2. Joy, Awe, and Terror. SHIPWRECK. Wilson. Joy. ("Loud" Force.) Many ports will exult at the gleam of her mast. Awe. ("Subdued" Force.) Hush! hush! thou vain dreamer! this hour is her last. Terror. ("Impassioned" Force.) Her keel hath struck on a hidden rock; And her planks are torn asunder; And down come her masts with a reeling shock, Like mountains the billows tremendously swell,- Subdued. Unseen hands of spirits are ringing his knell ; 4. From Pathos to Authoritative Command. (From "Subdued" to "Loud.") TREASURES OF THE DEEP. - Mrs. Hemans. To thee the love of woman hath gone down, Dark flow thy tides o'er manhood's noble head, O'er youth's bright locks and beauty's flowery crown:→ Authoritative Command. ("Loud" Force.) Yet must thou hear a voice Restore the Dead! 5. From Reverence to Terror, then from Horror to Eagerness, returning to Horror, then from Reverence to Horror, and from Eagerness to Horror, Consternation, and Awe. (From "Suppressed" and "Subdued" to "Impassioned.") BERNARDO DEL CARPIO, THE SON OF AN IMPRISONED SIRE, BEING ASSURED BY HIS FALSE KING THAT HE SHALL AGAIN SEE HIS FATHER, MEETS NOT THE LIVING PERSON BUT HIS LIFELESS BODY: HENCE THE ALTERNATIONS OF EXCITED AND CONFLICTING FEELINGS.—Mrs. Hem What was there in its touch that all his fiery spirit shook! Reverence. ("Subdued" Force.) A plume waved o'er the noble brow Horror. ("Subdued" Force.) that brow was fixed and white: Eagerness. ("Suppressed" Force.) He met at last his father's eyes— Horror. ("Subdued" Force.) but in them was no sight! Consternation. ("Loud" Force.) Up from the ground he sprang, and gazed Awe. ("Subdued" Force.) but who could paint that gaze? They hushed their very hearts, that saw its horror and amaze. 101 CHAPTER VI. "STRESS." THE force of utterance, in a sentence or a clause, may be on one phrase, or even on a single word. In the pronunciation of a word, it may be exclusively on one syllable. In the enunciation of a syllable, the organic force may lie chiefly on a single letter. In the sound of a letter, the force of the voice may lie conspicuously on the first, or on the last part of the sound, on the middle, or on both extremes; or it may be distributed, with an approach to equallizing force, over all parts of the sound. It is these modes of applying the force to different parts of a syllable which constitutes "stress." The classification of the forms of stress which may be used with any degree of force, is as follows: — 1st, "Radical Stress," or that in which the force of utterance is, usually, more or less "explosive," and falls on the “radical” (initial or first) part of a sound. 2d, “ Median stress," that in which the force is "expulsive or "effusive," and swells out, whether slowly or rapidly, at the middle of a sound. 66 ex 3d, Vanishing stress," or that which withholds the " pulsive" or "explosive" force till the "vanish," or last moment of the sound. 4th," Compound stress," or that in which the voice, with more or less of "explosive" force, touches forcefully and distinctly on both the initial and the final points of a sound, but passes slightly and almost imperceptibly over the middle part. 5th," Thorough stress," in which the initial, middle, and final portions of a sound are all distinctively and impressively marked by special "expulsive force" of voice. 6th, "Tremor," tremulous, or "intermittent stress." X10991 1. "RADICAL STRESS." This form of vocal force is exemplified in the mechanical act of coughing.1 It imparts a percussive and abrupt opening to every syllable. In speech its highest form consists in the utterance of all sounds which embody startling and abrupt emotions, as fear, anger, etc. It exists also, although in a reduced form, in the tones of determined will, earnest argument, emphatic and distinct or exact communication, and other unimpassioned modes of expression. It addresses in clear, distinct style, the ear and the understanding. The definiteness and decision of the speaker's intention, the clear conviction of his judgment, the distinctness of his perceptions, and the energy of his will, are all indicated in this natural language of voice. Carried to excess, it becomes, of course, a fault it savors of dogmatical arrogance and assumption, of selfish wilfulness and self-conceit. Persuasion, not intimidation, is the soul of eloquence; argument, not assertion, the instrument of conviction: sympathy, not oppo 1 "There are so few speakers able to give a radical stress to syllabic utterance, with this momentary burst, which I here mean to describe, that I must draw an illustration from the effort of coughing. It will be perceived that a single impulse of coughing, is not, in all points, exactly like the abrupt voice on syllables; for that single impulse is a forcing out of almost all the breath; yet if the tonic element 'a-we' be employed as the vocality of coughing, its abrupt opening will truly represent the function of radical stress when used in discourse." "The clear and forcible radical stress can take place only after an interruption of the voice. It would seem as if there is some momentary occlusion in the larynx, by which the breath is barred and accumulated for the purpose of a full and sudden discharge. This occlusion is most under command, and the explosion is most powerful, on syllables beginning with a tonic element, or with an abrupt one preceding a tonic; for, in this last case, an obstruction in the organs of articulation is combined with the function of the larynx above supposed." - Dr. Rush. "It is this" (radical stress) "which draws the cutting edge of words across the ear, and startles even stupor into attention:- this which lessens the fatigue of listening, and outvoices the stir and rustle of an assembly: —and it is the sensibility to this, through a general instinct of the animal ear, which gives authority to the groom and makes the horse submissive to his angry accent." — Ib. |