He nerves his faltering frame for one last bound—"Your child!" he cries, and sinks upon the ground!
And his reward you ask;—reward he spurns;
For him the father's generous bosom burns—
For him on high the widow's prayer shall go—
For him the orphan's pearly tear-drop flow.
His boon—the richest e'er to mortals given—
Approving conscience, and the smile of Heaven!
CHAPTER IX.
PAUSES.
"A pause is often more eloquent than words." The common pauses necessary to be made, according to the rules of punctuation, are too well known to require any particular notice here, they serve principally for grammatical distinctions, but in public reading or speaking other and somewhat different pauses are required.
The length of the pause in reading must be regulated by the mood and expression and consequently on the movement of the voice, as fast or slow; slow movements being accompanied by long pauses, and livelier movements by shorter ones, the pause often occurring where no points are found—the sense and sentiments of the passage being the best guides.
"How did Garrick speak the soliloquy, last night?"—"Oh! against all rule, my lord, most ungrammatically! Betwixt the substantive and the adjective, which should agree together in number, case, and gender, he made a breach thus——stopping, as if the point wanted settling; and betwixt the nominative case, which, your lordship knows, should govern the verb, he suspended his voice in the epilogue a dozen times, three seconds and three- fifths by a stop-watch, my lord, each time." "Admirable grammarian!—But, in suspending his voice—was the sense suspended?—Did no expression of attitude or countenance fill up the chasm?—Was the eye silent? Did you narrowly look?"—"I looked only at the stopwatch, my lord!"—"Excellent observer!"
Sterne.
A Rhetorical Pause—is one not dependent on the grammatical construction of a sentence, but is a pause made to enable the speaker to direct attention to some particular word or phrase, and is made by suspending the voice either directly before or after the utterance of the important phrase. In humorous speaking the pause is generally before the phrase, as it awakens curiosity and excites expectation; while in serious sentiments it occurs after and carries the mind back to what has already been said.
A pause of greater or less duration is always required whenever an interruption occurs in the progress of a thought, or the uniform construction of a sentence, as in the case of the dash, the exclamation, the parenthesis, etc. In these cases the mind is supposed to be arrested by the sudden change of sentiment or passion. It is necessary in most cases to make a short pause just before the parenthesis, which read more rapidly, and in a more subdued tone; when the parenthesis is concluded, resume your former pitch and tone of voice.
EXAMPLES OF RHETORICAL PAUSES.
(1.) After the subject of a sentence: Wine | is a mocker.
(2.) After the subject-phrase: The fame of Milton | will live forever.
(3.) When the subject is inverted: The best of books | is the Bible.
(4.) Before the prepositional phrase: The boat is sailing | across the river.
(5.) After every emphatic word: William | is an honest boy. William is | an honest boy. William is an honest | boy.
(6.) Whenever an ellipsis occurs: This | friend, that | brother, Friends and brothers all.
(7.) In order to arrest the attention: The cry was | peace, peace!
EMPHASIS.
Emphasis generally may be divided into two classes—Emphasis of sense and Emphasis of feeling. Emphasis relates to the mode of giving expression; properly defined it includes whatever modulation of the voice or expedient the speaker may use, to render what he says significant or expressive of the meaning he desires to convey, for we may, by this means, give very different meanings to our sentences, according to the application of emphasis. For instance, take the sentence—"Thou art a man." When delivered in a cool and deliberate manner, it is a very plain sentence, conveying no emotion, nor emphasis, nor interrogation. But when one of the words is emphasized, the sentence will be very different from what it was in the first instance; and very different, again, when another word is made emphatic; and so, again, whenever the emphasis is changed, the meaning is also changed: as, "THOU art a man." That is thou in opposition to another, or because thou hast proved thyself to be one. "Thou art a MAN." That is a gentleman. "Thou ART a man." That is, in opposition to "thou hast been a man," or "thou wilt be one." "Thou art A man." That is, in opposition to the man, or a particular man.
Then, again, the sentence may be pronounced in a very low tone of voice, and with force or without force. It may be raised uniting a good deal of stress, or without stress; and then, again, it may be heard with the greatest force, or with moderate force. Each of these latter modes of intonation will make a very different impression on an audience, according to the employment of the other elements of expression, with that of the general pitch..
In addition to these, the sentence may be pronounced in a very low and soft tone, implying kindness of feeling. Then, in a whisper, intimating secrecy or mystery. It may be heard on the SEMITONE, high or low, to communicate different degrees of pathos. And then, again, the TREMOR nay be heard on one or all of the words, to give greater intensity to other elements of expression which may be employed. As, also, a GUTTURAL emphasis may be applied to express anger, scorn, or loathing. These are some of the different meanings which may be given to this sentence of four words by the voice. A good reader, or speaker, then, ought not only to be able to sound every word correctly; he ought to know, always, the EXACT meaning of what he reads, and feel the sentiment he utters, and also to know HOW to give the intended meaning and emotion, when he knows them.
By practice upon the different exercises herein, the student will not fail to recognize the emotion from the sentiment, and will be able to give it.
Emphasis of feeling is suggested and governed entirely by emotion, and is not strictly necessary to the sense, but is in the highest degree expressive of sentiment.
1. On! ON! you noble English.
2. Slaves! TRAITORS! have ye flown?
3. To arms! to ARMS! ye braves?
4 Be assured, be ASSURED, that this declaration will stand.
5. Rise, RISE, ye wild tempests, and cover his flight!
6. To arms! to ARMS! to ARMS! they cry.
7. Hurrah for bright water! HURRAH! HURRAH!
8. I met him, FACED him, SCORNED him.
9.
