11. Courage, Romans! The gods are for us! those gods whose temples and altars the impious Tarquin has profaned. By the blood of the wronged Lucretia, I swear, (hear me, ye Powers Supreme!) by this blood, which was once so pure, and which nothing but royal villainy could have polluted, — I swear that I will pursue, to the death, these Tarquins, with fire and sword; nor will I ever suffer any one of that family, or of any other family whatsoever, to be king in Rome! On, to the Forum! Bear the body hence, high in the public view, through all the streets! On, Romans, on! The fool shall set you free! 12. I'll keep them all; He shall not have a Scot of them; No, if a Scot would save his soul, he shall not: 63. Exercises in Force. (See § 36.) The following Exercises require the loudest vocal Force and highest Pitch. 1. Rescue, my Lord of Norfolk, rescue! rescue! The king enacts more wonders than a man, Daring an opposite to every danger; 2. Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace, (Will they not hear?) — What, ho! you men, you beasts, 3. Rise, fathers, rise! 't is Rome demands your help; Point at their wounds, and cry aloud, To battle! The following speech of Virginius offers a beautiful instance of Transition from loud Force to gentle, and from high tones to the purest and most pathetic low tones. Virginius, it will be remembered, having slain his daughter to save her from the pollution of Appius Claudius, who has claimed her as a slave, is touched with insanity. Lucius. Justice will be defeated. 4. He lies in the face of the gods. She is immutable, and though all The guilty globe should blaze, she would spring up Its fierceness. But where 's Virginia? Will she not come? I'll call her. She'll not dare Poor child! O, when Dare? Did I say dare? Did my Virginia dare? (Calls.) Virginia! Is it a voice, or nothing, answers me ? I hear a sound so fine. there's nothing lives ... 'Twixt it and silence: such a slender one I've heard when I have talked with her in fancy! The following passages require moderate Force, and at the Dash there should be a Transition from middle Pitch to low, with aspirated quality. 1. So stately her bearing, so proud her array, The main she will traverse for ever and aye. Hush! hush! thou vain dreamer! this hour is her last! 2. A thousand hearts beat happily; and when Music arose with its voluptuous swell, Soft eyes locked love to eyes which spake again, And all went merry as a marriage bell; But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell! 3. Make fast the doors; heap wood upon the fire; Draw in your stools, and pass the goblet round, And be the prattling voice of children heard. Now let us make good cheer! Do I not see, or do I dream I see But what is this? A form that midmost in the circle sits, Half visible, his face deformed with scars, I know it there Sits DANGER, with his feet upon the hearth! The following should be read with gentle Force and in the purest low tones. 1. FROM THE MAY QUEEN. Tennyson. There's not a flower on all the hills: the frost is on the pane; I only wish to live till the snowdrops come again: I wish the snow would melt, and the sun come out on high; I long to see a flower so, before the day I die. I have been wild and wayward, but you'll forgive me now; You'll kiss me, my own mother, upon my cheek and brow; Nay, nay, you must not weep, nor let your grief be wild, You should not fret for me, mother, you have another child. If I can, I'll come again, mother, from out my resting-place; when you you §64. Exercises in Quality of Voice. (See § 39.). The Quality appropriate in the first five Exercises which follow is for the most part aspirate and guttural, with loud Force and middle Pitch; but the reader must not suppose that when a passage is characterized as adapted to any particular Quality, Pitch, or Force, the characterization applies to every word and syllable. Much must be left to individual taste and feeling. As in describing a complicate painting all that we can well do is to designate the predominant tint, so in these Exercises any attempt to do more than to note the prevailing tone would convey but a confused impression. The reader must learn first to understand and feel, and then nature will supply the right intonations. 1. CONSTANCE UPBRAIDS AUSTRIA. Shakespeare. Thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward, To teach thee safety! thou art perjured, too, Milton. 2. SATAN'S ENCOUNTER WITH DEATH. To yonder gates? Through them I mean to pass, |