Chapter XXII: Part THREE: Melodious Reading

Conversational elements: Pitch, Inflection, Color, Stress, Pause, Movement, Time. Separate discussions and illustrations with number of exercises for the pupil to practice. Melody in verse and in prose.

EXPRESSIVE SPEECH[9]

BY ROBERT LLOYD

’Tis not enough the voice be sound and clear,
’Tis modulation that must charm the ear.
When desperate heroines grieve with tedious moan,
And whine their sorrows in a see-saw tone,
The same soft sounds of unimpassioned woes
Can only make the yawning hearer doze.

_That_ voice all modes of passion can express
Which marks the proper word with proper stress;
But none emphatic can the reader call
Who lays an equal emphasis on _all_.
...
He who in earnest studies o’er his part
Will find true nature cling about his heart.
The modes of grief are not included all
In the white handkerchief and mournful drawl.
A single look more marks the internal woe
Than all the windings of the lengthened O!
Up to the face the quick sensation flies,
And darts its meaning from the speaking eyes.
Love, transport, madness, anger, scorn, despair,
And all the passions, all the soul is there.