PART 2. EXPRESSION

APPRECIATION

Preliminary silent reading of a passage, meditating upon its thought and feeling, and earnestly endeavoring to absorb its inner spirit, are important means of developing literary appreciation. Sympathy is essential to a thorough understanding and interpretation of the passages prescribed in this lesson. When sympathy has been highly cultivated, the speaker easily wins the attention of others because of his manifest gentleness, sincerity, and large-heartedness. When you read one of these extracts, try to put yourself in the author's place, and to the best of your ability express the various thoughts as you think he would express them. Awaken your powers of feeling, dwell intently upon each thought, "brood" over the passage, and when you stand to read aloud believe yourself capable of interpreting the passage in such a way as to move and impress others.

EXAMPLES FOR PRACTISE

1. A thing of beauty is a joy forever;
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. "Endymion."

JOHN KEATS.

2. Thou art, O God! the life and light Of all this wondrous world we see; Its glow by day, its smile by night, Are but reflections caught from Thee! Where'er we turn, Thy glories shine, And all things fair and bright are Thine! "Sacred Songs."

THOMAS MOORE.

3. The stars are forth, the moon above the tops
Of the snow-shining mountains-beautiful!
I linger yet with Nature, for the night
Hath been to me a more familiar face
Than that of man; and in her starry shade
Of dim and solitary loveliness,

I learn'd the language of another world.

"Manfred."

LORD BYRON.

4. Oh, if I only could make you see
The clear blue eyes, the tender smile,
The sovereign sweetness, the gentle grace,
The woman's soul, and the angel's face
That are beaming on me all the while,
I need not speak these foolish words.
Yet one word tells you all I would say:
She is my mother: You will agree
That all the rest may be thrown away.

"An Order for a Picture."

ALICE CARY.

5. The foxglove, with its stately bells
Of purple, shall adorn thy dells;
The wallflower, on each rifted rock,
From liberal blossoms shall breathe down,
(Gold blossoms frecked with iron-brown),
Its fragrance; while the hollyhock,
The pink, and the carnation vie
With lupin and with lavender,

To decorate the fading year;

And larkspurs, many-hued, shall drive

Gloom from the groves, where red leaves lie,

And Nature seems but half alive.

"The Birth of the Flowers.”

D. M. MOIR.

ô. Then sing, ye birds, sing, sing a joyous song! And let the young lambs bound

As to the tabor's sound!

We in thought will join your throng,
Ye that pipe and ye that play,

Ye that through your hearts to-day
Feel the gladness of the May!

What tho the radiance which was once so bright
Be now forever taken from my sight,

Tho nothing can bring back the hour

Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find

Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy

Which, having been, must ever be;

In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;

In the faith that looks through death,

In years that bring the philosophic mind.

"Intimations of Immortality." WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

SEVENTEENTH LESSON

PART 1. DRILL

1. Physical Culture, Deep Breathing, and Voice Exercise. Review the exercises of Lesson Seventeen of the first

3. Pronunciation. Drill in words for the sounds of u,

as in rule and full (see page 223).

PART 2. EXPRESSION

FEELING

When you stand to read, if your mind is occupied with the thought of the impression you are making upon others, or how they are probably criticizing you, or how you are managing your voice, you will not succeed in making a favorable impression. Real feeling arises from earnestness and intensity. It communicates itself to the voice, and the utterance is at once enhanced by its beauty and impressiveness. Proper feeling will impart warmth and freshness to expression. The common tendency to declaim must not be confounded with genuine feeling. To develop the well-springs of emotion you should carefully read and study the extracts given in this lesson. These may be supplemented by passages from the Bible, particularly the Psalms, and by the plays of Shakespeare. The power of passion is demonstrated in the eloquence of even a look or a gesture. The possibilities of the human voice under the stress of great feeling, are amazing. You can have no worthier ambition than to develop this power to the highest efficiency.

EXAMPLES FOR PRACTISE

1. How calm, how beautiful comes on The stilly hour, when storms are gone! When warring winds have died away, And clouds, beneath the glancing ray, Melt off, and leave the land and sea Sleeping in bright tranquillity! "Lalla Rookh." Fire Worshipers.

THOMAS MOORE.