The Middle Tone of Voice is adapted to the expression of sentiments not conversational, and yet too moderate in their nature to require a full tone.

EXAMPLES OF MIDDLE TONE.

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,
From the seas and the streams;

I bear light shade for the leaves when laid

In their noonday dreams.

From "The Cloud," by SHELLEY.

Between the dark and the daylight,
When night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
That is known as the children's hour.

From "The Children's Hour," by LONGFELLOW.

The easy chair, all patched with care,
Is placed by the cold hearth-stone,
With witching grace, in the old fire-place,
The evergreens are strewn;

And pictures hang on the whitened wall,

And the old clock ticks in the cottage hall.

Remark. Almost any quiet sentiment may find utterance in a middle tone of voice. Meditation, soliloquy, quiet pleasure, and happiness, are expressed incorrectly if given with a fuli tone— they are exaggerated and appear unnatural; again, if given in a conversational tone, they are lacking in fullness of expression.

The size of a room affects in a measure the tone of voice used. A large room requires more volume of voice than a small room; and for this reason, the conversational tone in a large room would be discarded for the middle or even the full tone.

The Calling Tone of Voice is used in loud exclamations, in addressing persons at a distance, and in unbridled passion.

Properly speaking, the Calling Tone is only a Full Tone used spasmodically. The name is used in this book simply for the sake of convenience. A pleasing substitute for the Calling Tone in a small room is a quiet utterance in imitation of an echo,calling tones as they would sound a long distance away.

He shook the fragment of his blade,

And shouted "Victory!

Charge, Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on!"

Were the last words of Marmion.

From "Marmion," by SCOTT.

RATE OR

MOVEMENT.

The Rate of reading may be moderate, fast, or slow.

No two persons in a class will read a lesson with the same rate, although every one in the class may accord to the lesson the same sentiment, and call the rate slow, or fast, or moderate. The difference will be only in practice, and not at all in theory.

Suggestion.-Reading in concert will do more to correct the faults of individuals in regard to time than any amount of admonition. A sluggish or a rapid reader will realize his defect as soon as he reads with others, and is obliged to regulate his time according to theirs.

A Moderate Rate is suitable for all kinds of quiet discourse, whether conversational, narrative, or descriptive.

Conversational subjects should be treated neither too slowly nor too rapidly. Even if the articulation of a speaker is clear and distinct, he will weary his hearers by speaking too rapidly, and the effect of what is said will be in part lost.

EXAMPLES

OF

MODERATE

RATE.

No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,

The ship was still as she might be;
Her sails from heaven received no motion;

Her keel was steady in the ocean.

From the "Inchcape Rock," by SOUTHEY.

In Columbus were singularly combined the practical and the poetical. His mind had grasped all kinds of knowledge, whether procured by study or observation, which bore upon his theories.

From "History of Columbus," by IRVING.

The splendor falls on castle walls,
And snowy summits old in story;
The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.

From "Bugle Song," by TENNYSON.

In the second of the three examples the time is slightly different from that of the first and third, and yet they would all be examples of moderate rate.

A Fast Rate may be used in expressing such feelings as delight, anxiety, terror, and violent anger.

EXAMPLES OF FAST RATE.

He is come! he is come! do ye not behold
His ample robes on the wind unrolled?

From "The Hurricane," by Bryant.

"She is won! we are gone! over bank, bush, and scaur, They'll have fleet steeds that follow," quoth young Lochinvar. From "Lochinvar," by Scott.

They crush and they crowd; they trample upon the living and the dead. A multitude fills roads, paths, bridges, plains, hills, valleys, woods, choked up by the flight of forty thousand

men.

From "Les Miserables," by HUGO.

A Slow Rate is in keeping with the expression of solemnity, grandeur, reverential fear, and like emotions.

Slowly and sadly we laid him down,

From the field of his fame fresh and gory!
We carved not a line, we raised not a stone,
But we left him alone in his glory.

From "The Burial of Sir John Moore," by WOLFE.

Adams and Jefferson are no more. On our fiftieth anniversary, the great day of national jubilee, in the very hour of public rejoicing, they took their flight together to the world of spirits.

From "Adams and Jefferson," by WEBSTER.

Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean,-roll!
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain.

From "Apostrophe to the Ocean," by BYRON.

The degree of slowness or rapidity will depend upon the intensity of the feelings. In the case of anger, for instance, if we have perfect control of ourselves, we may speak slowly and deliberately; but if the feeling masters us, our utterance will be as rapid as possible.

РІТСН.

Pitch is the elevation or depression of the voice in speaking.

This elevation or depression is reckoned from the natural pitch of the voice, or, as it is sometimes called, the key of the voice. As the musical range of all voices is not the same, we have no fixed method of reckoning pitch, and can only describe it with reference to individual voices.

Natural Pitch is that used in ordinary conversa

tion.

With the delivery of very joyful sentiments, our voices will rise to a higher pitch than is used in conversation; but in expressing calm sorrow or sad emotions of any kind, we shall use a low pitch.

Pitch, then, as well as tone, force, and rate, depends altogether upon the sentiments to be expressed.

Middle Pitch is that used in ordinary conversation and in the delivery of unemotional thoughts.

EXAMPLES OF MIDDLE PITCH.

Surly, dozing humble-bee!

Where thou art is clime for me.

From "To the Humble-Bee," by EMERSON.

To him who in the love of Nature, holds
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks

A various language.

From "Thanatopsis," by BRYANT.

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines.

From "Hamlet," by SHAKSPEARE.

High Pitch is used in expressing thoughts that require considerable force for their proper delivery, or of which the sentiment is light and joyous.

She starts,-she moves,-she seems to feel
The thrill of life along her keel !

From "The Launch of the Ship," by LONGFELLOW.

Hail to thee, blithe spirit!

Bird thou never wert,

That from heaven, or near it,

Pourest thy full heart

In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.

From "Ode to the Skylark," by SHELLEY.

Low Pitch indicates great serenity of mind, and is used to express deep joy, calm sorrow, and kindred emotions.

EXAMPLES OF LOW PITCH.
Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
As his corse to the rampart we hurried;
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot,

O'er the grave where our hero we buried.

From "The Burial of Sir John Moore," by WOLFE.

All sights were mellowed and all sounds subdued;
The hills seemed farther, and the streams sung low;

As in a dream, the distant woodman hewed

His winter-log with many a muffled blow.

From "The Closing Scene," by READ.