McGuffeys Fifth Eclectic Reader | Page 9

key with gentle force. Then repeat the paragraph with increased force, taking care not to raise the pitch. Then rise one note higher, and practice on that, then another, and so on, until the highest pitch of the voice is reached. Reverse the process, and repeat as before until the lowest pitch is obtained.
NOTE.--In these and all similar exercises, be very careful not to confound pitch and force.

QUANTITY AND QUALITY.
The tones of the voice should vary also in quantity, or time required to utter a sound or a syllable, and in quality, or expression, according to the nature of the subject.
REMARK.--We notice a difference between the soft, insinuating tones of persuasion; the full, strong voice of command and decision; the harsh, irregular, and sometimes grating explosion of the sounds of passion; the plaintive notes of sorrow and pity; and the equable and unimpassioned flow of words in argumentative style.
The following direction, therefore, is worthy of attention:
The tones of the voice should always correspond both in quantity and quality with the nature of the subject.
EXAMPLES.
Passion and Grief
"Come back! come back!" he cried, in grief. "Across this stormy water, And I'll forgive your Highland chief, My daughter! O, my daughter!"
Plaintive I have lived long enough: my way of life Is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf: And that which should accompany old age, As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have.
Calm A very great portion of this globe is covered with water, which is called sea, and is very distinct from rivers and lakes.
Fierce Anger
Burned Marmion's swarthy cheek like fire, And shook his very frame for ire, And--"This to me?" he said; "And 't were not for thy hoary beard, Such hand as Marmion's had not spared To cleave the Douglas' head!
Loud and Explosive
"Even in thy pitch of pride, Here, in thy hold, thy vassals near, I tell thee thou 'rt defied! And if thou said'st I am not peer To any lord in Scotland here, Lowland or Highland, far or near, Lord Angus, thou hast lied '"
REMARK 1.--In our attempt to imitate nature it is important to avoid affectation, for to this fault even perfect monotony is preferable.
REMARK 2.--The strength of the voice may be increased by practicing with different degrees of loudness, from a whisper to full rotundity, taking care to keep the voice on the same key. The same note in music may be sounded loud or soft. So also a sentence may be pronounced on the same pitch with different degrees of loudness. Having practiced with different degrees of loudness on one key, make the same experiment on another, and then on another, and so on. This will also give the learner practice in compass,

VII. POETIC PAUSES.
In poetry we have, in addition to other pauses, poetic pauses. The object of these is simply to promote the melody.
At the end of each line a slight pause is proper, whatever be the grammatical construction or the sense. The purpose of this pause is to make prominent the melody of the measure, and in rhyme to allow the ear to appreciate the harmony of the similar sounds.
There is, also, another important pause, somewhere near the middle of each line, which is called the caesura or caesural pause. In the following lines it is marked thus (||):
EXAMPLES.
There are hours long departed || which memory brings, Like blossoms of Eden || to twine round the heart, And as time rushes by || on the might of his wings, They may darken awhile || but they never depart.
REMARK.--The caesural pause should never be so placed as to injure the sense. The following lines, if melody alone were consulted, would be read thus:
With fruitless la || bor Clara bound, And strove to stanch || the gushing wound; The Monk with un || availing cares, Exhausted all || the church's prayers.
This manner of reading, however, would very much interfere with the proper expression of the idea. This is to be corrected by making the caesural pause yield to the sense. The above lines should be read thus:
With fruitless labor || Clara bound, And strove || to stanch the gushing wound; The Monk || with unavailing cares, Exhausted || all the church's prayers,

EXERCISES.
I. DEATH OF FRANKLIN. (To be read in a solemn tone.)
Franklin is dead. The genius who freed America', and poured a copious stream of knowledge throughout Europe', is returned unto the bosom of the Divinity'. The sage to whom two worlds' lay claim, the man for whom science' and politics' are disputing, indisputably enjoyed au elevated rank in human nature.
The cabinets of princes have been long in the habit of notifying the death of those who were great', only in their funeral orations'. Long hath the etiquette of courts', proclaimed the mourning of hypocrisy'. Nations' should wear mourning for