McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader. William Holmes McGuffey

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СКАЧАТЬ down to pleasant dreams.

      MODERATE MOVEMENT. (52)

      1. The good', the brave', the beautiful',

       How dreamless' is their sleep,

       Where rolls the dirge-like music'

       Of the over-tossing deep'!

       Or where the surging night winds

       Pale Winter's robes have spread

       Above the narrow palaces,

       In the cities of the dead'!

      2. Lives of great men all remind us

       We can make our lives sublime,

       And, departing, leave behind us

       Footprints on the sands of time.

      3. Cast your eyes over this extensive country. Observe the salubrity of your climate, the variety and fertility of your soil; and see that soil intersected in every quarter by bold, navigable streams, flowing to the east and to the west, as if the finger of heaven were marking out the course of your settlements, inviting you to enterprise, and pointing the way to wealth.

      QUICK MOVEMENT. (53)

      1. Awake'! arise'! or be forever fallen.

      2. Merrily swinging on brier and weed,

       Near to the nest of his little dame,

       Over the mountain side or mead,

       Robert of Lincoln is telling his name.

      3. Not a word to each other; we kept the great pace—

       Neck by neck, stride by stride, never changing our place;

       I turned in my saddle and made its girths tight,

       Then shortened each stirrup and set the pique right,

       Rebuckled the check strap, chained slacker the bit,

       Nor galloped less steadily Roland a whit.

      4. Oh my dear uncle, you don't know the effect of a fine spring morning upon a fellow just arrived from Russia. The day looked bright, trees budding, birds singing, the park so gay, that I took a leap out of your balcony, made your deer fly before me like the wind, and chased them all around the park to get an appetite for breakfast, while you were snoring in bed, uncle.

      Quality.—We notice a difference between the soft, insinuating tones of persuasion; the full, strong voice of command and decision; the harsh, irregular, and sometimes grating explosion of the sounds of passion; the plaintive notes of sorrow and pity; and the equable and unimpassioned flow of words in argumentative style. This difference consists in a variation in the quality of the voice by which it is adapted to the character of the thought or sentiment read or spoken. In our attempts to imitate nature, however, it is important that all affectation be avoided, for perfect monotony is preferable to this fault. The tones of the voice should be made to correspond with the nature of the subject, without apparent effort.

      EXAMPLES. (54)

      Passion and Grief

      "Come back! come back!" he cried, in grief,

       "Across this stormy water;

       And I'll forgive your Highland chief,

       My daughter! O, my daughter!"

      Plaintive

      I have lived long enough: my way of life

       Is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf:

       And that which should accompany old age,

       As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends,

       I must not look to have.

      Calm

      A very great portion of this globe is covered with water, which is called sea, and is very distinct from rivers and lakes.

      Fierce Anger

      Burned Marmion's swarthy cheek like fire,

       And shook his very frame for ire;

       And—"This to me!" he said—

       "An 't were not for thy hoary beard,

       Such hand as Marmion's had not spared

       To cleave the Douglas' head!

      Loud and Explosive

      "Even in thy pitch of pride,

       Here, in thy hold, thy vassals near,

       I tell thee, thou 'rt defied!

       And if thou said'st I am not peer

       To any lord in Scotland here,

       Lowland or Highland, far or near,

       Lord Angus, thou hast lied!"

VI. GESTURE. (55)

       Table of Contents

      Gesture is that part of the speaker's manner which pertains to his attitude, to the use and carriage of his person, and the movement of his limbs in delivery.

      Every person, in beginning to speak, feels the natural embarrassment resulting from his new position. The novelty of the situation destroys his self-possession, and, with the loss of that, he becomes awkward, his arms and hands hang clumsily, and now, for the first time, seem to him worse than superfluous members. This embarrassment will be overcome gradually, as the speaker becomes familiar with his position; and it is sometimes overcome at once, by a powerful exercise of the attention upon the matter of the speech. When that fills and possesses the mind, the orator is likely to take the attitude which is becoming, and, at least, easy and natural, if not graceful.

      1st. The first general direction that should be given to the speaker is, that he should stand erect and firm, and in that posture which gives an expanded chest and full play to the organs of respiration and utterance.

      2d. Let the attitude be such that it can be shifted easily and gracefully. The student will find, by trial, that no attitude is so favorable to this end as that in which the weight of the body is thrown upon one leg, leaving the other free to be advanced or thrown back, as fatigue or the proper action of delivery may require.

      The student who has any regard to grace or elegance, will of course avoid all the gross faults which are so common among public speakers, such as resting one foot upon a stool or bench, or throwing the body forward upon the support of the rostrum.

      3d. Next to attitude, come the movements of the person and limbs. In these, two objects are to be СКАЧАТЬ