The chief points of difference between ordinary reading and the utteranm., of sponta neous composition are the uniform force and time, and continuative tones of the for mer, as contrasted with the reflective breaks and varying modulations and emphases of the latter. The speaker feels what he wishes to say, and he conveys with definiteness the felt relation of each word to the idea which is dominant in his mind. Expletive and explanatory phrases are given parenthetically; ellipses, interpolations between grammati cally related words, siiniles, quotations, and all other elements of rhetorical style, are indicated by changes of modulation; and the point of every sentence is made unmis takably apparent. The reader sees all the parts of a sentence level to his eye, and he is apt to deliver them with a corresponding indiscriminativeness of manner; either with out variety of time, tone, and stress, or with mere alternation of force and feebleness, or the equal indefiniteness of emphasis on every phrase.
The first requisite for effective reading is a clear conception of the author's intention, together with such a command of the voice as may enable the reader to express that one meaning to the exclusion of all other possible meanings. For every cluster of words is like a many-sided crystal, which may be made to throw light from any of its facets, according as one or another of them is presented uppermost. The most prominent word in the utterance of a sentence is not necessarily the most important grammatical word, hut that which is new in reference to the context; and such words as are already before the mind—whether directly stated, inferentially included in former expressions, or otherwise implied—are pronounced with subordinateness of manner. Thus, in the fol lowing lines: The quality of mercy is not strained, It droppetn as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed: It blessetk him that gives and him that takes.
If the first line were read independently, it would be emphasized as follows The quality of mercy 1 is not strained; but if read in connection with the preceding context, the emphasis would be different. Thus: Portia. Then must the Jew have mercy.
Shylock. On what compulsion must I? Tell me that.
"Mercy" and the "compulsion" of mercy being thus already before the mind, the chief point in Portia's reply will now be: The quality of mercy is not strained, It droppeth, etc.
Iii t, ss to " drop" is the natural characteristic of "rain," and as rain always falls "from benveh," and necessarily upon the " place beneath," these will be pro nounced subordinately; thus: It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath.
Bearing in mind, further, that mercy is of necessity "blessed," the reader will proceed: It is twice blessed; and as the object of the speech is to solicit mercy, he will give prominence to the word that advances the snit. Thus: It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.
On this principle, the reader shows that he has, in his own mind, performed the writer's process of thought, and so made the language which he interprets virtually his own. Mit in order to express with definiteness the thoughts and sentiments thus adopted, the reader must have the instrument of expressiveness perfectly under control. Iris voice
should have no more predisposition to any particular tune than the flute or violin of a musician. Tones have an inherent value, which is above and independent of language, so that assertive construction may be made to convey interrogative meanina, and inter rogative language may have assertive or imperative The modulations of the voice unravel all the complexities of composition, separatina words from their imme diate context, or connecting them with others from which 'they are most widely sepa rated in the sentence. Thus, in the following lines: Slowly and sadly we laid him down, From the field of his fame fresh and gory, .
the clause "fresh and gory" is, by relative modulation, shown to refer to him" in the preceding line, and not to the nearer words "fame" or "field." So, also, in the follow ing passage: "And they came with haste, and found Joseph and Mary, and the babe lying in a manger." Here the series "Joseph and Mary I and the babe" is divided by a modulation o the voice, so as to show that the last word " babe" is alone the gram matical antecedent to the clause " lying in a manner." From such illustrations it will be obvious that good reading involves close thinking, and that the governing qualities of tone demand accurate appreciation and careful culture.
The tones of the speaking voice are all more or less inflected, in which respect they differ essentially from singing tones, which are level, and only varied in pitch. The term " modulation," as understood by elocutionists, has reference to the general pitch of the vocal inflections in a passage. The inflections themselves are all either rising or falling. The rising turn of voice carries on the hearer's attention to what is to fotloic the falling turn directs attention to what has gone before; the former asks, or appeals to the hearer—the latter affirms or enjoins from the speaker; the former is negative—the latter is positive. Simple inflections rise or fall directly from their accentual pitch to their termination, and the range of the inflection may have any extent, from less than a semitone to more titan an octave. The strongest rising tones are expressive of interro gation, incredulity, or entreaty, and the strongest falling tones of affirmation, assurance, or command. Compound inflections unite the two vocal movements—falling before a rising termination, and rising before a falling termination—with one accentual impulse; and the effect of this opposition of tone is to add to the expressiveness of the termina tion a suggestion or inference in accordance with the expressiveness of the commencing turn. Thus: "Not one," with compound rising tone, implies "but more." "Even One," with compound falling tone, implies "and not more." The emphatic force of tones depends on their accentual pitch in relation to that of preceding tones, as well as on the extent and the direction of the inflection. The amount of possible variety in these degrees is great, but the peculiar expressiveness of individual modes of inflection is definite, traceable to systematic principles, and of limited extent, depending principally on flute qualities 1. Rising or falling accent as well as termination; as • Constant, Constant.