18. Supposition, Irony, Sarcasm, Scorn and Derision.

If you said so, then I said sô.

You did no mischief,- oh nô!

They tell us to be moderate, but thêy revel in profûsion. Most courteous tyrants! Romans! rare patterns of humanity!

So even ran his line of life,
His neighbors thought it ôdd.

19. Solemnity, Sublimity, Awe, Amazement and Horror. When night, with wings of starry gloom, O'ershadows all the earth and skies,

Like some dark, beauteous bird, whose plūme
Is sparkling with unnumbered eyes;

That sacred gloom, thōse fires divine,
So grand, so countless, Lord! are thìne.

He stood and measured the earth; he beheld and drōve asunder the nations; the everlasting mountains were scattered; the perpetual hills did bòw.

PITCH.

PITCH of voice has relation to the note which prevails in our speaking or reading.

Beauty and correctness of rhetorical expression depend essentially upon a voice so skilfully managed as readily to adapt its key to the proper utterance of any sentiment or passion.

The speaking voice is capable of as many variations of note as are marked on the musical scale. But for all the purposes of ordinary elocution, it will be sufficiently exact if we make of pitch a five-fold division, into

MIDDLE, HIGH, VERY HIGH, LOW, AND VERY LOW.

Middle pitch is that heard in common conversation. High pitch is that which rises above the usual level of the voice.

Very high pitch is that heard in calling, or shouting, to persons at a distance.

Define supposition. Irony. Sarcasm. Scorn. Derision. Solemnity. Sublimity. Awe. Amazement. Horror. What is Pitch? Divisions of pitch? What is middle pitch? High pitch? Very high pitch?

Low pitch is that which falls below the usual level of the voice.

Very low pitch is that heard in the deepest utterance.

The following errors in pitch are particularly to be guarded against:

1. Beginning of every sentence with comparatively a high pitch, and then sinking gradually down into a low note; a fault which, at the same time that it perverts the sense, by giving undue prominence to mere sentences, wearies the ear by the constant occurrence of a dwindling cadence.

2. Rising into too high, or falling into too low a pitch for the natural compass of the voice. By the one extreme the voice is rendered harsh, or breaks; while by the other the utterance is obscured.

3. Want of variation. By a continued utterance on the same key the lungs of the speaker suffer for want of variety of action, and the hearer is fatigued by a dull monotony of sound.

RULES FOR PITCH.

1. Unimpassioned thought and moderate emotion require the middle pitch.

2. High pitch is used in expressing joyous and elevated feelings.

3. Very high pitch should mark the utterance of most impulsive and uncontrollable emotions.

4. Low pitch is required in the expression of grave and impressive thought; and is also appropriate to severity of

manner.

5. Very low pitch properly belongs to the expression of all very deep feelings and emotions.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

1. Unimpassioned Thought. and Moderate Emotion.

Repose.

How peaceful the grave! its quiet how deep;
Its zephyrs breathe calmly, and soft is its sleep;
And flowerets perfume it with ether.

Animated Narration.

It was summer. The sun shone proudly down upon the gray mist that rose above the billows. The blushing charms of spring were passed, and the summer glow of loveliness had

What is low pitch? Very low pitch? What errors are to be guarded against? What is rule first? Rule second? Rule third? Rule fourth? Rule fifth? Apply the rules to the illustrations. Define unimpassioned. Repose. Animated. Narration.

succeeded. The woodlands were gay and beautiful; for nature had clothed them in all her surpassing splendors.

2. Joyous and Elevated Feelings.

Joy.

Oh! yonder is the well known spot,
My dear, my long lost native home!
Oh, welcome is yon little cot,

Where I shall rest, no more to roam!
Exultation.

Away, away! for the stars are forth,
And on the pure snows of the valley,
In a giddy trance, the moonbeams dance-
Come, let us our comrades rally!.

3. Impulsive and Uncontrollable Emotions." Ecstatic Joy.

Ye guards of liberty!

I'm with you once again!-I call to you
With all my voice! I hold my hands to you
To show they still are free. I rush to you
As though I could embrace you!

Frenzied Burst of Indignation.

Ho! cravens! do ye fear him?

Slaves! traitors! have ye flown?
Ho! cowards, have ye left me

To meet him alone?

4. Grave and Impressive Thought.

Sublimity.

All dead and silent was the earth,
In deepest night it lay;

The Eternal spake creation's word,
And called to being-Day!

Reverence.

Thy word created all, and doth create;

Thy splendor fills all space with rays divine.
Thou art, and wert, and shall be, glorious! great!
Light-giving, life-sustaining Potentate!

Define joy. Exultation. Impulsive. Uncontrollable. Ecstatic. Frenzied. Indignation. Sublimity. Reverence.

5. Very Deep Feeling and Emotions.

Melancholy.

On every nerve

The deadly Winter seizes; shuts up sense;
And, o'er his inmost vitals creeping cold,
Lays him along the snow, a stiffened corse,
Stretched out, and bleaching in the northern blast.
Awe.

It thunders! Sons of dust, in reverence bow!
Ancient of Days! thou speakest from above;
Almighty! Trembling, like a timid child,
I hear thy awful voice. Alarmed — afraid —
I see the flashes of thy lightning wild,
And in the very grave would hide my head.

FORCE.

FORCE refers to loudness of sounds.

On the same note or key, the voice may vary, according to the nature and extent of the prompting emotion, from the slightest whisper up to the utmost vehemence and fulness of sound. But for the sake of convenience, the degrees of force may be regarded as six: namely

1. Suppressed, or that degree of loudness which ranges between simple breathing and a complete vocality.

2. Subdued, or the gentle and softened form of a clear and audible utterance.

3. Moderate, or the medium loudness of the voice.

4. Energetic, or a degree of sound somewhat more loud and strong than the ordinary voice.

5. Vehement, or an utterance still more full and forcible than the last.

6. Sustained, or sound of the greatest degree of volume and loudness, issuing as it were in a continuous flow.

Force has been often very improperly confounded with pitch. But every one who aims at the attainment of a. correct delivery, will be careful not to mistake mere elevation or depression of note for loudness or softness, which relate only to the quantity or fulness of sound.

Define melancholy. Awe. To which of the illustrations does the monotone apply? What is Force? How may force vary? How many degrees of force? What is suppressed force? Subdued? Moderate? Energetic? Vehement? Sustained? What error is mentioned?

RULES FOR FORCE.

1. Suspicion, suppressed fear, caution, secrecy, and all violent emotions kept down by the general state of the mind, find appropriate expression in suppressed force.

2. Pathos, solemnity, and all tender and subdued emotions, for the most part, require subdued force.

3. Simple narration or description, and didactic style, demand moderate force.

4. Animated description or narration, ordinary declamatory style, and energetic feeling, require energetic force.

5. Unrestrained expressions of violent passion and vehement emotion naturally demand vehement force.

6. Shouting and calling require the sustained or the fullest and strongest form of force.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

1. Suspicion and Fear.

Alas! I am afraid they have awaked,

And 't is not done; the attempt, and not the deed,
Confounds us. Hark! I laid the daggers ready;
He could not miss them. Had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done it.

2. Caution and Secrecy.

With searching eye, and stealthy tread,
The man of wrath sought his enemy's bed.

4. Tranquillity.

That silent moon, that silent moon,

Careering now through cloudless sky!
Oh! who shall tell what varied scenes

Have passed beneath her placid eye,

What is rule first? Rule second? Rule third? Rule fourth? Rule fifth? Rule sixth? Apply the rules to the illustrations. Define suspicion. Fear. Secrecy. Pathos. Solemnity. Tranquillity.