LADIES' READER: A CLASS-BOOK OF POETRY FOR SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES. WITH AN Introduction on the Principles of Elocution. BY DAVID CHARLES BELL, London: MDCCCLXXXV. MDCCCLXXXV. 3:07.0.7 A portion of the Introduction to this volume--the Theory of Inflexion, &c.—is extracted from “BELL'S STANDARD ELOCUTIONIST. The Principles of Elocution and Relative Exercises, followed by an extensive collection of classified Extracts in Prose and Poetry, adapted for Reading and Recitation.” New and Improved Edition, strongly half-bound, 3s. 6d. This volume contains, besides a copious Introduction, nearly Five Hundred Extracts; and, as the selections in the present Class-book are entirely different, the two Volumes may be considered as forming the most comprehensive School Collections in the English language. PREFACE. The Compiler of this Volume, in venturing it before the public, has had frequent occasion to regret that, in the various Collections published for the use of Schools, and the junior members of families, the extracts were either few in number, or deficient in the Poetry of Reflection and Imagination , abounding in passages, which, however excellent for Declamation, were unfitted for the study of Young Ladies, and of all who resort to poetry for the purpose of elevating the taste and improving the mind. As an endeavour to supply this acknowledged defect, the present Volume has been compiled : very considerable attention has been paid not only to the selection, but to the arrangement and punctuation, of the extracts; while especial care has been taken to insert no composition that is not either innocently gay, morally good, or poetically beautiful. He has also prefixed Outlines of the Principles of Elocution, which, it is hoped, will be found useful to impart instruction in an art that is daily increasing in reputation. No extract that has appeared in any of Mr. Bell's publications, or in that recent popular collection, “ The Standard Elocutionist,” has been inserted here. The introduction of many lyrical gems may be considered a novelty. The poets and poetry of Ireland have not been forgotten. To Authors and Publishers the Compiler feels that, on the part of his pupils, a debt of gratitude is due for permitting the insertion of several extracts from copy-right publications :-a permission, however, that will produce an advantageous re-action, by extending a taste for Poetical Literature. 1, KILDARE-PLACE, DUBLIN. CONTENTS. PAGE Vocality, or the Production of Voice. Rules for Managing and Improving the Voice General Remarks on Articulation . Syllables, Words, and Pronunciation . Application of the Inflexions to Sentences Gesture and General Emotional Expression . 31 1. The Little Maiden . . 25 12. What do the Birds say, 3. The Child's Wish in June : 26 14. The Child and the Dewdrops. 30 5. The Child and the Piper 27 16. The Fox at the Point of Death 31 7. The Voice of Spring . 27 18. The Country in March . . : 28 19. The Lark and the Nightingale . . 28. 20. The Mother and Child . . 11. The Complaints of the Poor 29 22. Infantine Inquiries . . ... |