McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader. William Holmes McGuffey

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ From under heaven': the hills to their supply',

       Vapor and exhalation dusk and moist

       Sent up amain': and now, the thickened sky

       Like a dark ceiling stood': down rushed the rain

       Impetuous', and continued till the earth

       No more was seen': the floating vessel swam

       Uplifted', and, secure with beake'd prow',

       Rode tilting o'er the waves'.

      2. My friend', adown life's valley', hand in hand',

       With grateful change of grave and merry speech

       Or song', our hearts unlocking each to each',

       We'll journey onward to the silent land';

       And when stern death shall loose that loving band,

       Taking in his cold hand, a hand of ours',

       The one shall strew the other's grave with flowers',

       Nor shall his heart a moment be unmanned'.

       My friend and brother'! if thou goest first',

       Wilt thou no more revisit me below'?

       Yea, when my heart seems happy causelessly',

       And swells', not dreaming why', my soul shall know

       That thou', unseen', art bending over me'.

      3. Here rests his head upon the lap of earth',

       A youth, to fortune and to fame unknown';

       Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth',

       And Melancholy marked him for her own'.

      4. Large was his bounty', and his soul sincere',

       Heaven did a recompense as largely send';

       He gave to misery (all he had) a tear',

       He gained from heaven' ('t was all he wished') a friend'.

      5. No further seek his merits to disclose',

       Or draw his frailties from their dread abode';

       (There they alike' in trembling hope repose',)

       The bosom of his Father, and his God'.

ACCENT AND EMPHASIS. (41)

       Table of Contents

      In reading verse, every syllable must have the same accent, and every word the same emphasis as in prose; and whenever the melody or music of the verse would lead to an incorrect accent or emphasis, this must be disregarded.

      If a poet has made his verse deficient in melody, this must not be remedied by the reader, at the expense of sense or the established rules of accent and quantity. Take the following:

      EXAMPLE. (41)

      O'er shields, and helms, and helme'd heads he rode,

       Of thrones, and mighty Seraphim prostrate

      According to the metrical accent, the last word must be pronounced "pros-trate'." But according to the authorized pronunciation it is "pros'trate. Which shall yield, the poet or established usage? Certainly not the latter.

      Some writers advise a compromise of the matter, and that the word should he pronounced without accenting either syllable. Sometimes this may be done, but where it is not practiced, the prosaic reading should be preserved.

      In the following examples, the words and syllables which are improperly accented or emphasized in the poetry, are marked in italics. According to the principle stated above, the reader should avoid giving them that pronunciation which the correct rending of the poetry would require, but should read them as prose, except where he can throw off all accent and thus compromise the conflict between the poetic reading and the correct reading. That is, he must read the poetry wrong, in order to read the language right.

      EXAMPLES. (42)

      1. Ask of thy mother earth why oaks are made

       Taller and stronger than the weeds they shade.

      2. Their praise is still, "the style is excellent,"

       The sense they humbly take upon content.

      3. False eloquence, like the prismatic glass,

       Its fairy colors spreads on every place.

      4. To do aught good, never will be our task,

       But ever to do ill is our sole delight.

      5. Of all the causes which combine to blind

       Man's erring judgment, and mislead the mind,

       What the weak head with strongest bias rules

       Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.

      6. Eye Nature's walks, shoot folly as it flies,

       And catch the manners living as they rise.

      7. To whom then, first incensed, Adam replied,

       "Is this thy love, is this the recompense

       Of mine to thee, ungrateful Eve?"

      8. We may, with more successful hope, resolve

       To wage, by force or guile, successful war,

       Irreconcilable to our grand foe,

       Who now triumphs, and in excess of joy

       Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heaven.

      9. Which, when Beelzebub perceived (than whom,

       Satan except, none higher sat), with grave

       Aspect, he rose, and in his rising seemed

       A pillar of state.

      10. Thee, Sion, and the flowery brooks beneath,

       That wash thy hallowed feet, and warbling flow,

       Nightly I visit: nor sometimes forget,

       Those other two equaled with me in fate.

      NOTE.—Although it would be necessary, in these examples, to violate the laws of accent or emphasis, to give perfect rhythm, yet a careful and well-trained reader will be able to observe these laws and still give the rhythm in such a manner that the defect will scarcely be noticed.

СКАЧАТЬ