9. No self-plumed vanity || was there,

With fancy's consequence || elate;
Unknown to her || the haughty air
That means to speak || superior state.

10. You may as well || go stand upon the beach,
And bid the main-flood || bate his usual hight;
You may as well || use question with the wolf,
Why he hath made || the ewe bleat for the lamb;
You may as well || forbid the mountain pines
To wag their high tops, || and to make no noise,
When they are fretted || with the gusts of heaven ;
You may as well || do any thing that's hard,

As seek to soften || that, (than which, what's harder?)
His Jewish heart.

11. Now the hungry || lion roars,

And the wolf || behowls the moon;
While the heavy || plowman snores,
With his weary || task foredone.

12. Now the wasted || brands do glow,
While the screech-owl || screeching loud,
Puts the wretch || that lies in woe,

In remembrance || of his shroud.

13. She said and struck; || deep entered | in her side
The piercing steel, || with reeking purple dyed:
Clogged in the wound, || the cruel | weapon stands,
The spouting blood || came streaming o'er her hands.
Her sad attendants || saw the deadly stroke,
And with loud cries || the sounding palace shook.

IV. SIMILE.

A Simile, in poetry, should be read in a lower tone of voice, than other parts of the passage.

EXAMPLES.

(The Similes are put in Italics.)

1. 'Twas then great Marlborough's mighty soul was proved, That, in the shock of charging hosts unmoved,

Amid confusion, horror, and despair,

Examined all the dreadful scenes of war;

In peaceful thought the field of death surveyed,
To fainting squadrons, sent the timely aid;
Inspired repulsed battalions to engage,
And taught the doubtful battle where to rage.
So, when an angel, by divine command,
With rising tempests shakes a guilty land,
(Such as of late, o'er pale Britannia passed,)
Calm and serene, he drives the furious blast;
And, pleased the Almighty's orders to perform,
Rides on the whirlwind, and directs the storm.

2. Part curb their fiery steeds, or shun the goal
With rapid wheels, or fronted brigades form.
As when, to warn proud cities, war appears
Waged in the troubled sky, and armies rush
To battle in the clouds.

Others with vast Typhon rage more fell,

Rend up both rocks and hills, and ride the air
In whirlwind. Hell scarce holds the wild uproar.
As when Alcides

-felt the envenomed robe, and tore Through pain, up by the roots, Thessalian pines, And Lichas from the top of Eta threw

Leveled his deadly aim; their fatal hands
No second stroke intend; and such a frown
Each cast at th' other, as when two black clouds,
With heaven's artillery fraught, come rolling on
Over the Caspian, there stand front to front,
Hovering a space, till winds the signal blow
To join the dark encounter, in mid-air :
So frowned the mighty combatants.

4. Then pleased and thankful, from the porch they go,
And, but the landlord, none had cause of woe:
The cup was vanished; for, in secret guise,
The younger guest purloined the glittering prize.
As one who spies a serpent in his way,

Glistening and basking in the summer ray,
Disordered, stops to shun the danger near,

Then walks with faintness on, and looks with fear,—
So seemed the sire, when first upon the road,
The shining spoil his wily partner showed.

5. While o'er the foam, the ship impetuous flies,
The attentive pilot still the helm applies;
As in pursuit along the aerial way,
With ardent eye, the falcon marks his prey,
Each motion watches of the doubtful chase,
Obliquely wheeling through the liquid space;
So, governed by the statesman's glowing hands,
The regent helm, her motion still commands.

QUESTIONS.-What is the difference between the inflection proper in prose and in verse? What is the principal difficulty in reading poetry correctly? How may this difficulty be overcome? If there should be doubt as to the proper inflection, how may the inflection be determined? If the poetical accent or emphasis conflicts with the common and authorized pronunciation, which should yield? How may the difficulty sometimes be compromised? Illustrate this by examples. What pauses are peculiar to poetry? What danger is there with regard to poetical pauses? How is it to be avoided? What caution should be observed with regard to the cesura? How should a simile be read in poetry?

SECTION V.

CULTIVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE VOICE.

I. STRENGTH AND COMPASS.

"THE first object of every speaker's attention, is to have a smooth, even, full tone of voice. If nature has not given him such a voice, he must endeavor, as much as possible, to acquire it; nor ought he to despair; for such is the force of exercise upon the organs of speech, that constant practice will strengthen the voice in any key to which we accustom it. That key, therefore, which is the most natural, and which we have the greatest occasion to use, should be the key we ought the most diligently to improve.

be

Every one has a certain pitch of voice in which he can speak most easily to himself and most agreeably to others; this may called the natural pitch; this is the pitch in which we converse; and this must be the basis of every improvement we acquire from art and exercise. In order, therefore, to strengthen this middle tone, we ought to read and speak in it, as loud as possible, without suffering the voice to rise into a higher key. This, however, is no easy operation. It is not very difficult to be loud in a high tone, but to be loud and forcible without raising the voice into higher key, requires great practice and management.

The best method of acquiring this power of voice, is to practice reading and speaking some strong, animated passages, in a small room, and to persons placed at as small a distance as possible; for, as we naturally raise our voice to a higher key, when we speak to people at a great distance, so we naturally lower our key, as those, to whom we speak, come nearer. When, therefore, we have no idea of being heard at a distance, the voice will not be so apt to rise into a higher key, when we wish to be forcible; and, consequently, exerting as much force as we are able, in a small room, and to people near us, will tend to swell and strengthen the voice, in the middle tone."*

Low Tones of Voice,

May be acquired and strengthened, by practice on such pieces as naturally require a pitch a little below the natural or conversational tone; such, for example, as contain the expression of hatred, scorn, or reproach, as well as those of a very grave and solemn character. When the student can pronounce such pieces with ease and force, let him practice them on a little lower note, and so on, until the voice has been sufficiently cultivated in that direction.

1.

2.

3.

EXAMPLES FOR PRACTICE.

O, proper stuff!

This is the very painting of your fears:
This is the air-drawn dagger which you said
Led you to Duncan. Oh, these pains and starts
(Impostors to true fear) would well become
A woman's story, at a winter's fire,

Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself!
Why do you make such faces? When all's done,
You look but on a stool.

Thou slave! thou wretch! thou coward!
Thou little valiant, great in villainy!

Thou ever strong upon the stronger side!
Thou fortune's champion, thou dost never fight
But when her humorous ladyship is by,

To teach thee safety! Thou art perjured too,
And sooth'st up greatness. What a fool art thou,
A ramping fool; to brag, and stamp, and sweat,
Upon my party! thou cold-blooded slave.

Poison be their drink,

Gall, worse than gall, the daintiest meat they taste;

Walker's Rhetorical Grammar. p. 245.

Their sweetest shade a grove of cypress trees!
Their sweetest prospects, murdering basilisks!
Their softest touch as smart as lizard's stings!
Their music, frightful as the serpent's hiss;
And boding screech-owls make the concert full.

4. God! thou art mighty! At thy footstool bound,
Lie, gazing to thee, Chance, and Life, and Death;
Nor in the angel-circle flaming round,

5.

Nor in the million worlds that blaze beneath,
Is one that can withstand thy wrath's hot breath.
Woe, in thy frown: in thy smile, victory:
Hear my last prayer! I ask no mortal wreath;
Let but these eyes my rescued country see,
Then take my spirit, all omnipotent, to thee.

What eye

Has not been dazzled by thy majesty?

Where is the ear that has not heard thee speak?
Thou breathest! forest-oaks of centuries
Turn their uprooted trunks toward the skies!
Thou thunderest! adamantine mountains break,
Tremble, and totter, and apart are riven!

Thou lightenest! and the rocks inflame; thy power
Of fire, to their metallic bosom driven,

Melts and devours them; lo! they are no more;
They pass away like wax in the fierce flame,
Or the thick mists that frown upon the sun,
Which he but glances at, and they are gone.

High Tones of Voice,

May be acquired by a process similar to that just described. Select such passages as require a high key, and read them with the utmost possible force. Then pitch the voice a little higher, at each successive reading, and so on until the end is accomplished. Speaking in the open air, at the very top of the voice, is an exercise admirably adapted to strengthen the voice and give it compass, and should be frequently practiced.

EXAMPLES FOR PRACTICE.

1. What was the part of a faithful citizen? of a prudent, active. and honest minister? Was he not to secure Euboea, as our defense against all attacks by sea? Was he not to make Boeotia our barrier on the mid-land side? the cities bordering on Peloponnesus our bulwark