Receding now, the dying numbers ring Fainter and fainter, down the rugged dell: And now-'tis silent all-enchantress, fare thee well. (=) (<) (f.) (pl.) Oh, joy to the world! the hour is come, "Upharsin" is writ in words of fire, And the eyes of the bondmen, wherever they be, Soon, soon shall the thrones that blot the world, And the world roll on, like a hurricane's breath, "ARISE! ARISE! BE FREE!" Tread softly-bow the head,— In reverent silence bow, No passing bell doth toll, Yet an immortal soul Is passing now. . T. B. READ MRS. SOUTHEY. SPEAK OUT, my friends; would you exchange it for the DEMON's DRINK, (f) ALCOHOL? A shout, like the roar of a tempest, answered, (°°) NO! (sl.) At length, o'er Columbus slow consciousness breaks, (0°) "LAND! CAMPBELL. LAND!" cry the sailors; (f) "LAND! LAND!"—he awakes, (") He runs,-yes! behold it! it blesseth his sight! THE LAND! O, dear spectacle! transport! delight! SECTION V. THE RHETORICAL PAUSE. RHETORICAL PAUSES are those which are frequently required by the voice in reading and speaking, although the construction of the passage admits of no grammatical point. These pauses should be as manifest to the ear, as those which are indicated by the comma, semicolon, or other grammatical points, though not commonly denoted by any visible sign. In the following examples they are denoted thus, (I). EXAMPLES. 1. In slumbers of midnight || the sailor-boy lay, His hammock swung loose || at the sport of the wind; There is a land,|| of every land the pride, O, thou shalt find,|| howe'er thy footsteps roam, That land thy country,|| and that spot thy home! DIMOND. This pause is generally made before or after the utterance of some important word or clause on which it is especially desired to fix the attention. In such cases it is usually denoted by the use of the dash EXAMPLES. 1. God said "Let there be light!" 2. All dead and silent was the earth, In deepest night it lay; The Eternal spoke creation's word, 1 No definite rule can be given with reference to the length of the rhetorical, or grammatical pause. The correct taste of the reader or speaker must determine it. For the voice should sometimes be suspended much longer at the same pause in one situation than in another; as in the two following EXAMPLES. LONG PAUSE. Pause a moment. I heard a footstep. Listen now. I heard it again; but it is going from us. It sounds fainter,-still fainter. It is gone. SHORT PAUSE. John, be quick. Get some water. Throw the powder overboard. "It can not be reached." Jump into the boat, then. Shove off. There goes the powder. Thank Heaven. We are safe. REMARKS TO TEACHERS. It is of the utmost importance, in order to secure an easy and elegant style in reading, to refer the pupil often to the more important principles involved in a just elocution. To this end, it will be found very advantageous, occasionally to review the rules and directions given in the preceding pages, and thus early accustom him to apply them in the subsequent reading lessons. For a wider range of examples and illustrations, it is only necessary to refer to the numerous and various exercises which form the body of this book. They have been selected, in many cases, with a special view to this object. 1. I shall never forget a lesson which I received when quite a young lad, while attending an Academy. Among my schoolmates were Hartly and Vincent. They were both older than myself, and Vincent was looked up to, as a sort of leader in matters of opinion, and in directing our sports. 2. He was not, at heart, a malicious boy; but he had a foolish ambition of being thought witty and sarcastic; and he made himself feared by a habit of turning things into ridicule. He seemed to be constantly looking out for something to occur, which he could turn into derision. 3. Hartly was a new scholar, and little was known of him among the boys. One morning, as we were on our way to school, he was seen driving a cow along the road toward the pasture. A A group of boys, among whom was Vincent, met him as he was passing. 4. "Now," said Vincent, "let us have a little sport with our country rustic." So saying, he exclaimed: "Halloo, Jonathan!* what is the price of milk? What do you feed her on? What will you take for all the gold on her horns? Boys, if you want to see the latest Paris style, look at those boots!" 5. Hartly waved his hand at us with a pleasant smile, and, driving the cow to the field, took down the bars of a rail-fence, saw her safely in the pasture, and then, putting up the bars, came and entered the school with the rest of After school, in the afternoon, he let out the cow, and drove her away, none of us knew where. Every day, for two or three weeks, he went through the same task. us. 6. The boys who attended the Academy, were nearly all the sons of wealthy parents, and some of them were foolish. enough to look down, with a sort of disdain, upon a scholar who had to drive a cow to pasture; and the sneers and jeers of Vincent were often repeated. 7. One day, he refused to sit next to Hartly in school, on a pretense that he did not like the odor of the barn. Sometimes he would inquire of Hartly after the cow's health, pronouncing the word "ke-ow," after the manner of some people. 8. Hartly bore all these silly attempts to wound his feelings and annoy him, with the utmost good nature. He never once returned an angry look or word. One time, Vincent said: "Hartly, I suppose your father intends to make a milkman of you." 9. "Why not?" said Hartly. "Oh, nothing," said Vincent; only do not leave much water in the cans after rinsing them--that's all!" The boys laughed, and Hartly, not in the least mortified, replied: "Never fear; if I ever rise to be a milkman, I will give good measure and good milk too." 10. A few days after this conversation, there was a pub * A title frequently applied to the Yankees by the English. |