The Canadian Elocutionist. Anna K. Howard
Milton.
ASPIRATE QUALITY.
The Aspirate Quality is used in the utterance of secrecy and fear, and discontent generally takes this quality.
Its characteristic is distinctness, therefore exercises on this voice will prove invaluable to the pupil and deep inhalations are indispensable.
The aspirate is usually combined with other qualities and the earnestness and other expressive effects of aspiration may be spread over a whole sentence or it may be restricted to a single word.
The aspirate quality is entitled to notice as a powerful agent in oratorical expression, and the whispered utterances of any well disciplined voice will be heard in the remotest parts of a large theatre, and the voice is greatly strengthened by frequent practice in this quality.
1.
Hark! I hear the bugles of the enemy! They are on their march along the bank of the river! We must retreat instantly, or be cut off from our boats! I see the head of their column already rising over the height! Our only safety is in the screen of this hedge. Keep close to it—be silent—and stoop as you run! For the boats! Forward!
2.
MACBETH. I have done the deed:—Did'st thou not hear a noise?
LADY MACBETH. I heard the owl scream, and the crickets cry. Did not you speak?
MACB. When?
LADY M. Now.
MACB. As I descended?
LADY M. Ay.
MACB. Hark! Who lies i' the second chamber?
LADY M. Donaldbain.
MACB. This is a sorry sight. [Showing his hands.
LADY M. A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.
MACB. There's one did laugh in his sleep, and one
cried "Murder!"
That they did wake each other; I stood and heard them:
But they did say their prayers, and addressed them
Again to sleep.
Shakespeare
3.
"Pray you tread softly—that the blind mole may not
Hear a footfall: we are now near his cell.
Speak softly!
All's hushed as midnight yet.
See'st thou here?
This is the mouth o' the cell: no noise! and enter."
Shakespeare.
4.
Ah' mercy on my soul! What is that? My old friend's ghost? They say none but wicked folks walk; I wish I were at the bottom of a coal-pit. See; how long and pale his face has grown since his death: he never was handsome; and death has improved him very much the wrong way. Pray do not come near me! I wish'd you very well when you were alive; but I could never abide a dead man, cheek by jowl with me.
FALSETTO QUALITY. The Falsetto Quality is used in expressing terror, pain, anger, affection, etc. Some people speak altogether in falsetto, especially those who are not careful in pronunciation. It is harsh, rude, and grating, and is heard in the whine of peevishness, in the high pitch of mirth, and in the piercing scream of terror.
1.
I was dozing comfortably in my easy-chair, and dreaming of the good times which I hope are coming, when there fell upon my ears a most startling scream. It was the voice of my Maria Ann in mortal agony. The voice came from the kitchen, and to the kitchen I rushed. The idolized form of my Maria Ann was perched upon a chair, and she was flourishing an iron spoon in all directions, and shouting "Shoo-shoo," in a general manner to everything in the room. To my anxious inquiries as to what was the matter, she screamed, "O, Joshua, a mouse, shoo—wha—shoo—a great—shoo—horrid mouse, and it ran right out of the cupboard—shoo—go away—shoo—Joshua—shoo—kill it—oh, my—shoo."
2.
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 P.—Very well, ma'am, very well!—so a husband is to have no influence, no authority?
LADY T.—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.
Sheridan.
3.
"I've seen mair mice than you, guidman—
An' what think ye o' that?
Sae haud your tongue an' say nae mair—
I tell ye, it was a rat."
CHAPTER VI.
FORCE.
Force refers to the strength or power of the voice, and is divided into forms and degrees. Very particular attention should be given to the subject of force, since that expression, which is so very important in elocution, is almost altogether dependent on some one or other modification of this attribute of the voice. It may truly be considered the light and shade of a proper intonation. Force may be applied to sentences or even to single words, for the purpose of energetic expression.
The degrees of force are Gentle, Moderate, and Heavy.
GENTLE FORCE.
The Gentle Force is used in expressing tenderness, love, secrecy, caution, etc., and the lungs must be kept thoroughly inflated, especially in reverberating sounds.
1.
"Heard you that strain of music light,
Borne gently on the breeze of night—
So soft and low as scarce to seem
More than the magic of a dream?
Morpheus caught the liquid swell—
Its echo broke his drowsy spell.
Hark! now it rises sweetly clear,
Prolonged upon the raptured ear;—
Sinking now, the quivering note
Seems scarcely on the air to float;
It falls—'tis mute—nor swells again;—
Oh! what wert thou, melodious strain?"
Mrs. J. H. Abbot.
2.
Was it the chime of a tiny bell,
That came so sweet to my dreaming ear,
Like the silvery tones of a fairy's shell,
That he winds on the beach so mellow and clear,
When the winds and the waves lie together asleep,
And the moon and the fairy are watching the deep,
She dispensing her silvery light,
And he his notes as silvery quite,
While the boatman listens and ships his oar,
To catch the music that comes from the shore?—