McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader

Part 3

EXAMPLES.

Love'ly, re-turn', re-mem'ber, Con'stant, re-main', a-sun'der, Mem'ber, a-bide', a-ban'don, Win'dow, a-tone', rec-ol-lect', Ban'ner, a-lone', re-em-bark',

REMARK.--In most cases custom is the only guide for placing the accent on one syllable rather than another. Sometimes, however, the same word is differently accented in order to mark its different meanings.

EXAMPLES.

Con'jure, to practice enchantments. Con-jure', to entreat. Gal'lant, brave. Gal-lant', a gay fellow. Au'gust, a month. Au-gust', grand.

REMARK.--A number of words used sometimes as one part of speech, and sometimes as another, vary their accents irregularly.

EXAMPLES.

Pres'ent, noun. Pres'ent, adjective. Pre-sent', verb. Com'pact, noun. Com-pact', adjective. Com-pact', verb.

In words of more than two syllables there is often a second accent given, but more slight than the principal one, and this is called the secondary accent; as, car'a-van'', rep''ar-tee', where the principal accent is marked (') and the secondary (''); so, also, this accent is obvious in nav''-i-ga'tion, com''pre-hen'sion, plau''si-bil'i-ty, etc. The whole subject, however, properly belongs to dictionaries and spelling books.

V. EMPHASIS.

A word is said to be emphasized when it is uttered with a greater stress of voice than the other words with which it is connected.

REMARK 1.--The object of emphasis is to attract particular attention to the word upon which it is placed, indicating that the idea to be conveyed depends very much upon that word. This object, as just stated, is generally accomplished by increasing the force of utterance, but sometimes, also, by a change in the inflection, by the use of the monotone, by pause, or by uttering the words in a very low key. Emphatic words are often denoted by italics, and a still stronger emphasis by SMALL CAPITALS or CAPITALS, according to the degree of emphasis desired.

REMARK 2.--Emphasis constitutes the most important feature in reading and speaking, and, properly applied, gives life and character to language. Accent, inflection, and indeed everything yields to emphasis.

REMARK 3.--In the following examples it will be seen that accent is governed by it.

EXAMPLES.

What is done cannot be undone. There is a difference between giving and forgiving. He that descended is the same that ascended.

Some appear to make very little difference between decency and indecency, morality and immorality, religion and irreligion.

REMARK 4.--There is no better illustration of the nature and importance of emphasis than the following examples. It will he observed that the meaning and proper answer of the question vary with each change of the emphasis.

EXAMPLES.

QUESTIONS. ANSWERS. --------- -------- Did you walk into the city yesterday? No, my brother went.

Did you walk into the city yesterday? No, I rode.

Did you walk into the city yesterday? No, I went into the country.

Did you walk into the city yesterday? No, I went the day before.

ABSOLUTE EMPHASIS.

Sometimes a word is emphasized simply to indicate the importance of the idea. This is called absolute emphasis.

EXAMPLES.

To arms! they come! the Greek! the Greek! Woe unto you, PHARISEES! HYPOCRITES! Days, months, years, and ages shall circle away.

REMARK.--In instances like the last, it is sometimes called the emphasis of specification.

RELATIVE EMPHASIS.

Words are often emphasized in order to exhibit the idea they express as compared or contrasted with some other idea. This is called relative emphasis.

EXAMPLES.

A friend can not be known in prosperity; an enemy can not be hidden in adversity.

It is much better to be injured than to injure.

REMARK.--In many instances one part only of the antithesis is expressed, the corresponding idea being understood; as,

A friendly eye would never see such faults.

Here the unfriendly eye is understood.

King Henry exclaims, while vainly endeavoring to compose himself to rest,

"How many thousand of my poorest subjects Are at this hour asleep!"

Here the emphatic words thousand, subjects, and asleep are contrasted in idea with their opposites, and if the contrasted ideas were expressed it might be in this way:

While I alone, their sovereign, am doomed to wakefulness.

EMPHATIC PHRASE.

Sometimes several words in succession are emphasized, forming what is called an emphatic phrase.

EXAMPLES.

Shall I, the conqueror of Spain and Gaul, and not only of the Alpine nations but of the Alps themselves--shall I compare myself with this HALF--YEAR--CAPTAIN?

Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the LAST TEN YEARS.

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!

EMPHATIC PAUSE.

The emphatic expression of a sentence often requires a pause where the grammatical construction authorizes none. This is sometimes called the rhetorical pause. Such pauses occur chiefly before or after an emphatic word or phrase, and sometimes both before and after it.

EXAMPLES.

Rise--fellow-men! our country--yet remains! By that dread name we wave the sword on high, And swear for her--to live--with her--to die.

But most--by numbers judge the poet's song: And smooth or rough, with them is--right or wrong.

He said; then full before their sight Produced the beast, and lo!--'t was white.

VI. MODULATION.

Modulation includes the variations of the voice. These may be classed under the heads of Pitch, Compass, Quantity, and Quality.

PITCH AND COMPASS.

If anyone will notice closely a sentence as uttered in private conversation, he will observe that very few successive words are pronounced in exactly the same key or with the same force. At the same time, however, there is a certain PITCH or key, which seems, on the whole, to prevail.

This keynote, or governing note, as it may be called, is that upon which the voice most frequently dwells, to which it usually returns when wearied, and upon which a sentence generally commences, and very frequently ends, while, at the same time, there is a considerable play of the voice above and below it.

This key may be high or low. It varies in different individuals, and at different times in the same individual, being governed by the nature of the subject and the emotions of the speaker. It is worthy of notice, however, that most speakers pitch their voices on a key too high.

The range of the voice above and below this note is called its COMPASS. When the speaker is animated, this range is great; but upon abstract subjects, or with a dull speaker, it is small. If, in reading or speaking, too high a note be chosen, the lungs will soon become wearied; if too low a pitch be selected, there is danger of indistinctness of utterance; and in either case there is less room for compass or variety of tone than if one be taken between the two extremes.

To secure the proper pitch and the greatest compass observe the following rule:

RULE XII.--The reader or speaker should choose that pitch in which he can feel himself most at ease, and above and below which he may have most room for variation.

REMARK 1.--Having chosen the proper keynote, he should beware of confining himself to it. This constitutes monotony, one of the greatest faults in elocution. One very important instrument for giving expression and life to thought is thus lost, and the hearer soon becomes wearied and disgusted.

REMARK 2.--There is another fault of nearly equal magnitude, and of very frequent occurrence. This consists in varying the pitch and force without reference to the sense. A sentence is commenced with vehemence and in a high key, and the voice gradually sinks until, the breath being spent, it dies away in a whisper.

NOTE--The power of changing the key at will is difficult to acquire, but of great importance.

REMARK 3.--The habit of singsong, so common in reading poetry, as it is a variation of pitch without reference to the sense, is a species of the fault above mentioned.

REMARK 4.--If the reader or speaker is guided by the sense, and if he gives that emphasis, inflection, and expression required by the meaning, these faults speedily disappear.

REMARK 5.--To improve the voice in these respects, practice is necessary. Commence, for example, with the lowest pitch the voice can comfortably sound, and repeat whole paragraphs and pages upon that 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 none but their benefactors'. The representatives' of nations should recommend to public homage' only those who have been the heroes of humanity'.

II. BONAPARTE.

He knew no motive' but interst'; acknowledged no criterion' but success'; he worshiped no God' but ambition'; and with an eastern devotion', he knelt at the shrine of his idolatry'. Subsidiary to this, there was no creed' that he did not profess'; there was no opinion' that he did not promulgate': in the hope of a dynasty', he upheld the crescent'; for the sake of a divorce', he bowed before the cross'; the orphan of St. Louis', he became the adopted child of the republic'; and, with a parricidal ingrati-tude', on the ruins both of the throne and the tribune, he reared the throne of his despotism'.

At his touch crowns' crumbled'; beggars' reigned'; systems' van-ished'; the wildest theories' took the color of his whim'; and all that was venerable' and all that was novel', changed places with the rapidity of a drama'. Nature had no obstacle' that he did not surmount'; space, no opposition' he did not spurn'; and whether amid Alpine rocks',--Arabian sands',--or Polar snows',---he seemed proof' against peril', and empowered with ubiquity'.

III. HAMLET ON SEEING THE SKULL OF YORICK.

Alas, poor Yorick'! I knew him', Horatio'; a fellow of infinite jest', of most excellent fancy'. He hath borne me on his back' a thousand times'; and now', how abhorred my imagination is'! My gorge rises' at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed', I know not how oft', Where be your gibes' now? your gambols'? your songs'? your flashes of merriment', that were wont to set the table on a roar'? Not one', now, to mock your own grinning'? quite chopfallen'? Now get you to my lady's chamber' and tell her', let her paint an inch thick' to this favor' she must come'; make her laugh at that'.

IV. DESCRIPTION OF A BATTLE.

Yet still Lord Marmion's falcon flew' With wavering flight', while fiercer grew Around, the battle yell. The border slogan rent the sky', A Home'! a Gordon'! was the cry'; Loud' were the clanging blows'; Advanced',--forced back',--now low',--now high', The pennon sunk'--and rose'; As bends the bark's mast in the gale', When rent are rigging', shrouds', and sail', It wavered 'mid the foes'. The war, that for a space did fail', Now trebly thundering swelled the gale', And Stanley'! was the cry; A light on Marmion's visage spread', And fired his glazing eye':-- With dying' hand', above his head', He shook the fragment of his blade', And shouted',--"Victory'! Charge', Chester', charge'! On' Stanley', on'!"-- Were the last words of Marmion.