The Canadian Elocutionist. Anna K. Howard
no emotion, nor emphasis, nor interrogation. But when one of the words is emphasized, the sentence will be very different from what it was in the first instance; and very different, again, when another word is made emphatic; and so, again, whenever the emphasis is changed, the meaning is also changed: as, "THOU art a man." That is thou in opposition to another, or because thou hast proved thyself to be one. "Thou art a MAN." That is a gentleman. "Thou ART a man." That is, in opposition to "thou hast been a man," or "thou wilt be one." "Thou art A man." That is, in opposition to the man, or a particular man.
Then, again, the sentence may be pronounced in a very low tone of voice, and with force or without force. It may be raised uniting a good deal of stress, or without stress; and then, again, it may be heard with the greatest force, or with moderate force. Each of these latter modes of intonation will make a very different impression on an audience, according to the employment of the other elements of expression, with that of the general pitch..
In addition to these, the sentence may be pronounced in a very low and soft tone, implying kindness of feeling. Then, in a whisper, intimating secrecy or mystery. It may be heard on the SEMITONE, high or low, to communicate different degrees of pathos. And then, again, the TREMOR nay be heard on one or all of the words, to give greater intensity to other elements of expression which may be employed. As, also, a GUTTURAL emphasis may be applied to express anger, scorn, or loathing. These are some of the different meanings which may be given to this sentence of four words by the voice. A good reader, or speaker, then, ought not only to be able to sound every word correctly; he ought to know, always, the EXACT meaning of what he reads, and feel the sentiment he utters, and also to know HOW to give the intended meaning and emotion, when he knows them.
By practice upon the different exercises herein, the student will not fail to recognize the emotion from the sentiment, and will be able to give it.
Emphasis of feeling is suggested and governed entirely by emotion, and is not strictly necessary to the sense, but is in the highest degree expressive of sentiment.
1. On! ON! you noble English.
2. Slaves! TRAITORS! have ye flown?
3. To arms! to ARMS! ye braves?
4 Be assured, be ASSURED, that this declaration will stand.
5. Rise, RISE, ye wild tempests, and cover his flight!
6. To arms! to ARMS! to ARMS! they cry.
7. Hurrah for bright water! HURRAH! HURRAH!
8. I met him, FACED him, SCORNED him.
9. Horse! HORSE! and CHASE!
10. The charge is utterly, TOTALLY, MEANLY, false.
11. Ay, cluster there! Cling to your master, judges, ROMANS, SLAVES.
12. I defy the honourable gentleman; I defy the GOVERNMENT; I defy the WHOLE PHALANX.
13. He has allowed us to meet you here, and in the name of the present generation, in the name of your COUNTRY, in the name of LIBERTY, to thank you.
14 They shouted France! SPAIN! ALBION! VICTORY!
CLIMAX.
Climax, or cumulative emphasis, consists of a series of particulars or emphatic words or sentences, in which each successive particular, word, or sentence rises in force and importance to the last.
INFLECTIONS.
The inflections of the voice, consist of those peculiar slides which it takes in pronouncing syllables, words, or sentences.
There are two of these slides, the upward and the downward. The upward is called the rising inflection, and the downward the falling inflection, and when these are combined it is known as the circumflex.
The rising inflection is used in cases of doubt and uncertainty, or when the sense is incomplete or dependent on something following. The falling inflection is used when the sense is finished and completed, or is independent of anything that follows.
Indirect questions usually require the falling inflection.
Falling inflections give power and emphasis to words. Rising inflections give beauty and variety. Rising inflections may also be emphatic, but their effect is not so great as that of falling inflections.
1.
I am`.
Life is short`.
Eternity is long`.
If they return`.
Forgive us our sins`.
Depart thou`.
2.
What' though the field be lost`?
All` is not` lost`: the unconquerable will`,
And stud`y of revenge`, immor`tal hate`,
And cour`age nev`er to submit` or yield`.
3.
And be thou instruc`ted, oh, Jeru`salem', lest my soul depart` from thee; lest I make thee' des`olate, a land not' inhab`ited.
If the members of a concluding series are not emphatic, they all take the rising inflection except the last, which takes the falling inflection; but if emphatic, they all take the falling inflection except the last but one, which takes the rising inflection.
The dew is dried up', the star is shot', the flight is past', the man forgot`.
He tried each art', reproved each dull delay', allured to brighter worlds' and led the way`.
They will celebrate it with thanksgiving', with festivity' with bonfires', with illuminations`.
He was so young', so intelligent', so generous', so brave so everything', that we are apt to like in a young man`.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain', my speech shall distill as the dew', as the small rain upon the tender herb' and as the showers upon the grass`.
THE CIRCUMFLEX OR WAVE.
The Circumflex is a union of the two inflections, and is of two kinds; viz., the Rising and the Falling Circumflex. The rising circumflex begins with the falling, and ends with the rising inflection; the falling circumflex begins with the rising, and ends with the falling inflection.
Positive assertions of irony, raillery, etc., have the falling circumflex, and all negative assertions of doubled meaning will have the rising. Doubt, pity, contrast, grief, supposition, comparison, irony, implication, sneering, raillery, scorn, reproach, and contempt, are all expressed by the use of the wave of the circumflex. Be sure and get the right feeling and thought, and you will find no difficulty in expressing them properly, if you have mastered the voice. Both these circumflex inflections may be exemplified in the word "so," in a speech of the clown, in Shakespeare's "As You Like It:"
"I knew when seven justices could not take up a quarrel; but when the parties were met themselves, one of them thought but of an If; as if you said so, then I said sô. Oh, hô! did you say so*? So they shook hands, and were sworn friends."
The Queen of Denmark, in reproving her son, Hamlet, on account of his conduct towards his step-father, whom she married shortly after the murder of the king, her husband, says to him, "Hamlet, you have your father much offended." To which he replies, with a circumflex on you, "Madam, yô*u have my father much offended." He meant his own father; she his step-father. He would also intimate that she was accessory to his father's murder; and his peculiar reply was like daggers in her soul.
In the following reply of Death to Satan, there is