ABOU BEN ADHEM

LEIGH HUNT

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold;

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the presence in the room he said,

"What writest thou?" The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."

"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low
But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow-men."

The angel wrote and vanished. The next night
It came again, with a great wakening light,

And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest!

WIND AMONG THE ROSES

ANON.

Music of the starshine shimmering o'er the sea,
Mirror me no longer in the dusk of memory;
Dim and white the rose-leaves drift along the shore.
Wind among the roses, blow no more!

All along the purple creek, lit with silver foam,
Silent, silent voices, cry no more of home!
Soft beyond the cherry-trees, o'er the dim lagoon,
Dawns the crimson lantern of the large, low moon.

Haunted, haunted, haunted-we that mocked and sinned
Hear the vanished voices wailing down the wind,
Watch the ruined rose-leaves drift along the shore.
Wind among the roses, blow no more!

227

FLOWER IN THE CRANNIED WALL

TENNYSON

Flower in the crannied wall,

I pluck you out of the crannies,

I hold you here, root and all, in my hand, Little flower-but if I could understand What you are, root and all, and all in all, I should know what God and man is.

MAUD

TENNYSON

A voice by the cedar-tree

In the meadow under the Hall!

She is singing an air that is known to me,
A passionate ballad, gallant and gay,
A martial song like a trumpet's call!
Singing alone in the morning of life,
In the happy morning of life and of May,
Singing of men that in battle array,
Ready in heart and ready in hand,
March with banner and bugle and fife
To the death, for their native land.

ON HIS BLINDNESS

JOHN MILTON

When I consider how my light is spent

Ere half my days in this dark world and wide, And that one talent which is death to hide, Lodged with me useless, though my soul, more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present

My true account, lest He, returning, chide, "Doth God exact day labor, light denied?” I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent

That Murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed,

And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait."

SHE WAS A PHANTOM OF DELIGHT

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

She was a phantom of delight

When first she gleam'd upon my sight;
A lovely apparition, sent

To be a moment's ornament;

Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair;
Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From May-time and the cheerful Dawn;
A dancing Shape, an Image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and waylay.

I saw her upon nearer view,
A Spirit, yet a Woman, too!
Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin liberty;

A countenance in which did meet
Sweet records; promises as sweet;
A Creature not too bright or good
For human nature's daily food;
For transient sorrows, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.

And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine;
A Being breathing thoughtful breath,
A traveler between life and death;
The reason firm, the temperate will.
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;
A perfect Woman, nobly planned,
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a Spirit still, and bright
With something of angelic light.

X

PITCH

PITCH AND THE OTHER ELEMENTS

QUALITY serves best to carry and to stir gross attitudes, general dispositions-emotions. Force also brings total reactions, but has definite responsibilities for making distinctions and differentiations; it has intellectual functions. Time is efficacious in representing total attitudes, but is wholly necessary for basic intellectual discriminations. Last of the elements of tone is Pitch, and Pitch serves its turn by providing the ultimate means for the nicest and most delicate refinements of speech. Mastery of the changes of Pitch is man's highest communicative achievement; without it he belongs to the "dumb millions," with it he can join the "speaking thousands."

Pitch the Agent for Delicate Shades of Meaning.-So intricate and delicate are the shades of Pitch which fix or destroy meaning that no one ever can master them all. A Salvini or Charlotte Cushman or Julia Marlowe, a Charles James Fox, a Wendell Phillips or William Jennings Bryan, can play on the pitch changes of the voice as a Paganini or an Ole Bull on the violin, but they can never exhaust all the resources of the human mind carrying meanings by the inflections of the voice. The final and satisfying touch, the last reach of artistic and mental delicacy, shows itself in speech through changes in Pitch, and so long as there are new flights

possible for human feeling and thinking there will be incentives to further mastery of modulations up and down the gamut of the speaking voice.

Moreover, mastery of Pitch rests on mastery of Quality, Force, and Time; unless they are mastered each in turn, to gain control over inflections is quite impossible. In fact, mastery of any one of the elements hangs on the control over those preceding it in the development series. Without pure Quality the variations of Force cannot be used safely; loudness will injure the voice and softness produce harsh noises and raucous whispers. Without control of Force there is no control of Time; Time being entirely dependent upon the proper use of Force in the Effusive, the Expulsive, and the Explosive. And without an open throat and flexible manipulation of resonance, without variation in Force and Time, there cannot be much success in commanding the changes in Pitch. For tone placement affects the height or depth of slides; a loud tone inevitably raises the pitch; and without a proper prolongation of sound high and deep tones are not possible. So a study of Pitch implies a review and a mastery of all the other elements of tone.

VARIETY OF PITCH

Changes of Pitch.-All speech involves change of Pitch; otherwise there is little or no meaning carried, especially no meaning of a delicate nature, only the grossest show of a mood or a sudden attitude. But with logical, coherent discourse, using words, phrases, clauses, and sentences, refinements of meaning are necessary and are impossible without using constant Pitch changes.

There are three ways of employing Pitch for changes of voice and refinement of meaning: (1) The Slide, or Inflection; (2) The Step, or Modulation, and (3) The Level of Pitch, or the Key.