TIME. TIME is a measured portion of duration. In elocution, time is a measure of the speed of utterance. As a measure of speed of utterance, the duration or quantity of single sounds and rests, and the movement of successive sounds and rests, must be considered. QUANTITY. Quantity is the duration or length of single sounds and rests. Some sounds are naturally and necessarily longer than others; and while a few, both long and short, can be prolonged, others can not: hence they may be classed as immutable (those that can not be prolonged) and mutable (those that can be prolonged.) The latter, being capable of definite or of indefinite prolongation, have received the names "definite" and "indefinite" mutable elements. 1. The immutable elements of our language are the abrupts (see Table No. 7), p, t, k, b, d, g, which can not be prolonged. 2. The mutable elements are most strongly represented in the long vowel sounds, because they are capable of agreeable prolongation—(see Table No. 6)—ē, ā, ä, a, ō, ọ, ī, ũ. 3. The definite mutable elements are the short vowels (see Table No. 6), 1, ě, ă, o, u, û, and continuants (Table No. 7), r, l, m, n, ng, w, y, h, wh, because, though capable of slight prolongation, it is seldom in good taste or agreeable to the ear to add to their usual length. Examples. (Immutable.) "Would you make men trustworthy? Trust them. Would you make them true? Believe them. We win by tenderness; we conquer by forgiveness."-ROB ERTSON. (Mutable.) 66 'Hail, holy Light! Offspring of heaven first-born, May I express thee unblamed? Since God is light, Dwelt from eternity, dwelt then in thee, Bright effulgence of bright essence increate."-MILTON. (Definite Mutable.) "Up! comrades, up! in Rokeby's halls Ne'er be it said our courage falls!"-SCOTT. Rests or Pauses. A pause is a suspension. In spoken or written language, pauses are signs of the divisions of discourse, and may be classed as vocal or oratorical, and as grammatical. A vocal or oratorical pause is a suspension of voice for the purpose of obtaining breath, or to convey to the auditors the emotion or meaning of the speaker. They may, but often do not, coincide with grammatical pauses. Those vocal pauses that make plain the meaning of the author or speaker are called sentential; those that express his feelings are called emotional; and those necessary to metrical composition or verse are called rhythmical pauses. Rules for the Use of Sentential and Emotional Pauses. A sentential or emotional pause should be made— 1. Before infinitive phrases. prepositional phrases. relative pronouns. adjectives following their nouns. the conclusion or closing half of a sentence. Examples. 1. (Infinitive Phrase.) It is noble | to say little and perform much. 2. (Prepositional Phrase.) Never measure other people's corn by your own bushel. 3. (Relative Pronoun.) He laughs best | who laughs last. 4. (Adjective.) Dim miniature of greatness | absolute! 5. (Conclusion.) The man who spares vice | wrongs virtue. 6. (Ellipsis.) I fondly dream had I been thou-but what Icould that have done? 7. (Emphasis.) The Union | MUST be preserved. A sentential or emotional pause should be made— 1. After the nominative or subject phrase. the objective phrase in inverted sentences. and between words in apposition. and before a word or phrase in parenthesis. the completion of sense. Examples. 1. (Nominative Phrase.) "All high poetry | is infinite.”— SHELLEY. 2. (Objective Phrase.) "A word once spoken | a coach and six horses can not bring it back."-CONFUCIUS. 3. (Members of a Series.) "Here is your unadulterated ale of Father Adam; better than Cognac, | Hollands, | Jamaica, strong beer, or wine of any price; here it is by the hogshead or the single glass, and not a cent to pay."-HAW THORNE. 4. (Apposition.) John Chrysostom Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart', the great German composer', was born in Salzburg, January 27, 1756. 5. (Parenthesis.) God is thanked | (perhaps unconsciously) | for the brightness of earth on summer evenings, when a brother and sister, who have long been parted, pour out their heart-stores to each other, and feel their course of thoughts brightening as it runs. 6. (Quotation.) Longfellow says: "Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, blossom the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels," | and who can forget it? 7. (Complete Sense.) "Count that day lost whose low-descending sun 8. (Emphasis.) "Strike | till the last armed foe expires! RHYTHMICAL PAUSES. Rhythm is regularly recurring accent in motion or sound, as in music, poetry, dancing, fencing, calisthenics, marching, and the like.* Rhythmical pauses are those cessations of sound necessary to metrical composition. They are termed final, cæsural, and demi-cæsural. Final pauses occur at the close of lines of poetry, the cæsural in the middle of the lines, and the demi-cæsural subdivide the sural divisions. The final Rhythmical Pause : "How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood,] The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wildwood, The Casural Pause: WORDSWORTH. "When the humid shadows gather | over all the starry spheres, The Demi-casural Pause: COATES KINNEY. "There's a land | far away, 'mid the stars, we are told, Where they know not the sorrows of time- Where the pure | waters wander through valleys of gold, The Final, Casural, and Demi-cœsural Pause: “Knowledge comes, | but wisdom lingers, | and he bears | a laden breast, | Full of sad experience moving toward the stillness of his rest." | TENNYSON. *Notice the distinction between rhythm and metre. Metre is applied to words only, while rhythm is applied to motion and to sound, which includes words. |