74 THE STUDY OF SPEECH CUEVES. 



different for each region. That "Der Fichtenbaum" does have a specific 

 melody independent of dialect is due to the fact that it is literature and 

 not conversation. The melody is always different the moment a speaker 

 changes from conversation to recitation; that all speakers should change 

 to approximately the same melody for a certain poem (even if they had 

 never learned' or heard it before) is probably due to their education in 

 German literature. A poet can thus expect that the entire cultured public 

 will respond to the melody he feels that he is putting into his verse. The 

 uncultured mass, however, may have different standards of melody — 

 a factor that may be of influence in distinguishing a local from a national 

 poet. 



