Which the Poet, in no idle dreaming, Everywhere about us are they glowing- Not alone in Spring's armorial bearing, Not alone in meadows | and green álleys, Not alone in her vast dome of glóry, In the cottage of the rudest peasant, In ancestral homes, whose crumbling tówers, Speaking of the Past | unto the Présent, Tell us of the ancient Games of Flowers; In all places, then, and in all sèasons, Flowers expand their light and soul-like wings, And with child-like, credulous affection, LONGFELLOW. 7. THE SEVEN AGES OF MAN. All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: And then, the whining School-boy, with his satchel, Even in the cannon's mouth. And then, the Justice, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Is second childishness and mere oblivion, SHAKESPEARE. 8. BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE. Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, We buried him darkly, at dead of night, No useless cóffin | inclosed his breast, Not in sheet | nor in shroud | we wound him; Féw and shòrt | were the prayers we sáid, We thought, as we hollowed his narrow béd, That the foe and the stranger | would tread o'er his head, Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone, But nothing he'll reck, if they let him sleep on | But half | of our heavy task was done | When the clock | struck the hour for retìring; And we heard the distant and random gún | That the fóe was sullenly firing. Slowly and sadly we laid him down, From the field of his fame | fresh and góry; We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone, CHAPTER II. FORCE AND STRESS. SECTION I. FORCE OF VOICE. 1. Force of utterance relates to the degree of loudness or intensity of voice. 2. The three main divisions of force are soft, moderate, and loud. These, for convenience, may be subdivided as follows: (1) Very soft (corresponding to pianissimo in music). (2) Soft (piano). (3) Moderate (mezzo-forte). (4) Loud (forte). (5) Very loud (fortissimo). 3. The general rule of force is, to read with an intensity appropriate to, the thoughts or emotion to be expressed, and with a power or strength of voice sufficient to fill the room, so that every person in it may hear distinetly every word that is uttered. 4. Force of voice must be stronger in the schoolroom than in the parlor, and louder in the lecture-hall than in the school-room. If read to an assemblage of a thousand people, the most didactic and unimpassioned document must be read with considerable force. 5. Pupils should be cautioned against attempting any degree of force beyond the compass of their voices, and also against the conventional school-tone of loudness, which consists in raising the voice to so high a pitch that it grates on the ear like the filing of a saw. 6. "The command of all degrees of force of voice," says Prof. Russell, "must evidently be essential to true and natural expression, whether in reading or speaking. Appropriate utterance ranges through all stages of vocal sound, from the whisper of fear and the murmur of repose, to the boldest swell of vehement declamation, and the shout of triumphant courage. But to give forth any one of these or the intermediate tones, with just and impressive effect, the organs must be disciplined by appropriate exercise and frequent practice. For every day's observation proves to us, that mere natural instinct and animal health, with all the aids of informing intellect, and inspiring emotion, and exciting circumstances, are not sufficient to produce the effects of eloquence, or even of adequate utterance. 7. "The overwhelming power of undisciplined feeling may not only impede but actually prevent the right action of the instruments of speech; and the novice who has fondly dreamed, in his closet, that nothing more is required for effective expression than a genuine feeling, finds, to his discomfiture, that it is perhaps the very intensity of his feeling that hinders his utterace; and it is not till experience and practice have done their work, that he learns the primary lesson, that force of emotion needs a practiced force of will to balance and regulate it, and a disciplined control over the organs to give it appropriate utterance. 8. "The want of due training for the exercise of public reading or speaking is evinced in the habitual undue loudness of some speakers, and the inadequate force of others-the former subjecting their hearers to unnecessary pain, and the latter to disappointment and uneasiness. 9 "Force of utterance, however, has other claims on the attention of students of elocution, besides those which are involved in correct expression. It is, in its various gradations, the chief means of imparting strength to the vocal organs, and power to the voice itself. The due |