+ Regularly increasing and decreasing in force to the close or to the middle of a phrase or sentence producing climax and anti-climax. See Table No. 10, note 16.

DYNAMICS, OR FORCE.

DYNAMICS treats of the power or force of sounds. Force is the result of action. In elocution, force is the degree of energy with which words are spoken. Degrees of force depend upon the intensity of the given power. They are indefinite in number, but three are deemed sufficient for reference. 1st, soft or weak; 2d, middle or moderate; and, 3d, heavy or strong.

Note.-Force should not be confounded with loudness, because sound can be produced with great force in a whisper as well as in a shout.

1. Soft or weak utterance is the result of little exertion, whether arising from organic weakness or from sentiment. It expresses pity, admiration, endearment, tenderness, grief, and the like.

(Pity.)

"Give me three grains of corn, mother,

Only three grains of corn;

It will keep the little life I have

Till the coming of the morn.

I am dying of hunger and cold, mother,
Dying of hunger and cold;

And half the agony of such a death

My lips have never told."-MRS. EDMUND.

(Endearment.) "Look at me with thy large brown eyes, Philip, my king,

Round whom the shadowing purple lies

Of babyhood's royal dignities.

Lay on my neck thy tiny hand,

With love's invisible sceptre laden.

I am thine, Esther, to command

Till thou shalt find a queen handmaiden,

Philip, my king."-MISS MULOCK.

(Whisper.) "Breathe it not aloud; the wild winds must not hear it."

2. Middle or moderate utterance is the result of little energy or exertion. It expresses reverence, and is used in narration and description.

(Narrative.) "The Irish peasant has at all periods been

peculiarly distinguished for unbounded but indiscriminate hospitality. To be in want or misery is the best recommendation to his disinterested protection; his food, his bed, his raiment are equally the stranger's and his own; and the deeper the distress, the more welcome is the sufferer to the peasant's cottage."-SIR J. BARRINGTON.

(Description.) "Methought I saw a thousand fearful wrecks, A thousand men that fishes gnawed upon,

Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,

All scattered in the bottom of the sea.

Some lay in dead men's skulls; and in those holes
Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept
(As 'twere in scorn of eyes) reflecting gems
That wooed the slimy bottom of the deep,
And mocked the dead bones that lay scattered by."
SHAKSPEARE, Dream of Clarence.

(Reverence.) "The nation rises up at every stage of his coming; cities and states are as pall-bearers, and the cannon beats the hours in solemn progression; dead, dead, dead, he yet speaketh. Is Washington dead? Is Hampden dead? Is David dead? Is any man that ever was fit to live dead? Disenthralled from the flesh, and risen to the unobstructed sphere where passion never comes, he begins his illimitable work. His life is now grafted upon the Infinite, and will be fruitful as no earthly life can be. Pass on. Four years ago, oh Illinois, we took from your midst an untried man from among the people. Behold, we return him to you a mighty conqueror, not thine any more, but the nation's; not ours, but the world's. Give him place, oh ye prairies! In the midst of this great continent his dust shall rest, a sacred treasure to myriads, who shall pilgrim to that shrine to kindle anew their patriotism. Ye winds, that move over the mighty spaces of the West, chant his requiem! Ye people, behold the martyr, whose drops of blood, as so many articulate words, plead for fidelity, for law, for liberty.”—BEECH ER'S Sermon on Lincoln.

(Whisper.) "And the bridemaidens whispered, ""Twere better by far, To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar.'

SCOTT.

3. Heavy or strong utterance is the result of great energy or exertion. It expresses anger, defiance, and command. It is used in calling, shouting, rage, and fear.

Ex. (Anger.) "So you will fly out! can't you be cool like me? What good can passion do? Passion is of no service, you impudent, insolent, overbearing reprobate! There you sneer again! Don't provoke me! but you rely upon the mildness of my temper, you do, you dog: you play upon the meekness of my disposition! yet take care; the patience of a saint may be overcome at last! But mark! I give you six hours and a half to consider of this: if y you then agree, without any condition, to do every thing on earth that I choose, why-confound you, I may in time forgive you.”— SHERIDAN, The Rivals.

(Defiance.) "I loathe you with my bosom! I scorn you with mine eye! And I'll taunt you with my latest breath, and fight you till I

die!

I ne'er will ask for quarter, and I ne'er will be your slave,
But I'll swim the sea of slaughter till I sink beneath the
wave."-The Seminole's Reply.

(Command.) "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man

As modest stillness and humility;

But when the blast of WAR blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favored rage:
Now set the teeth, and stretch the nostrils wide;
Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit
To his full height! On, ON, you noble English,
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof-
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought,
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start: the game's afoot;
Follow your spirit; and upon this charge
Cry, GOD FOR HARRY, ENGLAND, AND ST. GEORGE!"
SHAKSPEARE.

(Calling.) "How yet resolves the governor of the town?
This is the latest parle we will admit.

Therefore to our best mercy give yourselves;

Or, like to men proud of destruction,
Defy us to our worst; for, as I am a soldier

(A name that in my thoughts becomes me best),
If I begin the battery once again,

I will not leave the half-achieved Harfleur

Till in her ashes she lie buried.

The gates of mercy shall be all shut up;

And the flushed soldier, rough and hard of heart,
In liberty of bloody hand shall range,
Mowing like grass your fresh, fair virgins
And your flowering infants.

Therefore, you men of Harfleur,

Take pity of your town and of your people
While yet my soldiers are in my command."

SHAKSPEARE, Henry V.

(Shouting.) "JUMP, far out, boy, into the wave! Jump, or I fire!' he said;

(Rage.)

'This chance alone your life can save.

JUMP! JUMP!' The boy obeyed."-GEO. P. MORRIS. "Mind and charge home,

Or, by the fires of heaven, I'll leave the foe,

And make my wars on you: look to't! come on!"

(Fear, intense Whisper.) “Hark! I hear the bugles of the enemy! They are on their march along the bank of the river. We must retreat instantly, or be cut off from our boats. I see the head of their column already rising over the height. Our only safety is in the screen of this hedge. Keep close to it; be silent; and stoop as you run. FOR THE BOATS!

FORWARD!"

Additional force may be given to a sound, syllable, word, phrase, or sentence.

It receives the name stress when applied to a sound, accent when applied to a syllable, and emphasis when applied to a word, phrase, or sentence.

Accent produces rhythm, stress expresses more or less of the emotional condition of the speaker, while emphasis makes plain the meaning of the author.

STRESS.

Stress is the special application of force to some part of an accented sound or syllable.* The degrees of stress are *See Accent, p. 162.