61.

62.

63.

64.

65.

66.

AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENTS.

This is that incense of the heart,
Whose fragrance smells to heaven.
The golden sun that brings the day,
And lends men light to see withal,
In vain doth cast his beams away,
When they are blind on whom they fall;
There is no force in all his light 2
To give the mole a perfect sight.3

1

Slowly and sadly we laid him down,
From the field of his fame fresh and gory;
We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone,
But we left him alone with his glory.

He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn;

A sadder and a wiser

man

He rose the morrow morn,

The mossy marbles rest

On the lips, that he has pressed
In their bloom;

And the names he loved to hear
Have been carved for many a year
On the tomb.

He that is thy friend indeed,
He will help thee in thy need;
If thou sorrow, he will weep,
If thou wake, he cannot sleep.
Thus, of every grief in heart,
He with thee doth bear a part.
These are certain signs to know
Faithful friend from flattering foe.

Small service is true service, while it lasts;
Of friends, however humble, spurn not one;
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,

Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun.

39

II. IMPASSIONED AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENT.

The following sentences require great care in the reading of them. They must not only be fully understood, they must be felt; and the right feeling must precede the judgment as to how they should be read. Questions as to the meanings of the statements and of the words, as to the emphasis, etc., should preface the reading.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

But, oh the heavy change, now thou art gone,
Now thou art gone
and never must return! 1

2

It was that fatal, that perfidious bark,

Built in the eclipse 3 and rigged with curses dark,
That sunk so low that sacred head of thine.
I fruitless $ mourn to him that cannot hear,
And weep the more because I weep in vain.
Much I rejoiced that woeful, woeful day,

-I sang, my voice the woods returning; 5
But long ere night the spear was flown

That slew my Love, and left me mourning.
One morn I missed him on th' accustomed hill,
Along the heath, and near his favourite tree;
Another came, nor yet beside the rill,

Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he;

The next 7 with dirges due in sad array

8

Slow through the churchway path, we saw him borne: Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay

Graved on the stone beneath yon agëd thorn.

6.

Ah! like a spectre of an age departed,

Or like an angel that has lost her way,

She glides along-the solitary-hearted.

7.

Few and short were the prayers we said,
And we spoke not a word of sorrow;

8.

9.

10.

But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead,
And we bitterly thought of the morrow.

Queen. Hamlet, you have your father much offended.
Hamlet. Madam, you have my father much offended,

Down

came the storm,10 and smote amain

The vessel in its strength;

She shuddered and paused like a frighted steed,
Then leaped her cable's length.

The breaking waves dashed high 11

On a stern and rock-bound coast,

And the woods against a stormy sky
Their giant branches tossed.

And the heavy night hung dark

The hills and waters o'er,

When a band of exiles moored their bark

On the wild New England shore.

AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENTS.

III. REASONING AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENT.

41

The following sentences have all of them a touch of argument in them. The reasoning must be conveyed by the tone of the reading; and it will be well-as in most other cases, but especially in this— for the teacher to read each of these sentences before the pupil reads them. The strength of the emphases and the length of the pauses will be in proportion to the force of the words and clauses which contain the pith of the reasoning. The second sentence in No. 1., for example, must be thus read :

The-more

plish.

business-a-man-has, the-more

he-is-able-to-accom

1. Laziness grows on people; it begins in cobwebs, and ends in iron chains. The more business a man has, the more he is able to accomplish; for he learns to economize his time.'

2. In the shipwreck of the state, trifles float and are preserved; while everything solid and valuable sinks to the bottom, and is lost for ever. 2

3. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. 3

4. The first condition of human goodness is something to love; the second something to reverence.

5. The best fire does not blaze up the soonest.

6. However strong a man's resolution may be, it costs him something to carry it out, now and then. We may determine

not

to gather any cherries, and keep our hands steadily in our pockets, but we can't prevent our mouths from watering.*

7. More helpful than áll wisdom is óne draught of simple human that will not forsake us.

pity

8.

9.

5

The bird that soars on highest wing,

Builds on the ground her lowly nest;
And she that doth most sweetly sing,
Sings in the shade when all things rest:
In lark and nightingale we see
What honour hath humility.

The best revenge is love:-disarm
Anger with smiles; heal wounds with balm;
Give water to thy thirsting foe;
The sandal-tree, as if to prove
How sweet to conquer hate by love,
Perfumes the axe that lays it low.

1. Said of a ship surrounded by ice in the polar seas. 2. Said by the Ancient Mariner, who travels about the world, telling his story. 3. It should be noticed here that there are four things brought distinctly before the mind of the hearer -the noise of battle, the time, the place, and the neighbourhood. Not one of them may be slurred over. (To p. 35.)

1. What is the emphatic word here ? [Human.] 2. This line must be spoken very slowly, and with two pauses. 3. The pause after To-night is justified by the notion that the speaker is making up his mind as to the character of the night. 4. A very strong emphasis rests upon not-because the speaker had previously thought that the "ancient spirit" of England was dead. 5. What word in the second line is emphatic? [All] 6. The pause after men calls the attention of the hearer to what is coming, and makes the praised him much more emphatic. 7. A pause after Tarquin-to introduce him. 8. Very long pause after cup, to arouse the expectation of the listener. 9. Emphasis on one and pause after foot. 10. The words science declares, being no part of the sentence, should be read in a lower tone than the other words, but without any sudden transition. 11. The emphasis here? [Sufficient.] But it is not a strong one. 12. Meaning of held? [Had stuck to and covered.] (To p. 36.)

1. Meaning of this sentence? [A throne which is doubtful, that is, which is not built upon the loyal affection of its subjects, is like a rapidly melting iceberg, floating in a warm sea.] 2. Said of the Greek Ulysses, who was a very persuasive orator. 3. This sentence is the statement which comes at the close of a long speech, and which sums it up. Meaning of exempt? [Free from.] Meaning of finds? [Discovers tongues or expression in trees and learning in books-and is ready and willing to be instructed by everything.] 4. Meaning of these two lines? [Let the deer that has been wounded go into a retired corner and weep, but let the deer that is untroubled (ungalled) and untouched by the hunter's arrows frolic about as he pleases; every one for himself!] 5. Said by Milton in reference to his blindness. He complained that he could not serve God and his country actively; but he found that God can dispense with men's actions, and that those who wait humbly upon His commands also serve Him. 6. Both words her must be emphasised-to mark the distinction between England and other countries. 7. Said by a sailor (the Ancient Mariner) when all the rest of the crew have died. 8. In reading this sentence, the time given to quiet as a stone must be nearly as great as that given to a whole line. 9. A pause after sin, to rouse the attention and expectation of the listener. 10. The last two lines sum up the previous statements, and must be read with greater force and decision. (To p. 37.) 1. There is great danger for the pupil of putting the emphasis (or sense-accent) upon the she, because the verse-accent also falls upon it. Therefore, read as-shecould-be as one word, with the accent upon could. 2. This half to be read with a certain eagerness of command. 3. This half with an answering eagerness, and with a kind of anticipation of pleasures to come. 4. This is a good example of level enumeration, culminating in a lively reference to something that affects the speaker himself. 5. The first sentence is said with a certain touch of doubt: but the second rises into strong level assertion. 6. The last sentence is the one which contains the whole pith of the paragraph. 7. The first line here must be read very slowly. The last line is the full and satisfactory reply to the sadness of the first two lines. (To p. 38.)

1. Emphatic word in this line? [They.] But the emphasis must not be strained. 2. The emphasis on the no must be contrasted with the emphasis on the all. 3. A slight pause after mole, to call attention to it. 4. The pause after alone must be a very long one; and this long pause enhances or throws up the strength of the expression with his glory. 5. He has heard a story (the story of the Ancient Mariner) which has sobered and steadied him. (To p. 39.) 1. These lines must be read with great slowness. The most emphatic word in the first line is gone; and the verse-accent on thou must be carefully avoided._2. That is the emphatic word; and It-was-thát must be sounded in one word. The

AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENTS.

43

lines (they are from Lycidas) are spoken of John Milton's young friend, Edward King, who was drowned by the foundering of his ship on the passage from Chester to Holyhead. 3. In the eclipse-it was considered unlucky to begin or to do anything in the eclipse of the sun. 4. Fruitless-without effect. 5. Returning -re-echoing. 6. The last two lines must be read with great slowness. 7. The next, that is the next morning. 8. These two lines should be read with the greatest slowness. They represent the sad slow walk of a funeral procession. 9. The emphasis-a slight one-must fall upon canst. The verse-accent would throw it upon thou, which is absurd. 10. The emphatic word is down; and the verse-accent on came must be avoided. 11. These lines must be read with great slowness. Take the greatest care not to dwell on the rhymes. (To p. 40.)

1. The tone-the variation of the tone, the inflection-and the variation of the inflection, must convey the steps of the reasoning to the listener. The last statement, for he learns, should be given with a full and serious tone. 2. The reasoning will be worked out by the strong contrast (or antithesis) between trifles and everything solid. 3. The emphasis is on the word fitly. 4. The last clause here gives the summing up; and it should be read in a decisive and clear tone. 5. Wisdom and pity, all and one are here contrasted. (To p. 41.)