Humorous, Pathetic, and Sublime Writings. CIII. The Princess and the Silk-worm. CVI. Not Lost, but Gone Before. CVIII. Humble-bees and Honey-bees CIX. Flies, or Two-winged Insects. ELEMENTARY TREATISE. THE ART OF ELOCUTION. Ir we study Nature, the only true guide to a correct elocution, we shall find that all the essentials of good reading and speaking, such as the time, the force, the pitch, the emphasis, the quantity and quality of the tones, and the inflections—all, in fine, that go to make up expression-vary, in the thousand shades of meaning which they picture forth, according to the character of what is read or spoken. Hence the importance, in a full exposition of the Art of Elocution, of analyzing the character of the different kinds of poetic and prose composition found in our language; the leading "figures of speech," the different kinds of style, and their aims and objects; also the various passions, emotions, sentiments, and feelings, to which all emotional writings are addressed, or which they are calculated to portray. It will be seen, therefore, that this is a vast subject, a mere synopsis of which could scarcely be given in a brief elementary treatise like the present. We shall therefore first limit ourselves to such a brief exposition of the different kinds of composition, figures of speech, and peculiarities of style as all should have some knowledge of, and then proceed to set forth, and illustrate, such of the leading principles of elocution as we think should be understood by those teachers, at least, who may use this Fifth Reading-book. We believe it will not be denied by any, that such an abstract of the elements of English composition as is given in the following five pages, will be useful to all readers who have not already made themselves familiar with the same principles from other sources; and to those who object to all rules for reading, we would say, in the language of Dr. Blair, that "while rules and directions can never supply the want of genius, they may direct it, where it is found, into its proper channel, and thereby prevent errors and extravagances that would otherwise be apt to creep in." But, while principles and rules of elocution may be of little benefit to the majority of pupils in our schools, they are invaluable aids to the teacher, and for this latter reason, if for no other, they should be introduced in our Reading-books. 1. Prose. I. THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. TWO GREAT DIVISIONS: 2. Poetry-1st. Rhyme; 2d. Blank Verse. Prose is the natural language of man-that language which is not confined to poetical measure. Poetry is measured language—that which is governed by certain rules for the combination of accented and unaccented syllables.* Rhyme is that form of poetry in which there is not only a measured arrangement of words and syllables, but also a recurrence of similar sounds at the end of certain lines. Blank verse is that poetry which depends upon measure alone, and differs from the other only in not having rhyming words at the ends of the lines. PRINCIPAL KINDS OF WRITING, OR COMPOSITION. 1st. IN PROSE: Letters, Dialogues, History, Essays, Scientific and Philosophical Works, Orations, and Novels. 2d. IN POETRY: Pastoral, Lyric, Epic, and Dramatic Poetry. PROSE WRITINGS. LETTERS are written or printed messages or epistles. The Letters of the Apostles are called Epistles; as, the Epistles of Paul. A DIALOGUE is a written composition, in which two or more persons are represented as conversing on some topic. HISTORY is a narration of events in the order in which they happened, with their causes and effects. It includes annals, voyages, travels, and biographies. An ESSAY is a writing, of moderate length, intended to prove or illustrate a particular subject; as, an Essay on Morals, on Commerce, etc. SCIENTIFIC and PHILOSOPHICAL works are those which present the general principles and leading truths relating to any subject in systematic order. * Greek and Latin versification depended chiefly upon the quantities-that is, the length or shortness of the syllables. |