READING AND ELOCUTION. 



187 



To pluck bright honour from the pal!-/<icd moon ; 



,< iuto the bottom of the <ttp, 

 Where fathom-line could never touch the ground, 

 Au<l I'iurlv ui> 'IrownM* honour by the lock*: 



t hut doth redeem her thence, might wear, 

 Without co-rival, all her dignitiec. 



Hurry. 



Sitters ! hence, with tpurs of tpitd I 

 Each her thundering fdlchion wield; 

 Each betridt her SABLE STB ED : 

 HIKRY I HOBBY to the FIELD 1 



Rule 12. Melancholy is distinguished by "soft," or faint 

 and languid utterance, "very low pitch," and "very slow 

 movement;" a gentle " vanishing stress;" "pure" but " pec- 

 toral quality ; " and the " monotone," or, occasionally, the 



plaintive " semitone." 



Example. 



To-m5rrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, 

 Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, 

 To the last syllable of recorded time , 

 An 1 all our yesterdays have lighted fools 

 The way to dusty deuth. Out, out, brief candle ! 

 Life's but a walking shadow a poor player, 

 That strata and frets his hour upon the stage, 

 And then || is heard no more. 



Rule 13. Despair has a "softened force," a "very low" 

 note, and a " very slow movement ; " " vanishing stress ; " deep 

 " pectoral quality ; " and a prevalent " falling inflection " or an 

 utter " monotone." 



Example. 



I have lived long enough ; my way of life 



Is fallen into the scar, the yellow leaf : 



And that which should accompany did age, 



As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, 



I mils' not look to have; but, in their stdad, 



CURSES, not loud, but DEEP, mouth-honour, BREATH, 



Which the poor heart would fain deny', but dare not. 



Rule 14. Remorse has a subdued or " softened " force, very 

 "low pitch," and "slow movement;" a strongly marked 

 "vanishing stress;" a deep "pectoral" and "aspirated 

 quality;" and a prevailing "falling inflection," with, occa- 

 sionally, the " monotone." 



Example. 



Oh I my ojfenc | is RANK, it smells to HEAVEN : 

 It hath the primal | ELDEST | curse | upon 't, 

 A BROTHER'S | MURDER ! Pray can I not, 

 Though inclination be as sharp as will ; 

 My stronger guilt || defeats my strong intent. 

 Oh ! WRETCHED state ! Oh ! bosom, black as DEATH 1 

 Oh ! LIMED t soul, that, struggling to be free, 

 Art more engaged .' 



Note. Self-reproach has a tone similar to the preceding, but 

 less in the extent of each property, except "force," in which it 

 exceeds remorse, and " pitch," in which it is higher. 



Example. 



Oh ! what a regue and peasant slave am I .' 

 Is it not MONSTROUS that this player here, 

 But in & fiction, a DREAM of passion, 

 Could force his soul so to his own conceit, 

 That, from her working, all his visage vanned, 

 Tears in his eyes, distraction in 's aspect, 

 A broken voice, and his whole function suiting 

 With forms to his conceit/ And all for nothing / 

 For HECUBA ? 



What's Hecuba to him, or he to JKcuba, 

 That he should weep for her ? What would he do, 

 Had he the met ice and the cue for passion 

 Tliat I have ? He would DROWN the STAGE | with tear*, 

 And cleave the general ear with HORRID SPEECH ! 

 Hake MAD the GUILTY, and APPA'L the FRE'E, 

 CONFOUND the IGNORANT, and AMAZE, indeed, 

 The very /acuities of E'YES and EARS. 



Rule 15. Mirth is distinguished by " loud," " high," and 

 " quick " utterance ; and an approach to the rapid, repeated 

 " explosions " of laughter, in a greater or less degree, according 



* This accent is inserted to mark the necessity of pronouncing the 

 Beer id syllable ed in the word droioned. 

 t Pronounce the ed in the word limd. 



to the nature of the passage which contains the emotion. To 

 these properties are added "aspirated quality," and the "falling 

 inflection," as a predominating one. 



Example. 



A FOOL, A FOOL ! I MET A FOOL i' the fOTWt, 



A MOTLEY FOOL ; a mi*#raJ/U world ; 



As I do live by food, I met a FOOL ; 



WIio laid him down, and bo*fed him in the tun, 



And railed on lady Fortune \ in good term*, 



lu GOOD SE'T TERMS, and yet a MUTLEY FOOL I 



Rule 16. Qaiety and cheerfulness are marked by " moderate 

 force," " high pitch," and " lively movement ; " moderate 

 "radical stress ;" and smooth, "pure quality" of tone, with 

 varied " inflections." 



Example. 



Celia. I pray thee, Rosalind, sweet my o6z, be merry. 



Rosalind. Well, I will forget the condition of my' estate, to rejoiet 

 in yours. From henceforth I irill, coz, and devise sport* ; let me M; 

 what think you of falling in love > 



( Celia. I prythee, do, to make spiSrf withal ; but love no man in good 

 earnest. 



Rosalind. What shall be our sport, then ? 



Celia. Let us sit and mock the good houtewife, Fortune, from her 

 wheel, that her gifts may henceforth be bestowed equally. 



Rosalind. I would we could do so; for her benefits are mightily 

 misplaced; and the bountiful j blind ' tcoman j doth most mif^ fca her 

 gifts to women. 



Rule 17. Tranquillity, serenity, and repose are indicated by 

 "moderate force," "middle pitch," and " moderate movement ;" 

 softened "medial stress;" "smooth" and "pure quality" of 

 tone ; and moderate inflections. 



Example. 



How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank ! 

 Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music 

 Creep in our ears ! soft stillness, and the night, 

 Become the touches of sweet harmony. 



Look how the floor of heaven 

 Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold ! 

 There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st, 

 But | in his motion | like an angel j sings, 

 Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim : 

 Su 3h harmony is in immortal souls ! 



The careful study and practice of tones cannot be too 

 strongly urged on the attention of young readers. Beading 

 devoid of tone is cold, monotonous, and mechanical, and false, 

 in point of fact. It defeats the main end of reading, which 

 is to impart thought in its natural union with feeling. Faulty 

 tones not only mar the effect of expression, but offend the ear, 

 by their violation of taste and propriety. Reading can possess 

 no interest, speech no eloquence, without natural and vivid 

 tones. 



The foregoing examples should be practised with close atten- 

 tion and persevering diligence, till every property of the voice 

 exemplified in them is perfectly at command. 



XI. APPROPRIATE MODULATION. 



The word " modulation " is the term applied, in elocution, to 

 those changes of "force," "pitch," and "movement," "stress," 

 " quality," and " inflection," which occur, in continuous and 

 connected reading, in passing from the peculiar tone of one 

 emotion to that of another. "Modulation," therefore, is 

 nothing else than giving to each tone, in the reading or speak* 

 ing of a whole pieoe, its appropriate character and expression. 



The first practical exercise which it would be most advan- 

 tageous to perform, in this department of elocution, is to turn 

 back to the exercises on " versatility " of voice, and repeat 

 them till they can be executed with perfect facility and preci- 

 sion. The next exercise should be a review, without the reading 

 of the intervening rules, of all the examples given under the head 

 of " tones." A very extensive and varied practice will thus be 

 secured in " modulation." The student should, while perform- 

 ing this exercise, watch narrowly, and observe exactly, every 

 change of tone, in passing from one example to another. The 

 third course of exercise in " modulation," is to select some of 

 the following pieces, which are marked for that purpose, as the 

 notation will indicate. A fourth course of practice may be 

 taken on pieces marked by the student himself. 



