74 THE EMPHATIC TIE. Distant words, having a sensific relation to each other, will have this relation exhibited very clearly by giving them some form of emphasis, thereby elevating them, and joining or tieing them (as it were) together, in a sense-making manner. About her middle round, A cry of HELL-HOUNDS, never-ceasing, BARKED, The main current of thought. in this passage, is interrupted by slurring the two expletives intervening between the emphatic words. The different parts of the main current, which are separated by the cross-currents, must be connected by the use of the Emphatu Tie. which should be placed on the words 'hell-hounds," "barked," and "rung." The main current of this passage consists of the following A cry of hell-hounds About her middle round, The cross-currents are: -never ceasing -With wide, Cerberian mouths, full loud When CHEERFULNESS, a nymph of healthiest hue, Her buskins gemm d with morning dew, BLEW an INSPIRING AIR, that dale and thicket rung, The words "inspiring air," and "hunter's call," are in apposition; but their intervening matter might make “rung” pass for a transitive, instead of an intransitive verb, and thereby render call" the object to it. To show, therefore, that by "hunter's call" the author means the same as by “inspiring air." previously mentioned, these words should receive strong emphasis, and the intervening clause slurred. This is the best mode for restoring to the ear that natural order which is inverted in the sentence. Perspicuity may also be aided a little, by emphasizing cheerfulness," and slightly slurring what follows it unto the end of the third line. But the Jews did not BELIEVE, concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the PARENTS of him that had received his sight. And they CAST him OUT. JESUS HEARD that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou BELIEVE on 75 the SON of GOD? He answered, and said, WHO is he, Lord, that I MIGHT believe on him? And SEND'ST HIM, shivering in thy playful spray, And howling to his gods, WHERE happy LIES And then he beheld, enjoying a sweet and tranquil SLUMBER, the man, WHO, by the doom of himself and his fellows, was to DIE within the SHORT SPACE of TWO HOURS. HIS FRIEND, who was apprised of the state he was in, and who naturally concluded he was ill, OFFERED him some WINE. It is obvious that the audible means for displaying the sense of discourse is greatly contributive to the analysis necessary to present a clear picture of thought in delivery, and can not fail to reveal the latent beauties, as well as defects, of composition. The Art of Rhetoric can not but be greatly assisted by that of Elocution, since a careful consideration of the nice sensific relations of words in written language is constantly necessary in the art of Rhetoric. THE WAVE OF THE CIRCUMFLEX. The Circumflex is a union of the inflections, and is of two kinds Rising and Falling. It is governed by the same principle as inflections; that is, positive assertions of irony, raillery, etc., will have the Falling circumflex; and all negative assertions of doubled meaning will have the Rising. Doubt, pity, contrast, grief, supposition, comparison, irony, implication, sneering, raillery, scorn, reproach, and contempt, are expressed by them. Be sure and get the right feeling and thought, and you will find no difficulty in expressing them properly, if you have mastered the voice. Both these circumflex inflections may be exemplified in the word “so,” in a speech of the Clown, in Shakespeare's "As You Like It :" I knew when seven justices could not take up a quarrel; but when the parties were met themselves, one of them thought but of an If; as if you said so, then I said sô. Oh, hô! did you say so? So they shook hands, and were sworn friends. The Queen of Denmark, in reproving her son, Hamlet, on account of his conduct towards his step-father, whom she married shortly after the murder of the king, her husband, says to him, "Hamlet, you have your father much offended." To which he replies, with a circumflex on you, " Madam, you have my father much offended." He meant his own father; she, his stepfather. He would also intimate that she was accessory to his father's murder; and his peculiar reply was like daggers in her soul. In the following reply of Death to Satan, there is a frequent occurrence of circumflexes, mingled with contempt: And reckon'st thou thyself with spirits of heaven, hell-doomed, and breath'st defiance here, and scorn, where I reign king? and, to enrage thee more, thˇy king and lord!" The voice is circumflexed on heaven, hell-doomed, king, and thy, nearly an octave. Zounds! show me what thou'lt do: woul't fast? woul't tear thyself? I'll do it. Dost thou come here to whine? to outface mě, with leaping in her grăve? Be buried quick with her, and so will ; and if thou prate of mountains, let them throw MILLIONS of acres on us, till our ground, singeing her pate against the burning zone, makes Ossa like a wart. thoul't mouth, I ll rant as well as thou. Nay, and For the purpose of securing flexibility of voice in this complex movement, and for the executions of Inflections and Transition, an exercise may be given on the direct and inverted waves,-single and double. If the direction of the first part of the wave is upward, it is called direct; if downward, indirect. Practice on the "Speech of the Clown" until the utterance becomes natu ral. Then this sentence, "Did you say hail'? Yes, I said hail"." The interval will be third, fifth, or octave, according to earnestness. We can not leave the subject of the Inflections, Slides, and Waves of the voice without noticing a few of the faults to be avoided. The principal faults in the intonation of the cadence may be enumerated as follows: First, its total omission for repose of the cadence, at the termination of a conspicuous train of thoughts, is in the highest degree grateful to the ear, and should, therefore, never be omitted. Second, a descent of the voice below the current melody to that extent which renders the last constituent of the cadence inaudible. Care should be taken that, in lowering the voice to form the cadence, it force may be kept sufficiently up, to render the close of the sentence perfectly audible. If the general pitch of the voice be so regulated as not to fall too lou in effecting the close, there will be no difficulty in making it sufficiently loud and forcible. Third, a repetition of the same form of cadence at every pause greater than that indicated by a comma. This monotony of the cadence may be avoided by the use of the suspension, or be changed to some other form of the cadence. Fourth, a want of variety, in not using a sufficient number of the different forms. There is an ample source for variety in the forms of the cadence, suited to all kinds of sentiment, and all forms of puantity, in the terminating syllables of sentences. 77 Careful study, combined with suitable practice, can not fail to correct all these defects above enumerated. In the personation, in the following, an opportunity is given for the waves, direct and indirect : A Fool! a Fool! met a Fool ' th' forest A motley Fool. A miserable world! As I do live by food, I met a Fool, Who laid him down and bask'd him in the sun, In good set terms, and yet a motley Fool. "Good morrow, Fool," quoth I. "No, sir," quoth he, Thus we may see," quoth he, "how the world wags PERSONATION. We should give especial attention to the change of voice in Personation. In public reading and declamation, it is of great importance; but is generally overlooked, or but little practiced. The narrative or descriptive sentences leading to the Personation, will depend for Force, Pitch, and Time, upon the character of the ideas in the Personation. For instance, if a death scene is being given, as in "Poor Little Jim," the Pitch will be low, and diminish until the words uttered by the dying boy are reached. Then, with Pure Voice, slightly Tremor, Pitch moderate, and Time slow, with a pause between the narrative and the quoted words, the speaker will say: "Tell father, when he comes from work. I said good-night to him; and mother-now-I'll-go-to-sleep." The last words very soft, and hesitating utterance. Before this example, is another in the same selection, not quite so marked; which we give, from the third verse. She gets her answer from the child; softly fall the words from him— ." Mother, the angels do so smile, and beckon little Jim ! I have no pain, dear mother, now, but oh, I am so dry! Just moisten poor Jim's lips again-and, mother, don't you cry." That which is quoted is supposed to be uttered by the dying child, and can not be given effectively without the changes in voice, etc., referred to above. If the climax of the narrative is a battle scene, and the Personation represents an officer giving the command to charge, as in "The Light Brigade," then the most marked change will be made in the voice, between the descriptive and the Personation. "Forward the light brigade! take the guns!" demands Full Force, Quick Time, High Pitch, Compound Stress; and the descriptive preceding it will commence with Moderate Pitch, Moderate Time (increasing), and Medium Force, with Median Stress. We give a number of EXAMPLES for the practice of the transitions necessary in Personations. I. (per.) "Stand to your guns, men !" Morris cried. (desc.) Our men at quarters ranged themselves Before the drum was heard. The Pitch should fall three notes, at least, on the words "Morris cried," and raised but slightly on the remainder of the stanza. 2. (desc.) And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people: (per.) “Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness, we had made this man to walk?" etc. To read the Bible acceptably in public, requires the application of every principle in elocution; for no where is Expression so richly rewarded, as in the pronunciation of the sacred text. The descriptive and Personation should be so distinctly marked, that the attention will be at once attracted to the different styles, and the meaning understood. 3. Shout, Tyranny, shout Through your dungeons and palaces, "Freedom is o'er!" |