'Tis beneath the spreading birk,

In the glen without the name,
Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie,
When the kye come hame.

There the blackbird bigs his nest,
For the mate he lo'es to see,
And on the tapmost bough
O, a happy bird is he!
There he pours his melting ditty,
And love is a' the theme;
And he'll woo his bonnie lassie,
When the kye come hame.

When the blewart bears a pearl,
And the daisy turns a pea,
And the bonnie lucken gowan
Has fauldit up his ee,

Then the lavrock, frae the blue lift,
Draps down and thinks nae shame

To woo his bonnie lassie,

When the kye come hame.

See yonder pawky shepherd,
That lingers on the hill;
His yowes are in the fauld,
And his lambs are lying still;
Yet he dinna gang to bed,
For his heart is in a flame,
To meet his bonnie lassie

When the kye come hame.

When the little wee bit heart
Rises high in the breast,
And the little wee bit starn
Rises red in the east,

O, there's a joy sae dear

That the heart can hardly frame!

Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie,

When the kye come hame.

Then since all Nature joins
In this love without alloy,
O, wha wad prove a traitor
To Nature's dearest joy?
Or wha wad choose a crown,
Wi' its perils an' its fame,
And miss his bonnie lassie,
When the kye come hame?

-James Hogg.

GRAND, SUBLIME, AND REVERENTIAL

STYLES

OROTUND VOICE

The Orotund voice, or the voice that is used in the expression of impassioned selections, needs now to be specially consiḍered, as we are about to treat of various classes of composition that depend upon that voice for their appropriate interpretation.

What is the Orotund voice, and wherein does it differ from the natural or conversational voice? These questions are pertinent to the present discussion.

The Natural and Orotund voices are manufactured in the same way, and differ only in their intensity and volume of sound. If a drum-head be tapped by the finger, a feeble report is heard; but if you beat the drum with great force, a very much louder report follows each blow, and a consequent resonance is heard inside as the sound passes from one head of the drum to the other. So with these voices. In the case of the Natural voice, the sound made in the glottis, as we talk, is not sufficiently loud to produce any resonance, except a slight one in the head; but when by the action of the abdominal muscles, the air in the lungs is thrown into the glottis with great force, a loud explosion of sound is heard, and a consequent resonance takes place in the cavities of the body, especially in the chest; hence the term, chest tone.

The most direct answer that we can make to the inquiry, what is the Orotund voice and wherein does it differ from the Natural voice, is this: The Orotund voice is that full, deep and resonant sound heard in all impassioned sublimity, oratory and fierce emotion, and it differs specifically from the Natural voice in that its depth, fullness and roundness arise chiefly from resonance in the cavities of the body.

The use of the Orotund voice in impassioned styles is so common a thing in ordinary life that the mention of a single example may serve to dissipate the absurd notion that elocutionary rules are

arbitrary and conventional. For example, when the boy loses a finger he does not talk, he roars; he has so much feeling to get rid of that he cannot find vent in the Natural voice, and is forced by an irresistible impulse to use a larger voice in order that he may find relief. You can read an essay, but you must speak an oration. The emotion that fills the orator's soul as he denounces an enemy, or excites his countrymen to heroic deeds, must find an outlet in the full, strong and ample tones of the Orotund.

There are three kinds of Orotund voice, Effusive, Expulsive and Explosive, each of which will receive a separate consideration.

EFFUSIVE OROTUND

This kind of Orotund is used in the rendition of all grand, sublime, and reverential styles. It is the appropriate voice of prayer, of all the prayer services of the church, of nearly all hymns since they are but prayers in verse of the grand passages of the Prophets and Psalms, as well as the sublime utterances of the Revelation. It is also the appropriate voice for the expression of all emotions that are excited by the grandeur, vastness, or splendor of natural objects. The prevailing pitch of voice is low, and in profound awe, despair and horror, we descend to the lowest pitch.

Care should be taken to avoid all harshness of tone, as impure qualities of voice are more readily detected in the full, longdrawn notes of the Effusive Orotund than in any other style of reading or speaking. A deep, full, sonorous quality of voice, free from all false intonations, sudden transitions, or conversational inflections, should be cultivated for the proper expression of this class of selections.

GRAND, SUBLIME, AND REVERENTIAL

SELECTIONS

HYMN TO MONT BLANC

Hast thou a charm to stay the morning-star
In his steep course? so long he seems to pause
On thy bald, awful head, O sovereign Blanc!
The Arvé and Arveiron at thy base
Rave ceaselessly; but thou, most awful Form!
Risest from forth thy silent sea of pines,
How silently! Around thee and above
Deep is the air and dark, substantial black-
An ebon mass: methinks thou piercest it,
As with a wedge! But when I look again,
It is thine own calm home, thy crystal shrine,
Thy habitation from eternity!

O dread and silent Mount! I gazed upon thee,
Till thou, still present to the bodily sense,

Didst vanish from my thought: entranced in prayer,
I worshiped the Invisible alone.

Yet, like some sweet beguiling melody,

So sweet we know not we are listening to it,

Thou, the meanwhile, wast blending with my thought-
Yea, with my life and life's own secret joy:
Till the dilating Soul, enrapt, transfused,
Into the mighty vision passing, there,

As in her natural form, swelled vast to Heaven!

Awake, my soul! not only passive praise
Thou owest! not alone these swelling tears,
Mute thanks, and secret ecstasy! Awake,
Voice of sweet song! Awake, my heart, awake!
Green vales and icy cliffs, all join my Hymn.