Page images
PDF
EPUB

Hence! loathed Melancholy!

Where brooding darkness spreads her jealous wings,
And the night-raven sings;

There, under ébon shades and low browed rocks,

As ragged as thy locks,

In dark Cimmerian darkness ever dwell.

Thus saith the High and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Hōly; "I dwell in the high and hōly place."

Questions.-When is a sentence said to be read in a monotone? When is the monotone appropriate?

[blocks in formation]

In every word, which contains more than one syllable, one of the syllables is pronounced with a somewhat greater stress of voice than the others; as, love'-ly, where this stress is on the first syllable; and, re-turn', where it is on the last syllable. This syllable is said to be accented. The accented syllable is distinguished by this mark ('), the same which is used in inflections.

In most cases, custom is the only guide for placing the accent on one syllable rather than another. Sometimes, however, the same word is differently accented, in order to mark its different meanings; as,

Con'-jure, to practice enchantments, and con-jure', to entreat.

Gal'-lant, brave.

Au'-gust, a month.

gal-lant', a gay fellow.

au-gust', grand, &c.

A number of words, also, have their accent on one syllable when verbs or adjectives, and on another, when nouns; as,

Sub'-ject, the noun, and to sub-ject', the verb.

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

Questions. When is a syllable said to be accented? Give an example. How is the accented syllable marked? What is generally the guide for placing the accent? When is the same word differently accented? Give an example, under each head.

SECTION V.

EMPHASIS.

THAT stress of voice which marks the accent, when inA word is said to be emphasized,

creased, forms EMPHASIS.

when it is uttered with a greater stress of voice, than the other words with which it is connected. This increased stress is, generally, not upon the whole word, but only upon the accented syllable. The object of emphasis is, to attract particular attention to the word upon which it is placed, indicating, that the idea to be conveyed, depends very much upon that word. This object, as just stated, is generally accomplished by increasing the force of utterance, but sometimes, also, other methods are used, as, for instance, a change in the inflection, the use of the monotone, or by uttering the words in a very low or whispering tone. Emphatic words are often denoted by italics, and a still stronger emphasis, by capitals. Emphasis constitutes the most important feature in reading and speaking, and, properly applied, gives life and character to language. Accent, inflection, and, indeed, every thing yields to emphasis. The inflections, especially, are auxiliary to it. In the article on that subject, it has been already observed, how often they yield to emphasis, or are used to enforce it. In the following examples, it will be seen that accent, in like manner, is governed by it.

What is done, cannot be undone.

There is a difference between giving and forgiving.

He that descended is the same that ascended.

Some appear to make very little difference between decency and indecency, morality and immorality, religion and irreligion.

The nature and importance of emphasis may be illustrated by examples like the following. It will be observed, that the meaning and proper answer of the question varies with each change of the emphasis.

Did you walk into the city yesterday? Did you walk into the city yesterday? Did you walk into the city yesterday? country.

Did you walk into the city yesterday? before.

Ans. No, my brother went.

Ans.

No, I rode.

Ans.

No, I went into the

Ans. No, I went the day

1. Absolute Emphasis.

SOMETIMES a word is emphasized simply to indicate the importance of the idea. 'This is called ABSOLUTE EMPHASIS.

The following are examples.

To arms! they come, the Greek! the Greek!

STRIKE-till the last armed foe expires,

STRIKE for your altars and your fires,
STRIKE-for the green graves of your sires,
GOD-and your native land.

Woe unto you PHARISEES! HYPOCRITES!

Days, months, years, and ages shall circle away,
And still the vast waters above thee shall roll.

In instances like the last, it is sometimes called the emphasis of specification.

2. Relative Emphasis.

WORDS are often emphasized, in order to exhibit the idea they express as compared or contrasted with some other idea. This is called RELATIVE EMPHASIS. The following are examples. It is much better to be injured, than to injure.

They fight for plunder, we, for our country.

Homer was the greater genius, Virgil, the better artist

This is sometimes carried through several sets or pairs of antithesis, or contrasted words. In the following examples, there are two sets of antithesis in the same sentence.

John was punished; William, rewarded.
Without were fightings, within were fears.

Business sweetens pleasure, as labor sweetens rest.

Justice gives reward to merit, and punishment to crime.

The wise man is happy when he gains his own approbation, the fool, when he gains the applause of others.

In the following examples the relative emphasis is applied to three sets of antithetic words.

The difference between a madman and a fool is, that the former reasons justly from false data; and the latter, erroneously, from just data.

A friend cannot be known in prosperity; an enemy cannot be hidden in adversity.

They follow an adventurer whom they fear; we serve a monarch whom we love.

In many instances one part only of the antithesis is expressed, the corresponding idea being understood; as,

A friendly eye would never see such faults.

Here the unfriendly eye is understood.

King Henry exclaims, while vainly endeavoring to compose himself to rest;

How many thousands of my subjects are at this hour asleep. Here the emphatic words thousands, subjects, and asleep are contrasted in idea with their opposites, and if the contrasted ideas were expressed, it would be done something in this way: While I alone their sovereign am doomed to wakefulness.

3. Emphatic Phrase.

SOMETIMES, several words in succession are emphasized. The following are examples.

Shall I, the conqueror of Spain and Gaul, and not only of the Alpine nations, but of the Alps themselves-shall I compare myself with this HALF-YEAR-CAPTAIN?

There was a time, my fellow-citizens, when the Lacedæmonians were sovereign masters, both by sea and land; while this state had not one ship—

no, NOT-ONE-WALL.

4. Emphatic Pause.

An emphatic expression of sentiment often requires a pause, where the grammatical construction authorizes none. This is sometimes called the rhetorical pause. Such pauses occur, chiefly, before or after an emphatic word or phrase, and sometimes both before and after it. Their object is, to attract attention to the emphatic idea, or to give the mind time to dwell upon it, and thus strengthen the impression.

Examples. Rise- fellow-men! our country—yet remains !

By that dread name we wave the sword on high,

And swear, for her to live with her -to die.

But most-by numbers judge the poet's song;
And smooth or rough, with them is-right or wrong.

He said; then full before their sight

Produced the beast, and lo!-'twas white.

[blocks in formation]

Questions. When is a word said to be emphasized? Upon what part of the word is the increased stress placed? What is the object of emphasis? In what other way, than the one just mentioned, can this be accomplished? How are emphatic words marked? What is said of the importance of emphasis? What other things yield to emphasis? Give some examples in which accent yields to it? What is absolute emphasis? Give examples. What is meant by relative emphasis? Give the examples, and show the words contrasted. Give the examples, in which the emphasis is carried through several sets of contrasted words, and point out which words are opposed to each other. Is the idea corresponding to the emphatic word ever left out? Explain the two last examples under this head, and show what is the idea opposed to friendly, in the one, and what are opposed to thousand, subjects, and asleep, in the other. What is meant by the emphatic phrase? Give the examples. What do you understand by the emphatic pause? Where does it occur? What is its object? Give examples.

SECTION VI.

THE READING OF POETRY.
Poetic Pauses.

IN poetry, we have three sets of pauses, viz., grammatical pauses, rhetorical pauses, and poetic pauses. The first two are common to poetry and prose. The last belongs to poetry alone, and its object is simply to promote the melody.

The

At the end of each line, a slight pause is generally proper, whatever be the grammatical construction, or the sense. purpose of this is, to make prominent the melody of the measure, and, in rhyme, to allow the ear to appreciate the harmony of the similar sounds.

There is, also, another important pause, somewhere near the middle of each line, which is called the cesura or cesural pause. It should never be so placed, as to injure the sense. It adds very much to the beauty of poetry, where it naturally coincides with the pause required by the sense. The follow ing lines present an example of this pause. It is marked thus ||

There are hours long departed | which memory brings,
Like blossoms of Eden || to twine round the heart,
And as time rushes by on the might of his wings,
They may darken awhile || but they never depart.

« PreviousContinue »