark, hark, the horrid sound Has raised up his head : As awaked from the dead, And amazed, he stares around. Revenge ! revenge ! Timotheus cries, See the furies arise ! See the snakes that they rear, How they hiss in their hair ! And the sparkles that flash from their eyes ! Behold a ghastly band, Each a torch in his hand ! Those are Grecian ghosts, that in battle were slain, And unburied remain, Inglorious on the plain : Give the vengeance due To the valiant crew. Behold-how they toss their torches on high, How they point to the Persian abodes, And glittering temples of their hostile gods. The princes applaud with a furious joy ; And the king seized a flambeau with zeal to destroy; Thais led the way, To light him to his prey, And, like another Helen, fired another Troy. 136 ORTHOPHONY. 4. Frenzy. ("Asmrated Quality:" "Impassioned " Force: "Thorough Stress.") \J Rhyme of the Duchess May. — Mrs. Browning. The horse in stark despair, with his front hoofs poised in air, On the last verge, rears amain. And he hangs, he rocks between — and his nostrils curdle in, — And he shivers head and hoof — and the flakes of foam fall off; And his face grows fierce and thin ! And a look of human woe, from his staring eyes did go, — And a sharp cry uttered he, in a foretold agony, Of the headlong death below. The habit of analyzing passages so as to recognize read- ily their predominating feeling and, consequently, their " pitch," is one which every earnest student of elocution will cultivate with persevering diligence till he finds himself able, from a single glance at the first line of a piece, to de- termine its gradation of feeling, and its true note in utter- ance. Besides practising the examples of " pitch," in the order in which they occur in the preceding pages, it will con- tribute much to facility in changing the " pitch " of the voice, if the student will vary the 'order of the examples, so as to become accustomed to pass easily from one point of the scale to another, as from highest to lowest, and the re- verse. The practice of the elements and of words should always be added to the repetition of the examples. " TRANSITION " IN PITCH. The object of practice in " transition " in pitch is to se- cure the power of striking instantly and accurately the ooi> PITCH. - 137 trast in pitch for expressive effect. As a drill exercise for the ear, as well as for the voice, it is of the utmost impor- tance. The precise divisions in pitch should be very accu- rately marked. * EXAMPLES OF " TRANSITION," IN PITCH. 1. From Joy to Grave and Pathetic Emotion* (From " High " to " Low " Pitch.) The Voice of Spring. — Mrs. Hemans. " High:' Away from the dwellings of care-worn men, The waters are sparkling in grove and glen ! Away from the chamber and sullen hearth, The young leaves are danciug in breezy mirth ! Their light stems thrill to the wild-wood strains ; And youth is abroad in my green domains ! — " Low." But ye — ye are changed since ye met me last ! There is something bright from your features passed ! There is that come over your brow and eye, Which speaks of a world where the flowers must die ! — Ye smile ! but your smile hath a dimness yet : — Oh ! what have ye looked on since last we met ? v 2. From Horror to Tranquillity. (From "Very Low" to "Middle" Pitch.) Stanzas from a Russian Poet. — Bowring. " Very Low." How frightful the grave ! how deserted and drear ! With the howls of the storm-wind, the creaks of the bier And the white bones all clattering together ! " Middle " Pitch. How peaceful the grave ! its quiet how deep : Its zephyrs breathe calmly ; and soft is its sleep, And flowrets perfume it with ether. 138 . ORTHOPHONY. 3. From Rcupture to Grief, (From " Very High " to " Low" Pitch.) Stanzas from Mrs. Hemans. " Very High." Ring joyous chords ! — ring out again ! A swifter still and a wilder strain ! And bring fresh wreaths ! — we will banish all Save the free in heart from our festive hall. On through the maze of the fleet dance, on ! "Low." But where are the young and the lovely ? — gone ! Where are the brows with the red rose crowned, And the floating forms with the bright zone bound ? And the waving locks and the flying feet, That still should be where the mirthful meet ? — They are gone ! — they are fled, they are parted all. — Alas ! the forsaken hall ! 4. From Triumph and Exultation, to Grave, Pathetic, and Solemn feeling, and thence returning to Triumph and Exultation. (From " High " to " Low " and thence to " High " Pitch.) " High." Mark ye the flashing oars, And the spears that light the deep ? How the festal sunshine pours Where the lords of battle sweep ! Each hath brought back his shield ; — Maid, greet thy lover home ! Mother, from that proud field, Io ! thy son is come ! " Low." Who murmured of the dead ? Hush ! boding voice. We know PITCH. 139 That many a shining head Lies in its glory low. Breathe not those names to-day. They shall have their praise ere long, And a power all hearts to sway, In ever-burning song. " High." But now shed flowers, pour wine, To hail the conquerors home ! Bring wreaths for every shrine ! — Io ! they come, they come ! 5. From Tranquillity to Joy and Triumph, Awe, Scorn, Awe, Horror, Exultation, Defiance, Awe, — succes- sively. Israel's Triumph over the Kino of Babylon.— Isaiah. [ Tranquillity : " Middle " Pitch :] The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet : — \Joy and Triumph : " High " Pitch .•] they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. — \_Awe : " Low " Pitch :] Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming : it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth : it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. — \Narrative : " Mid- dle " Pitch :] All they shall speak, and say unto thee, — \_Scorn: "High" Pitch:"] Art thou also become weak as we ? Art thou become like unto us ? — \_Awe : " Low " Pitch :] Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols : — \_Horror : " Very Low " Pitch :~\ the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. — [Exultation : " Middle " Pitch:] How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning ! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations ! — 140 ORTHOPHONY. \_DeJiance : " High " Pitch :] For thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; I will be like the Most High. — [Awe : "Low" Pitch :] Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. The same " transitions " of " pitch " which occur in pass- ing from one paragraph or stanza to another, may also take place within the limits of a single sentence, if the feel- ing obviously changes from clause to clause, — as in the following extract. Reverence and Awe. (" Low" Pitch: rising gradually to "Middle," in the fourth line.) Adoration. — Porteous. O Thou ! whose balance does the mountains weigh, Whose will the wild tumultuous seas obey, Whose breath can turn those watery worlds to flame, That flame to tempest, and that tempest tame, — Deepest Reverence and Awe. ("Very Low" Pitch.) Earth's meanest son, all trembling, prostrate falls, Reverence and Adoration. ("Low" Pitch.) And on the boundless of thy goodness calls. Solemnity. (Pitch still Lower.) May sea and land, and earth and heaven be joined, To bring the eternal Author to my mind ! Awe. ("Very Low" Pitch.) When oceans roar or thunders roll, May thoughts of Thy dread vengeance shake my soul J PITCH. 141 THE " PHRASES ' OF " SENTENTIAL MELODY." In closer distinctions of melody and pitch, we pass from clauses to phrases. The "melody " of phrases and their rel- ative "pitch," involve topics too numerous and too intricate for discussion in an elementary work. These subjects will be found fully explained in the work of Dr. Rush. We will select a few points of practical application and of pri- mary importance. The " phrases of melody," in a sentence, admit of being arranged in two classes : 1st, those which prevail in the body of a sentence ; 2d, that which occupies the last three syllables of a sentence, and forms the cadence. The former is termed the " current melody ; " the latter, the " melody of the cadence." The investigation of melody and pitch, in phrases, re- quires attention to the important distinction of " discrete " and " concrete " sounds. " Discrete " sounds consist of notes produced at intervals, or in close succession, but in detached and distinct forms, as in running up or down the keys of a piano, or the chords of a harp ; or producing sim- ilar sounds on a violin, by twitching the strings with the finger, instead of gliding over them with the bow ; or in the laughing utterance of delighted surprise, as when we laugh a "fifth" or an "octave" up the scale, on the inter- rogatory interjection " eh ? " or when, in the laughing utter- ance of derision, we run down the scale, in the same way, in the long-drawn sound of the word " no I " In these last- mentioned instances, every note is executed by a distinct and separate little jet, or tittle, of voice. To such sounds, then, the word " discrete " in its proper etymological sense, may be justly applied, as intimating that they exist apart. " Concrete " sounds, on the other hand, are produced by a succession of notes gliding into each other so impercepti- bly to the ear, that they cannot be detached from each other ; as when the violinist, in playful execution, some- times makes his instrument seem to hold dialogue, in the 142 ORTHOPHONY. tones of question and answer, by drawing the bow across the strings, while he slips his left hand, upward and down- ward, so as to shorten or lengthen the strings, and thus cause the sounds to glide up or down the scale, in one con- tinuous stream of " mewing" sound. A parallel illustration may be drawn from the natural use of the voice, when we pronounce the interrogatory " eh? " of surprise, in a se- rious mood, but with great earnestness, — merely causing the voice to slide smoothly up the scale, through the inter- val of a " fifth " or an " octave," or when we utter the word " no / " in the tone of full and bold denial, and make the voice sweep continuously down the scale, through a similar interval. In the " current melody " of a sentence, every syllable includes a " radical " and a " vanishing movement " united, which, in unimpassioned expression, occupy the space on the scale of one tone, or pass from one note to the next above it on the scale. The succession of " concrete " tones is uniformly at the interval of a tone, upward or downward on the scale, as the case may be. The rise of voice within each syllable may therefore be called its " concrete pitch ; " and the place that each syllable takes above or below another, the " radical pitch." The " melody of phrases " prescribes no fixed succession of " radical pitch," although it usually avoids a repetition of the same " radical pitch," unless for special effect, in ex- treme cases ; and it forbids the see-saw tone of exact al- ternation, or measured recurrence of " radical pitch." The convenience of using specific and exact terms, in relation to " melody " and " pitch," as they exist in speech, renders the following distinctions important to the student of elocution. When two or more " concretes " occur in succession, on the same " radical pitch," they form a " monotone," or pro- duce upon the ear the effect of unity or sameness of sound or tone. This concrete pitch is often used in conjunction PITCH. 143 with the low notes of awe, sublimity, and solemnity, for im- pressive effect, resembling that of the deep tolling of a large bell. " Monotone," however, is not to be confounded with monotony, the besetting fault of school reading, and which consists chiefly in omitting or slighting the " radical stress," and sometimes abolishing even the " radical move- ment " of elements. " Monotone " is the sublimest poetic effect of elocution : monotony one of the worst defects. When the " radical pitch " is one note above or below that of the preceding tone, it is termed a fi Rising " or a " Falling Ditone." When the radicals of three successive " concretes " rise or fall they become a " Rising " or a " Falling Tritone." When there is a series of three or more, alternately a tone above and below each other, they form an " Alternate Phrase." When three " concretes " gradually descend in their " radical pitch " at the close of a sentence, the " vanish " of the last, instead of ascending, descends ; so as to give the peculiar closing effect to the cadence. This descent is, accordingly, for distinction's sake, termed the " Triad of the Cadence." It is in this peculiar " phrase " of " sentential melody," that the very general fault popularly called " a tone " ex- ists. The common style of cadence, instead of being spoken, is usually such as causes it to be sung, more or less, by deviating from the melody of the " triad," and, at the same time, losing " radical," and assuming " median stress," accompanied by a half-musical wave or undulation of voice. A clear, distinct, and exact succession of " radical pitch," in the form of the " triad," would in most cases destroy the false tone, and impart to reading more resemblance than it often possesses to speech or to conversation. The student will derive much assistance, in this branch of elocution, from repeating the " tonic elements " and ap- propriate words selected from the exercises in the chapter on enunciation, with a view, first, to observe the " con- 144 ORTHOPHONY. crete " character of the elementary sounds of speech in their initial " radical " and rising "vanish." Let letters, syllables, and words then be practised, successively in the forms of the phrases of the " monotone," " falling " and " rising," " ditone," and " tritone," and the " triad of the cadence." The illustration below, selected from the work of Dr. Rush, will suggest the idea how the exercises in this depart- ment may be practised in classes, by the use of the chart of exercises, or of the black-board. The object in view, in the use of such diagrams as the following, is not to exhibit the strict application of any rule or principle of elocution, but merely to aid the mind in at- taining an exact apprehension of the nature and character of the elements of vocal sound, in certain relations. It is not meant that either the couplet from Pope's Homer, which is introduced in the following illustration, or the lines which follow it, must be read with the precise melody ex- hibited in the diagram, or that they cannot be appropriately read with any other. The design of this exemplification is merely to show the different forms of " radical pitch," as they occur in the actual use of the voice, and to render the practice of them definite and exact. The repetition of the exercise will render the ear accurate and discriminating, and will preserve the student from inadvertently contracting the false intonation arising from the general neglect of this part of elocution, and from the impossibility of discussing or ex- plaining its peculiarities till the means of instruction were furnished by exact analysis and precise nomenclature, — benefits for which science and education stand equally in- debted to the discriminating genius and philosophic investi- gation of Dr. Rush. " That quarter most the skilful Greeks annoy, •L-«l «! «L d-« Monotone. .Falling Ditone. Rising Tritone. Rising Ditone, THE SLIDE. 145 Where yon wild fig trees join the walls of Troy." i «< », W * - «) * - * «J ^ Falling Tritone. Alternation. Triad of the Cadence. To secure the full benefit of discrimination and of exact practice, it will be a useful exercise to repeat the phrases of melody in the diagram, on the " tonic " and other ele- ments, on syllables, and on the following couplets. 1. " Lo ! the poor Indian, whose untutored mind Sees God in tempests, hears him in the wind." 1 2. " There, where a few torn shrubs the place disclose, The village preacher's modest mansion rose." 3. " Thus every good his native wilds impart, Imprints the patriot passion on his heart." 4. " The conscious swains, rejoicing in the sight Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light." The " Slide." The " slide " or " inflection " furnishes still another di- vision of " melody " for study. It indicates simply the ex- tent of the upward or downward movement of the voice from its " radical " to its " vanish." Being concrete in its movement, it is termed properly the " slide " of the voice. The simplest exemplification occurs where the voice is sus- pended on account of some interruption on the part of the reader or speaker, as on the word indeed when the sentence is suddenly broken off and left incomplete : as, "There is, in- deed," — This suspended effect constitutes what is termed 1 The above example is intentionally introduced as one of cadence for the sake of contrast with the tone of continuance, which belongs to it in the original text. 10 146 ORTHOPHONY. the rise of the " second." Now if we imagine the same word used as inquiry, " Did you say indeed ? " we shall find a more decided rise of the voice through the musical in- terval of the " third." Let us now add earnestness to the inquiry as in the tone of surprise, " Indeed ! can it be ? " and we observe that the rise of the voice is carried through a wider interval in the ascent — that of the musical fifth. Once more, in the tone of utter amazement we note that the interval of the voice is still wider, and carried through the entire scope of the octave. We find, then, these distinct intervals clearly defined ; the " second " for suspended sense, the " third " for unimpassioned inquiry, the " fifth " for earnest interrogation, and the " octave " for the inquiry when prompted by the feeling of amazement. The voice seeks also corresponding intervals in its descent in the ex- pression of the same states of feeling. The fall of the " second " would be heard where the sense is not complete, or when the utterance of. grave or solemn thought, the drift of the expression, is suddenly suspended. Let us suppose the full sentence for expression to be in the words, " Death is indeed a solemn mystery," an interruption occurring after indeed will show the downward " second " as distinguished from the more animated effect of the upward " second," where the utterance is more animated or cheerful. If we use the same thought emphasized somewhat by placing in- deed at the end of the sentence, " Death is a solemn mys- tery, indeed" we have the fall of the "third" as the interval. And still employing the same word in earnest and emphatic assertion, we have the fall of the " fifth " in the saying of Hamlet, " Indeed, indeed, sirs, but this troubles me." The fall of the " octave " shows the impassioned assertion of Othello when repeating in amazement Iago's " Indeed ! " he asserts, passionately, " aye, indeed ! " In the latter exam- ple we have the slide of the " octave " — the rising on the first " Indeed ! " and the falling through the saoae interval on the repetition. THE SLIDE. 147 We discover, then, that there are these well defined inter- vals of the second, third, fifth, and octave, with rising and falling slide ; or, to divest the definitions of the scientific nomenclature, we may denominate them the suspended, un- impassioned, earnest, and impassioned slides. The intervals of the remainder of the scale are not heard in speech, ex- cept of the " seventh," when it becomes the minor octave for pathos, and of the "fourth " and " sixth," as in inebriety — the natural defect of a physical inability to complete to the ear, or with the vocal organs, the ordinary intervals of colloquial or impassioned expressions. In certain abnor- mal conditions of feeling, the unusual utterance of the slide of the double octave might be heard, as in Cooper's fiendish shriek in the words of Shylock : " If I can catch him once upon the hip ; " where, according to actual musical nota- tion, he would rise two octaves from the low growl of deep- seated revenge to the quivering shriek of malice on the word hip. Or, as in an instance known to the compiler, of a lady who, attempting to scream out to a thief, was over- come with horror, and the voice sank two octaves from the piercing scream of anger to palsied horror. The " slides " of the voice have three important and dis- tinct offices ; and these produce the three principal forms of the " slide : " 1st, the " slide of passion or emotion ; " 2d, the " distinctive slide," or that which is addressed to the understanding and the judgment, as in designation, compari- son, and contrast ; 3d, the " mechanical slide," which be- longs to the mechanism of a sentence, and the local position of phrases ; as in the special instance of the partial cadence, which takes place when a distinct portion of the sense is completed, although the whole sentence is not finished ; as in this instance : " Let your companions be select ; let them be such as you can esteem for their good qualities, and whose virtuous example you may emulate." We have an- other example in the " triad" of the \ full and final cadence falling entirely within one syllable, as in the following em- phatic negation \ — 148 ORTHOPHONY. " No ; by the rood, not so I " Another " slide " which serves a mechanical purpose, rather than one of thought or feeling, is the " penultimate slide " of most sentences, which serves the purpose of rais- ing the voice deliberately and distinctly, previous to its final descent at the close of the sentence, and thus renders the cadence more perceptible and more impressive ; as in the following example : " Let the young go out, under the de- scending sun of the year, into the fields of nature." ANALYSIS OF " SLIDES." The following diagram may be used as an ocular sugges- tion to prompt and regulate the ear, each character being intended to represent the sound of an element, syllable, or word. The exercise commences with a slide of the " second," the usual interval, in " concrete pitch," between the " radical " and the "vanish " of an element, as uttered in the common progression of the unemphatic and inexpres- sive " melody " of speech or reading, and extends through all other intervals to that of the "octave." The forms which are of most frequent occurrence in reading, are re- peated separately. The bulb of each character in the diagram represents the " radical," the stem, the " vanish." But it will be of great use, as a matter of practice with a view to facility in the command of the voice, to add to the sound of the " slide," the effects of " effusion," " expulsion," and " explosion ;" " radical," "median," " vanishing," " com- pound," " thorough stress," and " tremor ; " together with those of " pure tone," " orotund," and " aspiration ; " and all stages of force from the softest " subdued " to that oi " shouting." THE SLIDE. 149 I. Scale of Progressive " Upward and Downward Slides: " from the " Second " to the " Octave." II. "Upward Slide " o/ tf*e " Second." III. " Upward Slide " of the " Third." IV. " Upward Slide " of the « Fifth." J J J J J J J J V. "Upward Slide" of the " Octave." J J J J J VI. Alternate "Slides " o/ ^e " Third" J *\ J 5 J «S g ^ EE VII. Alternate " Slides " of the " Fifth." J y J *\ J *\ J 5 : VIII. Alternate " Slides" of the " Octave." ■ j § j g j g ^ ^ 150 ORTHOPHONY. I. THE SLIDE OF EMOTION. The " slide of emotion " extends through an interval cor- responding in every instance to the intensity of feeling implied in " expressive " words, and may, accordingly, be measured in most instances by the " third," the " fifth," or the "octave." Strong emotions are expressed chiefly by the " downward slide ; " except surprise, and earnest, or impassioned interro- gation, which usually adopt the " upward slide " of the "fifth" or the "octave." EXAMPLES. 1. Impetuous Courage and Fierce Determination. ("Orotund" and "Aspirated Pectoral Quality:" Shouting: Explosive "Radical" and Expulsive "Median Stress: " "High" Pitch: Down- ward Fifth on the emphatic words.) Richard to his Troops. — Shakespeare. A thousand hearts are great within my bosom : Advance our standards, set upon our foes ! Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint George, Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons. Upon them ! Victory sits on our helms. 2. Impassioned Burst of Scorn. ("Aspirated Pectoral and Guttural Quality : " "Violent " Force : Explosive " Radical Stress : " " High " Pitch. The exemplification occurs in the re- ply of Coriolanus, which contains the "downward slide" of the "Oc- tave " in the words "Measureless liar! " and "Boy ! " and the "down- ward Fifth " on the other emphatic words.) Coriolanus. — < Aufidius. Name not the god, Thou boy of tears. Coriolanus. Measureless liar ! thou hast made my heart Too great for what contains it. Boy ! Cut me to pieces, Volscians : men and lads, Stain all your edges on me. Boy ! — THE SLIDE. 151 If you have writ your annals true, 't is there That, like an eagle in a dovecot, I Fluttered your Volscians in Corioli : A16ne I did it. — Boy ! 3. Anger and Fierce Interrogation. ("Aspirated Pectoral and Guttural Quality:" "Impassioned" Force: "Radical and Compound Stress: " " High " Pitch: Octave ou the word " Geese: " the Fifth on the remaining emphatic words.) Macbeth and Servant — Shakespeare. Macb. Where gott'st thou that goose look ? Serv. There is ten thousand — Macb. Geese, villain ? Serv. Soldiers, sir. Macb. Gb, prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, Thou lily-livered boy. What soldiers, patch ? Death of thy soul ! those linen cheeks of thine Are counsellors to fear. What soldiers, whey-face ? Serv. The English force, so please you. Macb. Take thy face hence. 4. Fierce Impatience. ("Aspirated Quality:" "Violent" Force: "High" Pitch: Percussive "Radical and Compound Stress." The slide of the Fifth occurs after the first question in the inquiries of King Richard.) Richard III. — Shakespeare. K. Rich. Once more, what news ? Stanley. Richmond is on the seas. K. Rich. There let him sink, and be the seas on him ! White-livered runagate, what doth he there ? Stanley. I know not, mighty sovereign, but by guess. K. Rich. Well, as you guess ? Stanley. Stirred up by Dorset, Buckingham, and Mor- ton, He makes for England, here to claim the crown. K. Rich. Is the chair empty ? Is the sword unswayed ? 152 ORTHOPHONY. Is the king de£d, the empire unpossessed ? "What heir of York is there alive, but we ? And who is England's king, but great York's heir ? Then, tell me, what makes he upon the seas ? Stanley. Unless for that, my liege, I cannot guess. K. Rich. Unless for that he comes to be your liege, You cannot guess wherefore the Welshman comes. Thou wilt revolt, and fly to him, I fear. Stanley. No, mighty liege ; therefore mistrust me not. K. Rich. Where is thy power, then, to beat him back? Where be thy tenants, and thy followers ? Are they not now upon the western shore, Safe-conducting the rebels from their ships ? Stanley. No, my good lord ; my friends are in the north. K. Rich. Cold friends to me ; what do they in the n5rth, When they should serve their sovereign in the west ? 5. Eager Inquiry and Emphatic Assertion. (" Aspirated and Orotund Quality:" "Suppressed" Force: "High" Pitch: "Radical Stress." The questions of Hamlet exemplify the rising Fifth — the replies the falling. Hamlet and Horatio. — Shakespeare. Ham. Armed, say you ? All. Armed my lord. Ham. From top to toe ? All. My lord, from head to foot. Ham. Then saw you not His face ? Hor. Oh, yes, my lord ; he wore his beaver up. Ham. What, looked he fr6wningly ? Hor. A countenance mora In sorrow than in anger. Ham, Pale or red ? Hor, Nay, very pale. Ham. And fixed his eyes upon you? Hor, Most constantly. THE SLIDE. 153 6. Assumed Surprise and Incredulity after the first passage of Iago. Rising and falling Fifth on the emphatic words of Othello. ("Aspirated Quality," and "Impassioned " Force; " Compound Stress " chiefly for Othello. Iago, "Pure Tone," " Moderate " Force.) Iago and Othello. — Shakespeare. Iago. Did Michael Cassio, when you wooed my lady, Know of your love ? Oth. Oh, yes ; and went between us very oft. Iago. Indeed ? Oth. Indeed ! ay, indeed. — Discern'st thou aught in that? Is he not honest ? Iago. Honest, my lord ? Oth. Xj, honest. Iago. My lord, for aught I know. Oth. What dost thou think ? Iago. Think, my lord ? Oth. Think, my lord I By heaven he echoes me, As if there were some monster in his thought Too hideous to be shown. — Thou dost mean something ; I heard thee say but now — Thou lik'dst not that, When Cassio left my wife. What did'st not like ? And when I told thee, he was of my counsel In my whole course of wooing, thou cry'dst Indeed ? And didst contract and purse thy brow together, As if thou then hadst shut up in thy brain Some horrible conceit. If thou dost love me, Show me thy thought. 154 ORTHOPHONY. 7. Remorse. [" Orotund Quality : " " Suppressed " Force : "Low " Pitch ; " Vanishing Stress.") Cassio. — Shakespeare. Reputation, reputation, reputation ! Oh, I have lost my reputation ! I have lost the immortal part, sir, of myself, and what remains is bestial, — My reputation, Iago, my reputation. Dnink, and speak parrot ? and squabble ? swagger ? swear? and discourse fustian with one's own shadow?-— Oh, thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee — devil ! 8. Exception. — Surprise, Earnest and Impassioned Inter* rogation. ("Aspirated Pectoral Quality:" "Declamatory", Force: "Compound Stress:" "High" Pitch: "Upward Fifth.") Extract from Chatham. Can ministers still presume to expect suppdrt in their infatuation ? Can parliament be so dead to its dignity and its duty as to give its support to measures thus obtruded and f dreed upon it ? Cicero's Accusation of Verres. Is it come to this ? Shall an inferior magistrate, a gov- ernor, who holds his whole power of the Roman people, in a Roman prdvince, within sight of Italy, bind, scourge, torture with fire and red-hot plates of iron, and at last put to the infamous death of the cross, a Roman citizen ? II. THE " DISTINCTIVE " SLIDE. This slide is used not for purposes of passion or emotion, but for suggestions connected with the understanding and judgment, — that which may be termed intellectual, not im* passioned, expression. THE SLIDE. 155 The "downward distinctive slide " extends, usually, through the interval of a "third." It is used, first, for mere designation, as in announcing a subject or topic, in di- dactic style, in introducing a person or an event in narrative, or an -object, in descriptive style ; as in the following exam- ples : " The duties of the citizens of a republic formed the subject of the orator's address." "Among the eminent men of the period of the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin held a conspicuous place." "From the date of the American Revolution, commenced a new era in the history of man." " The dazzling summits of the snow- capt mountains in the distance, threw an air of enchantment over the scene." This slide is used also, for distinction in contrasts, as in the latter of two correspondent or antithetic words or phrases, in which the contrast is exactly balanced ; thus, " I would neither be rich nor poor," or when the antithesis is unequal and one word or phrase is intentionally made more expressive than the other, in which case the more emphatic word or phrase takes the downward slide : thus, " I would rather be rich, than poor." EXAMPLES OF "DISTINCTIVE SLIDES." I. Simple Designation. 1. Didactic Style. " The progress of the Italian opera, in this country, will form the subject of this essay." " The downfall of the Roman empire was the next great theme chosen by that eminent historian." " The origin of the distinctions of rank in society, forms one of the most interesting topics of historical investiga- tion." 2. Narrative Style. " The conspiracy of Catiline, as related by Sallust, was one of the most atrocious designs ever plotted by desperate and heartless villainy." 156 ORTHOPHONY. " From the time when the people enjoyed the right of electing their tribunes, they fondly deemed their liberty se- cured against future encroachments." " The usurpation, as it has been termed, of Oliver Cr6m- well, rightly interpreted, is one of the most memorable of lessons to monarchy ever taught in the great school of his- tory." 3. Descriptive Style. "A sudden shower puts an end to the gayety of the revel- lers, and sends them scampering in all directions for shel- ter." " The spots on the disc of the sim, which, in some in- stances, are larger than a continent or an ocean, with us, are, it is believed, openings in the luminous atmosphere of that body, exhibiting the dark surface beneath." " The first primrose of the spring was peeping through the shrivelled herbage at the roots of the hedge, along the side of the lane." II. Comparison and Antithesis, or Contrast* 1. Comparison of Single Objects, " As is the beginning, so is the end." 2. Double Comparison. " As we cannot discern the moving of the shadow over the 1 dial-plate ; so we cannot trace the progress of the mind in knowledge." 3. Contrast of Single Objects. " 1 mingled freely with all classes of society, and nar- rowly observed the life of the peasant, as well as that of the prince." 1 In double contrasts, the full "distinctive slide of the third " falls onty on the prominent parts of the contrast, the leading and determining words at the middle and the end of the sentence : the other pair of contrasted words are usually restricted to "falling" and "rising ditone," in theit " radical pitch." THE SLIDE. 157 4. Double Contrast, or Antithesis. " As it is the part of justice never to do violence, it is that of mddesty never to commit offence." III. THE " MECHANICAL SLIDE." This form of the " slide " was defined as either " upward " or " downward ; " the former occurring at the close of the penultimate clause of a sentence, in preparation for its ca- dence ; the latter, when the cadence, from the absence of ac- cent on preceding syllables, descends in the form of a " con- crete downward slide " on a single sound. Another form of the " mechanical slide " is used to indicate, as mentioned be- fore, complete sense, or the finishing of an independent part of a sentence. Its effect, as a descent of voice, differs to the ear from that of the cadence, in the fact formerly stated, of its commencing and ceasing at a higher point of the scale, and from its not being preceded by the " penultimate slide," nor by a previous descent of voice which prepares the ear for the deliberate and full effect of cadence. It may be termed the " downward slide of complete sense " or " par- tial " cadence, as contrasted with its opposite, the " upward slide " of the " third," in incomplete sense, assumed, on purpose, in the middle of a sentence, to create expectation of further expression, for the completion of a thought ; or the " upward third " of unimpassioned interrogation, which also implies incomplete or undetermined sense. The " down- ward slide of complete sense " may be so denominated also, as contrasted with the mere effect of " concrete pitch," when a reader, as was formerly supposed for the purpose of il- lustration, is suddenly interrupted in the act of reading, and breaks off at an incomplete phrase. 158 ORTHOPHONY. EXAMPLES. 1. " Penultimate Slide." " The signification of our sentiments, made by tones and gestures, has this advantage above that made by words, that it is the language of nature." " In epic poetry, the English have only to boast of Spen- ser and Milton, who neither of them wanted either genius or learning to have been perfect p6ets ; and yet both of them are liable to many censures." 2. "Partial Cadence" at the close of a clause which forms complete sense. " Of Law there can be no less acknowledged than that her seat is the bosom of God ; her voice the harmony of the world. All things in heaven and earth do her homage ; the very least as feeling her care, and the greatest as not exempted from her power. Both angels and men, and creatures of what condition soever, though each in different sort and manner, yet all with uniform consent, admiring her as the mother of their peace and joy." 3. " Upward Slide " of incomplete or suspended sense. Description of Arcadia. — Sidney. There were hills which garnished their proud heights with stately trees : humble valleys, whose base estate seemed comforted with the refreshing of silver rivers: meadows, enamelled with all sorts of eye-pleasing flowers : thickets, which being lined with most pleasant shade were witnessed so too, by the cheerful disposition of many well-tuned birds: each pasture stored with sheep, feeding with sober security, while the pretty lambs with bleating oratory craved the dam's comfort : here a shepherd's boy piping, as though he should never be old ; there a j 7 oung shepherdess knitting, and withal singing, and it seemed that her voice comforted her hands to work, and her hands kept time to her voice- THE SLIDE. 159 4. " Upward Slide " of " unimpassioned interrogation." " Have you heard the news ? Can we place any depen- dence on the report ? Is it probable that such an event could have been kept so long concealed ? " " Shall we adopt the measures proposed by this speaker? Are the arguments which he has advanced sufficient to pro- duce conviction ? Can we proceed with perfect confidence that we shall not have to retrace our steps ? " " Does the work relate to the interests of mankind ? Is its object useful, and its end moral ? Will it inform the un- derstanding, and amend the heart ? Is it written with free- dom and impartiality ? Does it bear the marks of honesty and sincerity ? Does it attempt to ridicule anything that is good or great ? Does a manly style of thinking predomi- nate in it ? Do reason, wit, humor, and pleasantry prevail in it ? Does it contain new and useful truths ? " THE " WAVE " OR " CIRCUMFLEX." One of the natural modes of " expression," in the "mel- ody of speech," is, in the language of peculiar emotion, or marked distinction, the use of a double " slide," the upward and the downward on the same sound. This mode of voice, called the " wave," is the characteristic utterance of sarcasm, mockery, raillery, and other intense and keen emotions : it marks, likewise, the expression of humor, irony, and wit, and pungent antithesis, whether serious or humorous. In its lowest perceptible form it aids the " swell " or " median stress " of solemn and sublime feeling. The " wave," like the single " slide," exists in all varieties of effect, from the slightest undulation of solemnity, in the interval of the " second " (or the " concrete " downward transition from one note of the scale to the next below), to the "third," "fifth," and " octave." The " wave" is termed " direct " when it slides first upward and then downward ; " inverted," when the " downward slide " precedes, and the " upward " follows. 160 ORTHOPHONY. It is termed " equal " when the " slides " are of equal height and depth; the upward and the downward being each a "third," "fifth," or " octave : " "unequal," when the one " slide " traverses a wider interval of the scale than the other ; the upward, for example, being a " third," and the downward, an " octave." Grave and sedate feeling, or the affectation of such feeling, inclines to the use of the "equal wave ; " keen and sarcastic expression prefers the " unequal wave," from its greater pungency to the ear. This element of expression is one of the most impressive in the whole range of vocal effect. It gives, in its subdued form, a sustained dignity and grandeur to utterance, without which the long-drawn sounds of solemnity would sink into monotony and feebleness. Sarcastic and ironical expres- sion cannot be given without it. Close distinctions of sense and meaning lose their point and discrimination when de- prived of it. Wit and humor cease to exist to the ear, if the ambiguous and equivocal, or graphic effect of the " wave," is dropped. An intelligent and discriminating use of this element is indispensable, however, to its right effect. Adopted too frequently, and expressed too pointedly, it offends the ear ; as it implies a want of skill on the part of the reader or speaker, and a want of perception on that of the hearer. It forms, when given in excess, the striking feature in over- done emphasis, or that which seems, by its obtrusiveness, to forestall the judgment of the person who is addressed, and compel his perceptions. It is the usual resort of the author of a pun so poor, that, without his syllabic and waving enunciation, you could not have surmised its existence. The " wave " exists, sometimes, as a mere local accident of usage, in what is termed national accent. The dialects of Scotland and of New England furnish striking examples of the unmeaning prevalence of the " wave. " The popular " Yankee story," and, not unfrequently, the emphasis of well-educated people, abound in instances of this local into- nation. THE SLIDE. 161 EXAMPLES. I. THE "EQUAL WAVE." Solemnity and Sublimity. ("Effusive Orotund:" "Subdued" Force: full and prolonged "Mediqta Swell:" "Low" Pitch: " Equal wave of the Second." The "wave" so slight as barely to be discernible.) 1. The Morning Hymn. — Milton. His 1 praise, ye w^nds that from four qi*arters blow, Breathe soft or loud ; and wave your tops, ye pines, With every plant, in sign of worship wave ! " 2. Erom an Evening Hymn.-J7. M. Williams. While Thee I seek, protecting Power ! Be my vain washes stalled ; And may this consecrated hour With better hopes be filled ! Pointed Antithesis. Serious Expression, 1. ("Pure Tone:" "Animated" Force: "Radical and Median Stress:'* "Middle" Pitch: " Equal Wave of the Third.") Moral to a Fable. — Jane Taylor. Let any man resolve to do right 2 now, leaving 2 then to do as it can ; and if he were to live to the age of Methuse- lah, he would never do wrong. But the common error is to resolve to act right after breakfast, or after dinner, or to- morrow morning, or next time. But now, just now, this once, we must go on the same as ever. 1 The "wave " occurs on the letters denoted by italic type. a The " direct wave " is marked by the usual circumflex accent, the " u& verted wave," by an inverted circumflex. U 162 ORTHOPHONY. ("Pure Tone:" "Moderate" Force, "Grave" Style: "Media* Stress : " " Middle " Pitch : " Equal Wave of the Third.") Chance. — Shakespeare. Alas ! the while ! If Hercules, and Lichas, play at dice Which is the better man, the greater throw May turn by fortune from the weaker hand. Pointed Antithesis. Half-humorous Style, 3. ("Pure Tone:" "Animated" Force: "Median Stress:" "Middle" Pitch: "Equal Wave of the Third.") Roman citizen, murmuring against the Patricians. — Shakes- peare. We are accounted poor citizens ; the patricians good. What authority surfeits on, would relieve lis. If they would yield us but the superfluity, while it were wholesome, we might guess they relieved us humanely ; but they think we are too dear : the leanness that afflicts us, the object of our misery, is an inventory to particularize their abundance : our sufferance is a gain to them. Let us revenge this with our pikes, ere we become rakes : for the gods know I speak this in hunger for bread, not in thirst for revenge. Wit. ("Pure Tone," laughing voice: "Radical and Median Stress: " "High" Pitch : " Equal Wave of the Third.") Beatrice, speaking of Benedick. — Shakespeare. In our last conflict, four of his five wits went halting off, and now is the whole man governed with one : so that if he have wit enough to keep himself warm, let him bear it for a difference between himself and his horse ; for it is all the ^it that he hath left, to be known a reasonable creature. THE SLIDE. 163 Raillery. |" Pure Tone : " "Animated " Force : " Median Stress : " " High " Pitch: "Equal Wave of the Third.") Menenius, to the tribunes Brutus and Sicinius. — Shakespeare. You blame Marcius for being proud ? Brutus. We do it not alone, sir. Men. I know you can do very little alone ; for your helps are many ; or else your actions would grow wondrous single : your abilities are too infant-like, for doing much alone. You talk of pride : oh that you could turn your eyes toward the napes of your necks, and make but an in- terior survey of your good selves ! II. THE UNEQUAL WAVE. 1. Irony and Derision. (" Pmre Tone : " " Animated " Force : " Stress " varying from "Radical " to "Median:" "High" Pitch: Unequal Wave of the "Third" and "Fifth.") The Critic. — < " How did Garrick speak the soliloquy, last night ? " " Oh ! against all rule, my lord, most ungrammatically ! Betwixt the substantive and the adjective, which should agree together in number, case, and gender, he made a breach thus — stopping, as if the point wanted settling ; and be- twixt the nominative case, which, your lordship knows, should govern the verb, he suspended his voice in the epi- logue, a dozen times, three seconds and three fifths by a stopwatch, my lord, each time." " Admirable grammarian ! But, in suspending his voice, was the sense suspended ? Did no expression of attitude or countenance fill up the chasm ? Was the eye silent ? Did you narrowly look ? " " I looked only at the stopwatch, my lord ! " " Excellent observer! " 164 ORTHOPHONY. 2. Contempt and Derision. (" Aspirated Quality : " "Impassioned" Force: "Median Stress:" " High " Pitch: " Unequal Waves.") NORVAL, IN THE QUAREEL WITH GLENALVON. — Home. And who is Norval in Glenalvon's eyes ? Glenalvon. A peasant's son, [3 & 5] x a wandering beg* gar boy I [3 & 8] [3 & 5] At best no more, — even if he speaks the truth. [3 & 5] [5 & 3] Hear him, my lord : he 's wondrous condescend- ing! [5&3] Mark the humility of shepherd Norval/ [3 & 8] 3. Scorn and Derision. ("Aspirated Pectoral and Guttural Quality : " " Impassioned" Force: " Vanishing Stress : " " High " Pitch: "Unequal Wave.") CORIOLANUS, TO THE SENATORS, WHEN HIS ELECTION TO THE CONSU- LATE IS CONTRAVENED BY THE TRIBUNES BRUTUS AND SlCINIUS ; THE LATTER HAVING USED THE WORD " SHALL " IN HIS VETO. — ' Shakespeare. Shall/ [" semitone and octave."] They chose their magistrate ; And such a one as he, who puts his shall, [as before.] His popular shall, against a graver bench, [as before.] Than ever frowned in Greece ! 4. Raillery. ("Unequal Wave.") Gratiano to Shylock.— Shakespeare. Gratiano. O upright [5 & 3] judge ! Mark, Jew : — learned [3 & 5] judge ! 1 The figures indicate the " unequal wave " of the " third " and "fifth," etc. In these exemplifications it is not intended that either a weaker or a stronger "expression," an inferior or a greater "wave," may not be ap- propriately used if it be not out of proportion to the context. In tha stronger expressions there might even be a prolonged and repeated, ©f " double " " wave," in highly animated reading. THE SLIDE. 165 Shyloch Is that the law ? Portia. Thyself shalt see the act : For as thou urgest justice, be assur'd Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest. Gratiano. O learned [3 & 5] judge ! Mark, Jew : — a learned [3 & 5] judge ! Shyloch. I take this offer, then ; pay the bond thrice, And let the Christian go. Bassanio. Here is the money. Portia. Soft ! The Jew shall have all justice ; soft ! no haste : — He shall have nothing but the penalty. Gratiano. O Jew ! an upright [5 & 3] judge, a learned [5 & 3] judge ! The " Monotone." The term " monotone," when used in the language of elocution, must be understood as conventional, and em- ployed merely to avoid circumlocution. It implies the suc- cessive repetition of the same "radical" and "concrete" pitch, with the addition of a full and prolonged " median stress," so executed as to occupy the ear to the exclusion, nearly, of the " radical " and " vanish " of the sounds to which it is applied. The partial sameness of voice, thus produced, has been not inaptly compared, as mentioned be- fore, to the repeated sounds of a deep-toned bell ; as the " monotone " is usually the expression of low-pitched, sol- emn utterance, analogous in effect to the bell's perpetually recurring low note. The " monotone " is, in the true, natural, and unstudied use of the voice, — the invariable standard of elocution, — the style of aive, reverence, solem- nity, sublimity, grandeur, majesty, power, splendor, and all other modes of feeling which imply vastness said force, par- ticularly when associated with the idea of supernatural in- fluence or agency. It expresses, also, the feelings of amaze- ment, terror, and horror, or whatever emotion arises from the contemplation of preternatural effects. 166 ORTHOPHONY. The "monotone," therefore, as the indication of vast- ness and power, pervades the style of all the noblest and most impressive forms of human language in poetry, and, not unfrequently, in prose of a high-wrought style. It abounds, particularly, in the reading of the sacred Script- ures ; and it is indispensable in the devotional language of hymns. It is used likewise in verse, and in poetic prose, for melody of effect, instead of the "downward slide of complete sense." The distinction between monotone and monotony will be readily perceived. The one is used for impressive effect, the other is an inexpressive fault. EXAMPLES OF "MONOTONE." 1. Devotional Awe amd Reverence. ("Effusive Orotund Quality : " " Subdued " Force: " Median Stress : " "Very Low" Pitchy Extract from the Scriptures. " Holy ! holy ! holy ! Lord God of Sabaoth." " Bless the Lord, O my soul ; and all that is within me, bless his holy name ! " " Unto thee I lift up mine eyes, thou that dwellest in the heavens." 2. Awe, Sublimity, Majesty, Power, Horror. (" Quality," Force, " Stress," and Pitch, as before. ) " And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo ! there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood ; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig- tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 1 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together ; and every mountain and Island were moved out of their places. 1 And the kings of the earth, 1 A deeper note commences at each of the places thus marked. Thi Irhole passage is a succession of " monotones." THE SLIDE. 167 and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains and the mighty men, and every bond-man, and every free- man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains : and said to the mountains and rocks, * ' Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : 1 for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand ? ■ " 3. Amazement and Terror. ( "Aspirated Pectoral Quality : " " Suppressed Force : " " Median Stress : " "Very Low" Pitch.) u In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep f alleth on men, 1 fear came upon me and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. x Then a spirit passed before my face ; * the hair of my flesh stood up. — It stood still ; but I could not discern the form thereof. An Image was before mine eyes ; * there was silence ; and I heard a voice saying, 1 ' Shall mortal man be more just than God ? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker ? ' " 4. Solemn and Sublime Description. {" Orotund Quality : " " Moderate " Force : " Median Stress : »» " Low " Pitch.) Pbospebo. — Shakespeare. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits, and Are melted into air, into thin air : And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe Itself, Yea, all which it Inherit shall dissolve ; Arid, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind : We are such stuff As dreams are made of, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. 1 Deeper note 168 ORTHOPHONY. 5. Majesty and Grandeur. { l • Orotund Quality : " " Moderate ' ' Force : * ' Median Stress : " " Low " Pitch.) Description of Satan. — Milton. His form had not yet lost All her original brightness, nor appeared Less than archangel ruined, and the excess Of glory obscured ; as when the sun new risen Looks through the horizontal misty air, Shorn of his beams, or from behind the moon In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight *heds On half the nations, and with fear of change " Perplexes monarchs. 6. Sublimity and Splendor. \ " Orotund Quality:" "Moderate" Force: "Median Stress: " "Low" Pitch.) Summer. — Thomson. But yonder comes the powerful King of Day, Rejoicing in the east. The lessening cloud, The kindling azure, and the mountain's brow, Illumed with fluid gold, his near approach Betoken glad. Lo ! now, apparent all, Aslant the dew-bright earth, and colored air, He looks in boundless majesty abroad, And sheds the shining day, that burnished plays On rocks, and hills, and towers, and wandering streams, High gleaming from afar. y 7. Vastness, Sublimity, and Solemnity. \ ' ' Orotund Quality : " " Impassioned ' ' Force : ' ' Median Stress : " " Low " Pitch.) The Ocean. — Byron. Thou glorious mirror ! where the Almighty's form Glasses itself in tempests ; in all time, THE SLIDE. 169 Calm or convulsed, — in breeze, or gale, or storm, — Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime Dark heaving ; — boundless, endless, and sublime, The image of Eternity, — the throne Of the Invisible ; even from out thy slime The monsters of the deep are made ; each zone Obeys thee, — thou go'st forth, dread, fathomless, alone ! "poetic monotone." 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 following, 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 ap- propriate language oifaet, and not of feeling or melody. 1. (" Pure Tone : " " Subdued " Force : " Median Stress : " " High » Pitch.) Music. — Moore. For mine is the lay that lightly floats, And mine are the murmuring dying notes, That fall as soft as snow on the sea, And melt in the heart as instantly. 2. I" Pure Tone : " " Subdued " Force : " Median Stress : " " Low " Pitch.} Autumn Scene. — Mellen. The winds of autumn came over the woods, As the sun stole out from their solitudes ; The moss was white on the maple's trunk ; 170 OBTHOPHONY. And dead from its arms the pale vine shrunk ; And ripened the mellow fruit hung ; and red Were the tree's withered leaves around it shed. 3. J" Pure Tone : " «* Moderate " Force : " Median Stress : " " Low " Pitch. The Ocean Depths. — Percival. Deep in the wave is a coral grove, Where the purple mullet and gold-fish rove, Where the sea-flower spreads its leaves of blue, That never are wet with falling dew, But in bright and changeful beauty shine Far down in the green and glassy brine. (" Quality," Force, " Stress," and Pitch as before.) Nature. — Bryant. Still shall sweet summer, smiling, linger here, And wasteful winter lightly o'er thee pass ; Bright dews of morning jewel thee, and all The silent stars watch over thee at night ; The mountains clasp thee lovingly within Their giant arms, and ever round thee bOw The everlasting f6rests. " POETIC MONOTONE," IN DESCRIPTIVE PROSE. 1. (" Quality," etc., as before. Spring. — Anonymous. In the calm spring evenings what delightful hours the cottager spends in his little garden ! He is not without a feeling, unuttered though it be, of the sweetness of spring, and the delights of the passing hour ; for, as the shades of night fall darkly on the scene, he leans upon his spade, and lingers to breathe the odorous air, to hear the faint murmur THE SLIDE. 171 of his wearied bees, now settling peaceably in their hive for the night, and the glad notes of birds, dying melodiously away in the inner woods. 2. (" Quality," etc., as before.) The Chosen Gkave. — Anonymous. The thought is sweet to lay our bones within the bosom of- our native soil. The verdure and the flowers I love will brighten around my grave ; the same trees whose pleasant murmurs cheered my living ears will hang their cool shad- ows over my dtist ; and the eyes that met mine in the light of affection will shed tears over the sod that covers me, keeping my memory green within their spirits. "Semitonic or Chromatic Melody." An exact idea of the " semitone " would be formed by thinking of it as occupying precisely half the interval of the usual " concrete " of the " radical " and " vanish " of the " second " upward or downward. The student may be able to give it correct exemplification by attempting to utter a common " concrete," with a whining or plaintive tone. He will find that, in this case, his voice glides upward or down- ward in a style barely perceptible, and falling obviously short of that of the " diatonic concrete." This is the pathetic tone when used without expression. The voice of the mother condoling with her grieving child is a vivid natural exemplification of the effect of " semitone ; " as is, also, the tone of sorrow or regret in the utterance of childhood. Even the manly expression of grief takes this mode of utterance, especially in the language of dramatic poetry, in passages in which grief is not violent, but subdued in its tone. The excess and caricature of this mode of voice occurs in the whine of the dispirited child, of the exhausted invalid, of the languishing hypochondriac, or 172 ORTHOPHONY. of the pathetic sentimentalist. It is thrown out still more perceptibly on the ear in the child's whimpering approach to crying, when he is overcome by pain or apprehension. The extensive range of circumstances which require or pro- duce the " semitone " may be distinctly apprehended if we pass at once to the example afforded in the deep and pecul- iar tones of penitence or contrition, and of supplication, — feelings in the true and just utterance of which it always predominates, and which cannot be expressed to the ear without it. The " semitone," or " chromatic " interval, is the appro- priate expressive note of all pathetic and tender emotion. It gives utterance to affectionate sympathy, commiseration, compassion, pity, and tenderness. It is also the character- istic of grief and sorrow in their subdued forms, of regret, penitence, contrition, complaint, condolence, supplication, and entreaty. The importance of " chromatic melody " as an element of elocution will be at once perceived, when we advert to the fact of its great power over sympathy, and its value as an instrument of effect in the hands of the orator, the reciter, and the reader. The speaker who relies wholly on his power to overawe, to arouse, or to impel, will always be found unfit for the treatment of all subjects which appeal to human sympathy and tenderness. The practice of the following examples should be accom- panied by frequent and extensive exercises on the elements, and on words and phrases, as well as lines and sentences of appropriate character. Additional examples may be found by referring to passages quoted under other heads, in vari- ous parts of this manual, for the purpose of exemplifying pathetic and tender emotions, in the various particulars oi "quality," "force," "stress," "pitch," etc. THE SLIDE. 173 EXAMPLES OF "SEMITONE." 1. Affectionate Sympathy. f" Pure Tone: " " Impassioned " Force : "Vanishing Stress," and " Tre- mor: " "High" Pitch: "Semitone" throughout, — interval of the "Fifth.") Adam, to Orlando. — Shakespeare. What ! my young master ! — O my gentle master ! O my sweet master ! O you memory Of old Sir Rowland ! why, what make you here ? Why are you virtuous ? Why do people love you ? And wherefore are you gentle, strong, and valiant ? Your praise is come too swiftly home before you. Oh, what a world is this, when what is comely Envenoms him that bears it ! ("Pure Tone:" "Moderate" Force: "Median Stress:" "Middle" Pitch: " Semitone " throughout, — interval of the "Third.") Orlando, to Adam. — Shakespeare. O good old man, how well in thee appears The constant service of the antique world, When service sweat for duty, not for meed } — But, poor old man, thou prun'st a rotten tree, That cannot so much as a blossom yield, In lieu of all thy pains and husbandry ! 2. Commiseration. { " Pure Tone : " " Impassioned " Force : " Vanishing Stress," and " Tre- mor:" Weeping Utterance : " Semitone Proper " throughout; and occa- sional "Chromatic Thirds" and "Fifths.") Cordelia, watching over her Father, after his exposure to the tempest. — Shakespeare.- O my dear father ! Restoration, hang Thy medicine on my lips ; and let this kiss Repair those violent harms that my two sisters Have in thy reverence made ! Had you not been their father, these white flakes 174 ORTHOPHONY. Had challenged pity of them. Was this a face To be exposed against the warring winds ? To stand against the deep dread-bolted thunder ? In the most terrible and nimble stroke Of quick, cross lightning ? to watch (poor perdu!) With this thin helm ? Mine enemy's dog, Though he had bit me, should have stood that night Against my fire ; and wast thou fain, poor father, To hovel thee with swine, and rogues forlorn, In short and musty straw ? Alack, alack ! 'T is wonder that thy life and wits, at Once, Had not concluded all ! 3. Compassion, J" Pure Tone : " " Subdued " Force: " Median Stress: " " Middle " Pitch: "Semitone Proper," and " Chromatic Third," prevalent.) Brutus, on the night before the battle of Philippi, to the boy Lucius, his attendant. — Shakespeare. Bear with me, good boy, I am much forgetful. Canst thou hold up thy heavy eyes a while, And touch thy instrument a strain or two ? I trouble thee too much ; but thou art willing. I should not urge thy duty past thy might, I know young bloods lack for a time of rest. I will not hold thee long : if I do live, I will be good to thee. [Lucius plays and sings."] This is a sleepy tune : — O murderous Slumber ! Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy, That plays thee music ? — Gentle knave, good-night ! I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee. If thou dost nod, thou break'st thy instrument : I'll take it from thee ; and, good boy, good-night ! THE SLIDE. 175 4. Pity and Tenderness. i" Pure Tone: " " Subdued " Force : "Median " and " Vanishing Stress : " "High" Pitch: " Semitone Proper," and "Chromatic Fifth," through- out.) Miranda, to Ferdinand, when he is undergoing the task of car- rying AND PILING LOGS, AT THE COMMAND OF HER FATHER Shakespeare. Alas ! now, pray you, Work not so hard : I would the lightning had Burned up those logs, that you are enjoined to pile ! Pray, set it down and rest you : when this burns, 'T will weep for having wearied you. My father Is hard at study, — pray now, rest yourself : He 's safe for these three hours. If you 11 sit down, I '11 bear your logs the while : pray, give me that, — I '11 carry it to the pile ! 5. Tenderness. ("Pure Tone : " " Subdued " Force: "Median Stress: " "High" Pitch: "Semitone " through the first three lines.) Gray's Elegy. On some fond breast the parting soul relies, Some pious drops the closing eye requires ; E'en from the tomb the voice of Nature cries, E'en in our ashes live their wonted fires. 6. Condolence. j"PureTone:" "Subdued" Force: " Gentle "" Vanishing Stress : " " Middle " Pitch : " Semitone," throughout, with occasional " Chromatic Third" and "Fifth.") Cromwell, to Wolsey on his downfall. — Shakespeare. O my lord, Must I then leave you ? must I needs forego So good, so noble, and so true a master ? 176 ORTHOPHONY. Bear witness, all that have not hearts of iron, With what a sorrow Cromwell leaves his lord. — The king shall have my service ; but my prayers Forever and forever shall be yours ! CHAPTER VIII. " TIME." The chief characteristics of utterance, which are subjects of attention in vocal culture, are the "quality" of the voice, as sound, merely, and its " expression," as produced by "force," "stress," " melody " or " pitch," and "time," . — properties equivalent to those which are comprehended in music under the heads of "quality," "dynamics" (force), "melody," and "rhythm" (the effect of the union of " accent," or comparative force, and " time," on the sequence of sounds). The subject of " time " is that which remains to be dis- cussed, as the ground of practical exercises in elocution. " Quantity." The study of time, as a measure of speech, will lead to the primary classification of single vowel sounds, as long or short, in duration, according to their character and expres- sion, as elements of language. The contrast, in the duration of the " tonic element," or vowel sound, a, in the words male and female, will furnish examples ; the a in the former being much longer, or, in other words, occupying a much larger space of time, in utterance, than the a in the latter. The technical designation of this property of vocal sounds is " quantity," — implying quantity of time, or duration. The a of male is accordingly termed a " long," the a in fe- male, a " short quantity." Such is the usual distinction recognized in prosody and applied to versification. QUANTITY. 177 Syllables, when regarded in connection with the " quanti- ties " of their component elements, and classified for the purposes of elocution, have been arranged by Dr. Rush, under the following denominations : — 1st. "Immutable," or such as are, from the nature of their constituent sounds, incapable of prolongation. These are immutably fixed to the shortest " quantity " exhibited in an elementary sound, and cannot, even when accented, and uttered in solemn or in poetic expression, be prolonged, in any degree, without positive mispronunciation or destruction of the peculiar accent of the language ; as the t, for exam- ple, in the word sick, or in the verb convict. " Immutable " syllables terminate with an abrupt, or " atonic " element, preceeded by a short " tonic," as in the above examples. Hotspur, exclaiming on his father's illness, and consequent absence from the camp at Shrewsbury. — Shakespeare. Sick now ! droop now ! This sickness doth infect The very life-blood of our enterprise. Catiline, indignantly defying the Roman Senate. — Croly. Tried and convzcted traitor ! — Who says this ? Who '11 prove it, at his peril, on my head ? 2d. " Mutable " syllables are such as are constituted like the preceding, but are capable of a slight degree of pro- longation, according to the nature of the feeling they ex- press. The monosyllable yet, or the accented syllable of the word beset, uttered in the tone of any vivid emotion, will furnish an example. An instance occurs in the scene of the combat between Fitz James and Roderic Dhu, when the latter makes the taunting exclamation, " Not yet pre- pared ? " — and another in Blanche's dying warning, " The path 's bese£, by flood and fell ! 3d. " Indefinite " syllables are those which contain, or terminate with, a " tonic " element, or with any .'-' subtonic** 12 178 ORTHOPHONY. but b, d, or g. The time occupied in the enunciation of such sounds is properly determined by the degree of feeling which they are, for the moment, used to express ; as we perceive in the different tones of the following examples : the first in Hamlet's admiring exclamation, " What a piece of work is a man ! " and Lady Macbeth's indignant and re- proachful interrogation addressed to her husband, when he stands horror-stricken at the vision of the ghost of Banquo, " Are you a man ? " The power and beauty of vocal " expression " are neces- sarily dependent, to a great extent, on the command which a reader or speaker possesses over the element of " quan- tity." Milton in his " Paradise Lost " affords innumerable examples of the majestic grandeur of long " quantities " in epic verse ; and without the just observance of these the reading of the noblest passages in that poem becomes flat and dry. A long-continued practice on the elements of the language, on syllables, words, and phrases, will be well bestowed in the endeavor to acquire a perfect command of " quantity," EXERCISES IN " QUANTITY." The following exercises need close attention to the firm- ness, clearness, decision, and purity of the opening "radi- cal," and the delicacy and distinctness of the " vanish." The latter should be occasionally practised in that long-pro- tracted form, which, as Dr. Rush has expressively said, " knits sound to silence." The elements may be practised in " effusive," " explusive," and " explosive " utterance, on all the chief intervals of " slide " and " wave," commencing with the " second," and extending to the octave, both up- ward and downward, — and on the various degrees of " force " and modes of " stress," together with the distinc- tions of " pitch," and the " expression " of the chief charac- teristic emotions ; as awe, reverence, fear, horror, despair^ anger, grief, joy, love, etc. QUANTITY. 179 1. Examples of Long "Quantities" and (i Indefinite Syllables. b-11 a-rm ai-r e-ve OO-ZQ O'Y fl-we a-h. ! h-ai-r ee-l f-oo-1 m-o-rn b-a-11 t-a-rn d-a-re ea-r p-oo-r f-o-rm aw-iul b-a-lmy c-a-reless c-vil m-oo-nless o-rder always h-a-rmless w-a-ry easy s-oo-ner o-rphan au-gur t-a-rnish v-a-rely f-ee-ble c-oo-ling o-rgan app-a-11 af-a-r bew-a-re rev-ea-1 rem-o-ve ad-or-n bef-a-11 dis-a-rm ensn-a-re conc-ea-l unm-00-r acc-o-rd rec-a-11 bec-a-lm decl-a-re app-ea-1 repr-o-ve forl-o-rn a-le i-ce o-ld ou-r oi-l use ai-d isle ow-u ow~\ yoi-n you ai-m. d-ie o-de v~ow b-oy d-ew b-a-leful z'-vy o-ver h-ow-liug v-oz-celess d-u-ly h-a/-ling d^-ing o-nly d-ow-nwarc n-oisy p-w-rer w-ai-\mg h-^-ghly h-o-ly b-ow-ndless p-oi-son ni-w-ral unv-^'-l repl-^ below reb-ou-nd enyoy ref-w-se recl-az-m dei-y foreg-o res-ou-nd reyoi-ce am-M-se disd-m-n den-^ beh-o-ld unh-ow-sed empl-oy den-w-de 2. Short " Quantities " and " Immutable " Syllables. 1 b-a-ck b-6 -ck i )-i-ck d o-ck d-w-ck h-a-ck n-e-ck s-^-ck m-o-ck t -u-ck b-a-ckward b-e-ckon w-z-cked s-o-cket 1 -w-ckless 1-a-ckey sp -e-ckled f -^-ckle kn-o-cking b •u-cket att-a-ck bed-e-ck unp-z-cked bem-o-ck rel-w-ct m-a-t d-i-p w-p r-a-p Wp c-w-p t-a-p l-i-p s-w-p t-a-pster s-^-ppiDg w-pper str-a-pping tr-^-pping c-w-pful 1 " Immutable " syllables do not admit of "effusive" utterance. They are best adapted to the display of " explosive " style, although they occur also in "expulsive" and '•declamatory" expression. 180 ORTHOPHONY. h~a-t b-z-t h-u-i c-a-t p-e-t c-u-t p-a-t f-t-t n-u-t b-a-tten b-z-tter m-w-tter t-a-tter f-z-ttest c-u-ttiug le " Qua ntities " and " Mutable" Si . 3. Variable " Quantities " and " Mutable " Syllables. a-pe wh-a-t #-e-t odd b-z-g o-dd c-w-b g-m-t n-o-t d-e-bt h-a-d d-i-g g-o-d d-u-b i-a-te g-o-t p-e-t m-a-d i-i-g n-o-d t-w-b b-a-sely d-o-tted b-e-tter s-a-dden g-z-ggle b-o-dy b-w-bble 1-a-tely c-o-tter p-e-ttish m-a-dder d-z-gger s-o-ft st-w-b. EXAMPLES OF " QUANTITY," IN PHRASES AND SENTENCES. 1. Long " Quantities " and " Indefinite " Syllables. The object in view in these exercises is to enable the students to trace distinctly the wide scope of " expression " afforded by " indefinite " syllables, for the full prolongation of all elements which embody the . sounds of passion and emotion. " Time," in elocution, is the opportunity of ef- fect, which inattention and rapidity throw away. Young readers in particular need much practice in this depart- ment, as they incline to haste and slight " expression." The mode of performing these exercises should be regulated with a view, at first, to the fullest effect of expressive sound. Afterwards the style may be reduced in effect, as the con- secutive reading of whole pieces may require. In vocal training, as in athletic exercise, the object of practice is, sometimes, to execute a given feat, with a view to its effect on habit, — to gain the power of putting forth, on requisite occasions, a maximum of effort, in an easy, graceful, and appropriate manner. Despair: " The rolling and the tolling of the bells ! The moaning and the groaning of the bells." QUANTITY. 181 Grief: " woe is me ! To have seen what I have seen, see what I see ! " Courage : " Strike, till the last arm'd foe expires ! Strike, for your altars and your fires 1 " " On they come ! and will ye quail f Leaden rain and iron hail Let their welcome be ! " Tenderness : " Home, home, sweet home ! " Awe : " The dead reign there alone." Sublimity : " Deep calleth unto deep" Delight : " .4A me ! how sweetf is love itself pos- When but love's shadows are so rich in joy / " Fear : " Hal, arn't thou horribly afeard ? " Horror : " 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." Earnest Entreaty : "Oh save me, Hubert, save me ! " Gloom : " Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on the wide, wide sea." Exultation : " I call to you with all my voice I " Grief: " Oh ! I have lost you all ! Parents, and home, and friends/' Courage : " Come one, come all ! — this rock shall fly From its firm base as soon as I." Awe : " My heart is awed within me, when I think Of the great miracle that still goes on In silence round me." Sublimity : " Hail ! holy Light ! offspring of Heaven first- born." Disdain : " None left but by submission ; and that word Disdam forbids me." 182 ORTHOPHONY. Shouting : " ' To arms ! to arms ! to arms ! ' they cry." Regret : " Ah / why will kings forget that they are men, And men that they are brethren ? " Delight : " The balmy breath of incense-breathing morn." "0 my soul's joy ! " Fear : " While the deep thunder, peal on peal, afar." Triumph : " lo ! they come, they come ! " Misery : " Wailing and woe, and grief, and fear, and pain." Horror : " He woke — to die — midst flame and smoke And shout and groan and sabre stroke " — Calling : " Awake ! arise ! or be forever fallen ! " Defiance : " Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy / " " I give thee, in thy teeth, the lie I " Denial: "The truth of his whole statement I do most peremptorily deny." Challenge : " Pale, trembling coward ! there I throw my gage." " Draw, villain, draw, and defend thy life ! " Exultation : " Poison, and Plague, and yelling Rage are fled ! " Adoration: "Air, earth, and sea, resound -His praise abroad ! " Melancholy : " Old Ocean's gray and melancholy waste " — Grandeur: "Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll ! Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain ! " Anger: "And dars't 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 Both well, no/" Pathos : " For I am poor and miserably old ! " Command: " Chieftains forego / The man who strikes makes me his foe." QUANTITY. 183 " Hold, hold ! for your Hves ! " " Hold, hold !• the general speaks to you ; — Hold, for shame ! " Earnest Entreaty : " Hear me ! oh ! hear me ! " Despair: " Farewell fear ! Farewell remorse." Madness : " Evil ! be thou my good ! " Pity : " Sickness, and want, and feeble, trembling age " — Distraction : " Blow, wind, and crack your cheeks ! rage ! blow; ! " Gloom : " Thou drear and howling wilderness." Vastness and Sublimity : " Boundless, endless, and sub- Kme ! " Self -reproach: " O fool ! fool ! fool ! " Commiseration : " Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart That 's sorry yet for thee / " Imprecation : " Strike her young bones, You taking airs, with lameness ! You nimble lightnings, dart your blending flames Into her scornful eyes ! " Accusation : " Nathan said unto David, ' Thow art the man ! ' " " All the treasons, for these eighteen years, Complotted and concocted in this land, Fetch from false Mowbray their chief spring and head." Joy : " Joy, joy I shout, shout aloud for ]oy ! " Fear: "With noiseless foot she treads the marble floor." Grief: " The Niobe of nations ! there she stands CMdless and crownless, in her voiceless woe ! " " Oh ! pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, That I am meek and gentle with these butch- ers 1" 184 ORTHOPHONY. Sorrow : " Ah ! lady, now full well I know What 't is to be an orphan boy / " Delight: " Of pwre now pwrer air Meets his approach," " Of bloom ethereal the light-footed Dews." 2. Short " Quantities " and " Immutable " Syllables. The object in view, in the following examples, is to ex- hibit the " explosive " mode of utterance, and to impart the power of concentrating and condensing expression into the shortest sounds. Instantaneous execution is, in these exam- ples, the point to be aimed at, — the voice to be charged with the utmost impetuous force of utterance, on every ex- pressive syllable ; and any approach to prolongation to be carefully avoided, as tending to weaken the proper effect. Taunting Scorn : " Letting I dare not wait upon I would, Like the poor cat i' the adage ! " Haste : " ' Neath our feet broke the brittle bright stubble like chaff." Wrath : " Back to thy punishment ! false fugitive." Maddened Resolve : " I '11 fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked !" Reproach : " Up ! sluggards, up ! " " Wicked, remorseless wretch I " " fickle fool ! " Indignation : " Thou impious mocker, hence ! " " Be ready, gods, with all your thunder- bolts ! D$sjh him in pieces ! " Terror: "Whence is that knocking*?" Command: " Sound, tickets! " Scorn : " You, wretch ! you could enjoy yourself, like a batcher's dog in the shambles, battening on garbage, while the slaughter of the brave went on around you." Contempt : " Thou tattered starveling ! " " The swaggering wpstart reels 1 w QUANTITY. 185 Mirth : " Come, and trs'p it, as ye go, On the light fantastic toe ! " Boasting : "I have seen the day, with my good biting falchion I would have made them skip ! " Threatening : " This day 's the birth of sorrows : this hour's work Will breed proscriptions ! " Scorn : " Faithful to whom ? to thy rebellious crew ! Army of fiends ! — fit body to fit head." Amazement: " What ! fifty of my followers at a clap ! " Revenge: "Batter their walls down, raze them to the ground ! " Shouting : " Victory ! victory ! Their columns give waj ! press them while they waver ; and the day is ours ! " Anger : " Thou mattering, malapert knave ! " Derision : " Ay ! spwtter away, thou roasting apple. Spit forth thy spleen ! 't will ease thy heart.'* Horror : " I could not say, Amen, When they did say, God bless us." " Amen Stwck in my throat ! " Warning : " Bitterly shall ye rue your folly ! " Indignation : " But this very day, An honest man, my neighbor, — there he stands, — Was struck, — struck like a dog, — by one who wore The badge of Ursini," — Remorse : " Whip me, ye devils ! From the possession of a sight like this." 3. Variable " Quantities " and " Mutable " Syllables. The design of the following exercises is to attract the student's attention to the partial change of " quantity," which emotion produces on " mutable " syllables, according 186 ORTHOPHONY. to the characteristic tone in each instance. True, natural, and full "expression" requires, for example, that awe, solemnity, reverence, and similar feelings should be uttered with a comparative prolongation of " quantity," when the structure of syllables will admit the change, and that hurry, agitation, alarm, and other moods of mind tending to the same effects should be expressed with a rapid enunciation, and " quantities " rendered as brief as possible. Awe: (L. q.) " The dread of something after death" Grief: {L. q.) " Come weep with me : past hope, past cure, past help ! " Derision : (L. q.) " Shall ! his popular shall I " Anguish: (L. q.) " O wretched state ! O bosom black as death!" Sympathy: "Alas, poor Yorick ! " Horror : " O horror ! horror I horror ! tongue nor heart cannot conceive nor name thee ! " 1. Impatience and Revenge. Macduff, after hearing of the massacre of his family by the order of Macbeth. — Shakespeare. But gentle Heaven, Impatience : (S. q.) Cut short all intermission : front to front, Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself ; Revenge: (L. q.) Within my sword's length set him ; — if he scape, Heaven forgive him too ! 2. Cheerfulness and Scorn. Cheerfulness: (S. q.) The banished duke, in the forest, to his friends. — ShaJcespeart, Now my co-mates, and brothers in exile, Hath not old custom made this life more sweet Than that of painted pomp ? QUANTITY. 187 Scorn : (L. q.) Satan to Ithuriel and Zephon. — Hilton. Know ye not me ? Ye knew me once no mate For you ; there sitting where ye durst not soar. 3. Reproachful Interrogation and Indignant Surprise. Reproachful Interrogation : (S. q.) Demosthenes to the Athenians. Will you forever, Athenians, do nothing but walk up and down the city, asking one another " What news ? " Indignant Surprise : (L. q.) " What news ! " — Can anything be more new than that a man of Macedonia should lord it over Athens, and give laws to all Greece ? 4. Surprise and Contempt. Surprise : (£. q.) Banquo, to Macbeth, on the vanishing of the Witches. — Shake- speare. The earth hath babbles, as the water has, And these are of them. Contempt : (L. q.) Ode for Saint Cecilia's Day. — Dryden. War, he sung, was toil and trouble, — Honor, but an empty babble. 5. Impatience and Awe. Impatience : (S. q.) Cassius, in the quarrel with Brutus. — Shakespeare. Ye gods ! ye gods \ must I endure all this ? 188 ORTHOPHONY. Awe : (L. q.) Lear, in the thunder-storm. — Shakespeare. Let the great gods, That keep this dreadful pother o'er our heads Find out their euemies now. 6. Tranquillity and Despair. Tranquillity: {M. q.) {Moderate.) Anonymous Lines. He in his robe of virtue wraps himself, And smiles at Fate's caprice ! Despair: (£. q.) " Fate ! do thy worst ! " Pauses. Time, when applied as a measure of speech, prescribes not only the length, or " quantity," of sounds, but also that of the pauses, or cessations of voice, which intervene be- tween sentences and between their parts ; as the intermis- sions of the voice are, virtually, though not nominally, con- stituents of " expression," whether we regard thought or feeling. Without distinct and appropriate pauses we cannot understand oral communication ; and without occasional im- pressive cessations of voice, there can be no true sympathy between speaker and hearer. Pauses, as classified in elocution, are of two kinds : 1st, those which express emotion ; 2d, those which modify sense, or meaning. Pausing, like utterance, is regulated by the character of the emotion, or the thought which is the subject of expression. The pauses used in the. " expresion " of all grave, deep, and solemn emotions, which incline to prolonged " quantities," are comparatively long, and thus correspond in character to the vocal sounds between which they occur and PAUSES. 189 Which they aid by their harmonious effect, as in the follow* ing instances : — " Night, 1 1| sable goddess, || from her ebon throne | In rayless majesty | now stretches forth | Her leaden sceptre | o'er a slumbering world. Silence || how dead I || || and darkness || how profound ! " Brisk, gay, and lively feelings are distinguished by brief " quantities," and corresponding short pauses, as in the fol- lowing example : — " Haste thee | Nymph, | and bring with thee | Mirth | and youthful jollity, | Quips and cranks | and wanton wiles, | Nods and becks | and wreathed smiles." The pauses of sense or meaning are of various lengths, according to the portions of speech which they are employed to separate ; thus, we observe the long pauses between the principal parts of a discourse, the somewhat shorter pauses at its subdivisions, the shorter still at paragraphs, and the shorter than even these at periods. Within a sentence it* self we can trace distinctly, in some instances, a principal pause at the middle, or the pause of compound clauses ; and perhaps an inferior one at or near the middle of each half, or the pause of simple clauses ; and, on still closer examina- tion, we find occasional shorter pauses in these subordinate portions, or the pause of phrases ; and slight pauses even between words. The following sentence will exemplify these gradations of pausing. " As we perceive the shadow | to have moved along the dial-plate, | but did not perceive its moving ; || and it ap- pears | that the grass has grown, | though nobody | ever saw it grow : || || so the advances we make in knowledge, | consist of minute successive steps ; || and we are unconscious of them | until we look back, | and thus become aware | of the distance | to which we have attained." 1 The marks indicate the value or length of the pauses from ||||, the longest within a sentence, to | the shortest. 190 ORTHOPHONY. Pauses have sometimes been classified as follows : 1st, Poetic and oratorical pauses, or those which express emo- tion, and which are sometimes termed " impassioned " or " impressive ; " 2d, " Rhetorical pauses," or those which divide & discourse into its heads and subdivisions, and those which the sense and structure of a sentence demand, when taken in conjunction, as in the prose example preceding. These pauses are addressed to the ear, and when they occur in a sentence may or may not be indicated to the eye by the ordinary punctuation ; 3d, Grammatical pauses, — the comma, semicolon, colon, and period, — which are founded on the syntactical structure and subdivision of sentences. These pauses are addressed to the eye, and are always indi- cated by the usual points ; 4th, Prosodial pauses, which are used only in verse. I. POETIC AND ORATORICAL PAUSES. These pauses of emotion, as they are sometimes termed, are produced for the most part by feelings of solemnity and pathos, or by the affectation of these, as in the style of in- tentional exaggeration and bombast for the effect of bur- lesque. Pauses of this description are sometimes superadded to the usual grammatical points, and sometimes are thrown in be- fore or after (sometimes both before and after) an impas- sioned expression or emphatic word in vivid passages of poetry or of declamatory prose, without regard to the gram- matical punctuation ; and their length depends entirely on the feeling expressed in the passage in which they occur ; they are long in solemn, and short in lively style. It be- comes a matter of great moment, in practice, to cultivate the habit of watching the effect of full and long pauses, in- troduced at appropriate places. Without these the most sol- emn passages of Scripture, and the poetry of Milton and of Y/oung, produce no effect, comparatively, on the mind ; while reading, aided by their " expressive silence," seems to bfl PAUSES. 191 inspired with an unlimited power over the sympathies of the soul. EXAMPLES OF POETIC AND ORATORICAL PAUSES. (''Impressive" Style.) 1. Sorrow. The Song of the Shirt. — Hood. Work! || Work! || Work ! || My labor never flags ; | And what are its wages? || A bed of straw, || A crust of bread || — and rags. || That shattered roof || — and this naked floor || — A table || — a broken chair || — And a wall so blank, | my shadow I thank For sometimes falling there ! 2. Sorrow. The Wreck. — Irving. The wreck had evidently drifted about for many months ; clusters of shell-fish had fastened about it, and long sea- weed flaunted at its sides. | But where, | thought I, | is the crew? || Their struggle has long been over: — || they have gone down amidst the roar of the tempest ; — || their bones lie whitening in the caverns of the deep. || Silence — || oblivion — || like the waves | have closed •ver them : | and no one can tell the story | of their end. 3. Deep Solemnity. The Deserted House. — Tennyson. (The lifeless body likened to a deserted house.) Life and Thought have gone away | Side by side, | Leaving door 1 and windows 2 wide : || — Careless tenants they ! » Tke mouth. 2 The eya. 192 OETHOPHONT. All within is dark as night : || In the windows is no light ; || And no murmur at the door, So frequent on its hinge before. || Close the door, || the shutters close; || Or through the windows we shall see The nakedness, | and vacancy | Of the dark | deserted | house. || Come away : |] no more of mirth Is here, | or merry-making sound. | The house was builded of the earth, | And shall fall again to ground. || Come away : || for Life and Thought Here no longer dwell ; || But in a city glorious, | — A great and distant city, | — have bought A mansion incorruptible. | — Would they could have stayed with us ! 4. Solemnity. Time's Revenges. — Browning. There may be Heaven ; | there must be Hell ; | Meantime there is our Earth here — || || well ! 5. Tenderness and Pride. Incident op the French Camp. — Browning. The chiefs eye flashed ; but presently Softened itself, as sheathes A film the mother eagle's eye When her bruised eaglet breathes : 44 You 're wounded ! " || " Nay," | his soldier's pride Touched to the quick, he said : PAUSES. 193 " I'm killed, Sire ! " || And, his chief beside, | Smiling | the boy | fell | dead. 6. Melancholy. Macbeth's Soliloquy. — Shakespeare. To-morrow, || and to-morrow, || and to-morrow, [| Creeps in this petty pace | from day to day, | To the last syllable of recorded time ; || And all our yesterdays have lighted fools | The way to dusty death. || Out, out, brief candle! || Life 's but a walking shadow, || — a poor player, || That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, | And then | is heard | no more. 7. Profound Solemnity and Awe. Hamlet's Presentiment op Death. — Shakespeare. Ham. Thou wouldst not think how ill | all 's here about my heart ; || but it is no matter. Hora. Nay, good my lord, — Ham. It is but foolery ; || but it is such a kind of gain- giving as would | perhaps | trouble a woman. Hora. If your mind dislike anything, obey it ; I will forestall their repair hither, and say you are not fit. Ham. Not a whit ; | we defy augury : | there is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. || || If it be now, | 'tis not to come ; || || if it be not to come, | it will be now ; || if it be not now, | yet it will come; || || the readiness is all. Since no man knows aught of what he leaves, what is 't to leave betimes ? || || Let be. 8. Sententious Thought. Fall of Rome. — Byron. While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand ; ) When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; || And when Rome falls -? || || the world ! — 13 194 ORTHOPHONY. 9. Horror. Burke's description of the desolation effected by Hyder An and his son. — BurJce. So completely did these masters in their art, Hyder Ali, and his more ferocious son, absolve themselves of their impi- ous vow, that when the British armies traversed, as they did, the Carnatic, for hundreds of miles, in all directions, — through the whole line of their march, | they did not see one man, | not one woman, [| not one child, || || not one four- footed "beast || of any description whatever. One | dead | uniform | silence || reigned | over the whole region. 10. Oratorical Interrogation. Brutus' s harangue to the people, after the assassination of CLesar. — Shakespeare. Who's here so base that would be a bondman? — 1| If any, speak ; || for him have I offended. || | Who 's here so rude, that would not be a Roman ? — || If any, speak ; || for him have I offended. || || Who 's here so vile, that will not love his country? — 1| If any, speak; || for him have I offended. — || || I pause for a reply. ii. "rhetorical" pauses. These are of great practical utility in reading ; as, be- sides prescribing the indispensable long pauses at heads of discourse and paragraphs, they direct the voice to many cessations of utterance, which are not indicated by the usual punctuation of sentences. Their chief use is to supply the deficiency arising from the inadequacy of points, or gram- matical punctuation, to mark all the places at which a pause necessarily occurs in reading. The " rhetorical " pauses often coincide with the usual points ; but they apply, also, in many cases in which no point is used. The common grammatical punctuation (in- dicated by the comma, semicolon, colon, and period) coin PAUSES. 195 tides, in most instances, with the cessations of voice which meaning requires. But this is not always the case ; as they sometimes occur where the syntax of a sentence is inter- rupted or terminated, for the time, but where the sense re- quires no pause. " Rhetorical " pauses regard the sense of a sentence, and are intended for the ear : grammatical punctuation refers to the syntactical structure of a sentence, and is addressed to the eye. The " rhetorical " pauses are of indefinite length, and always vary, as to their duration, with the sentiment and the utterance, as brisk and ani- mated, or slow and grave. Grammatical pauses have a fixed and uniform value, as representing the component parts of a sentence as such, and, in reading aloud, can seldom be appropriately used, as sometimes directed, by a process of counting, — " one, at a comma ; two, at a semi- colon ; " etc., since the feelings which are expressed by the sentence, may, in one part of it, be lively and rapid, and in another solemn and slow ; as in the following instance. " Your house | is finished, | sir, | at last, A narrower house, || [| a house of clay." EXAMPLES OF THE "RHETORICAL" PAUSE. 1. Between Phrases. Phrases commencing with a Preposition, 1. " Depart to the house which has | in this city | been prepared | for thy residence." 2. " My heart was wounded | with the arrow of affliction, and my eyes became dim | with sorrow." 3. " To increase the austerity of my life, I frequently watched all night, sitting at the entrance of the cave | with my face to the east, resigning myself to the secret influ- ences of the Prophet." 4 " When I awaked, I laid my forehead upon the ground, and blessed the Prophet | for the instruction of the morn- ing." 196 ORTHOPHONY. 5. " The king, whose doubts were now removed, looked up | with a smile that communicated the joy of his mind." Phrases commencing with an Adverb. 1. " He has passed to that world | where the weary are at rest." 2. " The voice of Heaven summons you in these hours | when the leaves fall, and the winter is gathering." 3. " Be entreated to make the decisive effort | ere it be too late." 4. " He continued steadfast in his purpose | while others wavered." Phrases commencing with a Conjunction. 1. "It is more blessed to give | than to receive." 2. " Yet I know not | whether my danger is a reality | or a dream." 3. " In the spirit of sympathy, we call on rocks | and streams | and forests |] to witness | and share our emo- tions." 4. " The same sun which now marks the autumn of the year, will again arise in his brightness, and bring along with him the promise of the spring | and all the magnificence of summer." 5. " The voice of despair now whispers | that all exer- tion is in vain." 6. " We are often deceived | because we are willing to be deceived." 2. Between Words. The Nominative and the Verb. 1. " The breeze | died away, as the sun | sank behind the hills." 2. " The smoke | rises not through the trees : for the honors of the grove | are fallen." 3. " Weeping | may endure for a night ; but joy J cometb in the morning." MOVEMENT. 197 Ellipsis. " Add to your faith virtue ; and to virtue | knowledge ; and to knowledge | temperance ; and to temperance | pa- tience." III. GRAMMATICAL PAUSES. The due observance of the pauses indicated by grammati- cal punctuation is one of the useful and effectual means of arresting the attention of young learners, and accustoming them to mark distinctly the component portions of a sen- tence. But the common fauk of school reading, and some- times of professional exercises, — a uniform and mechanical style, — is, in part, owing to exact compliance with the di- rection to pause, invariably, for a given time at each point. The general rule of elocution, then, as regards the comma, semicolon, and colon, if we use them as guides to the voice, must be, to follow them only so far as they coincide with the meaning, and to lengthen or shorten, or omit the pauses cor- responding to them, as the sentiment or emotion expressed in a sentence may require, in slow or in lively utterance ; but especially to remember that there may be a long pause of feeling where no grammatical point occurs. " Movement." The term " movement," for which the word " rate " is sometimes substituted, has the same application in elocution as in music ; and while " quantity " regards single sounds as long or short, " movement " regards successive or consecutive sounds as fast or slow. It unites, too, with " quantity " in regulating the length of pauses ; as we find that slow " move- ment," as well as long " quantity," requires long pauses ; and that brisk, or rapid " movement," and brief " quantity," equally require short pauses. " Movement," in elocution, is not measured with the com- parative exactness implied in the musical terms, adagio, an* 198 ORTHOPHONY. dante, mezzo, vivace, allegro, presto, etc. It approaches, however, to a considerable degree of definiteness in its use of the designations, " slowest," or " very slow ; " " slow ; " " moderate; " " lively ; " " brisk," or « quick; " and " rapid," " quickest," or " very quick." The " slowest," or " very slow movement," is exemplified in the expression of the deepest emotions of the soul ; as hor- ror, awe, profound reverence and solemnity and adoration. The "slow movement" characterizes the utterance of gloom, melancholy, grief, pathos, sublimity, solemnity and reverence, in their usual form, profound repose, grandeur, majesty, vastness, power, and splendor. " Moderate move- ment " is the usual rate of utterance in unimpassioned lan- guage. It belongs to common narration and description, and to didactic thought. The rhetorical modes of style to which it is applicable are those which are denominated the " dry," the " plain," and the " neat." " Lively movement " implies emotion in that gentle form which does not exceed liveliness, or animation. The lower degrees of all vivid feeling are expressed by this style of " movement." A slight degree of joy is usually the under-current of its effect. " Quick " or " brisk movement " is characteristic of gay, exhilarated, and glad emotion : the full feeling of joy is implied in its " ex- pression." It gives utterance to all playful, humorous, and mirthful moods. It sometimes, on the other hand, gives its characteristic effect to fear. The "movement " designated as " quickest," " very quick," or " rapid," is that of haste, hurry, alarm, confusion, and fear, when rising to terror, and highly-wrought lyric passages. Utterance, to be natural and effective, must have the gen- uine expression of its appropriate " movement." Solemnity cannot exist, to the ear, without slowness, nor gayety without briskness of utterance, gravity without sedate style, nor ani- mation without a lively " movement." The three principal faults of " movement," which are ex« emplified in the common practice of reading, are uniform MOVEMENT. 199 slowness, or, perhaps, a drawling style ; habitual rapidity, which prevents all deep and impressive effect, and, perhaps, causes indistinctness of enunciation ; a uniform " moderate " " movement," which never yields to any natural influence of emotion, — so as to become appropriately expressive, and pass from grave to gay, or the reverse, by a change in the gait of the voice, — but utters, automaton-like, all feelings in the same unmeaning and mechanical style ; the voice marching on, with one uniform measured step, over all va- rieties of surface, as regards the tenor of language and the subject. EXAMPLES OF "MOVEMENT." I. " SLOWEST MOVEMENT." 1. Amazement, Awe, and Horror. (" Aspirated Pectoral Quality: " " Suppressed " Force: "Median Stress : " "Lowest" Pitch: Prevalent " Monotone : " Extremely Lon« Pauses. \ Darkness. — Byron. 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 : 200 ORTHOPHONY. The winds were withered in the stagnant air ; And the clouds perished : Darkness had no need Of aid from them, — She was the universe. 2. Profound Meditation, Rhyme of the Duchess May. — Mrs. Browning. And I said in underbreath, all our life is mixed with death, — And who knoweth which is best? And I smiled to think God's greatness flowed around our incompleteness, — Round our restlessness, His rest. II. " SLOW MOVEMENT." 1. Sublimity, Majesty, and Power. ("Expulsive Orotund : " ' : Impassioned " Force : " Radical and Median Stress:" "Low "Pitch: Prevalent " Downward Slide : " Occasional ,; Monotone:" Long Pauses.) From David's Psalm of Praise, on his deliverance from his ENEMIES. Then the earth shook and trembled : the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils ; and fire out of his mouth devoured : coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens, also, and came down ; and darkness was under his feet ; and he rode upon a cherub, and did fly ; and he was seen upon the wings of the wind ; and he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies. The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice ; and he sent out arrows and scat- tered them ; lightning, and discomfited them. And the channels of the sea appeared ; the foundations of the world were discovered at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. MOVEMENT. 201 2. Pathos and Gloom. Milton's allusion to his loss of sight. Seasons return : But not to me returns Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn, Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose, Or flocks or herds or human face divine ; But cloud, instead, and ever during dark Surround me, from the cheerful ways of men Cut off, and, for the book of knowledge fair, Presented with a universal blank Of nature's works, to me expunged and razed, And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out ! 3. Deep Tranquillity. The Sleep. — Mrs. Browning. And friends ! — dear friends ! — when it shall be That this low breath is gone from me, And round my bier ye come to weep — Let one, most loving of you all, Say : " Not a tear must o'er her fall, — He giveth his beloved sleep ! " III. "MODERATE MOVEMENT." 1. Narrative Style. j" Pure Tone : " " Moderate " Force : " Unimpassioned Radical Stress? " "Middle" Pitch: Varied "Slides:" Moderate Pauses.) Destruction of Carthage. — Anonymous. The city and republic of Carthage were destroyed by the termination of the third Punic war, about one hundred and fifty years before Christ. The city was in flames during seventeen days ; and the news of its destruction caused the greatest joy at Rome. The Roman senate immediately appointed commissioners, not only to raze the walls of Car- 202 ORTHOPHONY. thage, but even to demolish and burn the very materials of which they were made ; and, in a few days, that city, which had once been the seat of commerce, the model of magnifi- cence, the common storehouse of the wealth of nations, and one of the most powerful states in the world, left behind no trace of its splendor, of its power, or even of its existence. The history of Carthage is one of the many proofs that we have of the transient nature of worldly glory ; for, of all her grandeur, not a wreck remains. Her own walls, like the calm ocean, that conceals forever the riches hid in its un- searchable abyss, now obscure all her magnificence. IV. "ANIMATED, OR LIVELY MOVEMENT." 1. Narrative Style. ("Pure Tone: " " Moderate " Force: " Unimpassioned Radical Stress: " " Middle Pitch : " Varied " Slides : " Short Pauses. ) Successive Decline of Popular Fallacies. — Goldsmith. I have lived to see generals who once had crowds halloo- ing after them wherever they went, who were bepraised by newspapers and magazines, — those echoes of the voice of the vulgar ; and yet they have long sunk into merited ob- scurity, with scarce even an epitaph left to flatter. A few years ago, the herring-fishery employed all Grub Street : it was the topic in every coffee-house, and the burden of every ballad. We were to drag up oceans of gold from the bot- tom of the sea : we were to supply all Europe with her- rings, upon our own terms. At present we hear no more of all this. We have fished up very little gold that I can learn, nor do we furnish the world with herrings, as was expected. Let us wait but a few years longer, and we shall find all our expectations a herring-fishery. MOVEMENT. 203 V. " BRISK, GAT, OR QUICK MOVEMENT." 1. Alarm. Isobel's Child. — Mrs. Browning. The large white owl that with age is blind, That hath sat for years in the old tree hollow, Is carried away in a gust of wind ! His wings could bear him not so fast As he goeth now the lattice past, — He is borne by the winds ! the rains do follow ! His white wings to the blast out-flowing, He hooteth in going, — And, in the lightnings, coldly glitter His round, unblinking eyes ! 2. Haste, Alarm. HOW THEY BROUGHT THE GOOD NEWS. — Browning. I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he ; I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three ; " Good speed ! " cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew ; " Speed ! " echoed the wall to us galloping through ; Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest, And into the midnight we galloped abreast. Not a word to each other ; we kept the great pace Neck by neck, stride by stride, never changing our place ; I turned in my saddle and made its girths tight, Then shortened each stirrup, and set the pique right, Rebuckled the cheek-strap, chained slacker the bit, Nor galloped less steadily Roland a whit. So we were left galloping, Joris and I, Past Looz and past Tongres, no cloud in the sky ; The broad sun above laughed a pitiless laugh, 'Neath our feet broke the brittle bright stubble like chaff, 204 ORTHOPHONY. Till over by Dalhem a dome-spire sprang white, And " Gallop," gasped Joris, " for Aix is in sight ! " 3. Playful and Humorous Description, (Mirth and Exhilaration. — " Pure Tone : " " Moderate " Force: " Radl« cal Stress: " " High " Pitch: " Monotone : " Extremely Short Pauses.) Carnival Scenes in Venice. — Byron. And gayety on restless tiptoe hovers, Giggling with all the gallants who beset her ; And there are songs and quavers, roaring, humming, Guitars, and every other sort of strumming. And there are dresses, splendid, but fantastical, Masks of all times and nations, Turks and Jews, And harlequins and clowns, with feats gymnastical, Greeks, Romans, Yankee-doodles, and Hindoos. 4. Anger, Fierce and Stubborn Resolve. ("Aspirated Quality:" Intensely "Impassioned" Force: "Explosive Radical and Vanishing Stress:" "High" Pitch: Downward "Slide" of "Fifth" and "Octave." Extremely Short Pauses. ) COKIOLANUS, MADDENED AGAINST THE ROMAN POPULACE. — ShaJceS' peare. Let them pull all about mine ears ; present me Death on the wheel, or at wild horses' heels ; Or pile ten hills on the Tarpeian rock, That the precipitation might down stretch Below the beam of sight ; yet will I still Be thus to them. 5. Descriptive Style. [Haste, Fear, Alarm. — " Explosive Orotund : " " Impassioned " Force: "Radical Stress:" " High" Pitch: Extremely Short Pauses.) Repulse of the Archers : — Battle of Beal an Dhuine. — Scott Forth from the pass in tumult driven, Like chaff before the winds of heaven, The archery appear ; MOVEMENT. 205 For life, for life their flight they ply While shriek and shout and battle cry, And plaids and bonnets waving high, And broadswords flashing to the sky, Are maddening in their rear. VI. " RAPID, OR QUICKEST MOVEMENT." 1. Lyric Style. 'Aspirated Quality:" "Impassioned" Force:" "Radical Stress: n "High" Pitch: Prevalent "Monotone:" Extremely Short Pauses. ) Mazeppa, bound on the wild horse. — Byron. Away ! — away ! — 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 checkered 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, Come 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. 206 ORTHOPHONY. 2. Furious Haste, Miss Kilmansegg. — Hood. " Batter her ! shatter her ! Throw and scatter her ! " Shouts each stony-hearted clatterer — " Dash at the heavy Dover ! Spill her ! kill her ! tear and tatter her ! Smash her ! Crash her ! " (the stones did flatter her !) " Kick her brains out ! let her blood spatter her ! Roll her over and over ! " " Transition " in Movement. 1. From Eagerness to Sorrow, then to Despair, (From "Quick" to "Slow," then "Slowest.") Romeo and Balthasar. — Shakespeare. Eagerness, (" Quick.") Rom. How now, Balthasar? Dost thou not bring me letters from the friar ? How doth my lady ? Is my father well ? How doth my Juliet ? That I ask again ; For nothing can be ill, if she be well. Sorrow, (" Slow.") Bal. Then she is well, and nothing can be ill. Her body sleeps in Capel's monument, And her immortal part with angels lives ; I saw her laid low in her kindred's vault, And presently took post to tell it you ; Oh, pardon me for bringing these ill news, Since you did leave it for my office, sir. Despair. (" Slowest.") Bom. Is it even so ? Then I defy you, stars ! MOVEMENT. 207 2. Alarm. (From "Quick" to "Slow," returning to "Quick.") On which, without pause, up the telegraph-line Swept smoothly the next news from Gaeta : — " Shot Tell his mother." Grief. (" Slow.") Ah, ah, " his," " their " mother, — not " mine." No voice says " My mother " again to me. Eagerness. (" Quick.") What! You think Guido forgot ? 3. Grief, Melancholy, Fury. (From "Slow" to "Slowest," then to "Quick.") Romeo and Benvolio. Shakespeare. Grief. ("Slow.") Ben. O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio 's dead ; That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds, "Which too untimely here did scorn the earthy Melancholy. (" Slowest.") Rom. This day's black fate on more days doth depend ; This but begins the woe, others must end. Fury. (" Quick.") Ben. Here comes the furious Tybalt back again. Rom. Alive ! in triumph ! and Mercutio slain I Away to heaven, respective lenity, And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now ! — Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again, That late thou gav'st me ; for Mercutio's soul Is but a little way above our heads, Staying for thine to keep him company ; Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him. 208 ORTHOPHONY. Accent. i. " syllabic " accent. The word " accent " has been usually considered as re- stricted to the designation of the comparative force of sylla- bles as they occur in the pronunciation of words. Dr. Rush, however, has, by the accustomed closeness and fidelity of his analysis, distinctly shown that force is but one constituent or form of accent ; and that besides this mere comparative loudness there are two other constituents of accent. The modes of accent are determined as follows: 1st, " Immutable " syllables, — those which are constituted by fixed " short quantities," are accented by " radical stress," " impassioned," " explosive," or " unimpassioned," as the case may be, from the character of the utterance which marks the passage or the word in which such a syllable oc- curs. Thus, the word "victory" although consisting of three short syllables, has a decided and distinct accent on its first syllable, by means of " radical stress," whether we pro- nounce the word with impassioned " expression," or merely according to the rule of orthoepical accent. 2d. " Mutable " syllables, — those which consist of " va- riable quantities," or such as admit of comparative prolonga- tion, may be accented by merely a louder sound, or greater force, pervading the given syllable, as compared with the others of the same word. Thus the word " adjutant " hav- ing a sufficient prolongation on its first a, to render the u radical stress " unnecessary, as a distinction, may have its accent marked merely by comparative loudness of the " con- crete " ad-, although in " impassioned " utterance it may be marked, also in part, by " radical stress," and a degree of prolongation. 3d. "Indefinite" syllables, or those which are constituted by prolonged " quantity," may be accented by their comparative long duration. The distinctive element of such syllables being " time,'* Dr. Rush has designated them as possessing " temporal * ACCENT. 209 accent. The o in the word " holy " is an instance. Sylla- bles of this description may of course be executed with the additional accent arising from " loud concrete ; " and, in " impassioned " utterance, they may be further distinguished by abrupt " radical stress." But the " loud concrete " and " temporal accent " cannot be exhibited on " immutable " syllables. The effect of all these modes of accent is to impart promi- nence and impressiveness of sound to one syllable in most words, though, in some, to two syllables. A syllable, in orthoepy, consists properly of an entire " concrete," or the constituent radical and vanishing move- ment, requisite to constitute a sound in speech, as distin- guished from one in music. Instances may be found in the simple element a in at ; in the compound a in ale ; in the consecutive "tonic" and " subtonic" a and 11 in all ; in the consecutive " tonic and subtonics " of the word old ; or in the sequence of " aspiration," u tonic," " subtonic," and " atonic," in the word halt. Correct accent is indispensable in reading and speaking, not merely as a convenience of intelligible expression, and as a result of competent education, but as an indication of intelligence and of taste, in regard to language, and as an element of all distinct and spirited expression. The ac- cented syllable of every expressive word becomes the seat of life in utterance ; and there can be no surer way to ren- der the exercise of reading unmeaning and uninteresting, than to indulge the three prevalent faults of slighting the accent of words, unduly prolonging and forcing it, and dis- tributing its effect over several syllables of a word, instead of confining it to one. The single word "promotion" may suffice as an example of these faults. In the characteristic local accent of New England, the frequent use of the " wave," or " circumflex," and of consequent prolongation of sound, presents the word to the ear in the form of two separate words, or of system- 14 210 ORTHOPHONY. atic and formal syllabication in one ; thus, "pro motion" or "pro-motion." The current usage of the Middle States, on the other hand, obscures the first o of the word, so as to .re- duce it nearly to a short u, and sinks the last o entirely. In this case the word is pronounced prumoshn. II. " RHYTHMICAL " ACCENT. The subject of accent is now to be considered in con- nection, not with single words, but the sequence of phrases, in the utterance of successive sentences, and as constituting an important part of the study of "time " applied to the cur- rent of the voice, in the continuous exercises of speech, reading, or recitation. The first or lowest degree of musical accent is called " rhythm ;" the term, by its derivation, implying a com- parison between the continuous flow of the voice in speech, and the motion of a stream, as contrasted with the still water of a lake. The voice, in the enunciation of a single sound or word, is comparatively stationary : in the utter- ance of successive sounds, it has something like progressive motion. This motion may be varied and irregular : or it may be uniform and measured ; as the stream, when flow- ing over an uneven and rocky bed, may exhibit all vari- eties of motion, but when gliding along a smooth channel, may keep a regular rate of time, that may be exactly de- fined. The " movement " of the voice in conversation, on light or ordinary subjects, is variable and irregular ; on subjects of greater moment it is more even and sedate ; and in the expression of deep and energetic sentiment it becomes still more regular, and perhaps, to a certain degree, measured, in its rate of " movement." Reading is a mode of voice yet more distinctly marked in " movement," by its partial uniformity of utterance ; and declamation advances an- other degree, still, in " rhythm," by its deliberate and for- mal succession of sound. The reading or recitation oi RHYTHM. 211 poetry carries the "movement" to its highest degree of fixed and well marked " rhythm," as determined by the structure of verse, which derives its pleasing effect to the ear from the exact observance of a continued uniform, or correspondent "rhythm." The word "metre," or "meas- ure," has accordingly its appropriate application to this species of "movement." As " time " includes the duration of pauses as well as of " quantities " and of " movement," it necessarily compre* hends under " rhythm " the exact proportion of pauses to sound, in the rate of utterance, when regulated by " rhyth- mical" accent. A part of the effect of "rhythm " on the ear must arise, therefore, from the " time " of regularly recurring and exactly proportioned pauses. The full def- inition of " rhythm " would, accordingly, be the effect of " time," in regularly returning " quantity," accent, and pause, in the successive sounds of the voice. In the usual forms of familiar prose writing, little regard is paid to the placing of words, as respects the effect of ac- cent. Some writers, however, are distinguished by a style which is more or less measured and rhythmical to the ear. The stately and formal style of oratorical declamation sometimes assumes this shape, as does also the language of sublime, pathetic, and beautiful description. Some writers, by high excellence of natural or of cultivated ear, succeed in imparting an exquisite but unobtrusive melody to their sentences, which forms one of the principal attractions of their style. We have instances of these various effects of the selection and arrangement of words, in the majestic and measured declamation of Chatham, or in the lofty and magnificent strains of Scripture. The cadences of Ossian exemplify, sometimes, the power and beauty of metrical ar- rangement, and sometimes the cloying effect of its too fre- quent and uniform recurrence. Every cultivated ear is familiar with the chaste and pleasing turn of the sentences of Addison, the easy flow of Goldsmith's, the ambitious 212 ORTHOPHONY. swell of those of Johnson, the broken and capricious phrases of Sterne, the noble harmony of Burke, the abrupt- ness of Swift, and the graceful smoothness of Irving. The characteristic melody of each of these authors is owing, as we find, on analysis, to more or less attention paid to the effect of " rhythmical " accent : it is, in fact, a species even of " metre " itself, or at least a close ap- proach to it. Examined in detail, it will usually be found to consist in a skilful avoiding of " abrupt elements," in securing the coincidence of emphasis with " mutable " and " indefinite quantities," but, more particularly, an exact timing of the recurrence of accents at the end of clauses, and in the cadence of sentences ; as these places are pecul- iarly adapted to sounds intended for effect on the ear, whether the design of the writer is to render them prom- inent and striking, or subdued and quiet. " Rhythm," then, the lowest gradation of " metrical move- ment," exists in prose as well as poetry ; and good reading preserves it distinctly to the ear. The notation of " rhythm " is founded on the theory of Steele, that utterance, in speech and in reading, may, like music, be divided into regular portions by accent, and in- dicated by " bars," as in music, when written or printed ; each " bar " commencing with an accented syllable, or an equivalent pause. " Rhythm," however, it' must be remembered, in the practice of all such exercises as the following, is like every other requisite of elocution, — an aid and an ornament, within due limits of effect, but a deformity when rendered prominent and obtrusive. RHYTHM. 213 EXAMPLES OF "RHYTHM." 1. Declamatory Style. From a Sermon of Robert Hall. It re- | mains with | you then | *J 1 to de- | cide | whether that | freedom | *l at | whose | voice | *l the | kingdoms of | Europe | *1 a- | woke from the | sleep of | ages, [ *1 to | run a ca- | reer of | virtuous | 2 emu- | lation | *l in | everything | great and | good ; | *1 *l | *1 the | freedom | *1 which dis- | pelled the | mists of | 2 super- | stition, | *1 and in- | vitedthe J nations | *l to be- | hold their ] God ; | *l *l | *l whose | magic | touch *l | kindled the | rays of | genius, | *l the en- | thusiasm of | poetry, | *! and the j flame of | eloquence ; | *l *l | *l the | freedom | *l which j poured into our | lap *l | opulence | *l and | arts, | *1 *l | *! and em- | bellished | life | *l within- | numerable | 2 msti- | tutions | *l and im- | provements, | *l *1 | *1 till it be- | came a | theatre of | wonders ; | *1 *l | *1 it is f or | you | *l to de- | cide- *1 | *1 whether | this | freedom | *l shall | yet sur- | vive, | *l or | perish | *! for- | ever. 2. Poetic Expression in Prose. Passages of Scripture introduced in the Burial Service. | " I | *l am the | 2 Resur- | rection | *l and the | life, | *l *l | *l saith the | Lord ; | *I *l | he that be- | lieveth in j me | *l *l | *1 though he were | dead, | *l *l | yet shall he | live : | *l *1 | *1 aDd | whoso- | ever | liveth, | *1 and be- | lieveth | in me, | *l shall | never | die. | *l *1 | *I *1 | *1 I | know | *l that my Re- | deemer | liveth, | *l *l | and that he shall | stand | *1 at the | latter | day | *l upon the | earth, 1*1*11*1 and though | worms de- | stroy this | body, | *1*1 | yet in my | flesh | *1 shall I | see |. God." j *l*l | *1*1 | 1 "Rhythmical" pause. 2 A "secondary" instead of the usual "primary" accent. 214 ORTHOPHONY. 3. Sentiment, in Didactic Style. Goldsmith. Writers | *l of | every | age | *l have en- | deavored to | show | *l that | pleasure | *l is in | us, | *l and | not in the | objects 1*1*11 offered | *l for our a- | musement. | *! M | *1*l | *1 If the | soul be | happily dis- | posed, | *M | everything | *l be- | comes | capable | *l of af- | fording | enter- | tainment ; | *I *I | *I and dis- | tress | *1 will almost | want a | name. | *l *l | *1 *l | Every oc- | currence | *l *l I passes in re- | view | *l like the | figures | *1 of a pro- | cession ; | *I *I | some | *l may be | awkward, | • *1 *1 | oth- ers | *l ill | dressed ; | *l but | none but a | fool | *l is, for | this, | *1 en- | raged with the | master of the | ceremonies. [ *l *l | *1 *I | 4. Splendor and Pathos. Bukke's description of Marie Antoinette. It is | now, *I | sixteen or | seventeen | years | *I since I | saw the | Queen of | France, *1 | then the | Dauphiness, | *l at Yer- | sailles : *! | *l *l | *l and | surely | never | lighted on this | orb, *1 | *1 which she | hardly | seemed to | touch, *l | *l a | more de- | lightful | vision. | *l *l | *l *| | *l I | saw her | just a- | bove the ho- | rizon, | *l *l | dec- orating | *l and | cheering | *l the | elevated | sphere | *l she | just be- | gan to | move in : | *l *l | glittering, | *l like the | morning | star : | *1 *l | full of | life, | *l and | splen- dor, | M and | joy. *l | *1 M | M M | Oh! | what a | revo- | lution! | *M | *| and | what a | heart | *l must I | have, | *l to con- | template | M with- j out e- | motion, | *M \ that ele- | vation | *1 and | that j fall. *l | *1M | *I*1 | " 5. Oratorical Declamation. Lord Chatham. I | cannot, | *l my | lords, *l | *I I | will not, | join | *l in con- | gratu- | lation | *1 on mis- | fortune | *l and dis- j grace. | *I*I | *M | This, | *1 my | lords,*! | *! is a | peril RHYTHM. 215 ous I M and tre- | mendous | moment ; | MM | M it is | not a | time for | adu- | lation: | MM | M the | smoothness of | flattery | MM | cannot | save us | M in this | Tugged and j awful | crisis. | MM | MM | M It is | now | necessary | M to in- | struct the | throne | M in the | language of | truth. | MM | MM | M We | must, M | M if | possible, | M dis- | pel the de- | lusion and | darkness | *£ which en- | velope it ; | MM | M and dis- | play, M | M in its | full | danger | M and | genuine | colors, | M the | ruin | M which is | brought to our | doors. | MM | MM | 6. Sentiment, in Didactic Style. Addison. I | know but | one | way | M of | forti- | fying my | soul | M a- | gainst | gloomy | presages and | terrors of | mind ; | MM | M and | that is, | M by se- | curing to my- | self M | M the | friendship and pro- | tection | M of | that | Being | M who dis- | poses of e- | vents, | M and |. governs fu- | turity. | MM | MM | He M | sees,M | M at | one | view, | M the | whole | thread of my ex- | istence, | MM | M not | only | that | part of it | which I have al- | ready | passed | through, | M but | that | M which runs | forward | M into | all the | depths | M of e- | ternity. | MM | MM | M When I | lay me | down to | sleep, | M I recom- | mend myself | M to | his | care ; | MM | M when I a- ( wake, | M I | give myself | up to | his di- | rection. | MM | MM | M Amidst | all the | evils that | threaten me, | I will look | up to | him for j help ; | MM | M and | question not | M but he will | either a- | vert them, | M or | turn them | to my ad- | van- tage. | MM | MM | M Though I | know | neither the | time nor the | manner | M of the | death | I am to | die, | M I | am not at | all so- | licitous a- | bout it ; | MM | M be- | cause I am | sure | M that | he | knows them | both, | MM | M and that he | will not | fail to | comfort [ M and sup- | port me M | under them. | MM | MM | 216 ORTHOPHONY. 7. Sentiment, in Didactic Style. Johnson. Kindness | *1 is pre- | served by a | constant re- | cipro* | cation of [^benefits | *l or | interchange of | pleasures ; | *M | *1 but | such | benefits | only | can be be- | stowed, 1*1 as | others f.^I are | capable of re- | ceiving, | M and | such | pleasures im- | parted, | *1 as | others | *1 are | qualified to en- | joy. | *M | *M | *l By | thisde- | scent from the | pinnacles of | art | *1 no | honor J *1 will be | lost ; | *M | *| for the | conde- | scen- sions of | learning | *»| are | always | over- | paid | *1 by | gratitude. | *l*l | *i*l | *| An | elevated | genius | *l em- | ployed in | little | things, | *l ap- | pears, | *1 to | use the j simile of Lon- | ginus, | *l like the | sun | *l in his | even- ing | decli- | nation ; | *M | *1 he re- | mits his | splendor, | *1 but re- | tains his | magnitude ; | *M | *| and [ pleases | more, | *l though he | dazzles | less. | *M | *M | The difference of effect in " rhythmical accent," it will be perceived, on closely examining the style of the preced- ing passages, is greatly dependent on the number of sylla- bles included within each " bar," and not less on the pauses, which are also included in the " rhythm," and therefore in- closed within the bars, since the " time " of the voice neces- sarily includes its rests and intermissions, as well as its sounds. " Rhythm " depends, further, on the position of the accented syllable which takes on the emphasis of a phrase, as well as on the different species of accent, as " radical," " concrete," or " temporal." Compare, particu- larly, the contents of the "bars" in the last few lines of the last two examples. They will be found to embody the expressive genius of each author, and " clothe his thought in fitting sound." The meek and quiet spirit of Addison 6reathes in the plain, conversational, and comparatively uniform style of " rhythm," in the close of the paragraph; quoted from him ; and the noble soul, but mechanical ear, oi METRE. 217 Johnson are equally expressed in the sweeping " rhythm '* of " quantity " and pause, and measured antiphony in the cadence of the last sentence extracted from the " Rambler." The limits of an elementary work like the present will not admit the details of analysis by which the peculiar character of each of the authors quoted might be verified by his peculiar " rhythm." But in the statements already made on " quantity," " pause," " movement," " accent," and " rhythm," the implements of analysis have been furnished, and the exercise of applying them may be left to the teacher and the student. III. PROSODIAL ACCENT, OR "METRE." The term " metre," or " measure," is applied in prosody and in elocution to that exact gauge of " rhythm " which is furnished in the process of prosodial analysis termed " scan- ning," by which a " verse," or line of poetry, is resolved into its constituent " quantities " and " accents." " Metre," as a branch of prosody, comprehends, in our language, both " quantity " and " accent." The ancient languages, and those of modern Europe generally, are less favorable than ours to this union. The Greek and the Latin seem to have leaned chiefly on " quantity ; " and we discern a similar tendency, though in an inferior degree, in the European continental languages, particularly those of the South. A language abounding in long " quantities " of various sound needs less aid from " accent," whether for distinctive enunciation or expression of feeling, than one re- dundant, like the English, in the number and force of its consonants. The racy energy of English enunciation is owing to the comparative force, spirit, and brilliancy of its accent, which strikes so instantaneously on the ear, with a bold " radical movement " and absorbing power, that com- pel the attention to the determining syllable of every word. It bespeaks at once the practical and energetic character of the people with whom it originated. Other modern Ian- 218 ORTHOPHONY. guages seem to distribute the accent among all the syllables of a word, and to leave the ear doubtful to which it is meant to apply, unless in the case of long vowels, in which they greatly excel, as regards the uses of music and of " expres- sive " speech, or impassioned modes of voice. In emphatic utterance, however, the firm grasp which our numerous hard consonants allow to the organs, in the act of articulation, gives a peculiar percussive force of explosion to the vowels that follow them in accented syllables ; and the comparatively short duration of our unaccented sounds, causes those which are accented, when they possess long " quantity," to display it with powerful effect in the utter- ance of " expressive " emotion. Our poets sometimes turn this capability of the language to great account ; and none abounds more in examples than Milton, whose ear seems to have detected and explored every element of expressive ef- fect which his native tongue could furnish. Syllables have been classed in prosody as long or short, accented or unaccented; and the prosodial characters, " (long) and w (short), have been used to designate them to the eye. The same marks have been arbitrarily used to denote accented and unaccented syllables. The " rhythm " of verse, as measured by " long " and " short," or by " heavy " (accented), and " light " (unac- cented), syllables has the following metrical designations < 1. " Iambic Metre." This form of verse takes its name from the circumstance of its being constituted by the " foot," or sequence of sylla- bles, called an " iambus." The words " foot " and " feet " are arbitrarily used in prosody to express a group of sylla- bles constituting a distinct and separable portion of verse. The " iambus " is a " foot " consisting of two syllables : the first, short, or unaccented, or both ; the second, long, or ac- cented, or both, as in the word repeal. "Iambic" metre is exemplified in "epic" or "heroic* METRE. 219 poetry, whether in the form of " blank verse," — so called from its not furnishing rhymes, and its consequent blank effect on the ear, as in Milton's Paradise Lost, or of rhym- ing " couplets," — so called from the lines rhyming in couples, — as in Pope's translation of Homer. Each line in " blank verse " and the " heroic couplet " contains five "iambuses," or ten syllables, alternating from short to long, or from unaccented to accented, as in the following examples : — "Blank" Verse. " Advanced | in view, | they stand, | a hor- | rid front | Of dread- | ful length, | and daz- | zling arms, | In guise | Of war- | riors old, | with or- | dered spear | and shield." | "Heroic Couplet." " Like leaves | on trees | the life | of man | is found ; | (* 1) Now green | in youth, | (* 2) now with- | ( 2 3) ering on | the ground ; | Anoth- | er race | the fol- | (* 4) lowing spring | supplies : They fall | succes- | (* 5) sive, and | succes- | slve rise." " Iambic " verse is exemplified, also, in octosyllabic lines, in rhyming " couplets," and in quatrain, or four-line " stan- zas ." The following are examples : — Octosyllabic Couplet. " The way | was long, | the wind | was cold ; | The mm- | strel was | Infirm | and old." Quatrain Stanza: Octosyllabic Couplets. " The spa- | cious fir- | mament | on high | With all | the blue | ethe- | real sky, | 1 Irregular feet used as substitutes for the " iambus," according to the "license" of versification. These feet are called (1 and 2) the "spon- dee," two long syllables; (3) the "tribrach," three short syllables; (4) the " anapaest," tioo short syllables and one long ; (5) the " pyrrhic," ttoa thort syllables. 220 ORTHOPHONY. And span- | gled heavens, | a shin- | ing frame, | Their great | Orlg- | inal | proclaim." | Quatrain Stanza : Octosyllabic Lines, rhyming alternately. " The heavens | declare | thy glo- | ry, Lord, | In ev- | er^- star | thy wis- | dom shines ; | But when | our eyes | behold | thy word, | We read | thy name | in fair- | er lines." j " Common Metre " Stanza : Alternate Lines of Eight and Six Syllables. " Thy love | the power | of thought | bestowed ; | To Thee | my thoughts | would soar : | Thy mer- | cy o'er | my life | has flowed ; | That mer- | cy I | adore." | " Short Metre " Stanza : Two Lines of Six, one of Eight, and one of Six Syllables. " To ev- | er fra- | grant meads, | Where rich | abun- | dance grows, | His gra- | cious hand | indul- | gent leads, | And guards | my sweet | repose." " Iambic " verse occurs, likewise, in the form of the elegiac " stanza, — so called from the circumstance of its having been employed for the purposes of elegy. Elegiac Stanza : Lines of Ten Syllables, rhyming alter' nately. " Full man- | y a gem, | of pur- | est ray | serene, | The dark, | unfath- | omed caves | 5f o- | cean bear. | Full man- | y a flower | is born | to blush | unseen, | And waste | its sweet- | ness on | the des- | ert air." | Another form of the " iambic " verse, of frequent occur- rence in reading, is that of the " Spenserian " stanza, — so called from the poet Spenser, who was the first to use it, in a continuous poem of considerable length. METRE. 221 * Spenserian " Stanza : Eight Lines of Ten Syllables and one of Twelve : the Rhymes occurring as follows : on the 1st and 3d, — on the 2d, Uh, 5th, and 7th, — and on the &h, 8th, and 9th. " Where'er | we tread, | 't is haunt- | ed ho- | ly ground ; | No earth | of thine | is lost | in vul- | gar mould ! | But one | vast realm | of won- | der spreads | around ; | And all | the Mus- | e's tales | seem tru- | ly told, | Till the | sense aches | with gaz- | ing, to | behold | The scenes | our ear- | liest dreams | have dwelt | upon. | Each hill | and dale, | each deep- | ening glen | and wold, | Defies | the power | which crushed | thy tern- | pies gone : [ Age shakes | Athe- | na's tower, | but spares | gray Mar- | athon." There are many other forms of " iambic " verse ; but they occur less frequently ; and most of them can be easily analyzed after scanning the preceding specimens. 2. " Trochaic " Metre. This species of verse derives its name from its predom- inating foot, the " trochee," which consists, as mentioned before, of a long syllable followed by a short, as in the word fatal. " Trochaic " verse is exemplified in the following lines from Dryden's " Ode for St. Cecilia's Day." Softly | sweet, in | Lydian | measures, Soon he | soothed his | soul to | pleasures. — | War, he | sung, Is | toil and | trouble, Honor, I but an I empty | bubble. 222 ORTHOPHONY. This species of verse is seldom used in long or continu- ous poems, but principally in occasional passages, for vari- ety of effect. It is found usually in octosyllabic lines of rhyming " couplets," as above. 3. ^Anapaestic Metre." This form of verse takes its name from its prevalent foot, the " anapaest," consisting of two short syllables followed by one long, as in the word intervene. " Anapaestic " verse is found usually in the two following forms : — 1. Stanza of Four or Mght Lines of Three " Anapaests" or Equivalent Feet. " How fleet 1 | Is a glance | of the mind ! Compared | with the speed | of its flight, | The temp- | est itself | lags behind, [ And the swift | winged ar- | rows of light." 2. Stanza of Four Lines of Four " Anapaests," or Equivalent Feet. " The even- 1 | Ing was glo- | riSus ; and light | through the trees Played the sun- | shine and rain- | drops, the birds | and the breeze ; The land- | scape, outstretch- | ing In love- | liness, lay | On the lap | of the year, | In the beau- | ty of May." | IV. RHYTHMICAL AND PROSODIAL ACCENT COMBINED. The preceding examples of verse have all, it may now be perceived, been marked with the characters used in prosody But, for the purposes of elocution, it is important to the 1 An " iambus " sometimes occurs as the first foot in an " anapaestic * /ine. METRE. 223 control of the voice in the reading of verse, that the stu- dent should accustom himself to the practice of marking the accentuation of verse to the ear, — a process in which the actual " rhythm " of the voice is decided, as in prose, by the position of accent. The mere prosodial " quantities " must, in elocution, be regarded as but subordinate and tributary means of effect to " rhythmical accent," and as contributing to secure its perfect ascendency. Metre, then, in reading, is to be considered as but preci- sion of " rhythm," by which utterance is brought more per- ceptibly under the control of " time," than in prose. Verse, accordingly, is scored for accent, exactly as prose is. Here, also, the student may be reminded that, in practising on metre, whilst, for the sake of distinct impression, he in- dulges its effect to the full extent, at first, he must accus- tom himself to reduce it gradually within those limits which shall render it chaste and delicate. The peculiar effects of " measure," in music, do not exceed those of metre in good reading and recitation ; and they are indispensable in the reading of all forms of verse, but particularly in lyric strains. In these, — as even a slight attention will suffice to prove, — the poet often changes the mood of his metre along with that of his theme. The " Ode on the Passions," and all similar pieces, require numerous changes of "rhythm" and prosodial effect, as the descriptive or ex- pressive strain shifts from passion to passion, — and from measure to measure. It is by no means desirable, how- ever, that the metre should be marked in that overdone style of chanting excess which offends the ear, by obtrud- ing the syllabic structure of the verse, and forcing upon our notice the machinery of prosodial effect. The subjoined examples may serve to suggest, to the teacher and the student, the mode of marking on the black- board, or with a pencil, similar exercises selected from the pages of this volume, or any other, at choice. It was deemed preferable to use, for our present purpose, 224 ORTHOPHONY. the same examples which have been analyzed for the study of the prosodial structure of verse, so as to show, as im- pressively as possible, the difference between the literal ac- cent of the mere mechanism of verse as such, and the free, varied, and noble " rhythm " which it acquires when, in reading and recitation, the object in view is to render verse tributary to meaning and sentiment, or to vivid emotion. The servile style of reading verse which follows its sound rather than its sense, is no worse fault than a literal practis- ing of prosody, a fair and honest but most gratuitous scan- ning of the lines, rather than the reading of them. The strict metrical marking, however, and due practice on it, may be very useful to those students whose habit, in read- ing, is to turn verse into prose, through want of ear for metre. NOTATION OF RHYTHMICAL AND PROSODIAL ACCENT COM- BINED. I. " IAMBIC " METRE. "Blank" Verse. *1" Ad- | vanced in | view, | *l 1 they | stand, | *l * a | hor- rid | fronts 2 | *l Of | dreadful | length, | 1 *l and | dazzling | arms, | *l * in I guise | *1 Of J warriors | old | *l 3 with | ordered | spear and | shield." | *M | *M | i " Demi-csesural " pause. 2 "Final" pause. 3 "Caesural" pause. The pauses marked with the figure 1, etc., are founded primarily and nec- essarily on the sense; but the prosodial pauses, indispensable to the "rhythm" of every well-constructed verse, happen, in the present in- stance, to coincide with the pauses of the meaning. Every line of verse has a "final pause," which detaches it from the following line, and a "caesural" pause, which divides it into two parts, equal or unequal, or two "demi-csesural" pauses, which divide it into three parts. The "demi-csesural" pauses are sometimes used in addition to the "caesural," to subdivide the two parts which it separates. METRE. • 225 " Heroic Couplet." *l " Like | leaves on | trees | *l the | life of | man | *1 is | found : | *M | Now *1 | green | *1 in | youth, | *M | now *l | withering | *l on the | ground ; | *M | *l An- | other | race | *1 the | following | spring | M sup- | plies: | *M | ^iThey | fall sue- j cessive, | *l and sue- | cessive | rise." | *M \ *M \ " Octosyllabic Couplet." *l " The | way | *1 was | long, | *M \ *l the | wind | *l was | cold ; *l *l | *l The | minstrel | H was in- | firm | *l and old." | *l *l | *l HI Quatrain Stanza : " Octosyllabic Couplets" M " The | spacious | firmament | *l on high, | *1 *l | *l With | all the | blue e- | thereal | sky, | *l *l | *l And | spangled | heavens, | *1 a | shining | frame, 1*1*11 *1 Their | great O- | riginal | *1 pro- | claim." | *M | *M | Quatrain Stanza : Octosyllabic Lines, rhyming alternately. *1 " The | heavens | *1 de- | clare | *1 thy | glory, | Lord, | *1 In | every | star | *1 thy | wisdom | shines ; | *M | *1 But | *1 when our | eyes be- | hold thy | word, | *M | *1 We | read thy | name | *l in | fairer | lines." | *1 *1 Hi I " Common Metre " Stanza. "Thy | love | M the | power of | thought | *l be- | stowed; | *M | *l To | Thee | *l my | thoughts | *l would | soar : *M | *1 Thy | mercy | *1 o'er my | life | *1 has | flowed ; | *1*1 | *! That | mercy | *1 I a- | dore." | *M | *1 *l | 15 226 ORTHOPHONY. " Short Metre " Stanza. *l " To | ever | fragrant | meads, | M*l | *l Where | rich a- | bundance | grows, | *M | M His | gracious | hand | M in- | dulgent | leads, | M*l | *l And | guards my | sweet re- | pose." J *M | *M | Elegiac Stanza. *l " Full [ many a | gem, | *l of | purest | ray |'*| se- | rene, | *M | M The | dark | *1 un- | fathomed | caves of | ocean | *M | bear : | *M | *M | *! Full | many a | flower | *l is | born to | blush un- | seen, | *M | M And | waste | *l its | sweetness | *l on the | desert | air." | *M | *M | " Spenserian " Stanza. *l « Wher- | e'er we | tread, | *l 't is | haunted, | *M | holy *1 | ground : | *M | *M \ | No | earth | *l of | thine | *M | *l is | lost | *| in | vulgar | mould ! | *M | *l But | one | vast | realm j M of | wonder | *M | spreads a- | round; | *M | *l And | all the | Muse's | tales | *l seem | truly | told, i»« I Till the | sense | aches with | gazing | *l to be- | hold | *l The | scenes | *1 our | earliest | dreams | *1 have | dwelt upon. | *M | *M | | Each | hill | *l and | dale, | *M | *1 each | deepening | glen | *l and | wold, | *M | *l De- | fies the | power | *l which | crushed thy | temples | gone: | ^1*1 | *M | | Age | shakes A- | thena's | tower, | *l but | spares | ^ gray | Marathon." | *M | *M | EMPHASIS AND EXPRESSION. 227 II. "trochaic" metre. u Softly [ sweet, | M in | Lydian | measures, | MM | Soon | M he | soothed his | soul | M to | pleasures. — | MM | War | M he | sung, | M is | toil | M and | trouble, | MM | Honor, | M but an | empty | bubble." | MM | MM | III. " ANAPAESTIC " METRE. 1. Lines of Three " Anapaests" M " How | fleet | M is a | glance of the | mind ! | MM | MM | M Com- | pared with the | speed of its | flight, | MM | M The | tempest | M it- | self | MM | lags be- | hind, | MM | M And the | swift-winged | arrows of | light." | MM | MM | 2. Lines of Four "Anapcests." M " The | evening | M was | glorious ; | M and | light | M through the | trees | MM | M Played the | sunshine | M and ] raindrops, | M the birds | M and the | breeze ; | MM | MM | M The | landscape | M out- | stretching | M in | loveliness, | lay | MM | M On the | lap | M of the | year, | M in the | beauty | M of | May." | MM | MM | CHAPTER IX. EMPHASIS AND "EXPRESSION." The analysis of elocution has, in the preceding chapters, been extended so far as. to comprehend all the chief topics 228 ORTHOPHONY. . of practical elocution. The subjects of emphasis and " ex- pression" have been reserved for the conclusion of this manual, as they properly comprise a virtual review of tho whole subject. I. IMPASSIONED EMPHASIS. Emphasis, in its usual acceptation, is limited to mere comparative force of utterance on an accented syllable. The term, properly defined, extends to whatever expedient the voice uses to render a sound specially significant or ex- pressive. Thus, in the scornful challenge which Boling- broke addresses to Mowbray. " Pale, trembling coward ! there I throw my gage : " — The emphasis lies, doubtless, on the word coward, and is concentrated in the syllable cow-, by peculiar force of ut- terance. But the mere force or loudness used is only one of the many elements of expression which the syllable is made to comprise, in the intensely excited passion implied in the words. Attentive analysis will show that, in what is termed " em- phasis,'' in this instance, there are included all of the fol- lowing elements of vocal effect: 1st, the mere force or energy of the utterance, which produces the loudness of voice that accompanies violent or vehement excitement of feeling ; 2d, the abrupt and explosive articulation with which the accented syllable is shot from the mouth, in the expres- sion of anger and scorn ; 3d, the comparatively low pitch on which the syllable cow- is uttered, as contrasted with the high note on the opening word "pale," and which indicates the deep-seated contempt and indignation of the speaker ; 4th, the comparatively long duration of the accented syllable and the consequent effect of deliberate and voluntary emo- tion, as contrasted with the rapid rate of hasty and rash excitement ; 5th, the dowmvard " slide," the inseparable characteristic of all impetuous, violent, and angry emotion; EMPHASIS. 229 6th, the "pectoral" "guttural" and strongly aspirated quality " of voice, with which the utterance seems to burst from the chest and throat, with a half-suffocated and hiss- ing sound, peculiarly characteristic of fierce and contemptu- ous emotion. 1 II. UNIMPASSIONED EMPHASIS. It may be thought, however, that, although the emphasis of passion does include many elements, the common empha- sis of meaning, in unimpassioned, intellectual communica- tion, may be sufficiently expressed by mere comparative force of accent. This impression, too, will, on examination, be found erroneous. The simplest distinctive emphasis that can be given comprises several points of effect, which are easily detected by analysis. 2 1 It may appear, at first view, that this analysis extends beyond empha- sis into "expression." But emphasis is, in fact, nothing else than "ex- pression " concentrated and condensed into an accented syllable. For confirmation of this assertion we may refer to the result, in cases of ac- knowledged imperfect emphasis, that a failure, as regards the full effect of any one of the above elements, produces the fault. Let the student him- self bring the matter to the test of his own observation, by uttering the word "coward" six times in succession, dropping, each time, one of the elements of "expression" enumerated in the preceding analysis; and he will perceive that he loses, in every instance, the emphasis of impassioned accent. Similar illustrations might be drawn from all emotions, in turn. But the verification may be left for the practice of oral illustration, by the student or the teacher. 2 We may take, for an example of unimpassioned emphasis, the expres- sions in the moral of the fable of the Discontented Pendulum, " Let any man resolve always to do right now, leaving then to do as it can ; and if he were to live to the age of Methuselah, he would never do wrong." The words "«cra>" and "then," in this passage, are instances of dis- tinctive emphasis ; they are marked, 1st, by the usual superior force of ut- terance which belongs to important and significant words; 2d, by a. jerk- ing stress, repeated at the beginning and end of each " tonic " element of sound in the two words, and constituting what, in elocution, is technically termed " compound stress; " 3d, by the comparatively high pitch on which each of these two words is set, relatively to the rest of the sentence; 4th, by a significant turn or "double slide" of voice, termed the "wave," or, perhaps, — in the spirit of very keen and peculiarly marked distinction, — hjr a double turn, constituting a quadruple " slide " and a " double wave,** 230 ORTHOPHONY. EXAMPLES OF EMPHASIS. I. IMPASSIONED EMPHASIS. Cumulative Emphasis. Martial Ardor and Courage. ("Expulsive Orotund Quality: " Declamatory Force : " Expulsive Median and Thorough Stress:" " Middle " to "High" Pitch: Falling "Fifth:" "Moderate" to " Quick Movement.") Henry V. — Shakespeare. This day is called — the feast of Crispian : He that outlives this day and comes safe home, Will stand a tiptoe when this day is named, And rouse him at the name of Crispian. He that shall live this day, and see old age, Will yearly on the vigil feast his friends, in the style peculiar to the prolonged utterance of acute verbal distinc- tions ; 5th, by the protracted sound of the words, which is inseparable from the enunciation of significant expressions in general, but particularly, as just mentioned, from the style of verbal distinctions and subtle discrimin- ations ; 6th, by the " oral quality " of voice, with which the words are ut- tered. By "oral quality" is not meant that "pure" or "head tone " which always accompanies unimpassioned and merely intellectual com- munication, — an utterance addressed to the understanding, and not to the passions, and hence divested of deep "pectoral" or harsh "guttural" quality, — but that distinctly marked and exclusively oral tone which causes the voice to sound as if it emanated from, or originated in, the mouth alone, and designedly threw the utterance into the shape of a mere process of articulation, dependent, for its whole effect, on the tongue, the palate, the teeth, or the lips. All nice distinctions in grammar, in logic, and even in ethics, are given in this purely "oral " form. This mode of voice is, as it were, the opposite pole to that of deep passion, which is not merely low-pitched, but designedly resounds in the thoracic cavity, and by its hollow "pectoral" effect seems to emanate from the chest. It indi- cates, thus, to the ear the presence, as the " oral quality" does the ab- sence, of a deep inward movement of feeling. The effect of the " oral quality," as a part of the emphasis of intellectual distinctions, may be as- certained by the student for himself, if he will utter the words "now " and "then " in the preceding passage, first with "low pitch " and deep "pec- toral " murmur, and afterwards with "high pitch" and thin "oral" enunciation. A similar analysis may be made on all the constituent el ements of unimpassioned emphasis, as enumerated in this paragraph. EMPHASIS. 231 And say — To-morrow is Saint Crispian ; Then will lie strip his sleeve, and show his scars, And say, These wounds I had on Crispin's Day. Old men forget ; yet all shall be forgot, But he '11 remember, with advantages, What feats he did that day. Then shall our names, Familiar in their mouths as household words — Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloster — Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered : This story shall the good man teach his son ; And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, From this day to the ending of the world. But we in it shall be remembered : We few, we happy few, we band of brothers ; For he to-day, that sheds his blood with me, Shall be my brother ; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition : And gentlemen in England, now abed, Shall think themselves accursed, they were not here : And hold their manhoods cheap, while any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's Day. Emphasis of Intercession. Earnestness. ("Orotund Quality:" " Moderate " Force : "Middle" Pitch: "Rad- ical Stress : " " Falling Fifth : " Deliberate " Emphasis.") Antonio interceding with Bassanio to make no further offers to Shylock. — Shakespeare. I pray you, think you question with a Jew. You may as well go stand upon the beach, And bid the main flood bate his usual height ; You may as well use question with the wolf Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb ; You may as well forbid the mountain pines 232 ORTHOPHONY. To wag their high tops and to make no noise, When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven ; You may as well do anything most hard, As seek to soften that — than which what 's harder ? — * His Jewish heart. Therefore, I do beseech you, Make no more offers, use no further means, But with all brief and plain conveniency Let me have judgment, and the Jew his will. Frenzied Anger. ("Aspirated Quality:" "Impassioned" Force: "Radical Stress:" "High" Pitch: Rising and Falling "Fifth and Octave:" "Quick Movement.") Hamlet to Laertes at the grave of Ophelia. — Shakespeare. Zounds, show me what thou 'It do. "Woo't weep? woo't fight? woo' t fast? woo't tear thyself? Woo'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 ? Be buried quick with her, and so will I. And, if thou prate of mountains, let them throw Millions of acres on us ; till our ground, Singeing his pate against the burning zone, Make Ossa like a wart ! Nay$ an' thou 'It mouth, I '11 rant as well as thou. Fierce Anger and Defiance. .("Aspirated Guttural Quality:" "Impassioned" and Increasing "Ex- pulsive" Force: "Compound and Thorough Stress:" "High" and "Progressively Rising" Pitch: Downward "Third," "Fifth," and " Octave" in the " Slide: " "Emphatically Slow Movement.") CORIOLANUS, ENRAGED BY THE ACCUSATION OF THE TRIBUNES.—' Shakespeare. Call me their traitor ! Thou injurious tribune ! Within thine eyes sat twenty thousand deaths, In thine hands clutched as many millions, in EMPHASIS. 233 Thy lying tongue BOTH numbers, I would say Thou LIE ST, unto thee, with a voice as free As I do pray the gods. Revenge. ("Aspirated Pectoral Quality:" Intensely "Impassioned" "Exp,ol- sive " Force: "Thorough Stress:" "Low" Pitch: Downward "Slide" of the "Fifth" and " Third : " " Emphatically Deliberate and Slow Movement.") Othello, instigated by Iago, against Cassio. — Shakespeare* Oh ! that the slave had FORTY THOUSAND lives My great revenge had stomach for them all ! " Anger and Threatening. (" Aspirated Guttural Quality : " "Impassioned" Force: "Vanishing," "Radical," and "Median Stress:" "High" Pitch: Downward " Slide " of the "Fifth: " " Movement " first " Slow," then " Quick.") Coriolanus, to the Roman soldiees when repulsed. — Shakespeare. You souls of geese, That bear the shapes of men, how have you run From slaves that apes would beat ! Pluto and hell ! AH hurt behind ; backs red, and faces pale With flight and aguedfear ! Mend, and charge home, Or, by the fires of heaven, I '11 leave the foe, And make my wars on YOU : look to H : Come on ! Defiance. | u Orotund Quality:" "Impassioned" Force: "Thorough Stress:* " Middle " Pitch : Downward " Fifths : " " Deliberate Movement.") Edmund, in reply to Albany. — Shakespeare. What in the world he is, That names me traitor, villain-like he lies : Call by thy trumpet : he that dares approach, On him, on you, — WHO NOT ? — I will maintain My truth and honor firmly. 234 ORTHOPHONY. II. TJNIMPASSIONED EMPHASIS. Emphasis of Designation. Description of a Bookseller's Literary Dinner. — Irving. The host seemed to have adopted Addison's idea as to the literary precedence of his guests. A popular poet had the post of honor ; opposite to whom was a hot-pressed trav- eller in quarto, with plates. A grave-looking antiquary, who had produced several solid works, that were much quoted and little read, was treated with great respect, and seated next to a neat, dressy gentleman in black, who had written a thin, genteel, hot-pressed octavo on political economy, that was getting into fashion. Several three-volumed-duodecimo men of fair currency, were placed about the centre of the table, while the lower end was taken up with small poets, trans- lators, and authors who had not as yet risen with much notoriety. True Worth. — Alice Cary. True worth is in being, not seeming — In doing each day that goes by Some little good — not in dreaming Of great things to do by and bfy ; For whatever men say in their blindness, And spite of the fancies of youth, There is nothing so kingly as kindness, And nothing so royal as truth. Proteus. — Shakespeare. His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles ; His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate ; His tears pure messengers sent from the heart ; His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth, EMPHASIS. 235 Emphasis. Comparison and Contrast Dryden and Pope. — Johnson. Poetry was not the sole praise of either, for both ex- celled likewise in prose ; but P6pe did not borrow his prose from his predecessor. The style of Drpden is capri- cious and varied; that of Pope is cautious and uniform, Drtyden observes the motions of his own mind ; Pope con- strains his mind to his own rules of composition. Dryden is sometimes vehement and rapid ; Pope is always smooth, uniform, and gentle. Dryden' 's page is a natural field ris- ing into inequalities, and diversified by the varied exuber- ance of abundant vegetation ; Pope's is a velvet lawn, shaven by the scythe and levelled by the roller. Phrases of Successive Emphatic Words. The British army, traversing the Carnatic, after the desolation effected by Hyder AH, beheld not one living thing, not one man, not one woman, not one child, not one four-footed beast, of any description whatever. Shouting. ("Orotund and Pure Tone:" "Impassioned and Sustained" Force: " Thorough Stress : " " High " Pitch : " Quick Movement." ) Battle Shout of Henry V. — Shakespeare. The game's afoot ; Follow your spirit :' and, upon this charge, Cry — God for Harry ! England ! and Saint George ! III. "arbitrary emphasis." The form of utterance to which this designation may be applied is that " expression " or significance, whether of loudness, pitch, " time," " melody," or other property of 236 ORTHOPHONY. vocal effect, in consequence of which the sense, or the con* nection and structure of the parts of a sentence, may be rendered apparent by modification of voice, applied extem- poraneously, during the moment of reading, at the discre- tion and by the will of the reader, rather than in compliance with any general rule of feeling or of elocution. This " arbitrary emphasis " is greatly aided in its effect by a cor- responding abatement or depression of voice, in clauses which precede or follow the word or phrase of " arbitrary emphasis," or which occur between two such words or phrases. This "discharging" of " expression," as it may be termed, will, of course, take place by a reduction, abate- ment, or depression of one or all the elements of vocal effect. The " arbitrary emphasis " may, at the pleasure of the reader, heighten the " expression " arising from " qual- ity," force, pitch, " slide," " melodial phrase," " time," " quantity," " movement," etc. ; so may the " reduction " of emphasis diminish or subdue, or destroy any or all of these. " Arbitrary emphasis " and " reduction " may be em- ployed where but a single parenthetic word intervenes to break the current of language ; as in the sentence, " The sprout was carefully protected by a stratum, or layer, of leaves" The words " stratum " and " leaves " are in this instance pronounced with a slight additional force, an en- larged interval of " slide " and prolonged " quantity ; " while the words " or layer " are reduced in force, shortened m " quantity," and levelled into " monotone," in the man- ner of parenthesis. The following example will exhibit the same effects more distinctly ; as poetic language is naturally more expressive than prose. " On the other side, Incensed with indignation, Satan stood Unterrified, and like a comet Q burned,) l The crotchets of parenthesis are introduced here, not as belonging t« the text but as an ocular aid, with a view to suggest the proper style of reading to the ear. EMPHASIS. 237 That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge, In the arctic sky." The arrangement of the words, in this sentence, throws the word " burned " into a parenthetic situation, in conse- quence of the grammatical connection between the words " comet " and " that." To atone to the ear for this verbal dislocation, the word " comet " takes on an additional force, at lower " slide," a longer " quantity " in its accented sylla- ble, and a more descriptive swell of " stress," than it would otherwise have. The line, " That fires" etc., is also read with a resuming force of expression, borrowed, as it were, from the style of voice in the word " comet ; " while the word " burned " (which, as being a descriptive verb, must possess a degree of accent) is rendered parenthetic in effect, by being thrown into " monotone," instead of a downward " slide," and by being somewhat reduced in force, and raised in pitch ; while its descriptive power is retained by pro- longed " quantity " and " median swell." The following examples will illustrate the effect of " arbi- trary emphasis " and " reduction," where a clause is to be partially parenthesized, so as to preserve the connection of sense, on each side of it. " Say first, for Heaven, (hides nothing from thy view,) Nor the deep tract of hell." " Thus while he spake, each passion (dimmed his face, Thrice changed with pale,) ire, envy, and despair : " " There was a Brutus once that would have brooked (The eternal Devil to keep his state in Rome) As easily | as a king." The student may analyze for himself the effect of the "arbitrary emphasis" and "reduced expression," as indi- cated by the italics and the parenthesis. The slight, level, and rapid " expression " which takes 238 ORTHOPHONY. place on clauses such as that included within crotchets, Dr. Rush has termed the " flight " of the voice, and the emphatic connecting " expression " the " emphatic tie." The effect of these modifications of voice will be rendered still more apparent by longer examples. He stood, and called His legions, angel forms, who lay entranced Thick as autumnal leaves (that strow the brooks In Vallambrosa, where the Etrurian shades, High over-arched, embower ;) or scattered sedge Afloat, when with fierce winds Orion armed Hath vexed the Red-sea coast. Zanga, relating the origin of his hatred of Alonzo. — Young, 'T is twice three years since that great man, (Great let me call him, for he conquered me,) Made me the captive of his arm in fight. One day, (may that returning day be night, The stain, the curse, of each succeeding year) For something, or for nothing, in his pride He struck me. (While I tell it do I live ?) He smote me on the cheek. Corporal Trim's Eloquence. — Sterne. (t My young master in London is dead," said Obadiah. " Here is sad news, Trim," — cried Susannah, wiping her eyes as Trim stepped into the kitchen, — " master Bobby is dead." " I lament for him from my heart and my soul," — said Trim, fetching a sigh, — " Poor creature ! — poor boy ! — poor gentleman ! " " He was alive last Whitsuntide," said the coachman. " Whitsuntide ! alas ! " cried Trim, extending his right arm, and falling instantly into the same attitude in which he read the sermon, " What is Whitsuntide, Jonathan," (foi EXPRESSION. 239 that was the coachman's name,) " or Shrovetide, or any tide or time past, to this ? Are we not here now ? " continued the corporal, (striking the end of his stick perpendicularly upon the floor, so as to give an idea of health and stability.) "and are we not" (dropping his hat upon the ground) " gone ! in a moment ! " — It was infinitely striking ! Su- sannah burst into a flood of tears. — We are not stocks and stones: — Jonathan, Obadiah, the cookmaid, all melted. — The foolish fat scullion herself, who was scouring a fish-ket- tle upon her knees, was roused with it. — The whole kitchen crowded about the corporal. " Are we not here now, — and gone in a moment ? " — There was nothing in the sentence : — it was one of your self-evident truths we have the advantage of hearing every day ; and if Trim had not trusted more to his hat than his head, he had made nothing at all of it. " Are we not here now ? " continued the corporal, " and are we not " (dropping his hat plump upon the ground, — and pausing before he pronounced the word) " gone ! in a moment ! " — The descent of the hat was as if a heavy lump of clay had been kneaded into the crown of it. — Nothing could have expressed the sentiment of mortality, — of which it was the type and forerunner, — like it : his hand seemed to vanish from under it ; it fell dead ; the corporal's eye fixed upon it, as upon a corpse ; — and Susannah burst into a flood of tears. " Expression." Emphasis, fully defined for the purposes of elocution, is prominent " expression," embodied in an accented syllable. It bears the same relation to " expression," in its full sense, that " syllabic accent " bears to " rhythmical accent." It may be restricted to a single word : " expression " applies, as in music, to the sequence of sounds, in connected and consec- utive utterance, designed for the communication of feeling. " Expression," however, while it contains the same ele- 240 ORTHOPHONY. ments with emphasis, comprises a few more. It includes the effects arising from " quality " in all its forms, " pure," " aspirated," etc., and from the " effusive," " expulsive," and " explosive " modes of utterance ; from force in all its gra- dations from whispering to shouting ; " stress," in its " radi- cal," " median," " vanishing," " compound," and " thorough " forms ; " tremor ; " " melody," " pitch/' " slide " and " wave " in all their forms ; " time," in all its influence over " move- ment," " rhythm," and metre. These modifications of voice have all been discussed and exemplified. But to all these, " expression " adds the effect of " drift," as it has been termed by Dr. Rush, — or, in other words, the impression produced on the ear by the frequent or successive recurrence of any mode or element of "expression." " Drift," accordingly, is either an excellence or a fault, ac- cording to the circumstances in which it is adopted as a mode of effect, and we may observe that the " drift " of re- curring " melody," or what, in popular language, is termed a " tone" is often a means of powerful and deep impression on the ear and on the external sympathies of an audience, when there is little of unity, force, or weight in the senti- ment which the speaker utters. A gentle and chaste " drift " is 'one of the natural secrets of effect, in elocution, and should be carefully observed and closely analyzed by every student who is desirous of securing a master-key to the hu- man heart. TABLES FOR DAILY EXERCISE. (Occupying not less than fifteen minutes in the drill.) I. BREATHING EXERCISES. (Deep Breathing : Effusive, Expulsive, and Explosive : Sighing : Sob- bing: Gasping: Panting. For description see pages 1-5.) II. ORTHOEPY. ELEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Classified according to the action of the Organs of Speech in Articulation. 1. ORAL AND LARYNGEAL SOUNDS. {Formed by the mouth and larynx.) In practising the sounds, the mouth should be freely opened, and firmly held in the position proper for the formation of each sound, and every position should be carefully observed. 1, A-ll ; 2, A-rm; 3, A-n ; 4, i£-ve ; 5, Oo-ze, L-oo\] 6, E-yy; 7, ^-nd ; 8, In; 9, Ai-v ; 10, *7-p ; 11, O-y ; 12, 0-n; 13, ^-le; 14, 7-ce ; 15, O-ld; 16, Ou-r; 17, Oi-l; 18, Use (verb, long) ; Use (noun, short). 2. LABIAL OR LIP SOUNDS. 1, i?-a-£e; 2, P-i-pe ; 3, M-&vm ; 4, W-oe ; 5, V-al-ve; 3. PALATIC OR PALATE SOUNDS. 1, C-a-£e; 2, G-a-g ; 3, Y-e. 4. ASPIRATE OR BREATHING SOUND. H-e. 16 242 ORTHOPHONY. 5. NASAL, OR NOSTRIL SOUNDS. 1, N-u-n ; 2, Si-ng. 6. LINGUAL OR TONGUE SOUNDS. 1, L-Ti-ll; 2, i?-ap; 3, Fa-r. 7. DENTAL SOUNDS. 1, D-i-d; 2, r-en-*; 3, Tk-m ; 4, 7%-ine ; 5, A-z-ure; 6., Pu-sA ; 7, (7-ea-s-e ; 8, if-one ; 9, J-oy ; 10, Ch-ur-ch. 1. INITIAL SYLLABLES. Bl, cl, fl, gl, pi, spl ; br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, spr, tr, str, shr ; sm, sn, sp, sk, st. 2. FINAL SYLLABLES. Ld, If, Ik, Im, Ip, he, Is, (Iz), It, he; m!d, nd,nce,ns, (nz), nk, (ngk), nt ; rb, rd, rk, rm, rn, rse, rs, (rz), rt, rve, rVd, rk'd, rm'd, rrCd,rs^d, rv'd; sm, (zm), s'n, (zn), sp, st; ks, ct,Tcd, (kt,) fd, (ft), p'd, (pt) ; d% Vn,tfn, v'n ; ble, (bl),fle, (fl,) gle, (gl),ple, (pi), die, (dl), tie, (tl),rl ; 1st, nst, rst, dst, rdst, rmdst, rndst ; bl'd, pVd, rVd; ngs, ngst, nfd ; hies, (biz), cles, (clz),fles, (flz), gles, (glz) ; sms, (zmz), s'ns, (znz), sps, sts ; sties, (slz,) stens, (snz). III. EXERCISES ON THE ELEMENTS OF EXPRESSION. WHISPERING. " All 's hushed as midnight, yet ! No noise ! and enter." HALF-WHISPER. " Step softly, and speak low, For the old year lies a dying ! " "pure tone." " Pale mourned the lily where the rose had died I " " Oh ! that this lovely vale were mine ! " " Joy ! joy forever ! My task is done I " TABLES FOR DAILY EXERCISE. 243 " OROTUND." " Farewell ! a long farewell to all my greatness." " Hail ! holy Light, — offspring of heaven, first-born ! " " Sound drums and trumpets, boldly and cheerfully ! " FORCE. (Yawning, Coughing ( moderate), Laughing with the Vowel Sounds.) Very Soft: " Oh ! lightly, lightly tread ! " Soft: " Take, holy Earth, all that my soul holds dear !" Moderate : " The breath of spring awakens the flowers." Loud : " Up ! let us to the fields away ! " Very Loud : " Liberty ! Freedom ! Tyranny is dead ! " STRESS. Impassioned Explosive Radical : " Up ! comrades, up ! In Rokeby's halls Ne'er be it said our courage falls ! " Unimpassioned Radical: " A clear, distinct articulation is an invaluable accomplishment." Median Stress: " Oh ! I have lost you all, parents, and home, and friends ! " " O Lord, my God, Thou art very great ! " " The shades of eve came slowly down." Vanishing Stress : " For Heaven's sake, Hubert, let me not be bound ! " " While a single foreign troop remained on my na- tive shore, I would never lay down my arms. Never, never, NEVER ! " Compound Stress : " What ! to attribute the sacred sanc- tions of God and nature to the massa- cres of the Indian scalping-knife ! " Thorough Stress: " Awake/ arise ! or be forever fallen I " 244 ORTHOPHONY, PITCH. Lowest : " Silence how dead ! and darkness how pro* found ! " Low : " Dark flow thy tides o'er manhood's noble head." Middle : " Lovely art thou, O Peace, and lovely are thy children." " He leadeth me by the still waters." High : " Now even now, my joys run high ! " Highest: "Wheel the wild dance, till the. morning break!" MOVEMENT. Slowest: " Creation sleeps : — 'T is as the general pulse Of life stood still, and Nature made a pause, — An awful pause, — prophetic of her end ! " Slow : li Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds." Moderate : " One great end to which all knowledge ought to be employed, is the welfare of humanity." Lively : " Crowned with her pail, the tripping milkmaid sings ! " Brisk : " Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee Mirth and youthful jollity ! " Rapid : " And rushing and flushing and brushing and gushing, And flapping and rapping and clapping and slap- m g> And curling and whirling and purling and twirl- ing* Advancing and glancing and prancing and danc- ing,— 'T is this way the water comes down at Lodore.'' TABLES FOR DAILY EXERCISE. 245 IV. COMBINATIONS OF EXPRESSION, IN TONES OF EMOTION. COURAGE. Orotund Quality, Loud Utterance, Thorough Stress, High Pitch, Brisk Movement. " Come one, come all, — this rock shall fly From its firm base as soon as I." FEAR. Half Whisper, Suppressed Force, Explosive Radical Stress, Highest Pitch, Rapid Movement. " While thronged the citizens, with terror dumb, Or whispering with white lips, ' The foe ! they come, they come ! ' " JOY. Orotund Quality, Loudest Utterance, Thorough Stress, High Pitch, Lively Movement. " Joy, joy ! shout, shout aloud for joy ! " GRIEF. Orotund Quality, Subdued Force, Vanishing Stress and Tremor, Middle Pitch, Slow Movement. " Oh ! pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth ! " AWE. Orotund, slightly aspirated, Suppressed Force, Median Stress, Lowest Pitch, Slowest Movement. " It thunders ! — sons of dust m reverence bow I " ANGER. Aspirated Orotund, Loudest Utterance, Explosive Radical Stress, Middle Pitch, Rapid Movement. " Back to thy punishment, false fugitive ! " 246 ORTHOPHONY. ADMIRATION. Pure Tone, Earnest Utterance, Median Stress, High Pitch, Lively Movement " Oh ! speak again, bright angel ! " HURRY. Aspirated Orotund, Loudest Utterance, Explosive Radical Stress, Middle Pitch, Rapid Movement. " Send out more horses ! skirr the country round ! " TRANQUILLITY. Orotund Quality, Gentle Utterance, Median Stress, Middle Pitch, Slow Movement. " O'er all the peaceful world the smile of heaven shall lie ! " V. EXERCISES IN THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF VERSE. IAMBIC METRE. Blank Verse: "And earthly pride 1 | is like the passing flower, That springs | to fall, and blossoms | but to die." Heroic Verse : " Like leaves on trees | the race of man | is found, Now | green in youth, now | withering on the ground." Octosyllabic Verse : " The spacious firmament | on high, With all the blue ethereal sky, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim." 1 The careful observance of these shorter pauses is the surest means of avoiding the tendency to a jingling style in reading verse. TABLES FOR DAILY EXERCISE. 247 Oommon Metre: "Thy love | the power of thought be- stowed ; To Thee | my thoughts would soar : Thy mercy | o'er my life has flowed, That mercy | I adore." TROCHAIC METRE. " Softly sweet, in Lydian measures, Soon he soothed his soul to pleasures : War, he sung, is toil and trouble, — Honor | but an empty bubble." ANAPAESTIC METRE. " How fleet | is a glance of the mind ! Compared with the speed of its flight, The tempest itself | lags behind, And the swift-winged arrows of light." " The evening was glorious, and light through the trees Played the sunshine | and raindrops, the birds | and the breeze ; The landscape, outstretching in loveliness, lay | On the lap of the year, in the beauty of May." THE ORGANS OF VOICE. 1 A* es3,ct anatomical knowledge of the vocal organs is not essential to our purpose. All that is aimed at, in the following observations, is to impart such an idea of organic structure and action as is indispensable to an intelligent, voluntary use of the vocal organs. We commence our investigation with the primary action of inspiration, or inhaling breath. A person in good health draws in breath by an exertion, partly involuntary, partly voluntary, of those muscles which, by a combined act, ex- pand, and at the same time raise the chest, and consequently enlarge the cavity called the thorax, — the region between the neck and the stomach. The degree of freedom and energy, in this muscular action, decides of course the ex- tent to which the thoracic cavity is enlarged, and the vol- ume of air which is inhaled : it decides, also, as a natural consequence, the capacity of resonance in the chest, and the fulness of the supply of breath, — the material of sound. These preliminary facts teach us the first practical lesson in the cultivation of the voice, — the necessity of maintain- ing an erect, free, expansive, unembarrassed posture of the chest, as an indispensable condition of full, clear, distinct, effective, and appropriate utterance. The next practical lesson here taught is that utterance demands a free expulsion, not less than a deep inhalation of breath ; that there must be a vigorous consentaneous action of the will, along with the silent involuntary process of nature. 1 For further study the student is referred to Dr. Ghislani Durant's ad* jnirable work on the Hygiene of the Voice. 254 ORTHOPHONY. The full function of expiration, when carried to the ex- tent of vocalized exclamation, implies an energetic use of the lower muscles of the trunk, — those which are termed the abdominal, 1 — to impart, by upward and inward im- pulse, a powerful percussion to the diaphragm, by which the breath contained in the air-cells of the lungs is forced through the bronchial tubes and the trachea, towards the glottis and the larynx, where it is converted into sound, and thence into and through the mouth, and the cavity of the head, where it is modified into speech by the action of the nasal passage, the tongue, the palate, the teeth, and the lips, in the various functions of articulate utterance. The engraved figures will serve to impart a clearer idea than can be conveyed by words of the place and form of the vocal organs, together with their action in the produc- tion of sound. Figure 1 represents the principal abdominal muscle by which the first expulsory movement terminating in sound is produced. The action of this muscle, in energetic and ab- rupt forms of utterance, is nearly the same in kind, though not in degree, with that which takes place in the sudden shrinking from a blow aimed at or below the stomach. In vigorous utterance of a steady and sustained character, or in the energetic singing of long notes, a powerful and con- tinued upward and inward pressure of the abdominal mus- cles takes place, as in the attitude observed in swift riding on horseback. 2. The diaphragm, which by an upward impulse, consen- taneous with that of the abdominal muscles, and imparted to the pleura or enveloping membrane of the lungs, forces the breath from the air cells into the bronchi, and thence into the trachea and the larynx. 3. The thorax, the great cavity of the chest. By the ex- 1 In shouting and calling, and other violent exertions of voice, the dorsch muscles — those of the lower part of the back — partake in the expulsory effort. THE ORGANS OF VOICE. 255 pansion and compression of this capacious organ, the pro- cess of breathing is conducted ; and by its resonance the voice receives depth and volume. 4. The intercostal muscles at the lower, and 5. The thoracic and pectoral muscles, at the upper part of the chest, serve to dilate and compress it, in the acts of breathing and of utterance. 6. The pleura, a membrane which envelops the lungs, and propagates to their cells the impulse by which these are emptied of their successive supplies of air inhaled at the intervals of speaking or singing. 7. The lungs, a spongy body in the form of lobes, into the cells or little cavities of which the air inhaled in breathing is drawn, and from which it is expelled by the impulse communicated, as mentioned before, by the pleura, and derived from the diaphragm and the abdominal muscles. 8. The bronchi, or two main branches of the trachea or wind-pipe. These two tubes are themselves subdivided into many subordinate and minute ramifications, which serve to distribute to the air-cells of the lungs — in which they ter- minate — the breath inhaled through the trachea, and to convey that which is expelled from the lungs by the im- pulsive action of the diaphragm into the trachea, the lar- ynx, and the mouth. One important office of the bronchial ramifications is to vibrate, and thereby aid in rendering vo- cal the column of air which is emitted from the cells of the lungs. . 9. The trachea or wind-pipe, a series of connected carti- laginous or gristly rings, forming the great air-tube, which receives and conducts the breath to and from the lungs, in the acts of inspiration and expiration, and in the function of utterance. 10. The larynx, a cartilaginous box on the top of the trachea, the exterior projection of which is familiarly called the Adam's apple, in allusion to the fabled origin of this part, which was anciently said to have owed its existence 256 ORTHOPHONY. to Adam's fatal offence in swallowing the forbidden fruit. The whole larynx is the immediate seat and general instru« ment of vocal sound. The portions of this organ which are immediately concerned in the production of sound are, 11. The cricoid cartilage, situated immediately over the uppermost ring of the trachea, resembling in form a seal- ring, from which it takes its name, but having the broad part at the back, and the narrow in front. The form and position of this portion of the larynx admit of the eleva- tion and depression of its parts, — one step in the process by which tone is rendered grave or acute. 12. The arytenoid cartilages so called from their fancied resemblance in shape to a ladle, funnel, or pitcher. These fill up the space at the back of the thyroid and cricoid car- tilages, and are connected with both ; while they serve also as points of support and of tension for the vocal ligaments. 13. The thyroid cartilage, which has its name from its partial resemblance to the form of a buckler or shield, but much bent. Its two main plates form the walls or sides of the larynx ; and their size usually determines the capacity of the voice, as we observe, in their comparative smallness in females and children, and their great expansion and pro- jection in men. The comparative solidity of texture, in all these com- ponent portions of the larynx, and in the gristly rings of which the trachea is itself composed, give them the power of rendering the voice compact and sonorous. 14. The vocal ligaments extend across the upper part of the larynx, and form the lips of the glottis, and by their vibration, together with the action of the current of air expelled through the trachea and larynx, produce the phe- nomena of vocal sound or voice, and, by their tension or re- mission, the effect of high or low pitch. 15. The glottis, so denominated from the partial resem- blance of its shape to that of the tongue, is a small chink, or opening, which forms the mouth of the larynx. The THE ORGANS OF VOICE. 257 opening and the contraction of this portion of the vocal apparatus decide, in part, the gravity or the shrillness o£ tone. All the parts of the larynx are interconnected by liga- ments, and by muscles which move in concerted action, so as to expand or contract, raise or lower the whole larynx, and thus enlarge or diminish its capacity, and elevate or depress the pitch of the voice, and increase or diminish its force. The whole interior of the larynx is lined with a continuation of the mucous membrane of the mouth, which imparts to it a vivid sensibility and a unity of action. Hoarseness is the result of the embarrassment or obstruc- tion of this membrane, by the mucous accumulations aris- ing from colds or catarrh, or the injudicious habit of using cold water too freely during the exercise of speaking. 16. The epiglottis, the valve or lid, which, when the lar- ynx is elevated, as in the act of swallowing, covers the glot- tis or orifice of the windpipe and prevents strangulation. Its usual erect position allows free ingress and egress to the breath. But in some instances of intensely impassioned utterance its pressure against the glottis becomes an ad- ditional preparative for the ultimate explosive eruption- of voice. 17. At the root of the tongue lies a small crescent- shaped or horseshoe-formed bone, called, from its resem- blance to the Greek v, the hyo'id, or u-like bone. This mem- ber serves, by its firm texture, as a gateway from the trachea and larynx to the mouth, or from the latter to the former. It forms a point of tension for the muscles which connect the larynx with the mouth. Its hard texture en- ables it to perform this office effectually, and thus to aid in giving pitch in vocal sounds. 18. The thyro-hyo'idean membrane connects the thyroid cartilage with the instrument just described, and facilitates the functions of both in elevating or depressing the pitch of the voice. 17 258 ORTHOPHONY.' 19. The erico-thyroid ligament attaches, as its name im- plies, the cricoid or the thyroid cartilage ; and (20) the erico-thyrdid muscle facilitates their consentaneous move- ment, in the production of vocal sound, acute or grave. 21. The pharynx or swallow, situated immediately be- hind and above the larynx, although not directly concerned in the production of sound, has, by resonant space, a great effect on its character. Persons in whom this organ is large have usually a deep-toned voice; those in whom it is small have comparatively a high pitch. When it is al- lowed to interfere with the sound of the voice, through negligence of habit or bad taste, it causes a false and dis- agreeable guttural swell in the quality of the voice. 22. The nasal passages. Through these channels the breath is inhaled in the usual tranquil function of breathing. The innermost part of the nostrils is united into one reso- nant channel, and opens into the back part of the mouth, behind the " veil," or pendent and movable part, of the palate, which serves as a curtain to part the nasal arch from the anterior portion of the mouth. 23. The internal tubes of the ears. Above the valve of the orifice of the windpipe, on each side of the root of the tongue, is a small opening, leading to a tube which com- municates with the ear, and whose orifice is always opened in the act of opening the mouth. These tubes have a great effect in rendering vocal tone clear and free ; as is per- ceived in the case of obstructions arising from disease, from accident, or from cold, which impart a dull and muffled sound to the voice. " The ear," says an eminent writer on this subject, " being formed of very hard bone, and con- taining the sonorous membrane of the drum, the sound of the voice entering it through the air-tubes must necessarily be increased by its passage along what may be termed the whispering galleries of the ear." The effect of these passages, as conductors of vocal sound, may be traced in the fact that the middle and innermost THE OEGANS OF VOICE. 259 parts of the nostrils open into several hollows or cells in the adjacent bones of the face and forehead. By this ar- rangement the whole cavity of the head is rendered sub- servient to the resonance of the voice. That degree of clear, ringing, bell-like sound, which is so obvious a beauty of the human voice, seems to be dependent on this circum- stance. Hence, too, the stifled tone caused by obstruction arising from cold, from accident, from the deleterious effect of snuff-taking, or from malformation of organic parts. The fault of utterance which is termed nasal tone arises from lowering too far the veil of the palate, the mem- brane which separates the mouth from the nasal passages, and raising too high the root of the tongue, in producing a vocal sound. The consequence of these errors is that an undue proportion of breath is forced against the nasal pas- sages, and that these organs are at once overcharged and obstructed. Hence the twanging and false resonance which constitutes " nasal " tone. 24. The cavity, and more particularly (25) the roof, or ridgy arch, of the mouth, — in the anterior part of it, — together with (26) the palate, and (27) the veil, or pendent and movable part of the palate, and (28) the uvula, or the terminating tag of the veil of the palate in the back part of the mouth, as well as (29) the upper gum and (30) the teeth, in the fore part of it, all serve important purposes in modifying the sound of the voice, and aiding the function of speech. The most satisfactory mode of forming a correct idea oi these organs is to inspect the interior of the mouth by the use of a looking-glass. In this way the position and action of all these parts in the function of speech may be dis- tinctly observed. The mouth, by its arched structure, exerts a great influ- ence in moulding the sound of the voice. It serves at once to give it scope and partial reverberation. It gives sweet- ness and smoothness to tone ; as we perceive in contrast' 260 ORTHOPHONY. ing the voice duly modified by it with that which loses its softening effect in undue nasal ring or guttural suffoca- tion. To give the voice the full effect of round, smooth, and agreeable tone, the free use of the cavity of the mouth is indispensable : the whole mouth must be thrown open, by the unimpeded action and movement of the lower jaw. A smothered, imperfect, and lifeless utterance is the necessary consequence of restraint in the play of this most effective implement of speech. A liberal opening of the mouth is the only condition on which a free and effective utterance can be produced. 30. The teeth. These instruments, by their hard and sonorous texture, serve to compact and define the volume of the voice, while they aid one of the important purposes of distinct articulation, in the function of speech. Used with exact adaptation to their office, they give a clear and distinct character to enunciation ; but, remissly exerted, they cause a coarse hissing, resembling the sibilation of the inferior animals. 31. The tongue. The various positions and movements of this organ are the chief means of rendering vocal sound articulate, and thus converting it into speech. They ex- ert, at the same time, a powerful influence on the quality of the voice, by contracting or enlarging the cavity of the mouth, and giving direction to vocal sound : it is the posi- tion and action of the root of the tongue which render the voice guttural, nasal, or oral, in its effect on the ear. 32. The lips. These important aids to articulation not only give distinctness to utterance, but fulness of effect to the sounds of the voice. Imperfectly used, they produce an obscure mumbling, instead of definite enunciation ; and, too slightly parted, they confine the voice within the mouth and throat, instead of giving it free egress and emissive force. In vigorous speech, rightly executed, the lips are slightly rounded, and even partially, though not boldly THE ORGANS OF VOICE. 261 projected. They thus become most effective aids to the definite projection and conveyance of vocal sound : they emit the voice well moulded, and, as it were, exactly aimed at the ear. Figures 33 and 34 are intended to exhibit the effect of the epiglottis on the character of vocal sound. When the voice is thrown out with abruptness, or even with a clear, decided force and character of sound, there is first a mo- mentary occlusion of the glottis, attended, in impassioned utterance, by the downward pressure of the epiglottis (the lid of the glottis), as in the act of swallowing : [see figure 33]. To this preparatory rallying of the muscular appa- ratus, and its accompanying effect of resistance, — the nat- ural preliminary to a powerful and sudden effort, — suc- ceeds an abrupt and instantaneous explosion of breath and sound, produced by the sudden upward impulse of the ab- dominal muscles and the diaphragm, acting on the pleura and the air-cells of the lungs, and forcing the breath up- ward, through the bronchi and the trachea, to the larynx. The breath, thus impelled, bursts forth, parting in the act, the glottis from the epiglottis (34), and issues from the mouth in the form of vocal sound. Figures 35 and 36 represent the position of the uvula, the one at rest and the other elevated, as in the production of some of the higher, clearer, or harsher sounds of the voice. Figure 37 represents a view of the vocal cords, reflected by means of the laryngoscope. Figure 38 displays different positions of the vocal cords : A, the position during in- spiration ; B, in the formation of low notes, C, in the for- mation of high notes. MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. EXTRACTS FOR GENERAL PRACTICE. Exercise I. A Fiia- voyage. — Irving. [This extract exemplifies, in its diction, the forms of narra- tive, descriptive, and didactic style. The emotions arising from the subject and the language are those of tranquillity, wonder, admiration, pathos, and awe.~\ The first of these emotions prevails through the first two paragraphs, and produces, in the vocal "expression," "pure tone," decreasing gradually from gentle "expulsion" to " effusion ;" the "force" is "moderate;" the "stress," at first " unimpassioned radical," gradually changing to a soft "median;" the "pitch" is on "middle notes;" the "mel- ody" "diatonic," in prevalent "intervals of the second," varying from the " simple concrete" to the "wave;" the "movement" is "slow;" the pauses moderately long; the ' ' rhythm ' ' requires an attentive but delicate marking. Wonder is the predominating emotion expressed in the third paragraph. It produces a slight deviation from perfect " purity of tone" towards "aspiration;" the "force" increases gently after the first sentence; a slight tinge of "vanishing stress " pervades the first sentence; an ample " median " pre- vails in the first two clauses of the second, and a vivid " radi- cal " in the third clause; and, in the closing clause, a stronger "vanishing stress" than before becomes distinctly audible in proportion to the increasing emphasis ; the ' ' pitch ' ' of this paragraph is moderately "low" at first, and gradually de» scends, throughout, as far as to the last semicolon of the para* graph; the "slides" are principally downward "seconds and thirds;" the "movement" is "slow," excepting in the lasf clause of the second sentence, in which it is "lively;" the pauses are long; and the "rhythm" still requires perceptible marking. MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 263 Admiration is the prompting emotion in the " expression " of the fourth paragraph. After the first sentence, which is neutral in effect, the voice passes from " pure tone " to " orotund," as the "quality" required in the union of beauty and grandeur; the " force" passes from " moderate" to " declamatory; " the "stress" becomes bold "median expulsion;" the "middle pitch" inclining to "low," for dignity of effect; and down- ward "thirds" in emphasis; the "movement" is "moder- ate;" the pauses correspondent; and the "rhythm" somewhat strongly marked. The fifth and sixth paragraphs are characterized, in " ex- pression," by pathos and awe. The first two sentences of the fifth paragraph are in the neutral or unimpassioned utterance of common narrative and remark ; the next three sentences in- troduce an increasing effect of the " pure tone " of pathos ; the last three of the paragraph are characterized by the expression of awe carried to its deepest effect ; and the preceding pure tone, therefore, gives way to " aspiration," progressively, to the end of the paragraph. The " force " in the first part of the para- graph is "subdued;" in the latter it is "suppressed;" the "stress" is "median" throughout, — gently marked in the pathetic part, and fully in that expressive of awe. The " pitch " is on " middle " notes, inclining high in the. pathetic expression, and "low," descending to " lowest," in the utterance of awe ; the "melody" contains a few slight effects of "semitone," on the emphatic words in the pathetic strain, and full down- ward "slides" of "third" and "fifth," in the language of awe. The " movement " is " slow " in the pathetic part, and ' ' very slow ' ' in the utterance of awe ; the pauses correspond ; and the "rhythm " is to be exactly kept in the pauses of the latter, as they are the chief source of effect. The first two sentences of the sixth paragraph are character- ized by the expression of deep pathos, differing from that of the first part of the preceding paragraph by greater force, lower notes, fuller " stress," slower " movement," and longer pauses. The " expression " of the third sentence passes through the successive stages of apprehension, or fear, awe, and horror, marked by increasing " aspiration " and force, deepening notes, slower " movement," and longer pause, so as at last to reach the extreme of these elements of effect. The fourth sentence 264 ORTHOPHONY. expresses still deeper pathos than before, and by the increased effect of the same modes of utterance. In the last sentence, in which awe combines with pathos, the " expression " becomes yet deeper and slower, but without increase of " force." [A similar analysis should be performed on all the following pieces previous to the exercise of reading them. The analogy of emotion, exemplified in the numerous examples contained in the body of the book, will be found a sufficiently definite guide for this purpose.] To an American visiting Europe, the long voyage he has to make is an excellent preparative. From the moment you lose sight of the land you have left, all is vacancy until you step on the opposite shore, and are launched at once into the bustle and novelties of another world. I have said that at sea all is vacancy. I should correct the expression. To one given up to day-dreaming and fond of losing himself in reveries, a sea-voyage is full of subjects for meditation ; but then they are the wonders of the deep, and of the air, and rather tend to abstract the mind from worldly themes. I delighted to loll over the quarter-railing, or climb to the main-top on a calm day, and muse for hours together on the tranquil bosom of a summer's sea ; or to gaze upon the piles of golden clouds just peering above the horizon, fancy them some fairy realms, and people them with a creation of my own ; or to watch the gentle, undulat- ing billows rolling their silver volumes as if to die away on those happy shores. There was a delicious sensation of mingled security and awe, with which I looked down from my giddy height on the monsters of the deep at their uncouth gambols : shoals of porpoises tumbling about the bow of the ship ; the grampus slowly heaving his huge form above the surface : or the ravenous shark, darting like a spectre through the blue waters. My imagination would conjure up all that I had heard or read of the watery world beneath me ; of tho finny herds that roam its fathomless valleys ; of shapelesa MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 265 monsters that lurk among the very foundations of the earth ; and those wild phantasms that swell the tales of fishermen and sailors. Sometimes a distant sail gliding along the edge of the ocean^ would be another theme of idle speculation. How interesting this fragment of a world hastening to rejoin the great mass of existence ! What a glorious monument of human invention, that has thus triumphed over wind and wave ; has brought the ends of the earth in communion ; has established an interchange of blessings, pouring into the sterile regions of the north all the luxuries of the south ; diffused the light of knowledge and the charities of culti- vated life; and has thus bound together those scattered portions of the human race, between which nature seemed to have thrown an insurmountable barrier ! We one day descried some shapeless object drifting at a distance. At sea, everything that breaks the monotony of the surrounding expanse attracts attention. It proved to be the mast of a ship that must have been completely wrecked ; for there were the remains of handkerchiefs, by which some of the crew had fastened themselves to this spar, to prevent their being washed off by the waves. There was no trace by which the name of the ship could be ascertained. The wreck had evidently drifted about for many months ; clusters of shell-fish had fastened about it, and long sea-weed flaunted at its sides. But where, thought I, is the crew ? Their struggle has long been over ; — they have gone down amidst the roar of the tempest ; — their bones lie whitening in the caverns of the deep. Silence, — oblivion, — like the waves, have closed over them ; and no one can tell the story of their end. What sighs have been wafted after that ship ! what prayers offered up at the deserted fireside of home ! How often has the mistress, the wife, and the mother, pored over the daily news, to catch some casual intelligence of this ro- ver of the deep ! How has expectation darkened into 266 ORTHOPHONY. anxiety — anxiety into dread — and dread into despair ! Alas ! not one memento shall ever return for love to cher- ish. All that shall ever be known is, that she sailed from her port, " and was never heard of more." II. Death of Morris. — Scott. (Vivid Narrative, exemplifying, after the introductory sentence, Sympa- thetic Horror, then successively, Terror, Scorn, Revenge, Horror, and Awe.) It was under the burning influence of revenge that the wife of Macgregor commanded that the hostage, exchanged for her husband's safety, should be brought into her pres- ence. I believe her sons had kept this unfortunate wretch out of her sight, for fear of the consequences; but if it was so, their humane precaution only postponed his fate. They dragged forward, at her summons, a wretch, already half-dead with terror, in whose agonized features I recog- nized, to my horror and astonishment, my old acquaintance Morris. He fell prostrate before the female chief with an effort to clasp her knees, from which she drew back, as if his touch had been pollution, so that all he could do in token of the extremity of his humiliation, was to kiss the hem of her plaid. I never heard entreaties for life poured forth with such agony of spirit. The ecstasy of fear was such, that, instead of paralyzing his tongue, as on ordinary occa- sions, it even rendered him eloquent ; and, with cheeks as pale as ashes, hands compressed in agony, eyes that seemed to be taking their last look of all mortal objects, he pro- tested, with the deepest oaths, his total ignorance of any de- sign on the life of Rob Roy, whom he swore he loved and honored as his own soul. — In the inconsistency of his ter- ror, he said he was but the agent of others, and he mut- tered the name of Rashleigh. — He prayed but for life — for life he would give all he had in the world ; — it was bu? life he asked — life, if it were to be prolonged under tor- MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 267 tures and privations ; — he asked only breath, though it should be drawn in the damps of the lowest caverns of their hills. It is impossible to describe the scorn, the loathing, and contempt, with which the wife of Macgregor regarded this wretched petitioner for the poor boon of existence. " I could have bid you live," she said, " had life been to you the same weary and wasting burden that it is to me — that it is to every noble and generous mind. — But you — wretch ! you could creep through the world unaffected by its various disgraces, its ineffable miseries, its constantly accumulating masses of crime and sorrow, — you could live and enjoy yourself, while the noble-minded are betrayed, — while nameless and birthless villains tread on the neck of the brave and long-descended, — you could enjoy your- self, like a butcher's dog in the shambles, battening on garbage, while the slaughter of the brave went on around you! This enjoyment you shall not live to partake of; you shall die, base dog, and that before yon cloud has passed over the sun." She gave a brief command, in Gaelic, to her attendants, two of whom seized upon the prostrate suppliant, and hur- ried him to the brink of a cliff which overhung the flood. He set up the most piercing and dreadful cries that fear ever uttered — I may well term them dreadful ; for they haunted my sleep for years afterwards. As the murderers, or executioners, call them as you will, dragged him along, he recognized me even in that moment of horror, and ex- claimed, in the last articulate words I ever heard him utter, u O, Mr. Osbaldistone, save me! — save me ! " I was so much moved by this horrid spectacle, that, al- though in momentary expectation of sharing his fate, I did attempt to speak in his behalf, but, as might have been ex- pected, my interference was sternly disregarded. The vic- tim was held fast by some, while others, binding a large heavy stone in a plaid, tied it round his neck, and others 268 ORTHOPHONY. again eagerly stripped him of some part of his dress. Half naked, and thus manacled, they hurried him into the lake, there about twelve feet deep, drowning his last death- shriek with a loud halloo of vindictive triumph, over which, however, the yell of mortal agony was distinctly heard. The heavy burden splashed in the dark-blue waters of the lake ; and the Highlanders, with their pole-axes and swords, watched an instant, to guard, lest, extricating him- self from the load to which he was attached, he might have struggled to regain the shore. But the knot had been securely bound ; the victim sunk without effort ; the waters, which his fall had disturbed, settled calmly over him ; and the unit of that life for which he had pleaded so strongly, was forever withdrawn from the sum of human existence. III. Eulogy of President Garfield. — Blaine. His terrible fate was upon him in an instant. One mo- ment he stood erect, strong, confident in the years stretch- ing peacefully out before him. The next he lay wounded, bleeding, helpless, doomed to weary weeks of torture, to silence and the grave. Great in life, he was surpassingly great in death. For no cause, in the very frenzy of wantonness and wickedness, by the red hand of murder, he was thrust from the full tide of this world's interest, from its hopes, its aspirations, its victories, into the visible presence of Death — and he did not quail. Not alone for the one short moment in which, stunned and dazed he could give up life, hardly aware of its relinquishment, but through days of deadly languor, through weeks of agony that was not less agony because silently borne, with clear sight and calm courage, he looked into his open grave. What blight and ruin met his an- guished eyes, whose lips may tell — what brilliant broken plans, what baffled high ambitions, what sundering of strong warm manhood's friendships, what bitter rending of sweet household ties ! Behind him a proud, expectant Nation, a MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 269 great host of sustaining friends, a cherished and happy- mother, wearing the full, rich honors of her early toil and tears ; the wife of his youth, whose whole life lay in his ; the little boys not yet emerged from childhood's days of frolic ; the fair, young daughter, the sturdy sons just spring- ing into closest companionship, claiming every day and every day rewarding a father's love and care, and in his heart the eager rejoicing power to meet all demand! Be- fore him desolation and great darkness ! And his soul was not shaken. His countrymen were thrilled with instant, profound, and universal sympathy. Masterful in his mortal weakness, he became the centre of a Nation's love, en- shrined in the prayers of a world ; but all the love and all the sympathy could not share with him his suffering. He trod the wine-press alone. With unfaltering front he faced death. With unfailing tenderness he took leave of life. Above the demoniac hiss of the assassin's bullet he heard the voice of God. With simple resignation he bowed to the Divine decree. As the end drew near his early craving for the sea re- turned. The stately mansion of power had been to him the wearisome hospital of pain, and he begged to be taken from its prison walls, from its oppressive, stifling air, from its homelessness and its hopelessness. Gently, silently, the love of a great people bore the pale sufferer to the longed- for healing of the sea, to live or to die as God should will, within sight of its heaving billows, within sound of its man- ifold voices. With wan, fevered face tenderly lifted to the cooling breeze, he looked out wistfully upon the ocean's changing wonders ; on its far sails whitening in the morn- ing light ; on its restless waves rolling shore-ward to break and die beneath the noonday sun ; on the red clouds of evening arching low to the horizon ,• on the serene and shining pathway of the stars. Let us think that his dying eyes read a mystic meaning which only the rapt and parting goul may know. Let us believe that in the silence of the 270 ORTHOPHONY. receding world he heard the great waves breaking on a farther shore, and felt already upon his wasted brow the breath of the eternal morning. IV. Chatham's Rebuke of Lord Suffolk. (Declamatory Interrogation, Detestation, and Abhorrence.) Who is the man that, in addition to the disgraces and mischiefs of the war, has dared to authorize and associate to our arms the tomahawk and seal ping-knife of the savage? — to call into civilized alliance the wild and inhuman in- habitant of the woods ? — to delegate to the merciless In- dian the defence of disputed rights, and to wage the horrors of his barbarous war against our brethren ? My lords, these enormities cry aloud for redress and punishment. But, my lords, this barbarous measure has been defended, not only on the principles of policy and necessity, but also on those of morality ; " for it is perfectly allowable," says Lord Suf- folk, " to use all the means which God and nature have put into our hands." I am astonished, I am shocked, to hear such principles confessed ; to hear them allowed in this house or in this country ! My lords, I did not intend to encroach so much on your attention, but I cannot repress my indignation — I feel my- self impelled to speak. My lords, we are called upon as members of this house, as men, as Christians, to protest against such horrible barbarity ! — " That God and nature have put into our hands ! " What ideas of God and nature that noble lord may entertain I know not ; but I know that such detestable principles are equally abhorrent to religion and humanity. What ! to attribute the sacred sanction of God and nature to the massacres of the Indian scalping- knife ! to the cannibal savage, torturing, murdering, devour- ing, drinking the blood of his mangled victims ! Such notions shock every precept of morality, every feeling of humanity, every sentiment of honor. These abominable MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 271 principles, and this more abominable avowal of them, de- mand the most decisive indignation. I call upon that right reverend, and this most learned bench to vindicate the religion of their God, to support the justice of their country. I call upon the bishops to inter- pose the unsullied sanctity of their lawn, — upon the judges to interpose the purity of their ermine, to save us from this pollution. I call upon the honor of your lordships to rev- erence the dignity of your ancestors, and to maintain your own. I call upon the spirit and humanity of my country to vindicate the national character. I solemnly call upon your lordships, and upon every order of men in the state, to stamp upon this infamous procedure the indelible stigma of the public abhorrence. More particularly, I call upon the holy prelates of our religion to do away with this iniquity ; let them perform a lustration to purify the country from this deep and deadly sin. V. Extract from Patrick Henry's Speech in favor of the War of Independence. (Declamatory Expostulation, Courage, Confidence, Resolute Defiance, Rousing Appeal, Deep Determination.) They tell us, sir, that we are weak — unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger ? Will it be the next week, or the next year ? Will it be when we are totally disarmed ; and when a Brit- ish guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction ? Shall we ac- quire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot ? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invinci- ble by any force which our enemy can send against us. 272 ORTHOPHONY. Besides, sir, we shall not fight alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone : it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery ! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston ! The war is inevitable — and let it come ! I repeat it, sir, let it- come ! It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace, — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms ! Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle ? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have ? — Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be pur- chased at the price of chains and slavery ? Forbid it, Al- mighty God ! — I know not what course others may take ; but as for me, — give me liberty or give me death ! VI. Passing Away. — J. Pierpont. Was it the chime of a tiny bell, That came so sweet to my dreaming ear, — Like the silvery tones of a fairy's shell, That he winds on the beach so mellow and clear, When the winds and the waves lie together asleep, And the moon and the fairy are watching the deep ; — She dispensing her silvery light, And he, his notes as silvery quite, While the boatman listens, and ships his oar, To catch the music that comes from the shore ? — Hark ! the notes, on my ear that play Are set to words : — as they float they say, •' Passing away ! Passing away ! " MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 273 But no ; it was not a fairy's shell, Blown on the beach, so mellow and clear 5 Nor was it the tongue of a silver bell, Striking the hour, that filled my ear, As I lay in my dream ; yet was it a chime That told of the flow of the stream of time. For a beautiful clock from the ceiling hung, And a plump little girl, for a pendulum, swung (As you 've sometimes seen, in a little ring That hangs in his cage, a canary bird swing;) And she held to her bosom a budding bouquet, And, as she enjoyed it, she seemed to say, " Passing away ! Passing away ! " Oh 1 how bright were the wheels, that told Of the lapse of time as they moved around slow ! And the hands, as they swept o'er the dial of gold, Seemed to point to the girl below. And lo ! she had changed : — in a few short hours Her bouquet had become a garland of flowers, That she held in her outstretched hands, and flung This way and that, as she, dancing, swung In the fulness of grace and womanly pride, That told me she soon was to be a bride ; — Yet then, when expecting her happiest day In the same sweet voice I heard her say, " Passing away ! passing away ! " While I gazed at that fair one's cheek, a shade Of thought, or care, stole softly over, Like that by a cloud in a summer's day made, Looking down on a field of blossoming clover. The rose yet lay on her cheek ; but its flush Had something lost of its brilliant blush ; And the light in her eye, and the light on the whe«U< That marched so calmly around and above her, 18 274 ORTHOPHONY. Was a little dimmed, — as when evening steals Upon noon's hot face : yet one could n't but love heii For she looked like a mother, whose first babe lay- Rocked on her breast, as she swung all day ; And she seemed in the same silver tone to say, " Passing away ! passing away ! " While yet I looked, what a change there came ! Her eye was quenched, and her cheek was wan: Stooping and staffed was her withered frame* Yet just as busily swung she on ; The garland beneath her had fallen to dust, The wheels above her were eaten with rust ; The hands, that over the dial swept, Grew crooked and tarnished, but on they kept . And still there came that silver tone From the shrivelled lips of the toothless crone, (Let me never forget till my dying day The tone or the burden of her lay ! ) " Passing away ! passing away ! " VII. — Battle of Waterloo. — Byron. There was a sound of revelry by night ; And Belgium's capital had gathered then Her Beauty and her Chivalry ; and bright The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men : A thousand hearts beat happily ; and when Music arose with its voluptuous swell, Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again, And all went merry as a marriage bell ; — put hush ! hark ! a deep sound strikes like a rising knelL. 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 ; MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 275 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. Ah ! then and there was hurrying to and fro, And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress, And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness ; And there were sudden partings, such as press The -life from out young hearts, and choking sighs Which ne'er might be repeated : who could guess If ever more should meet those mutual eyes, Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise ? And there was mounting in hot haste ; the steed, The mustering squadron, and the clattering car, "Went pouring forward with impetuous speed, And swiftly forming in the ranks of war ; And the deep thunder, peal on peal, afar, And near, the beat of the alarming drum, Roused up the soldier ere the morning star ; — While thronged the citizens with terror dumb, Or whispering, with white lips — " The foe ! they come ! they come ! " And wild and high the " Cameron's gathering " rose ! The war-note of Lochiel, which Albyn's hills Have heard ; — and heard, too, have her Saxon foes : — How in the noon of night that pibroch thrills, Savage and shrill ! But with the breath which fills Their mountain-pipe, so fill the mountaineers With the fierce native daring, which instils The stirring memory of a thousand years ; And Evan's, Donald's fame rings in each clansman's ears! 276 ORTHOPHONY. And Ardennes waves above them her green leaves, Dewy with nature's tear-drops, as they pass, Grieving, — if aught inanimate e'er grieves, — Over the unreturning brave, — alas ! Ere evening to be trodden like the grass "Which now beneath them, but above shall grow In its next verdure ; when this fiery mass Of living valor, rolling on the foe, And burning with high hope, shall moulder cold and low ! Last noon beheld them full of lusty life, Last eve in Beauty's circle proudly gay, The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife, The morn, the marshalling in arms, — the day Battle's magnificently-stern array ! The thunder-clouds close o'er it, which when rent The earth is covered thick with other clay, Which her own clay shall cover, — heaped and pent, Rider and horse, — friend, foe, — in one red burial blent ! VIII. Satan rallying the Fallen Angels. — Milton. He scarce had ceased when the superior fiend Was moving toward the shore ; his ponderous shield Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round, Behind him cast, the broad circumference Hung on his shoulders, like the moon, whose orb, Through optic glass, the Tuscan artist views, At evening, from the top of Fiesole, Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands, Rivers, or mountains, on her spotty globe. His spear, to equal which the tallest pine Hewn on Norwegian hills to be the mast Of some great admiral, were but a wand, He walked with to support uneasy steps Over the burning marl : (not like those steps MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 277 On Heaven's azure !) and the torrid clime Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with fire. Nathless he so endured till on the beach Of that inflamed sea he stood, and called His legions, angel forms, who lay, entranced Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks In Vallombrosa, where the Eturian shades, High over-arched embower ; or scattered sedge Afloat, when with fierce winds, Orion armed, Hath vexed the Red Sea coast, whose waves o'erthrew Busiris and his Memphian chivalry, While with perfidious hatred they pursued The sojourners of Goshen, who beheld From the safe shore their floating carcasses And broken chariot wheels: so thick bestrown, Abject and lost, lay these, covering the flood, Under amazement of their hideous change. He called so loud, that all the hollow deep Of hell resounded. " Princes ! Potentates ! Warriors ! the flower of heaven, once yours, now lost, If such astonishment as this can seize Eternal spirits : or have ye chosen this place, To rest your wearied virtue, for the ease ye find To slumber here, as in the vales of heaven ? Or in this abject posture have you sworn To adore the Conqueror, who now beholds Cherub and seraph rolling in the flood, With scattered arms and ensigns ; till, anon, His swift pursuers, from heaven's gates discern The advantage, and descending, tread us down Thus drooping ; or with linked thunderbolts Transfix us to the bottom of this gulf ? Awake ! arise ! or be forever fallen ! " 278 ORTHOPHONY. IX. Hymn to Mont Blanc. — Coleridge, Hast thou a charm to stay the morning star In his steep course ? so long he seems to pause On thy bald, awful head, O sovran Blanc ! The Arve and Arveiron at thy base Rave ceaselessly, while thou, dread mountain form, Risest from forth thy silent sea of pines How silently ! Around thee and above Deep is the sky and black : transpicuous deep, — An ebon mass ! methinks thou piercest it As with a wedge ! But when I look again It seems thine own calm home, thy crystal shrine, Thy habitation from eternity. dread and silent form ! I gazed on thee Till thou, still present to my bodily eye, Didst vanish from my thought. Entranced in prayer, 1 worshipped the Invisible alone, Yet thou, methinks, wast working on my soul. E'en like some deep enchanting melody, So sweet we know not we are listening to it. But I awake, and with a busier mind And active will, self-conscious, offer now, Not, as before, involuntary prayer And passive adoration. Hand and voice Awake, awake ! and thou, my heart, awake ! Green fields and icy cliffs ! all join my hymn ! And thou, O silent mountain, sole and bare, O blacker than the darkness, all the night, And visited all night by troops of stars, — Or when they climb the sky, or when they sink, — • Companion of the morning star, at dawn, Thyself earth's rosy star, and of the dawn Co-herald ! wake, oh ! wake, and utter praise ! Who sank thy sunless pillars in the earth ? MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 279 Who filled thy countenance with rosy light? Who made thee father of perpetual streams ? And you, ye five wild torrents, fiercely glad, Who called you forth from night and utter death ? From darkness let you loose, and icy dens, Down those precipitous, black, jagged rocks, Forever shattered, and the same forever ? Who gave you your invulnerable life, Your strength, your speed, your fury, and your joy, Unceasing thunder and eternal foam ? — And who commanded — and the silence came, " Here shall the billows stiffen and have rest ? " Ye ice-falls ! ye that from your dizzy heights Adown enormous ravines steeply slope, — Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty noise, And stopped at once amidst their maddest plunge, — Motionless torrents ! silent cataracts ! Who made you glorious as the gates of heaven, Beneath the keen full moon ? Who bade the Sun Clothe you with rainbows ? Who with lovely flowers Of living blue spread garlands at your feet ? — God ! God ! the torrents like a shout of nations Utter : the ice-plain bursts, and answers, God ! — God ! sing the meadow streams with gladsome voice, And pine-groves with their soft and soul-like sound. The silent snow-mass, loosening, thunders, God ! Ye dreadless flowers, that fringe the eternal frost ! Ye wild goats bounding by the eagle's nest ! Ye eagles, playmates of the mountain blast ! Ye lightnings, the dread arrows of the clouds ! Ye signs and wonders of the elements, Utter forth God ! and fill the hills with praise I And thou, O silent form, alone and bare, — Whom as I lift again my head, bowed low In silent adoration, I again behold, And to thy summit upward from thy base 280 ORTHOPHONY. Sweep slowly, with dim eyes suffused with tears, — Awake thou mountain form ! Rise like a cloud, Rise, like a cloud of incense, from the earth ! Thou kingly spirit throned among the hills, Thou dread Ambassador from earth to heaven, Great Hierarch, tell thou the silent sky, And tell the stars, and tell the rising sun, Earth with her thousand voices calls on God. X. Rhyme op the Duchess May. — E. B. Browning. 'T was a duke's fair orphan-girl, and her uncled ward, th© earl Who betrothed her, twelve years old, for the sake of dowry gold, To his son Lord Leigh, the churl. But what time she had made good all her years of woman- hood, — Unto both those lords of Leigh, spake she outright sov- ranly, " My will runneth as my blood. "And while this same blood makes red this same right hand's veins," she said, — " 'T is my will, as lady free, not to wed a lord of Leigh, But Sir Guy of Linteged." The old earl he smiled smooth, then he sighed for wilfal youth, — " Good my niece, that hand withal, looketh somewhat soft and small, For so large a will, in sooth." She, too, smiled by that same sign, — but her smile was cold and fine,— MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 251 u Little hand clasps muckle gold ; or it were not worth the hold Of thy son, good uncle mine ! " Then the young lord jerked his breath, and sware thickly in his teeth, — " He would wed his own betrothed, an she loved him an she loathed, Let the life come or the death." Up she rose with scornful eyes, as her father's child might rise, — " Thy hound's blood, my lord of Leigh, stains thy knightly heel," quoth she, " Though he moans not where he lies. "But a woman's will dies hard, in the hall or on the sward ! — " By that grave, my lords, which made me, orphaned girl and dowered lady, I deny you wife and ward." Unto each she bowed her Lead, and swept past with lofty tread, — Ere the midnight-bell had ceased, in the chapel had the priest Blessed her, bride of Linteged. Fast and fain the bridal train, along the night-storm rode amain : — Wild the steeds of lord and serf, struck their hoofs out on the turf, In the pauses of the rain. Fast and fain, the kinsmen *s train, along the storm pursued amain — 282 ORTHOPHONY. Steed on steed-track, dashing off — thickening, doubling hoof on hoof, In the pauses of the rain. And the bridegroom led the flight, on his red-roan steed of might, — And the bride lay on his arm, still, as if she feared no harm, Smiling out into the night. " Dost thou fear ? " he said at last; — " Nay ! " she an- swered him in haste, — " Not such death as we could find — only life with one be- hind — Ride on fast as fear — ride fast ! " Up the mountain wheeled the steed — girth to ground, and fetlocks spread, — » Headlong bounds and rocking flanks, down he staggered — down the banks, To the towers of Linteged. High and low the serfs looked out, red the flambeaus tossed about, — In the courtyard rose the cry, — "Live the Duchess and Sir Guy!" But she never heard them shout. On the steed she dropt her cheek, kissed his mane and kissed his neck, — "I had happier died by thee, than lived on a Lady Leigh," Were the words which she did speak. But a three months' joyaunce lay 'twixt that moment and to-day, — MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 283 When five hundred archers tall, stand beside the castle wall, To recapture Duchess May. And the castle standeth black, with the red sun at its back, — And a fortnight's siege is done — and, except the Duchess, none Can misdoubt the coming wrack. Then the captain, young Lord Leigh, with his eye so gray of blee, — And thin lips, that scarcely sheath the cold white gnashing of his teeth, Gnashed in smiling, absently, — Cries aloud — " So goes the day, bridegroom fair of Duch- ess May ! — Look thy last upon that sun. If thou seest to-morrow's one, 'T will be through a foot of clay. " Ha, fair bride ! Dost hear no sound, save that moaning of the hound ? — Thou and I have parted troth, — yet I keep my vengeance oath, And the other may come round. "Peck on blindly, netted dove ! — If a wife's name thee be- hove, — Thou shalt wear the same to-morrow, ere the grave has hid the sorrow Of thy last ill-mated love. w O'er his fixed and silent mouth, thou and I will call back troth, — 284 ORTHOPHONY. He shall altar be and priest, — and he will not cry at least * I forbid you — I am loath ! ' "I will wring thy fingers pale, in the gauntlet of my mail, — 1 Little hand and muckle gold ' close shall lie within my hold, As the sword did to prevail." Oh, the little birds sang east, and the little birds sang west, — Oh, and laughed the Duchess May, and her soul did put away All his boasting, for a jest. In her chamber did she sit, laughing low to think of it,— " Tower is strong and will is free — thou canst boast, my Lord of Leigh, — But thou boastest little wit." In her tire-glass gazed she, and she blushed right wom- anly,— She blushed half from her disdain — half, her beauty was so plain, — " Oath for oath, my Lord of Leigh ! " Straight she called her maidens in, — " Since ye gave me blame herein, — That a bridal such as mine should lack gauds to make it fine, Come and shrive me from that sin. u It is three months gone to-day, since I gave my hand away. — MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 285 'Bring the gold and bring the gem, we will keep bride state in them, While we keep the foe at bay. " On your arms I loose my hair, — comb it smooth and crown it fair, — I would look in purple pall, from this lattice down the wall, And throw scorn to one that's there ! " On the tower the castle's lord leant in silence on his sword, With an anguish in his breast. With a spirit-laden weight, did he lean down passionate, — They have almost sapped the wall, — they will enter there withal, With no knocking at the gate. Then the sword he leant upon, shivered — snapped upon the stone, — " Sword," he thought, with inward laugh, " ill thou servest for a staff, When thy nobler use is done ! " Sword, thy nobler use is done ! — tower is lost, and shame begun ; — If we met them in the breach, hilt to hilt or speech to speech, We should die there, each for one. " If we met them at the wall, we should singly, vainly fall, Bat if /die here alone, — then I die, who am but one, And die nobly for them all. * Five true friends lie for my sake, — in the moat and in the brake, — 286 ORTHOPHONY. Thirteen warriors lie at rest, with a black wound in the breast, And none of these will wake. " And no more of this shall be ! heart-blood weighs too heavily — And I could not sleep in grave, with the faithful and the brave Heaped around and over me. " Since young Clare a mother hath, and young Ralph a plighted faith, — Since my pale young sister's cheeks blush like rose when Ronald speaks, Though never a word she saith, — "These shall never die for me — life-blood falls too heavily : — And if /die here apart, — o'er my dead and silent heart They shall pass out safe and free. "When the foe hath heard it said, — ' Death holds Guy of Linteged,' — That new corse new peace shall bring ; and a blessed, blessed thing, Shall the stone be at his head. " Then my friends shall pass out free, and shall bear my memory, — Then my foes shall sleek their pride, soothing fair my widowed bride, Whose sole sin was love of me. " Ah, sweet May — ah, sweetest grief! — once I vowed the* my belief, MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 287 That thy name expressed thy sweetness, — May of poets, in completeness ! Now my May-day seemeth brief." All these silent thoughts did swim o'er his eyes grown strange and dim, — Till his true men in the place wished they stood there face to face With the foe instead of him. " One last oath, my friends, that wear faithful hearts to do and dare ! Tower must fall, and bride be lost! — swear me service worth the cost ! " — Bold they stood around to swear. " Each man clasp my hand, and swear, by the deed we failed in there, — Not for vengeance, not for right, will ye strike one blow to-night ! " — Pale they stood around to swear. " One last boon young Ralph and Clare ! faithful hearts to do and dare ! Bring that steed up from his stall, which she kissed before you all, — Guide him up the turret-stair. i Ye shall harness him aright, and lead upward to this height ! — Once in love and twice in war, hath he borne me strong and far, — He shall bear me far to-night." Then his men looked to and fro, when they heard him speaking so, — 288 ORTHOPHONY. " 'Las ! the noble heart," they thought, — " he in sooth is grief -distraught. — Would we stood here with the foe ! " But a fire flashed from his eye, 'twixt their thought and their reply, — " Have ye so much time to waste ! We who ride here must ride fast, As we wish our foes to fly." They have fetched the steed with care, in the harness he did wear, — Past the court and through the doors, across the rushes of the floors ; But they goad him up the stair. ' rhen from out her bower-chambere, did the Duchess May repair, — u Tell me now what is your need," said the lady, " of this steed, That ye goad him up the stair ? " Calm she stood ! unbodkined through, fell her dark hair to her shoe, — And the smile upon her face, ere she left the tiring-glass Had not time enough to go. " Qet thee back, sweet Duchess May ! hope is gone like yesterday, — One half-hour completes the breach ; and thy lord grows wild of speech. — Get thee in, sweet lady, and pray. * u In the east tower, high'st of all, — loud he cries for steed from stall, — MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 289 1 He would ride as far,' quoth he, 'as for love and vic- tory, Though he rides the castle-wall.' "And we fetch the steed from stall, up where never a hoof did fall. — Wifely prayer meets deathly need ! may the sweet Heavens hear thee plead, If he rides the castle- wall." Low she dropt her head, and lower, till her hair coiled on the floor, — And tear after tear you heard, fall distinct as any word Which you might be listening for. She stood up in bitter case, with a pale yet steady face, — Like a statue thunderstruck, which, though quivering, seems to look Right against the thunder-place. And her foot trod in, with pride, her own tears i' the stone beside, — " Go to, faithful friends, go to ! Judge no more what ladies do, — . No, nor how their lords may ride ! " Then the good steed's rein she took, and his neck did kiss and stroke : — Soft he neighed to answer her ; and then followed up the stair, For the love of her sweet look. Oh, and steeply, steeply wound up the narrow stairs around, — 19 290 ORTHOPHONY. Oh, and closely, closely speeding, step by step beside her treading, Did he follow, meek as hound. On the east tower, high'st of all, — there, where never a hoof did fall, — Out they swept, a vision steady, — noble steed and lovely lady, Calm as if in bower or stall ! Down she knelt at her lord's knee, and she looked up silently, — And he kissed her twice and thrice, for that look within her eyes, Which he could not bear to see. Quoth he, " Get thee from this strife, — and the sweet saints bless thy life ! — In this hour, I stand in need of my noble red-roan steed — But not of my noble wife." Quoth she, " Meekly have I done all thy biddings under sun: — But by all my womanhood, — which is proved so true and good, I will never do this one. " Now by womanhood's decree, and by wifehood's ver- ity,— In this hour if thou hast need of thy noble red-roan steed, Thou hast also need of me. " By this golden ring ye see on this lifted hand pardie, — If this hour, on castle-wall, can be room for steed from stall, Shall be also room for me. MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 291 •• So the sweet saints with me be " (did she utter sol- emnly), — " If a man, this eventide, on the castle-wall will ride, He shall ride the same with me." Oh, he sprang up in the selle, and he laughed out bitter- well, — " Wouldst thou ride among the leaves, as we used on other eves, To hear chime the vesper bell ? " She clang closer to his knee — " Aye, beneath the cypress- tree ! — Mock me not ; for otherwhere, than along the green-wood fair, Have I ridden fast with thee ! " Fast I rode, with new-made vows, from my angry kins- man's house ! What ! and would you men should reck, that I dared more for love's sake, As a bride than as a spouse ? " What, and would you it should fall, as a proverb, before all,— That a bride may keep your side, while through castle-gate you ride, Yet eschew the castle-wall ? " Ho ! the breach yawns into ruin, and roars up against her suing, — With the inarticulate din, and the dreadful falling in — Shrieks of doing and undoing ! Twice he wrung her hands in twain ; but the small hands closed again, — 292 ORTHOPHONY. Back he reined the steed — back, back f but she trailed along the track, With a frantic clasp and strain ! Evermore the foemen pour through the crash of window and door, — And the shouts of Leigh and Leigh, and the shrieks of "kill ! " and "flee!" Strike up clear the general roar. Thrice he wrung her hands in twain, — but they closed and clung again, — Wild she clung, as one, withstood, clasps a Christ upon the rood, In a spasm of deathly pain. She clung wild and she clung mute, — with her shuddering lips half -shut, — Her head fallen as in swound, — hair and knee swept on the ground, -— She clung wild to stirrup and foot. Back he reined his steed, back-thrown on the slippery coping stone, — Back the iron hoofs did grind, on the battlement behind, Whence a hundred feet went down. And his heel did press and goad on the quivering flank be- strode, " Friends, and brothers ! save my wife ! — Pardon, sweet, in change for life, — But I ride alone to God ! " Straight as if the Holy name did upbreathe her as a flame, — MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 293 She upsprang, she rose upright ! in his selle she sat m sight ; By her love she overcame. And her head was on his breast, where she smiled as one at rest, — " Ring," she cried, " O vesper bell, in the beech-wood's old chapelle ! But the passing bell rings best." They have caught out at the rein, which Sir Guy threw loose — in vain, — For the horse in stark despair, with his front hoofs poised in air, On the last verge, rears amain. And he hangs, he rocks between — and his nostrils cardie in,— And he shivers head and hoof, and the flakes of foam fall off; And his face grows fierce and thin ! And a look of human woe, from his staring eyes did go, — And a sharp cry uttered he in a foretold agony Of the headlong death below, — And, " Ring, ring, — thou passing bell," still she cried, " i' the old chapelle ! " — Then back-toppling, crashing back — a dead weight flung out to wrack, Horse and riders overfell ! Oh, the little birds sang east, and the little birds sang west, — 294 ORTHOPHONY. And I read this ancient Rhyme in the kirkyard while the chime Slowly tolled for one at rest. And beneath a willow tree, I a little grave did see, — Where was graved, — " Here undented, Lieth Maud, a three-year child, Eighteen hundred forty-three." Then, O Spirits — did I say — ye who rode so fast that day,— Did star-wheels and angel-wings, with their holy winnow- ings, Keep beside you all the way ? Though in passion ye would dash, with a blind and heavy crash, Up against the thick-bossed shield of God's judgment in the field, — Though your heart and brain were rash, — Now your will is all unwilled — now your pulses are aP stilled, — Now ye lie as meek and mild (whereso laid) as Maud tfr* child, Whose small grave to-day was filled. In your patience ye are strong ; cold and heat ye take no* wrong : — When the trumpet of the angel blows eternity's evangel, Time will seem to you not long. Oh, the little birds sang east, and the little birds sang west, MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 295 And I said in underbreath, — all our lif* is mixed with death, — And who knoweth which is best ? Oh, the little birds sang east, and the little birds sang west, — And I smiled to think God's greatness flowed around our incompleteness, — Round our restlessness, His rest. XL The Uses of Knowledge. — Alison. The first end to which all wisdom or knowledge ought to be employed, is to illustrate the wisdom or goodness of the Father of Nature. Every science that is cultivated by men, leads naturally to religious thought, from the study of the plant that grows beneath our feet, to that of the Host of Heaven above us, who perform their stated revolutions in majestic silence, amid the expanse of infinity. When, in the youth of Moses, " the Lord appeared to him in Ho- reb," a voice was heard, saying, " Draw nigh hither, and put off thy shoes from off thy feet ; for the place where thou standest is holy ground." It is with such a reverential awe that every great or elevated mind will approach to the study of nature, and with such feelings of adoration and gratitude, that he will receive the illumination that gradually opens upon his soul. It is not the lifeless mass of matter, he will then feel, that he is examining, — it is the mighty machine of Eternal Wisdom : the workmanship of Him, " in whom everything lives, and moves, and has its being." Under an aspect of this kind, it is impossible to pursue knowledge without mingling with it the most elevated sentiments of devotion ; — it is impossible to perceive the laws of nature without perceiving, at the same time, the presence and the Provi- dence of the Lawgiver ; — and thus it is, that, in every age^ 296 ORTHOPHONY. the evidences of religion have advanced with the progress of true philosophy ; and that science, in erecting a monu- ment to herself, has, at the same time, erected an altar to the Deity. The second great end to which all knowledge ought to be employed, is the welfare of humanity. Every science is the foundation of some art beneficial to men ; and while the study of it leads us to see the beneficence of the laws of nature, it calls upon us also to follow the great end of the Father of Nature in their employment and application. I need not say what a field is thus opened to the benevolence of knowledge ; I need not tell you that in every depart- ment of learning there is good to be done to mankind ; I need not remind you that the age in which we live has given us the noblest examples of this kind, and that science now finds its highest glory in improving the condition, or in allaying the miseries of humanity. But there is one thing of which it is proper ever to remind you, because the mod- esty of knowledge often leads us to forget it, — and that is that the power of scientific benevolence is far greater than that of all others, to the welfare of society. The benevolence of the great, or the opulent, however eminent it may be, perishes with themselves. The benevo- lence even of sovereigns is limited to the narrow boundary of human life; and, not unfrequently, is succeeded by dif- ferent and discordant counsels. But the benevolence of knowledge is of a kind as extensive as the race of man, and as permanent as the existence of society. He, in what- ever situation he may be, who, in the study of science, has discovered a new means of alleviating pain, or of remedy- ing disease ; who has described a wiser method of prevent- ing poverty, or of shielding misfortune ; who has suggested additional means of increasing or improving the beneficent productions of nature, has left a memorial of himself which can never be forgotten ; which will communicate happm^ss to ages yet unborn ; and which, in the emphatic MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 297 language of Scripture, renders him a " fellow-worker " with God himself, in the improvement of his Creation. XII. The Last Hours of Sir Walter Scott. — Lock hart. On the morning of Sunday, the 15th of July, he was again taken out into the little pleasaunce, and got as far as his favorite terrace-walk between the garden and the river, from which he seemed to survey the valley and the hills with much satisfaction. On reentering the house he desired me to read to him from the New Testament, and after that he again called for a little of Crabbe ; but whatever I se- lected from that poet seemed to be listened to as if it made part of some new volume published while he was in Italy. He attended with this sense of novelty even to the tale of Phoebe Dawson, which, not many months before, he could have repeated every line of, and which I chose for one of these readings, because, as is known to every one, it had formed the last solace of Mr. Fox's deathbed. On the con- trary, his recollection of whatever I read from the Bible appeared to be lively ; and in the afternoon when we made his grandson, a child of six years, repeat some of Dr. Watts's hymns by his chair, he seemed also to remember them perfectly. That evening he heard the church service, and when I was about to close the book, said, " Why do you omit the office for the Visitation of the Sick ? " which I added accordingly. On Monday he remained in bed and seemed extremely feeble; but after breakfast on Tuesday, the 17th, he appeared revived somewhat, and was again wheeled about on the turf. Presently he fell asleep in his chair, and after dozing for perhaps half an hour, started awake, and shaking the plaids we had put about him from off his shoulders, said, " This is sad idleness ; I shall forget what I have been thinking of, if I don't set it down now. Take me into my own room, and fetch the keys of my desk." He repeated this so earnestly that we could not refuse ; his 298 ORTHOPHONY. daughters went into his study, opened his writing-desk, and laid paper and pens in the usual order, and I then moved him through the hall and into the spot where he had always been accustomed to work. When the chair was placed at the desk, and he found himself in the old position, he smiled and thanked us, and said, " Now give me my pen and leave me for a little to myself." Sophia put the pen into his hand, and he endeavored to close his fingers upon it, but they refused their office — it dropped on the paper. He sank back among his pillows, silent tears rolliDg down his cheeks ; but composing himself by and by, motioned to me to wheel him out of doors again. Laidlaw met us at the porch, and took his turn of the chair. Sir Walter, after a little while, again dropt into slumber. When he was awaking, Laidlaw said to me, " Sir Walter has had a little repose." " No, Willie," said he — " no repose for Sir Walter but in the grave." The tears again rushed from his eyes. " Friends," said he, " don't let me expose my- self — get me to bed — that 's the only place." With this scene ended our glimpse of daylight. Sir Walter never, I think, left his room afterwards, and hardly his bed, except an hour or two in the middle of the day ; and after another week he was unable even for this. As I was dressing, on the morning of Monday, the 17th of September, Nicolson came into my room and told me that his master had awoke in a state of composure and consciousness, and wished to see me immediately. I found him entirely himself, though in the last extreme of feeble- ness. His eye was clear and calm — every trace of the wild fire of delirium extinguished. " Lockhart," he said, " I may have but a minute to speak to you. My dear, be a good man — be virtuous — be religious — be a good man. Nothing else will give you any comfort when you come to lie here." — He paused and I said, " Shall I send for Sophia and Anne ? " — " No," said he, " don't disturb them. Poor souls ! I know they were up all night — God bless MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 299 you all." — With this he sunk iuto a very tranquil sleep, and, indeed, he scarcely afterwards gave any sign of con- sciousness, except for an instant on the arrival of his sons. They, on learning that the scene was about to close, ob- tained a new leave of absence from their posts, and both reached Abbotsford on the 19th. About half-past one p.m., on the 21st of September, Sir Walter breathed his last, in the presence of all his children. It was a beauti- ful day — so warm that every window was wide open — and so perfectly still that the sound of all others most de- licious to the ear, the gentle ripple of the Tweed over its pebbles, was distinctly audible as we knelt round the bed, and his eldest son kissed and closed his eyes. XIII. Specimen of the Eloquence of John Adams. — Webster. The war must go on. We must fight it through. And if the war must go on, why put off longer the Declaration of Independence ? That measure will strengthen us. It will give us character abroad. Why then, sir, do we not, as soon as possible, change this from a civil to a national war ? And since we must fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state to enjoy all the benefits of victory, if we gain the victory ? If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall not fail. The cause will raise up armies. The cause will create navies. The people, the people, if we are true to them, will carry us, and will carry themselves, gloriously, through this struggle. I care not how fickle other people have been found. I know the people of these colonies ; and I know that resist- ance to British aggression is deep and settled in their hearts and cannot be eradicated. Every colony, indeed, has expressed its willingness to follow, if we but take the lead. Sir, the declaration will inspire the people with increased courage. Instead of a long and bloody war for restoration of privileges, for redress of grievances, for chartered im- £/00 ORTHOPHONY. munities, held under a British king, set before them the glo rious object of entire independence, and it will breathe into them anew the breath of life. Read this declaration at the head of the army ; every sword will be drawn from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered to maintain it or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it from the pulpit ; religion will approve it, and the love of religious liberty will cling round it, resolved to stand with it or fall with it. Send it to the public halls ; pro- claim it there ; let them hear it who heard the first roar of the enemy's cannon ; let them see it who saw their brothers and their sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill, and in the streets of Lexington and Concord, and the very walls will cry out in its support. Sir, I know the uncertainty of human affairs, but I see, I see clearly through this day's business. You and I, in- deed, may rue it. We may not live to the time when this declaration shall be made good. We may die ; die colonists ; die slaves ; die, it may be, ignominiously and on the scaf- fold. Be it so. Be it so. If it be the pleasure of Heaven that my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready at the appointed hour of sacrifice, come when that hour may. But while I do live, let me have a country, or at least the hope of a country, and that a free country. But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured, that this declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and \t may cost blood ; but it will stand, and it will richly com- pensate for both. Through the thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the future, as the sun in heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. When we are in our graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires, and illuminations. On its annual return they will shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of gratitude, and of joy. MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 301 Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. My judg- ment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope, in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it ; and I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment : independ- ence wow; and INDEPENDENCE FOREVER. XIV. Slavery opposed to Nature. — Brougham. I trust at length the time is come when Parliament will no longer bear to be told that slave-owners are the best law- givers on slavery; no longer allow an appeal from the British public to such communities as those in which the Smiths and the Grimsdalls are persecuted to death for teaching the Gospel to the negroes, and the Mosses held in affectionate respect for torture and murder ; no longer suf- fer our voices to roll across the Atlantic in empty warnings and fruitless orders. Tell me not of rights ; talk not of the property of the planter in his slaves. I deny the right ; I acknowledge not the property. The principles, the feel- ings of our common nature, rise in rebellion against it. Be the appeal made to the understanding, or to the heart, the sentence is the same that rejects it. In vain you tell me of the laws that sanction such a crime ! There is a law above all the enactments of human codes, — the same throughout the world — the same in all times, — such as it was before the daring genius of Columbus pierced the night of ages, and opened to one world the sources of power, wealth, and knowledge, to another, all unutterable woes, — such as it is this day. It is the law written by the finger of God on the heart of man ; and by that law, unchangeable and eternal, while men despise fraud, and loathe rapine, and abhor blood, they will reject with indignation the wild and guilty fantasy, that man can hold property in man ! In vain you appeal to treaties, to covenants between nations ! the cove- 302 ORTHOPHONY. nants of the Almighty, whether the Old covenant or the New, denounces such unholy pretensions. To those laws did they of old refer who maintained the African trade. Such treaties did they cite, and not untruly ; for by one shameful compact you bartered the glories of Blenheim for the traffic in blood. Yet despite of law and treaty, that in- fernal traffic is now destroyed, and its votaries put to death like other pirates. How came this change to pass ? Not, assuredly, by Parliament leading the way ; but the country at length awoke ; the indignation of the people was kindled ; it descended in thunder and smote the traffic, and scattered the guilty profits to the wind. Now, then, let the planters beware — let their assemblies beware — let the government at home beware — let the Parliament beware ! The same country is once more awake — awake to the condition of negro slavery ; the same indignation kindles in the bosom of the same people : the same cloud is gathering that anni- hilated the slave trade ; and if it shall descend again, they on whom its crash may fall will not be destroyed before I have warned them ; but I pray that their destruction may turn away from us the more terrible judgments of God. ^H ■i imMamrn _JH ■Hi Mm m&B&m ■■■■•-■'■■.■■ ■WgC^vT ^W^K? *, jfl ■ ■ ^B ■ m 1 ■H ■ *# ■ * ■ jf ' W -*T I IBIaSI h H