Sanders' Union Fourth Reader Part 10

RULE VIII. Expressions of strong emotion, as of anger or surprise, and also the language of authority and reproach, are expressed with the _falling_ inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. On YOU', and on your CHILDREN', be the peril of the innocent blood which shall be shed this day'.

2. What a piece of workmanship is MAN'! How n.o.ble in REASON'! How infinite in FACULTIES'!

3. O FOOLS'! and _slow of heart_ to believe all that the prophets have written concerning me'! BIBLE.

4. HENCE', HOME', _you idle creatures_', GET YOU HOME', YOU BLOCKS', YOU STONES', YOU WORSE THAN USELESS THINGS'!

5. Avaunt'! and quit my sight'! let the earth hide thee'! Thy bones are marrowless'; thou hast no speculation in thine eyes which thou dost glare' with. SHAKSPEARE.

6. Slave, do thy office'! Strike', as I struck the foe'!

Strike', as I would have struck the tyrants'!

Strike deep as my curse'! Strike', and but once'! ID.

RULE IX. An emphatic succession of particulars, and emphatic repet.i.tion, require the _falling_ inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. _Beware_' what earth calls happiness; BEWARE'

All joys but joys that never can expire'.

2. A great mind', a great heart', a great orator', a great career', have been consigned to history'. BUTLER.

REMARK.--The stress of voice on each successive particular, or repet.i.tion, should gradually be increased as the subject advances.

The CIRc.u.mFLEX is a union of the two inflections on the same word, beginning either with the _falling_ and ending with the _rising_, or with the _rising_ and ending with the _falling_; as, If he goes to ____ I shall go to ____.

The circ.u.mflex is mainly employed in the language of irony, and in expressing ideas implying some condition, either expressed or understood.

EXAMPLES.

1. You, a beardless youth, pretend to teach a British general.

2. What! shear a wolf? a prowling wolf?

3. My father's trade? ah, really, that's too bad!

My father's trade? Why, blockhead, are you mad?

My father, sir, did never stoop so low,-- He was a gentleman, I'd have you know.

4. What! confer a crown on the author of the public calamities?

5. But you are very wise men, and deeply learned in the truth; we are weak, contemptible, mean persons.

6. They pretend they come to improve our state, enlarge our thoughts, and free us from error.

7. But youth, it seems, is not my only crime; I have been accused of acting a theatrical part.

8. And this man has become a G.o.d and Ca.s.sius a wretched creature.

SECTION IV.

MODULATION.

MODULATION implies those variations of the voice, heard in reading or speaking, which are prompted by the feelings and emotions that the subject inspires.

EXAMPLES.

EXPRESSIVE OF COURAGE AND CHIVALROUS EXCITEMENT.

FULL .- Once more unto the breach, dear friends, _once more_, TONE '- Or close the wall up with our English dead!

MIDDLE .- In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man, TONE '- As modest stillness and humility; .- But when the blast of war blows in our ears, SHORT Then imitate the action of the tiger; AND + Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, QUICK '- Disguise fair nature with hard-favored rage.

.- _On_, ON, you n.o.blest English, HIGH Whose blood is fetched from fathers of war-proof!

AND + _Fathers_, that, like so many Alexanders, LOUD Have, in these parts, from morn till even fought, '- And sheathed their swords for lack of argument.

QUICK .- I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, AND Straining upon the start. The game's afoot; VERY + Follow your spirits, and, upon this charge, LOUD '- CRY--HEAVEN FOR HARRY! ENGLAND! AND ST. GEORGE!

SHAKSPEARE.

REMARK.--To read the foregoing example in one dull, monotonous tone of voice, without regard to the sentiment expressed, would render the pa.s.sage extremely insipid and lifeless. But by a proper modulation of the voice, it infuses into the mind of the reader or hearer the most animating and exciting emotions.

The voice is modulated in _three_ different ways. _First_, it is varied in PITCH; that is, from _high_ to _low_ tones, and the reverse.

_Secondly_, it is varied in QUANt.i.tY, or in _loudness_ or _volume_ of sound. _Thirdly_, it is varied in QUALITY, or in the _kind_ of sound expressed.

PITCH OF VOICE.

Pitch of voice has reference to its degree of elevation.

Every person, in reading or speaking, a.s.sumes a certain pitch, which may be either _high_ or _low_, according to circ.u.mstances, and which has a governing influence on the variations of the voice, above and below it.

This degree of elevation is usually called the KEY NOTE.

As an exercise in varying the voice in pitch, the practice of uttering a sentence on the several degrees of elevation, as represented in the following scale, will be found beneficial. First, utter the musical syllables, then the vowel sound, and lastly, the proposed sentence,--ascending and descending.

---------8.--do--#--_e_-in-m_e_.---Virtue alone survives.---- 7. si # _i_ in d_i_e. Virtue alone survives.

-------6.--la--#--_o_-in-d_o_.---Virtue alone survives.------ 5. sol # _o_ in n_o_. Virtue alone survives.

-----4.--fa--#--_a_-in-_a_t.---Virtue alone survives.-------- 3. mi # _a_-in _a_te. Virtue alone survives.

---2.--re--#--_a_-in-f_a_r.--Virtue alone survives.---------- 1. do # _a_ in _a_ll. Virtue alone survives

Although the voice is capable of as many variations in speaking, as are marked on the musical scale, yet for all the purposes of ordinary elocution, it will be sufficiently exact if we make but _three_ degrees of variation, viz., the _Low_, the _Middle_, and the _High_.

1. THE LOW PITCH is that which falls below the usual speaking key, and is employed in expressing emotions of _sublimity_, _awe_, and _reverence_.