The Ontario High School Reader
Chapter 9
Compare the atmosphere of the first four and a half stanzas of this Part with the first four of Part III, and also with the remainder of Part IV. What is the difference in Pitch, Force, and Time? (Introduction, pp. 22, 26, and 13.)
* * * * *
HOME THEY BROUGHT HER WARRIOR DEAD
From "The Princess"
Home they brought her warrior dead: She nor swoon'd, nor utter'd cry: All her maidens, watching, said, "She must weep or she will die."
Then they praised him, soft and low, Call'd him worthy to be loved, Truest friend and noblest foe; Yet she neither spoke nor moved.
Stole a maiden from her place, Lightly to the warrior stept, Took the face-cloth from the face; Yet she neither moved nor wept.
Rose a nurse of ninety years, Set his child upon her knee-- Like summer tempest came her tears-- "Sweet my child, I live for thee."
--_Alfred Tennyson_
See Introduction, p. 6.
* * * * *
THE SKY
From "Modern Painters"
1. It is a strange thing how little in general people know about the sky. It is the part of creation in which nature has done more for the sake of pleasing man, more for the sole and evident purpose of talking to him and teaching him, than in any other of her works, and it is just the part in which we least attend to her.
2. There are not many of her other works in which some more material or essential purpose than the mere pleasing of man is not answered by every part of their organization; but every essential purpose of the sky might, so far as we know, be answered, if once in three days, or thereabouts, a great ugly black rain-cloud were brought up over the blue, and everything well watered, and so all left blue again till next time, with perhaps a film of morning and evening mist for dew.
3. And instead of this, there is not a moment of any day of our lives, when nature is not producing scene after scene, picture after picture, glory after glory, and working still upon such exquisite and constant principles of the most perfect beauty, that it is quite certain it is all done for us, and intended for our perpetual pleasure. And every man, wherever placed, however far from other sources of interest or of beauty, has this doing for him constantly.
4. The noblest scenes of the earth can be seen and known but by few; it is not intended that man should live always in the midst of them, he injures them by his presence, he ceases to feel them if he be always with them; but the sky is for all; bright as it is, it is not "too bright, nor good, for human nature's daily food"; it is fitted in all its functions for the perpetual comfort and exalting of the heart, for the soothing it and purifying it from its dross and dust. Sometimes gentle, sometimes capricious, sometimes awful, never the same for two moments together; almost human in its passions, almost spiritual in its tenderness, almost divine in its infinity, its appeal to what is immortal in us, is as distinct, as its ministry of chastisement or of blessing to what is mortal, is essential.
5. And yet we never attend to it, we never make it a subject of thought, but as it has to do with our animal sensations; we look upon all by which it speaks to us more clearly than to brutes, upon all which bears witness to the intention of the Supreme, that we are to receive more from the covering vault than the light and the dew which we share with the weed and the worm, only as a succession of meaningless and monotonous accidents too common and too vain to be worthy of a moment of watchfulness, or a glance of admiration. If in our moments of utter idleness and insipidity, we turn to the sky as a last resource, which of its phenomena do we speak of?
6. One says it has been wet, and another it has been windy, and another it has been warm. Who, among the whole chattering crowd, can tell me of the forms and the precipices of the chain of tall white mountains that girded the horizon at noon yesterday? Who saw the narrow sunbeam that came out of the south, and smote upon their summits until they melted and mouldered away in a dust of blue rain? Who saw the dance of the dead clouds when the sunlight left them last night, and the west wind blew them before it like withered leaves?
7. All has passed, unregretted as unseen; or if the apathy be ever shaken off, even for an instant, it is only by what is gross, or what is extraordinary; and yet it is not in the broad and fierce manifestations of the elemental energies, not in the clash of the hail, nor the drift of the whirlwind, that the highest characters of the sublime are developed. God is not in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in the still, small voice.
8. They are but the blunt and the low faculties of our nature, which can only be addressed through lamp-black and lightning. It is in quiet and subdued passages of unobtrusive majesty, the deep, and the calm, and the perpetual,--that which must be sought ere it is seen, and loved ere it is understood,--things which the angels work out for us daily, and yet vary eternally, which are never wanting, and never repeated, which are to be found always yet each found but once; it is through these that the lesson of devotion is chiefly taught, and the blessing of beauty given.
--_John Ruskin_
(_By arrangement with George Allen, Publisher_)
SPIRITUAL, PRECIPICES, SUMMITS, UNOBTRUSIVE. (Appendix A, 8.)
Par. 1. With what is LEAST ATTEND contrasted?
Par. 2. Why is SKY an emphatic word? Give examples of momentary completeness. (Introduction, p. 16.)
Par. 3. What Inflection is placed on PERFECT BEAUTY?
Par. 4. Point out the contrasts in the first sentence. What word is contrasted with DISTINCT?
Par. 5. With what is ONLY AS A SUCCESSION, ETC., connected in sense? How does the voice make the connection? (Introduction, p. 33.)
Par. 7. UNREGRETTED, UNSEEN. Note the transferred emphasis. (Introduction, p. 32.)
Par. 7. AND YET IT IS NOT ... NOR IN THE FIRE. Account for the Inflection. (Introduction, p. 17.)
* * * * *
THE RETURN OF THE SWALLOWS
"Out in the meadows the young grass springs, Shivering with sap," said the larks, "and we Shoot into air with our strong young wings, Spirally up over level and lea; Come, O Swallows, and fly with us Now that horizons are luminous! Evening and morning the world of light, Spreading and kindling, is infinite!"
Far away, by the sea in the south, The hills of olive and slopes of fern Whiten and glow in the sun's long drouth, Under the heavens that beam and burn; And all the swallows were gather'd there Flitting about in the fragrant air, And heard no sound from the larks, but flew Flashing under the blinding blue.
Out of the depths of their soft rich throats Languidly fluted the thrushes, and said: "Musical thought in the mild air floats, Spring is coming and winter is dead! Come, O Swallows, and stir the air, For the buds are all bursting unaware, And the drooping eaves and the elm-trees long To hear the sound of your low sweet song."
Over the roofs of the white Algiers, Flashingly shadowing the bright bazaar, Flitted the swallows, and not one hears The call of the thrushes from far, from far; Sigh'd the thrushes; then, all at once, Broke out singing the old sweet tones, Singing the bridal of sap and shoot, The tree's slow life between root and fruit.
But just when the dingles of April flowers Shine with the earliest daffodils, When, before sunrise, the cold clear hours Gleam with a promise that noon fulfils,-- Deep in the leafage the cuckoo cried, Perch'd on a spray by a rivulet-side, "Swallows, O Swallows, come back again To swoop and herald the April rain."
And something awoke in the slumbering heart Of the alien birds in their African air, And they paused, and alighted, and twitter'd apart, And met in the broad white dreamy square; And the sad slave-woman, who lifted up From the fountain her broad-lipp'd earthen cup, Said to herself, with a weary sigh, "To-morrow the swallows will northward fly!"
--_Edmund William Gosse_
How does the vocal expression of the descriptive parts of the poem differ from that of the call of the birds? Account for the difference. (Introduction, p. 22.)
Point out the contrasts of thought and feeling in the third and fourth stanzas respectively. Show a corresponding contrast in vocal expression.
What line expresses the central idea of the fifth stanza? How is this shown? (Introduction, p. 33.)
Account for the Pitch and the Force used in the slave-woman's speech.
Supply a background of thought for the last four lines. How does this affect the Time? (Introduction, p. 14.)
* * * * *
BARBARA FRIETCHIE
Up from the meadows rich with corn, Clear in the cool September morn,
The clustered spires of Frederick stand Green walled by the hills of Maryland.
Round about them orchards sweep, 5 Apple-and peach-tree fruited deep,--
Fair as a garden of the Lord To the eye of the famished rebel horde,
On that pleasant morn of the early fall When Lee march'd over the mountain-wall,-- 10
Over the mountains winding down, Horse and foot, into Frederick town.
Forty flags with their silver stars, Forty flags with their crimson bars,
Flapped in the morning wind: the sun 15 Of noon looked down, and saw not one.
Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then, Bowed with her fourscore years and ten;
Bravest of all in Frederick town, She took up the flag the men hauled down; 20
In her attic window the staff she set, To show that one heart was loyal yet.
Up the street came the rebel tread, Stonewall Jackson riding ahead.
Under his slouched hat left and right 25 He glanced; the old flag met his sight.
"Halt!"--the dust-brown ranks stood fast. "Fire!"--out blazed the rifle-blast.
It shivered the window, pane and sash; It rent the banner with seam and gash. 30
Quick, as it fell, from the broken staff Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf;
She leaned far out on the window-sill, And shook it forth with a royal will.
"Shoot, if you must, this old gray head, 35 But spare your country's flag!" she said.
A shade of sadness, a blush of shame, Over the face of the leader came;
The nobler nature within him stirred To life at that woman's deed and word: 40
"Who touches a hair of yon gray head, Dies like a dog! March on!" he said.
All day long through Frederick street Sounded the tread of marching feet:
All day long that free flag tossed 45 Over the heads of the rebel host.
Ever its torn folds rose and fell On the loyal winds that loved it well;
And, through the hill-gaps, sunset light Shone over it with a warm good-night. 50
Barbara Frietchie's work is o'er, And the Rebel rides on his raids no more.
Honour to her! and let a tear Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall's bier.
Over Barbara Frietchie's grave, 55 Flag of Freedom and Union wave!
Peace and order and beauty draw Round thy symbol of light and law;
And ever the stars above look down On thy stars below in Frederick town! 60
--_John Greenleaf Whittier_
PREPARATORY.--Divide the poem into sections, giving each a descriptive title. (Introduction, p. 10.)
Describe the scene portrayed in the first fifteen lines, supplementing your description by a black-board diagram.
ll. 1-2. What is the Inflection? Why?
l. 3. Note the Grouping and Pause.
l. 3. STAND; l. 7, LORD; l. 8, HORDE. What is the Inflection? Why?
l. 15. (Introduction, p. 9.)
l. 20. What are the emphatic words? Are both words of a contrast necessarily emphatic?
ll. 17-22. Note the change in nervous tension. What effect has this on the key of the voice? (Introduction, p. 25.)
ll. 25-26. How do these lines illustrate the truth that the Visualization of a scene is a necessary forerunner of correct vocal expression?
ll. 27-28. HALT! FIRE! What change in vocal expression accompanies the transition to abrupt command?
l. 31. With what do you connect FROM THE BROKEN STAFF? How? (Introduction, p. 16.)
ll. 31-36. What part should Imitation play here? (Introduction, pp. 5 and 6.)
ll. 37-38. (Introduction, p. 14.)
l. 39. Note Grouping and Pause.
ll. 41-42. (Introduction, p. 5.)
l. 43. With what do you connect THROUGH FREDERICK STREET? How? Where do you pause in this line?
l. 51. (Introduction, p. 9.)
* * * * *
BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL
Psalm ciii
Bless the Lord, O my soul: And all that is within me, bless his holy name Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies: Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
The Lord executeth righteousness And judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: Neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as the heaven is high above the earth, So great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, So far hath he removed our transgressions from us Like as a father pitieth his children, So the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.
As for man, his days are as grass: As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; And the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, And his righteousness unto children's children; To such as keep his covenant, And to those that remember his commandments to do them.
The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; And his kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye his angels, That excel in strength, That do his commandments, Hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; Ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. Bless the Lord, all his works, In all places of his dominion: Bless the Lord, O my soul.
--_As arranged by Richard G. Moulton_
PREPARATORY.--What attitude of mind does the language of this Psalm indicate? What Stress of voice is its natural expression? (Introduction, p. 29.)
Articulation. (Appendix A, 3.)
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THE ETERNAL GOODNESS
I know not what the future hath Of marvel or surprise, Assured alone that life and death His mercy underlies.
And if my heart and flesh are weak 5 To bear an untried pain, The bruised reed He will not break, But strengthen and sustain.
No offering of my own I have, Nor works my faith to prove; 10 I can but give the gifts He gave, And plead His love for love.
And so beside the Silent Sea I wait the muffled oar; No harm from Him can come to me 15 On ocean or on shore.
I know not where His islands lift Their fronded palms in air; I only know I cannot drift Beyond His love and care. 20
--_John Greenleaf Whittier_
PREPARATORY.--What attitude of mind is suggested by this poem?
How does it differ from that suggested by the preceding selection? What is the difference in vocal expression?
Account for the Inflection placed on the negative statements in this poem. (Introduction, pp. 17 and 18.)
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THE KING OF GLORY
Psalm xxiv
(Anthems for the Inauguration of Jerusalem)
_I.--At the Foot of the Hill_
FIRST CHOIR
The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in His holy place?
SECOND CHOIR
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, And hath not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek after Him, That seek Thy face, O God of Jacob.
_II.--Before the Gates_
FIRST CHOIR
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors: And the King of Glory shall come in.
SECOND CHOIR
Who is the King of Glory?
FIRST CHOIR
The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle.
FIRST CHOIR
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; Yea, lift them up, ye everlasting doors: And the King of Glory shall come in.
SECOND CHOIR
Who is this King of Glory?
FIRST CHOIR
The LORD of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.
--_As arranged by Richard G. Moulton_
* * * * *
THE FOUR-HORSE RACE
From "Black Rock"
1. The great event of the day, however, was to be the four-horse race, for which three teams were entered--one from the mines driven by Nixon, Craig's friend, a citizens' team, and Sandy's. The race was really between the miners' team and that from the woods, for the citizens' team, though made up of speedy horses, had not been driven much together, and knew neither their driver nor each other. In the miners' team were four bays, very powerful, a trifle heavy perhaps, but well matched, perfectly trained, and perfectly handled by their driver. Sandy had his long rangy roans, and for leaders, a pair of half-broken pinto bronchos. The pintos, caught the summer before upon the Alberta prairies, were fleet as deer, but wicked and uncertain. They were Baptiste's special care and pride. If they would only run straight, there was little doubt that they would carry the roans and themselves to glory; but one could not tell the moment they might bolt or kick things to pieces.
2. Being the only non-partisan in the crowd, I was asked to referee. The race was about half a mile and return, the first and last quarters being upon the ice. The course, after leaving the ice, led up from the river by a long, easy slope to the level above; and at the further end, curved somewhat sharply around the Old Fort. The only condition attaching to the race was, that the teams should start from the scratch, make the turn of the Fort, and finish at the scratch. There were no vexing regulations as to fouls. The man making the foul would find it necessary to reckon with the crowd, which was considered sufficient guarantee for a fair and square race. Owing to the hazards of the course, the result would depend upon the skill of the drivers quite as much as the speed of the teams. The points of hazard were at the turn round the Old Fort, and at a little ravine which led down to the river, over which the road passed by means of a long, log bridge or causeway.
3. From a point upon the high bank of the river, the whole course lay in open view. It was a scene full of life and vividly picturesque. There were miners in dark clothes and peak caps; citizens in ordinary garb; ranch-men in wide cowboy hats and buckskin shirts and leggings, some with cartridge-belts and pistols; a few half-breeds and Indians in half-native, half-civilized dress; and scattering through the crowd, the lumbermen with gay scarlet and blue blanket coats, and some with knitted tuques of the same colour. A very good-natured but extremely uncertain crowd it was. At the head of each horse stood a man, but at the pintos' heads Baptiste stood alone, trying to hold down the off-leader, thrown into a frenzy of fear by the yelling of the crowd.
4. Gradually all became quiet, till, in the midst of absolute stillness, came the words: "Are you ready?" then the pistol-shot, and the great race had begun. Above the roar of the crowd came the shrill cry of Baptiste, as he struck his broncho with the palm of his hand, and swung himself into the sleigh beside Sandy, as it shot past.
5. Like a flash the bronchos sprang to the front, two lengths before the other teams; but, terrified by the yelling of the crowd, instead of bending to the left bank up which the road wound, they wheeled to the right and were almost across the river before Sandy could swing them back into the course.
6. Baptiste's cries, a curious mixture of French and English, continued to strike through all other sounds, till they gained the top of the slope to find the others almost a hundred yards in front, the citizens' team leading, with the miners' following close. The moment the pintos caught sight of the teams before them, they set off at a terrific pace and steadily devoured the intervening space. Nearer and nearer the turn came, the eight horses in front, running straight and well within their speed. After them flew the pintos, running savagely with ears set back, leading well the big roans, thundering along and gaining at every bound. And now the citizens' team had almost reached the Fort, running hard and drawing away from the bays. But Nixon knew what he was about, and was simply steadying his team for the turn. The event proved his wisdom, for in the turn the leading team left the track, lost a moment or two in the deep snow, and before they could regain the road, the bays had swept superbly past, leaving their rivals to follow in the rear. On came the pintos, swiftly nearing the Fort. Surely at that pace they cannot make the turn. But Sandy knows his leaders. They have their eyes upon the teams in front, and need no touch of rein. Without the slightest change in speed the nimble-footed bronchos round the turn, hauling the big roans after them, and fall in behind the citizens' team, which is regaining steadily the ground lost in the turn.
7. And now the struggle is for the bridge over the ravine. The bays in front, running with mouths wide open, are evidently doing their best; behind them, and every moment nearing them, but at the limit of their speed too, come the lighter and fleeter citizens' team; while opposite their driver are the pintos, pulling hard, eager and fresh. Their temper is too uncertain to send them to the front; they run well following, but when leading cannot be trusted, and besides, a broncho hates a bridge; so Sandy holds them where they are, waiting and hoping for his chance after the bridge is crossed. Foot by foot the citizens' team creep up upon the flank of the bays, with the pintos in turn hugging them closely, till it seems as if the three, if none slackens, must strike the bridge together; and this will mean destruction to one at least. This danger Sandy perceives, but he dare not check his leaders. Suddenly, within a few yards of the bridge, Baptiste throws himself upon the lines, wrenches them out of Sandy's hands, and, with a quick swing, forces the pintos down the steep side of the ravine, which is almost sheer ice with a thin coat of snow. It is a daring course to take, for the ravine, though not deep, is full of undergrowth, and is partially closed up by a brush heap at the further end. But with a yell, Baptiste hurls his four horses down the slope, and into the undergrowth. "Allons, mes enfants! Courage! vite, vite!" cries their driver, and nobly do the pintos respond. Regardless of bushes and brush heaps, they tear their way through; but as they emerge, the hind bob-sleigh catches a root, and, with a crash, the sleigh is hurled high into the air. Baptiste's cries ring out high and shrill as ever, encouraging his team, and never cease till, with a plunge and a scramble, they clear the brush heap lying at the mouth of the ravine, and are out on the ice on the river, with Baptiste standing on the front bob, the box trailing behind, and Sandy nowhere to be seen.
8. Three hundred yards of the course remain. The bays, perfectly handled, have gained at the bridge, and in the descent to the ice, and are leading the citizens' team by half a dozen sleigh lengths. Behind both comes Baptiste. It is now or never for the pintos. The rattle of the trailing box, together with the wild yelling of the crowd rushing down the bank, excites the bronchos to madness, and, taking the bits in their teeth, they do their first free running that day. Past the citizens' team like a whirlwind they dash, clear the intervening space, and gain the flanks of the bays. Can the bays hold them? Over them leans their driver, plying for the first time the hissing lash. Only fifty yards more. The miners begin to yell. But Baptiste, waving his lines high in one hand, seizes his tuque with the other, whirls it above his head and flings it with a fiercer yell than ever at the bronchos. Like the bursting of a hurricane the pintos leap forward, and with a splendid rush cross the scratch, winners by their own length.
--_By arrangement with the Westminster Co., Limited, and Rev. C. W. Gordon (Ralph Connor)_
PREPARATORY.--Make a black-board sketch of the race-course, fixing the position of "the scratch," "the Old Fort," "the high bank with the spectators," "the bridge," etc.
In what passages does the excitement reach its greatest height? How are the Pitch and Time affected? (Introduction, pp. 13 and 22.)
What is the Stress employed throughout? Where is the Stress most marked? Give reasons. (Introduction, pp. 27 and 28.)
* * * * *
MRS. MALAPROP'S VIEWS
From "The Rivals"
The scene is Mrs. Malaprop's lodgings at Bath. Present, Lydia Languish. Enter Mrs. Malaprop and Sir Anthony Absolute.
_Mrs. Malaprop._--There, Sir Anthony, there sits the deliberate simpleton who wants to disgrace her family, and lavish herself on a fellow not worth a shilling.
_Lydia._--Madam, I thought you once--
_Mrs. Malaprop._--You thought, miss! I don't know any business you have to think at all: thought does not become a young woman. But the point we would request of you is, that you will promise to forget this fellow; to illiterate him, I say, quite from your memory.
_Lydia._--Ah, madam! our memories are independent of our wills. It is not so easy to forget.
_Mrs. Malaprop._--But I say it is, miss! there is nothing on earth so easy as to forget, if a person chooses to set about it. I'm sure I have as much forgot your poor dear uncle as if he had never existed--and I thought it my duty so to do; and let me tell you, Lydia, these violent memories don't become a young woman.
_Sir Anthony._--Why, sure she won't pretend to remember what she's ordered not! Ay, this comes of her reading!
_Lydia._--What crime, madam, have I committed to be treated thus?
_Mrs. Malaprop._--Now don't attempt to extirpate yourself from the matter; you know I have proof controvertible of it. But tell me, will you promise to do as you're bid? Will you take a husband of your friends' choosing?
_Lydia._--Madam, I must tell you plainly that had I no preference for any one else, the choice you have made would be my aversion.
_Mrs. Malaprop._--What business have you, miss, with preference and aversion. They don't become a young woman; and you ought to know that as both always wear off, 'tis safest in matrimony to begin with a little aversion. I am sure I hated your poor dear uncle before marriage as if he'd been a blackamoor; and yet, miss, you are sensible what a wife I made? and when it pleased Heaven to release me from him, 'tis unknown what tears I shed! But suppose we were going to give you another choice, will you promise us to give up this Beverley?
_Lydia._--Could I belie my thoughts so far as to give that promise, my actions would certainly as far belie my words.
_Mrs. Malaprop._--Take yourself to your room. You are fit company for nothing but your own ill-humours.
_Lydia._--Willingly, ma'am--I cannot change for the worse. (_Exit_)
_Mrs. Malaprop._--There's a little intricate hussy for you!
_Sir Anthony._--It is not to be wondered at, ma'am: all this is the natural consequence of teaching girls to read. Had I a thousand daughters, by heaven I'd as soon have them taught the black art as their alphabet!
_Mrs. Malaprop._--Nay, nay, Sir Anthony: you are an absolute misanthropy.
_Sir Anthony._--In my way hither, Mrs. Malaprop, I observed your niece's maid coming forth from a circulating library! She had a book in each hand; they were half-bound volumes with marble covers! From that moment I guessed how full of duty I should see her mistress!
_Mrs. Malaprop._--Those are vile places indeed!
_Sir Anthony._--Madam, a circulating library in a town is an evergreen tree of diabolical knowledge,--it blossoms through the year! And depend on it, Mrs. Malaprop, that they who are so fond of handling the leaves will long for the fruit at last.
_Mrs. Malaprop._--Fy, fy, Sir Anthony! you surely speak laconically.
_Sir Anthony._--Why, Mrs. Malaprop, in moderation now, what would you have a woman know?
_Mrs. Malaprop._--Observe me, Sir Anthony. I would by no means wish a daughter of mine to be a progeny of learning; I don't think so much learning becomes a young woman: for instance, I would never let her meddle with Greek, or Hebrew, or algebra, or simony, or fluxions, or paradoxes, or such inflammatory branches of learning; neither would it be necessary for her to handle any of your mathematical, astronomical, diabolical instruments. But, Sir Anthony, I would send her at nine years old to a boarding-school, in order to learn a little ingenuity and artifice. Then, sir, she should have a supercilious knowledge in accounts; and as she grew up I would have her instructed in geometry, that she might know something of the contagious countries: but above all, Sir Anthony, she should be mistress of orthodoxy, that she might not misspell and mispronounce words so shamefully as girls usually do; and likewise that she might reprehend the true meaning of what she is saying. This, Sir Anthony, is what I would have a woman know; and I don't think there is a superstitious article in it.
_Sir Anthony._--Well, well, Mrs. Malaprop, I will dispute the point no further with you; though I must confess that you are a truly moderate and polite arguer, for almost every third word you say is on my side of the question. But, Mrs. Malaprop, to the more important point in debate: you say you have no objection to my proposal?
_Mrs. Malaprop._--None, I assure you. I am under no positive engagement with Mr. Acres; and as Lydia is so obstinate against him, perhaps your son may have better success.
_Sir Anthony._--Well, madam, I will write for the boy directly. He knows not a syllable of this yet, though I have for some time had the proposal in my head. He is at present with his regiment.
_Mrs. Malaprop._--We have never seen your son, Sir Anthony; but I hope no objection on his side.
_Sir Anthony._--Objection! let him object if he dare! No, no, Mrs. Malaprop, Jack knows that the least demur puts me in a frenzy directly. My process was always very simple: in their younger days, 'twas "Jack, do this"; if he demurred I knocked him down, and if he grumbled at that I always sent him out of the room.
_Mrs. Malaprop._--Ay, and the properest way, o'my conscience! Nothing is so conciliating to young people as severity. Well, Sir Anthony, I shall give Mr. Acres his discharge, and prepare Lydia to receive your son's invocations; and I hope you will represent her to the captain as an object not altogether illegible.
_Sir Anthony._--Madam, I will handle the subject prudently. Well I must leave you; and let me beg you, Mrs. Malaprop, to enforce this matter roundly to the girl. Take my advice--keep a tight hand: if she rejects this proposal, clap her under lock and key; and if you were just to let the servants forget to bring her dinner for three or four days, you can't conceive how she'd come about. (Exit)
_Mrs. Malaprop._--Well, at any rate I shall be glad to get her from under my intuition. She has somehow discovered my partiality for Sir Lucius O'Trigger: sure Lucy can't have betrayed me! No, the girl is such a simpleton, I should have made her confess it. (Calls) Lucy! Lucy!--Had she been one of your artificial ones, I should never have trusted her.
--_Richard Brinsley Sheridan_
What is the difference between Mrs. Malaprop's mental attitude toward Lydia and toward Sir Anthony? How is this difference indicated in the Stress of voice? (Introduction, pp. 27 and 28.)
* * * * *
THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS
King Francis was a hearty king, and lov'd a royal sport, And one day, as his lions strove, sat looking on the court; The nobles fill'd the benches round, the ladies by their side, And 'mongst them Count de Lorge, with one he hoped to make his bride; And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show, 5 Valour and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below.
Ramp'd and roar'd the lions, with horrid laughing jaws; They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their paws; With wallowing might and stifled roar, they roll'd one on another, Till all the pit, with sand and mane, was in a thund'rous smother; 10 The bloody foam above the bars came whizzing through the air; Said Francis then, "Good gentlemen, we're better here than there!"
De Lorge's love o'erheard the King, a beauteous, lively dame, With smiling lips, and sharp bright eyes, which always seem'd the same: She thought, "The Count, my lover, is as brave as brave can be; 15 He surely would do desperate things to show his love of me! King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the chance is wond'rous fine; I'll drop my glove to prove his love; great glory will be mine!"
She dropp'd her glove to prove his love: then looked on him and smiled; He bow'd, and in a moment leap'd among the lions wild: 20 The leap was quick; return was quick; he soon regain'd his place; Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's face! "In truth!" cried Francis, "rightly done!" and he rose from where he sat: "No love," quoth he, "but vanity, sets love a task like that!"
--_Leigh Hunt_
PREPARATORY.--Divide the poem into four scenes, and describe each scene.
What are the difficulties of Articulation in ll. 2, 9, 10, and 14.
What attitude of mind is indicated by the King's first speech? By his second speech? What difference in Stress? (Introduction, pp. 27-29.) What is the Force in each case? (Introduction, p. 25.)
15, 16, and 17. Use these lines as an illustration to show that Visualization is necessary in order to secure good vocal expression.
In what Time do you read the lady's thoughts! (Introduction, p. 13.)
Give examples from stanzas ii, and iv, where the sympathy with the picture may be sufficiently strong to lead to imitation of movements or sounds. (Introduction, pp. 5 and 6.)
* * * * *
THE FICKLENESS OF A ROMAN MOB
From "Julius Cæsar" Act I. Scene i.
_Enter_ FLAVIUS, MARULLUS, _and certain Commoners over the Stage._
_Flav._ Hence! home, you idle creatures, get you home. Is this a holiday? What! know you not, Being mechanical, you ought not walk Upon a labouring day without the sign Of your profession?--Speak, what trade art thou? 5
_1 Cit._ Why, sir, a carpenter.
_Mar._ Where is thy leather apron, and thy rule? What dost thou with thy best apparel on?-- You, sir, what trade are you?
_2 Cit._ Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, I am 10 but, as you would say, a cobbler.
_Mar._ But what trade are thou? Answer me directly.
_2 Cit._ A trade, sir, that I hope I may use with a safe conscience; which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles.
_Mar._ What trade, thou knave? thou naughty knave, 15 what trade?
_2 Cit._ Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me; yet, if you be out, sir, I can mend you.
_Mar._ What mean'st thou by that? Mend me, thou saucy fellow?
_2 Cit._ Why, sir, cobble you. 20
_Flav._ Thou art a cobbler, art thou?
_2 Cit._ Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl. I meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor women's matters, but with all. I am, indeed, sir, a surgeon to old shoes; when they are in great danger, I re-cover 25 them. As proper men as ever trod upon neat's leather have gone upon my handiwork.
_Flav._ But wherefore art not in thy shop to-day? Why dost thou lead these men about the streets?
_2 Cit._ Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes, to get 30 myself into more work. But, indeed, sir, we make holiday to see Cæsar, and to rejoice in his triumph.
_Mar._ Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home? What tributaries follow him to Rome, To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels? 35 You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things! O, you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome, Knew you not Pompey? Many a time and oft Have you climbed up to walls and battlements, To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops, 40 Your infants in your arms, and there have sat The livelong day, with patient expectation, To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome; And when you saw his chariot but appear, Have you not made an universal shout, 45 That Tiber trembled underneath her banks, To hear the replication of your sounds Made in her concave shores? And do you now put on your best attire? And do you now cull out a holiday? 50 And do you now strew flowers in his way That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood? Be gone! Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, Pray to the gods to intermit the plague 55 That needs must light on this ingratitude.
_Flav._ Go, go, good countrymen, and for this fault Assemble all the poor men of your sort; Draw them to Tiber banks, and weep your tears Into the channel, till the lowest stream 60 Do kiss the most exalted shores of all.
[_Exeunt all the Commoners_]
See, whe'r their basest metal be not moved! They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness. Go you down that way towards the Capitol; This way will I. Disrobe the images, 65 If you do find them deck'd with ceremonies.
_Mar._ May we do so? You know it is the feast of Lupercal.
_Flav._ It is no matter; let no images Be hung with Cæsar's trophies. I'll about, 70 And drive away the vulgar from the streets; So do you too, where you perceive them thick. These growing feathers pluck'd from Cæsar's wing Will make him fly an ordinary pitch, Who else would soar above the view of men, 75 And keep us all in servile fearfulness.
[_Exeunt]_
--_Shakespeare_
In what Stress do Flavius and Marullus speak when questioning the citizens? Why?
What Stress does the first citizen use?
How does the mental attitude of the second citizen influence his Stress and Inflection? (Introduction, pp. 21, 22, and 30.) Where does he change his Stress? For what reason?
WHEREFORE REJOICE? Point out the various examples of Climax in this speech, and show how the voice indicates them. (Introduction, p. 31.)
Account for the Inflection on the various questions. (Introduction, pp. 18 and 19.)
SEE WHE'R THEIR BASEST METAL, ETC. Note the change in tension and energy. What change in Pitch and Force is the natural result? (Introduction, pp. 25 and 26.)
* * * * *
SIR PETER AND LADY TEAZLE
From "The School for Scandal"
_Sir Peter._--Lady Teazle, Lady Teazle, I'll not bear it!
_Lady Teazle._--Sir Peter, Sir Peter, you may bear it or not, as you please; but I ought to have my own way in everything, and, what's more, I will, too. What though I was educated in the country, I know very well that women of fashion in London are accountable to nobody after they are married.
_Sir Peter._--Very well, ma'am, very well; so a husband is to have no influence, no authority?
_Lady Teazle._--Authority! No, to be sure: if you wanted authority over me, you should have adopted me and not married me: I am sure you were old enough.
_Sir Peter._--Old enough!--ay, there it is. Well, well, Lady Teazle, though my life may be made unhappy by your temper, I'll not be ruined by your extravagance!
_Lady Teazle._--My extravagance! I'm sure I'm not more extravagant than a woman of fashion ought to be.
_Sir Peter._--No, no, madam, you shall throw away no more sums on such unmeaning luxury. To spend as much to furnish your dressing room with flowers in winter as would suffice to turn the Pantheon into a greenhouse, and give a fête champêtre at Christmas!
_Lady Teazle._--And am I to blame, Sir Peter, because flowers are dear in cold weather? You should find fault with the climate, and not with me. For my part, I'm sure I wish it was spring all the year round, and that roses grew under our feet!
_Sir Peter._--Oons! madam--if you had been born to this, I shouldn't wonder at your talking thus; but you forget what your situation was when I married you.
_Lady Teazle._--No, no, I don't; 'twas a very disagreeable one, or I should never have married you.
_Sir Peter._--Yes, yes, madam, you were then in somewhat a humbler style--the daughter of a plain country squire. Recollect, Lady Teazle, when I saw you first sitting at your tambour, in a pretty figured linen gown, with a bunch of keys at your side, your hair combed smooth over a roll, and your apartment hung round with fruits in worsted, of your own working.
_Lady Teazle._--Oh, yes! I remember it very well, and a curious life I led. My daily occupation to inspect the dairy, superintend the poultry, make extracts from the family receipt book, and comb my aunt Deborah's lap-dog.
_Sir Peter._--Yes, yes, ma'am, 'twas so indeed.
_Lady Teazle._--And then, you know, my evening amusements! To draw patterns for ruffles, which I had not materials to make up; to play Pope Joan with the curate; to read a sermon to my aunt; or to be stuck down to an old spinet to strum my father to sleep after a fox chase.
_Sir Peter._--I am glad you have so good a memory. Yes, madam, these were the recreations I took you from; but now you must have your coach--_vis-à-vis_--and three powdered footmen before your chair; and, in the summer, a pair of white cats to draw you to Kensington Gardens. No recollection, I suppose, when you were content to ride double, behind the butler, on a docked coach horse.
_Lady Teazle._--No--I swear I never did that: I deny the butler and the coach horse.
_Sir Peter._--This, madam, was your situation; and what have I done for you? I have made you a woman of fashion, of fortune, of rank,--in short, I have made you my wife.
_Lady Teazle._--Well, then, and there is but one thing more you can make me to add to the obligation, that is--
_Sir Peter._--My widow, I suppose?
_Lady Teazle._--Hem! hem!
_Sir Peter._--I thank you, madam--but don't flatter yourself, for, though your ill conduct may disturb my peace of mind, it shall never break my heart, I promise you: however, I am equally obliged to you for the hint.
_Lady Teazle._--Then why will you endeavour to make yourself so disagreeable to me, and thwart me in every little elegant expense.
_Sir Peter._--Oons! madam, I say, had you any of these little elegant expenses when you married me?
_Lady Teazle._--Lud, Sir Peter! would you have me be out of the fashion?
_Sir Peter._--The fashion, indeed! what had you to do with the fashion before you married me?
_Lady Teazle._--For my part, I should think you would like to have your wife thought a woman of taste.
_Sir Peter._--Ay--there again--taste! Zounds! madam, you had no taste when you married me!
_Lady Teazle._--That's very true, indeed, Sir Peter! and, after having married you, I should never pretend to taste again, I allow. But now, Sir Peter, since we have finished our daily jangle, I presume I may go to my engagement at Lady Sneerwell's.
_Sir Peter._--Ay, there's another precious circumstance--a charming set of acquaintance you have made there.
_Lady Teazle._--Nay, Sir Peter, they are all people of rank and fortune, and remarkably tenacious of reputation.
_Sir Peter._--Yes, they are tenacious of reputation with a vengeance; for they don't choose anybody should have a character but themselves! Such a crew! Ah! many a wretch has rid on a hurdle who has done less mischief than these utterers of forged tales, coiners of scandal, and clippers of reputation.
_Lady Teazle._--What! would you restrain the freedom of speech?
_Sir Peter._--Ah! they have made you just as bad as any one of the society.
_Lady Teazle._--Why, I believe I do bear a part with a tolerable grace.
_Sir Peter._--Grace indeed!
_Lady Teazle._--But I vow I bear no malice against the people I abuse: when I say an ill-natured thing, 'tis out of pure good humour: and I take it for granted they deal exactly the same with me. But, Sir Peter, you know you promised to come to Lady Sneerwell's too.
_Sir Peter._--Well, well, I'll call in, just to look after my own character.
_Lady Teazle._--Then, indeed, you must make haste after me, or you'll be too late. So good-bye to ye. (_Exit_)
_Sir Peter._--So--I have gained much by my intended expostulation! Yet with what a charming air she contradicts everything I say, and how pleasantly she shows her contempt for my authority! Well, though I can't make her love me, there is great satisfaction in quarrelling with her; and I think she never appears to such advantage as when she is doing everything in her power to plague me. _(Exit_)
--_Richard Brinsley Sheridan_
Select the passages where Lady Teazle tries to enforce her opinion by (a) strong assertion, (b) peevishness and whining.
In what passages does her desire to taunt and ridicule Sir Peter predominate?
In what passages does she address Sir Peter in the tone of ordinary conversation?
What Stress is used in each case? (Introduction, pp. 28-30.)
HAD YOU ANY OF THESE LITTLE ELEGANT EXPENSES? What Stress is placed on the last four words?
* * * * *
THE PARTING OF MARMION AND DOUGLAS
From "Marmion"
Not far advanced was morning day, When Marmion did his troop array To Surrey's camp to ride; He had safe-conduct for his band, Beneath the royal seal and hand, 5 And Douglas gave a guide.
The ancient Earl, with stately grace, Would Clara on her palfrey place, And whispered in an undertone, "Let the hawk stoop, his prey is flown." 10 The train from out the castle drew, But Marmion stopped to bid adieu: "Though something I might plain," he said, "Of cold respect to stranger guest, Sent hither by your King's behest, 15 While in Tantallon's towers I stayed; Part we in friendship from your land, And, noble earl, receive my hand."
But Douglas round him drew his cloak, Folded his arms, and thus he spoke: 20 "My manors, halls, and bowers, shall still Be open, at my Sovereign's will, To each one whom he lists, howe'er Unmeet to be the owner's peer. My castles are my King's alone, 25 From turret to foundation-stone: The hand of Douglas is his own; And never shall, in friendly grasp, The hand of such as Marmion clasp."
Burned Marmion's swarthy cheek like fire, 30 And shook his very frame for ire; And--"This to me," he said, "An't were not for thy hoary beard, Such hand as Marmion's had not spared To cleave the Douglas' head! 35 And, first, I tell thee, haughty peer, He who does England's message here, Although the meanest in her state, May well, proud Angus, be thy mate: And, Douglas, more I tell thee here, 40 Even in thy pitch of pride Here in thy hold, thy vassals near (Nay, never look upon your lord, And lay your hands upon your sword,) I tell thee, thou'rt defied! 45 And if thou saidst, I am not peer To any lord in Scotland here, Lowland or Highland, far or near, Lord Angus, thou hast lied!"
On the Earl's cheek the flush of rage 50 O'ercame the ashen hue of age: Fierce he broke forth: "And darest thou, then, To beard the lion in his den, The Douglas in his hall? And hopest thou hence unscathed to go?-- 55 No, by Saint Bride of Bothwell, no!-- Up drawbridge, grooms!--what, Warder, ho! Let the portcullis fall."
Lord Marmion turned,--well was his need,-- And dashed the rowels in his steed, 60 Like arrow through the archway sprung, The ponderous grate behind him rung: To pass there was such scanty room, The bars, descending, grazed his plume.
The steed along the drawbridge flies, 65 Just as it trembles on the rise; Nor lighter does the swallow skim Along the smooth lake's level brim: And when Lord Marmion reached his band, He halts, and turns with clenched hand, 70 And shout of loud defiance pours, And shook his gauntlet at the towers.
"Horse! horse!" the Douglas cried, "and chase!" But soon he reined his fury's pace: "A royal messenger he came, 75 Though most unworthy of the name. A letter forged! Saint Jude to speed! Did ever knight so foul a deed! At first, in heart, it liked me ill, When the King praised his clerkly skill. 80 Thanks to Saint Bothan, son of mine, Save Gawain, ne'er could pen a line. Saint Mary mend my fiery mood! Old age ne'er cools the Douglas blood; I thought to slay him where he stood. 85 'Tis pity of him, too," he cried: "Bold can he speak, and fairly ride: I warrant him a warrior tried."-- With this his mandate he recalls, And slowly seeks his castle halls. 90
--_Sir Walter Scott_
In what Quality of voice should the following passages of this poem be read: (_a_) the descriptive parts; (_b_) l. 10; (_c_) the first speeches of Marmion and Douglas, ll. 14-18, and ll. 21-29; (_d_) the second speeches of Marmion and Douglas, ll. 32-49, and ll. 52-56; (_e_) ll. 57-58, and ll. 75-88?
* * * * *
COLUMBUS
Behind him lay the gray Azores. Behind him the gates of Hercules; Before him not the ghost of shores, Before him only shoreless seas. The good mate said: "Now we must pray, 5 For, lo! the very stars are gone. Brave Adm'r'l, speak; what shall I say?" "Why, say: 'Sail on! sail on! and on!'"
"My men grow mutinous day by day; My men grow ghastly wan and weak." 10 The stout mate thought of home; a spray Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek. "What shall I say, brave Adm'r'l, say, If we sight naught but seas at dawn?" "Why, you shall say, at break of day: 15 'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!'"
They sailed and sailed as winds might blow, Until at last the blanched mate said: "Why, now not even God would know Should I and all my men fall dead. 20 These very winds forget the way, For God from these dread seas is gone. Now speak, brave Adm'r'l, speak and say--" He said: "Sail on! sail on! and on!"
They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate: 25 "This mad sea shows his teeth to-night; He curls his lip, he lies in wait, With lifted teeth as if to bite: Brave Adm'r'l, say but one good word; What shall we do when hope is gone?" 30 The words leapt as a leaping sword: "Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!"
Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck And peered through darkness. Ah, that night Of all dark nights! And then, a speck-- 35 A light! a light! a light! a light! It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! It grew to be Time's burst of dawn. He gained a world; he gave that world Its greatest lesson; "On! sail on!" 40
--_Joaquin Miller_
--_By permission of the publishers, Whitaker & Ray-Wiggin Co._
WHAT, SHALL, WHY. (Appendix A, 7 and 8.)
Give examples of words or phrases which when repeated become (1) unemphatic, (2) more emphatic, (3) equivalent to a climax. (Introduction, pp. 31 and 32.)
Compare the mate's attitude of mind with that of the Admiral. How is the difference indicated by the Stress?
* * * * *
FROM THE "APOLOGY" OF SOCRATES
From "The Dialogues of Plato"
1. Not much time will be gained, O Athenians, in return for the evil name which you will get from the detractors of the city, who will say that you killed Socrates, a wise man; for they will call me wise, even although I am not wise, when they want to reproach you. If you had waited a little while, your desire would have been fulfilled in the course of nature. For I am far advanced in years, as you may perceive, and not far from death. I am speaking now only to those of you who have condemned me to death. And I have another thing to say to them: You think that I was convicted through deficiency of words--I mean, that if I had thought fit to leave nothing undone, nothing unsaid, I might have gained an acquittal. Not so; the deficiency which led to my conviction was not of words--certainly not. But I had not the boldness or impudence or inclination to address you as you would have liked me to address you, weeping and wailing and lamenting, and saying and doing many things which you have been accustomed to hear from others, and which, as I say, are unworthy of me. But I thought that I ought not to do anything common or mean in the hour of danger; nor do I now repent of the manner of my defence, and I would rather die having spoken after my manner, than speak in your manner and live. For neither in war nor yet at law ought any man to use every way of escaping death. For often in battle there is no doubt that if a man will throw away his arms, and fall on his knees before his pursuers, he may escape death; and in other dangers there are other ways of escaping death, if a man is willing to say and do anything. The difficulty, my friends, is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death. I am old and move slowly, and the slower runner has overtaken me, and my accusers are keen and quick, and the faster runner, who is unrighteousness, has overtaken them. And now I depart hence, condemned by you to suffer the penalty of death, and they too go their ways, condemned by the truth to suffer the penalty of villainy and wrong; and I must abide by my reward--let them abide by theirs. I suppose that these things may be regarded as fated,--and I think that they are well.
2. And now, O men who have condemned me, I would fain prophesy to you; for I am about to die, and that is the hour in which men are gifted with prophetic power. And I prophesy to you who are my murderers, that immediately after my death punishment far heavier than you have inflicted on me will surely await you. Me you have killed because you wanted to escape the accuser, and not to give an account of your lives. But that will not be as you suppose: far otherwise. For I say that there will be more accusers of you than there are now; accusers whom hitherto I have restrained: and as they are younger they will be more severe with you, and you will be more offended at them. For if you think that by killing men you can avoid the accuser censuring your lives, you are mistaken; that is not a way of escape which is either possible or honourable; the easiest and the noblest way is not to be crushing others, but to be improving yourselves. This is the prophecy which I utter before my departure to the judges who have condemned me.
3. Friends, who would have acquitted me, I would like also to talk with you about this thing which has happened, while the magistrates are busy, and before I go to the place at which I must die. Stay then a while, for we may as well talk with one another while there is time. You are my friends, and I should like to show you the meaning of this event which has happened to me. O my judges--for you I may truly call judges--I should like to tell you of a wonderful circumstance. Hitherto the familiar oracle within me has constantly been in the habit of opposing me even about trifles, if I was going to make a slip or error about anything; and now, as you see, there has come upon me that which may be thought, and is generally believed to be, the last and worst evil. But the oracle made no sign of opposition, either as I was leaving my house and going out in the morning, or when I was going up into this court, or while I was speaking, at anything which I was going to say; and yet I have often been stopped in the middle of a speech, but now in nothing I either said or did touching this matter has the oracle opposed me. What do I take to be the explanation of this? I will tell you. I regard this as a proof that what has happened to me is a good, and that those of us who think that death is an evil are in error. This is a great proof to me of what I am saying, for the customary sign would surely have opposed me had I been going to evil and not to good.
4. Let us reflect in another way, and we shall see that there is a great reason to hope that death is a good, for one of two things: either death is a state of nothingness and utter unconsciousness, or, as men say, there is a change and migration of the soul from this world to another. Now if you suppose that there is no consciousness, but a sleep like the sleep of him who is undisturbed even by the sight of dreams, death will be an unspeakable gain. For if a person were to select the night in which his sleep was undisturbed even by dreams, and were to compare with this the other days and nights of his life, and then were to tell us how many days and nights he had passed in the course of his life better and more pleasantly than this one, I think that any man, I will not say a private man, but even the great king will not find many such days or nights, when compared with the others. Now if death is like this, I say that to die is gain; for eternity is then only a single night. But if death is the journey to another place, and there, as men say, all the dead are, what good, O my friends and judges, can be greater than this? If indeed when the pilgrim arrives in the world below, he is delivered from the professors of justice in this world, and finds the true judges who are said to give judgment there, Minos and Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus, and Triptolemus, and other sons of God who were righteous in their own life, that pilgrimage will be worth making. What would not a man give if he might converse with Orpheus and Musaeus and Hesiod and Homer? Nay, if this be true, let me die again and again. I, too, shall have a wonderful interest in a place where I can converse with Palamedes, and Ajax the son of Telamon, and other heroes of old, who have suffered death through an unjust judgment; and there will be no small pleasure, as I think, in comparing my own sufferings with theirs. Above all, I shall be able to continue my search into true and false knowledge; as in this world, so also in that; I shall find out who is wise, and who pretends to be wise and is not. What would not a man give, O judges, to be able to examine the leader of the great Trojan expedition; or Odysseus, or Sisyphus, or numberless others, men and women too! What infinite delight would there be in conversing with them and asking them questions! For in that world they do not put a man to death for this; certainly not. For besides being happier in that world than in this, they will be immortal, if what is said is true.
5. Wherefore, O judges, be of good cheer about death, and know this of a truth--that no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death. He and his are not neglected by the gods; nor has my own approaching end happened by mere chance. But I see clearly that to die and be released was better for me; and therefore the oracle gave no sign. For which reason, also, I am not angry with my accusers or my condemners; they have done me no harm, although neither of them meant to do me any good; and for this I may gently blame them.
6. Still I have a favour to ask of them. When my sons are grown up, I would ask you, O my friends, to punish them and I would have you trouble them, as I have troubled you, if they seem to care about riches, or anything, more than about virtue; or if they pretend to be something when they are really nothing,--then reprove them, as I have reproved you, for not caring about that for which they ought to care, and thinking that they are something when they are really nothing. And if you do this, I and my sons will have received justice at your hands.
7. The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways--I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows.
--_Benjamin Jowett_
Illustrate from this extract the general principle that incompleteness is expressed by means of the Rising, and completeness by means of the Falling Inflection.
Par. 1. FOR NEITHER IN WAR NOR YET AT LAW ... DEATH. Explain the Inflection placed on this negative statement. Give a similar example from Par. 2.
I MUST ABIDE BY MY AWARD ... LET THEM ABIDE BY THEIRS. Explain the opposite Inflections on antithetical words and phrases. If one part of the antithesis is a negation, what is the Inflection? (Introduction, pp. 19 and 20.) Give examples from Par. 2.
I AM OLD AND MOVE SLOWLY ... WRONG. Explain the Emphasis in these sentences. Which one of a pair of contrasted words is necessarily emphatic? Give examples from this and the following paragraph, in which both are emphatic, and explain why. (Introduction, pp. 30-32.)
Par. 4. Explain the Inflection on the questions. (Introduction, pp. 18 and 19.)
What clauses in this paragraph are really parenthetical in force? How does the voice subordinate them? Give similar examples from other paragraphs. (Introduction, pp. 24 and 25.)
* * * * *
HIGHLAND HOSPITALITY
From "The Lady of the Lake"
The shades of eve come slowly down, The woods are wrapt in deeper brown, The owl awakens from her dell, The fox is heard upon the fell; Enough remains of glimmering light 5 To guide the wanderer's steps aright, Yet not enough from far to show His figure to the watchful foe. With cautious step, and ear awake, He climbs the crag and threads the brake; 10 And not the summer solstice there, Tempered the midnight mountain air, But every breeze that swept the wold, Benumbed his drenched limbs with cold. In dread, in danger, and alone, 15 Famished and chilled, through ways unknown, Tangled and steep, he journeyed on; Till, as a rock's huge point he turned, A watch-fire close before him burned.
Beside its embers red and clear, 20 Basked, in his plaid, a mountaineer; And up he sprung with sword in hand,-- "Thy name and purpose! Saxon, stand!"-- "A stranger."--"What dost thou require?"-- "Rest and a guide, and food and fire. 25 My life's beset, my path is lost. The gale has chilled my limbs with frost."-- "Art thou a friend to Roderick?"--"No."-- "Thou darest not call thyself a foe?"-- "I dare! to him and all the band 30 He brings to aid his murderous hand."-- "Bold words!--but, though the beast of game The privilege of chase may claim, Though space and law the stag we lend, Ere hound we slip, or bow we bend, 35 Who ever recked, where, how, or when, The prowling fox was trapped or slain? Thus, treacherous scouts,--yet sure they lie, Who say thou camest a secret spy!"-- "They do, by Heaven!--Come Roderick Dhu, 40 And of his clan the boldest two, And let me but till morning rest, I write the falsehood on their crest."-- "If by the blaze I mark aright, Thou bear'st the belt and spur of Knight."-- 45 "Then, by these tokens mayest thou know, Each proud oppressor's mortal foe."-- "Enough, enough; sit down and share A soldier's couch, a soldier's fare."--
He gave him of his Highland cheer, 50 The hardened flesh of mountain deer; Dry fuel on the fire he laid, And bade the Saxon share his plaid. He tended him like welcome guest, Then thus his further speech addressed:-- 55 "Stranger, I am to Roderick Dhu A clansman born, a kinsman true; Each word against his honour spoke, Demands of me avenging stroke; Yet more,--upon thy fate, 'tis said, 60 A mighty augury is laid. It rests with me to wind my horn, Thou art with numbers overborne; It rests with me, here, brand to brand, Worn as thou art, to bid thee stand: 65 But not for clan, nor kindred's cause, Will I depart from honour's laws; To assail a wearied man were shame, And stranger is a holy name; Guidance and rest, and food and fire, 70 In vain he never must require. Then rest thee here till dawn of day; Myself will guide thee on the way, O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward. Till past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard, 75 As far as Coilantogle's ford; From thence thy warrant is thy sword."-- "I take thy courtesy, by Heaven, As freely as 'tis nobly given!"-- "Well, rest thee; for the bittern's cry 80 Sings us the lake's wild lullaby." With that he shook the gathered heath, And spread his plaid upon the wreath; And the brave foemen, side by side, Lay peaceful down, like brothers tried, 85 And slept until the dawning beam Purpled the mountain and the stream.
--_Sir Walter Scott_
PREPARATORY.--Connect this scene with the rest of the poem.
Give a dramatic form to this extract, describing definitely the scenery and stage-setting. One reader may render the descriptive parts, another the speeches of Roderick Dhu, and a third those of Fitz-James.
WANDERER'S STEPS, CAUTIOUS STEP, TRECHEROUS SCOUTS, BOLDEST TWO. (Appendix A, 6.)
25 and 70. (Appendix A, 5.) 1-4. Note the word-pictures. How do they affect the Pause? (Introduction, pp. 7 and 8.)
7. NOT ENOUGH. With what is it contrasted? Which word is emphatic? Where do the Pauses occur in this line?
9. What is the atmosphere of this line? What is the Quality of voice? (Introduction, p. 34.)
10-11. What Inflection? Why? What is the Shading when compared with the two following lines? (Introduction, p. 24.)
16-17. Give an example of Grouping.
18-19. Compare the Shading of these two lines.
22. What feeling and movement are here expressed? How does the voice give expression to them? (Introduction, pp. 5, 6, and 27.)
Describe the mental attitude of each of the speakers. What is the Stress in each case? (Introduction, pp. 27-29.)
38. THE PROWLING FOX ... SCOUTS. What is the mental attitude here? What Stress is the result? (Introduction, p. 28.) How does the rest of the speech differ from the preceding? What is the Inflection? (Introduction, p. 18.)
What is the Stress of ordinary conversation? Illustrate from the above selection.
32-39. BOLD WORDS ... SPY. (Introduction, p. 24.)
48. Why should SIT DOWN be kept distinct from SHARE? How is this effected?
60. 'TIS SAID. How does the voice subordinate this phrase? (Introduction, p. 24.)
66-69. Which are the emphatic words and why are they emphatic?
77. What feeling is introduced here? How does the voice express it?
* * * * *
THE OUTLAW
From "Rokeby"
O, Brignall banks are wild and fair, And Greta woods are green, And you may gather garlands there, Would grace a summer queen.
And as I rode by Dalton-Hall, 5 Beneath the turrets high, A Maiden on the castle wall Was singing merrily,--
"O, Brignall banks are fresh and fair, And Greta woods are green; 10 I'd rather rove with Edmund there Than reign our English queen."--
"If, Maiden, thou would'st wend with me, To leave both tower and town, Thou first must guess what life lead we 15 That dwell by dale and down. And if thou canst that riddle read, As read full well you may, Then to the greenwood shalt thou speed As blithe as Queen of May."-- 20
Yet sung she, "Brignall banks are fair, And Greta woods are green; I'd rather rove with Edmund there. Than reign our English queen.
"I read you by your bugle-horn, 25 And by your palfrey good, I read you for a Ranger sworn, To keep the king's greenwood."-- "A Ranger, lady, winds his horn, And 'tis at peep of light; 30 His blast is heard at merry morn, And mine at dead of night."--
Yet sung she, "Brignall banks are fair, And Greta woods are gay; I would I were with Edmund there, 35 To reign his Queen of May!
"With burnish'd brand and musketoon, So gallantly you come, I read you for a bold Dragoon, That lists the tuck of drum."-- 40 "I list no more the tuck of drum, No more the trumpet hear; But when the beetle sounds his hum My comrades take the spear.
"And O! though Brignall banks be fair 45 And Greta woods be gay, Yet mickle must the maiden dare Would reign my Queen of May!
"Maiden! a nameless life I lead, A nameless death I'll die! 50 The fiend whose lantern lights the mead Were better mate than I! And when I'm with my comrades met Beneath the greenwood bough, What once we were we all forget, 55 Nor think what we are now.
"Yet Brignall banks are fresh and fair, And Greta woods are green, And you may gather garlands there Would grace a summer queen." 60
--_Sir Walter Scott_
PREPARATORY.--"The Life of an Outlaw." Speak on this subject, illustrating from such characters as Rob Roy, Robin Hood, etc., and emphasizing the pathos of such a life.
For dramatic rendering see preparatory notes on _Highland Hospitality_.
1-4. What Stress indicates the state of mind reflected by these lines? (Introduction, p. 29.)
3, 11. What Inflection is placed on THERE? (Introduction, p. 16.)
12. What word may be supplied after REIGN? How is this indicated in the reading? (Introduction, p. 10.)
13-20. Read these lines with a view to Perspective. (Introduction, p. 33.)
Give examples of Grouping throughout the poem and show how the Pause is affected. (Introduction, p. 11.)
What words in stanza iii are emphatic through contrast? In stanza v?
What feeling in the last half of stanza v? (Introduction, pp. 10-12.) In what Time, Pitch, and Force are these lines read? Give your reasons.
* * * * *
OF STUDIES
From the "Essays"
Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots, and marshalling of affairs, come best from those that are learned.
To spend too much time in studies, is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humour of a scholar. They perfect nature and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience.
Crafty men contemn studies; simple men admire them; and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books; else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things.
Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a good memory, if he confer little, he had need have a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not.
If a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again; if his wits be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the schoolmen; if he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers' cases. So every defect of the mind may have a special receipt.
--_Lord Bacon_
Preparatory.--Observe the sentence structure employed throughout this extract, and make a list of the antithetical words and phrases.
This lesson may be used as an exercise to illustrate the principle of Inflection as applied to antithetical words or phrases and to series of words or phrases parallel in construction. (Introduction, p. 20.)
* * * * *
THE INFLUENCE OF ATHENS
From essay "On Mitford's History of Greece"
If we consider merely the subtlety of disquisition, the force of imagination, the perfect energy and elegance of expression, which characterize the great works of Athenian genius, we must pronounce them intrinsically most valuable. But what shall we say when we reflect that from hence have sprung, directly or indirectly, all the noblest creations of the human intellect; that from hence were the vast accomplishments and the brilliant fancy of Cicero, the withering fire of Juvenal, the plastic imagination of Dante, the humour of Cervantes, the comprehension of Bacon, the wit of Butler, the supreme and universal excellence of Shakespeare?
All the triumphs of truth and genius over prejudice and power, in every country and in every age, have been the triumphs of Athens. Wherever a few great minds have made a stand against violence and fraud, in the cause of liberty and reason, there has been her spirit in the midst of them; inspiring, encouraging, consoling;--by the lonely lamp of Erasmus, by the restless bed of Pascal, in the tribune of Mirabeau, in the cell of Galileo, on the scaffold of Sidney.
But who shall estimate her influence on private happiness? Who shall say how many thousands have been made wiser, happier, and better, by those pursuits in which she has taught mankind to engage; to how many the studies which took their rise from her have been wealth in poverty, liberty in bondage, health in sickness, society in solitude?
Her power is, indeed, manifested at the bar, in the senate, in the field of battle, in the schools of philosophy. But these are not her glory. Wherever literature consoles sorrow, or assuages pain; wherever it brings gladness to eyes which fail with wakefulness and tears, and ache for the dark house and the long sleep,--there is exhibited, in its noblest form, the immortal influence of Athens.
The dervish, in the Arabian tale, did not hesitate to abandon to his comrade the camels with their loads of jewels and gold, while he retained the casket of that mysterious juice which enabled him to behold at one glance all the hidden riches of the universe. Surely it is no exaggeration to say that no external advantage is to be compared with that purification of the intellectual eye which gives us to contemplate the infinite wealth of the mental world, all the hoarded treasures of its primeval dynasties, all the shapeless ore of its yet unexplored mines. This is the gift of Athens to man.
Her freedom and her power have, for more than twenty centuries, been annihilated; her people have degenerated into timid slaves; her language, into a barbarous jargon; her temples have been given up to the successive depredations of Romans, Turks, and Scotchmen; but her intellectual empire is imperishable.
And when those who have rivalled her greatness shall have shared her fate; when civilization and knowledge shall have fixed their abode in distant continents; when the sceptre shall have passed away from England; when, perhaps, travellers from distant regions shall in vain labour to decipher on some mouldering pedestal the name of our proudest chief, shall hear savage hymns chaunted to some misshapen idol over the ruined dome of our proudest temple, and shall see a single naked fisherman wash his nets in the river of the ten thousand masts,--her influence and her glory will still survive,--fresh in eternal youth, exempt from mutability and decay, immortal as the intellectual principle from which they derived their origin, and over which they exercise their control.
--_Macaulay_
Illustrate from this lesson the principle of Inflection as applied to (1) a series of words parallel in construction; (2) rhetorical questions.
How should the principal clause in the last paragraph be made prominent by the voice? (Introduction, p. 33.)
* * * * *
NATIONAL MORALITY
1. I believe there is no permanent greatness to a nation except it be based upon morality. I do not care for military greatness or military renown. I care for the condition of the people among whom I live. There is no man in England who is less likely to speak irreverently of the Crown and Monarchy of England than I am; but crowns, coronets, mitres, military display, the pomp of war, wide colonies, and a huge empire, are, in my view, all trifles light as air, and not worth considering, unless with them you can have a fair share of comfort, contentment, and happiness, among the great body of the people. Palaces, baronial castles, great halls, stately mansions, do not make a nation. The nation in every country dwells in the cottage; and unless the light of your Constitution can shine there, unless the beauty of your legislation and the excellence of your statesmanship are impressed there on the feelings and condition of the people, rely upon it, you have yet to learn the duties of government.
2. I have not pleaded, as you have observed, that this country should remain without adequate and scientific means of defence. I acknowledge it to be the duty of your statesmen, acting upon the known opinions and principles of ninety-nine out of every one hundred persons in the country, at all times, with all possible moderation, but with all possible efficiency, to take steps which shall preserve order within and on the confines of your kingdom. But I shall repudiate and denounce the expenditure of every shilling, the engagement of every man, the employment of every ship which has no object but intermeddling in the affairs of other countries and endeavouring to extend the boundaries of an Empire which is already large enough to satisfy the greatest ambition, and I fear is much too large for the highest statesmanship to which any man has yet attained.
3. The most ancient of profane historians has told us that the Scythians of his time were a very warlike people, and that they elevated an old scimitar upon a platform as a symbol of Mars, for to Mars alone, I believe, they built altars and offered sacrifices. To this scimitar they offered sacrifices of horses and cattle, the main wealth of the country, and more costly sacrifices than to all the rest of their gods. I often ask myself whether we are at all advanced in one respect beyond those Scythians. What are our contributions to charity, to education, to morality, to religion, to justice, and to civil government, when compared with the wealth we expend in sacrifices to the old scimitar?
4. Two nights ago I addressed in this hall a vast assembly composed to a great extent of your countrymen, who have no political power, who are at work from the dawn of the day to the evening, and who have therefore limited means of informing themselves on these great subjects. Now I am privileged to speak to a somewhat different audience. You represent those of your great community who have a more complete education, who have on some points greater intelligence, and in whose hands reside the power and influence of the district. I am speaking, too, within the hearing of those whose gentle nature, whose finer instincts, whose purer minds, have not suffered as some of us have suffered in the turmoil and strife of life. You can mould opinion, you can create political power,--you cannot think a good thought on this subject and communicate it to your neighbours,--you cannot make these points topics of discussion in your social circles and more general meetings, without affecting sensibly and speedily the course which the government of your country will pursue. May I ask you, then, to believe, as I do most devoutly believe, that the moral law was not written for men alone in their individual character, but that it was written as well for nations, and for nations great as this of which we are citizens. If nations reject and deride that moral law, there is a penalty which will inevitably follow. It may not come at once, it may not come in our lifetime; but, rely upon it, the great Italian is not a poet only, but a prophet, when he says:
The sword of heaven is not in haste to smite, Nor yet doth linger.
5. We have experience, we have beacons, we have landmarks enough. We know what the past has cost us, we know how much and how far we have wandered, but we are not left without a guide. It is true, we have not, as an ancient people had, Urim and Thummin--those oraculous gems in Aaron's breast--from which to take counsel, but we have the unchangeable and eternal principles of the moral law to guide us, and only so far as we walk by that guidance can we be permanently a great nation, or our people a happy people.
--_The Right Honourable John Bright_
BARONIAL, CASTLES, CHARACTER, PAST. (Appendix A, 1.)
Par. 1. MILITARY GREATNESS, MILITARY RENOWN. Note the transferred Emphasis. (Introduction, pp. 31 and 32.)
CROWNS, CORONETS, ETC. Explain the Inflection on each member of this series. Give similar examples from this paragraph and from Pars. 3, 4, and 5.
UNLESS WITH THEM, ETC. How does the voice prepare the listener for this clause? Give a similar example from Par. 4.
YOU HAVE YET TO LEARN, ETC. How is this clause made prominent?
Par. 2. Give an analysis of the second sentence from the standpoint of Perspective.
THE EXPENDITURE ... SHIP. How is the Climax brought out?
FOR THE HIGHTEST ... ATTAINED. Note the Grouping. Give another example from this sentence.
Par. 4. NATIONS. What Inflection on this word? With what is it contrasted?
* * * * *
HAMLET'S ADVICE TO THE PLAYERS