Dost thou come here to whine. And, unless the voice reach the octave in these lines, the passionate contempt intended to be conveyed will be lost; and the scornful question will be changed into a common interrogation, expecting a serious answer. Such is the distinction between the compound and simple inflections. Now let us see when and for what they are used. RULE. The compound inflections are used in strong and vehement interrogation,—and for wonder, contempt, scornful indignation, ridicule, and (especially) in IRONY. EXAMPLES. When, in "The Merchant of Venice," (Act iv., sc. 1,) Portia, understanding that the merchant's bond to Shylock is forfeited, says Then must the Jew be merciful; and Shylock asks— On what compulsion must I? tell me that; her reply The quality of mercy is not strain'd must be marked with the compound rising inflection; which will give the expression of wonder that such a question could be asked, and contempt for the sordid feeling that dictated it. So, in the following examples, for ridicule and irony: You must take me for a fool, to think I could do that. For mine own part, I shall be glad to learn of noble men. For Brutus is an honorable man. You meant no harm; oh no! your thoughts are innocent; you have nothing to hide; your breast is pure, stainless, all truth. And in that reply of Brutus to Cassius, (Julius Cæsar. Act iv.,) the scorn implied in his indignant interrogations, must be marked with the compound inflection, reaching a full octave. Cas.-Ye gods! ye gods! must I endure all this? Br.-All this? Aye, more!-Fret till your proud heart break: Go show your slaves how choleric you are, And make your bondmen tremble. Must I budge? Under your testy humour ?— It is, in fact, this pitch, (the octave,) that lends the scornful expression to the words; and it is the degree of expression required that is to regulate the pitch. IN ANTITHESIS. These inflections are also used to give increased force to antithesis; and follow each other, sometimes, in double antithesis so closely, that the voice is kept in a continual wave of ascent and descent, by alternate rising and falling compound inflections. EXAMPLES. If you said so, then I said so. Let the gall'd jade wince, our withers are unwrung! In all the above examples, there is a certain degree of jeering or irony conveyed; and it is in the ironical expression that these compound inflections, (with high pitch,) have the greatest power. An exceedingly good practice on these inflections is Marc Antony's speech to the populace, over the dead body of Cæsar; in which it will be perceived what effect may be added to the oft-repeated epithet, "honorable men," (which the orator ironically applies to Brutus and the rest,) by the adoption of these compound inflections. But, in the practice of this speech, remark that the irony is not immediately displayed by Marc Antony. He dares not, in the first instance, cast a doubt, by ironical expression, upon the motives of Brutus and the rest: and it is only when he feels that he is making a favorable impression upon the multitude, and "stealing away their hearts," that he ventures to unveil his thoughts, and to speak with irony, and finally in utter contempt, of the "honorable men who have stabb'd Cæsar." Bearing this hint in mind, the student may, at this point of his progress, exercise himself with advantage on that celebrated piece of oratory.* 2. PAUSE OF FORCE, OR EXPRESSION. Great expression and force may be imparted to an idea by the introduction of the short pause, with a suspension of the voice immediately before the word conveying the idea, or embodying emotion. This pause, so introduced and suspending the sense, is called the Pause of Force. * See Appendix. Like the Emphasis of Force (with which it is frequently allied), it is arbitrary in its use, and depends on the will and judgment of the speaker for its employment. RULE. The pause of force or expression is made by arresting and suspending the voice, immediately before the word or member on which the speaker wishes to concentrate his power. EXAMPLE. In Marc Antony's apostrophe to Cæsar's body,—when Brutus and the rest, after the murder of Cæsar, having shaken hands with Antony in pledge of amity, have left him alone in the Senate house, he exclaims, Oh! pardon me,-thou bleeding piece of earth,- The force and expression of this passage, in delivery, is wonderfully increased, if, besides the usual pauses, we introduce the pause of feeling before— with the emphasis of force on-the word "butchers :" the passage will then be marked thus— Oh! pardon me thou piece of bleeding earth_* The effect of this is at once felt: it is as if the speaker paused to find a word strong enough for his feeling of abhorrence; and, at length, hitting on the *The reading of the text of this line is received either "bleeding piece of earth," or "piece of bleeding earth :" the former appears to me the better reading. word butcher, he pours it out with the force and expression of execration. This pause arrests the attention of the hearer in an extraordinary manner; and therefore it may be used for that effect, before the word of particular force and importance in the most solemn and least-excited passages; as in Saint Paul, And now abideth faith, hope, charity; these three: but the greatest of these is charity. And in Portia's speech on mercy, And earthly power doth then shew likest God's, In excited passages of highly-wrought feeling, it also gives the orator an opportunity of gathering full power of voice to concentrate it on the one word or phrase-as, in the well-known burst of Othello's passion : If thou dost slander her, and torture me, Never pray more! Great power and expression may be added to the phrase "torture me," by the introduction of this pause, with the emphasis of force, on the words “torture me." The strength of the passage is further increased by the addition of the same pause before the words 66 never pray more;" in which case, the pause will be doubled in time; (as there is already a pause of sense required after torture me.) |