Psychology of the spoken word

Front matter

QlmJ^AI^dlii

Book

CopightN? l-'ll i-^t

Part II Technique of the Spoken Word

I. Memorizing 39

II. Manipulation versus Assimilation 40

III. Planes 42

IV. Music with Speech 44

V. Alliteration 46

VI. Emphasis 49

VII. Accentuation 51

VIII. Transition 52

IX. Phrasing 54

X. Antithesis 58

XI. Central Symbols 60

XII. Sustention 61

XIII. Relation 63

XIV. Pivotal Power 63

XV. Universal versus Personal 64

XVI. Plane Song 65

CONTENTS

XVII. Unity 69

XVIII. Bible and Hymn Reading 70

XIX. Mood 75

XX. Atmosphere 76

Part III Forms of Poetry

I. Didactic Poetry 81

II. Pastoral Poetry 82

III. Descriptive Poetry 83

IV. Narrative Poetry 89

V. Lyric Poetry 101

VI. The Ode 105

VII. The Sonnet 108

VIII. The Ballad 109

IX. The Apostrophe 111

X. The Monologue 114

XI. The Sohloquy 123

XII. Epic Poetry 136

XIII. Elegiac Poetry 139

XIV. Dramatic Poetry 141

XV. Satirical Poetry 142

XVI. The Lampoon 144

XVII. The Epitaph 144

Pabt IV

Figures of Speech

I. Simile 150

II. Metaphor 150

III. Allegory 151

IV. Metonomy 154

V. SjTiecdoche 155

VI. Personification 155

CONTENTS

VII. Apostrophe 156

VIII. Hyperbole 157

IX. Interrogation 157

X. Exclamation 158

XI. Antithesis 159

XII. Epigram 159

XIII. Irony 159

XIV. Climax 160

XV. Anti-climax 161

XVI. Euphemism 161

XVII. Litotes 161

XVIII. Alliteration 162

XIX. AUusion 162

XX. Vision 162

Part V Prosody

I. Iambic 166

II. Trochaic 166

III. Dactylic 167

IV. Anapestic 167

V. Amphibrachic - 167

VI. Mixed Verse 168

VII. Spondee 168

VIII. Blank Verse 168

IX. Metrical Feet 169

Part VI Mother Goose Melodies 173

Children's Selections 179

Advanced Readings for Class Use 198

Index 365

Foreword

THE request of over five thousand people who have been my students, has led me to issue the principles of my practical work upon the Spoken Word. This volume contains facts, some of which are new and some old to the public.

There may be some statements in this volume similar to those made in other books pubhshed, yet upon close examination you will find them vastly different from anything heretofore presented.

I have endeavored in as concise a manner as possible, to make clear the steps pertaining to delivery, and to present them with some understanding and differentiation together with the different forms of poetry.

I do not consider this volume perfect or in any way complete, as I am fully aware that I am dealing with an Art; and in the language of John J. Enneking, the great landscapist, — "Where art begins, language leaves off." I, therefore, to use a phrase from Disraeli, have refrained from any exuberance of language, and instead of talking about the subject, I have tried to tell what the subject is. The reader will observe that the law : " Have something to say, say it, and stop," — has to the best of my ability been adhered to in compiling this book.

To Miss Helen Colony Culver, for her imtiring and faithful assistance in helping me to arrange this book and to prepare it for the press, also for her wise suggestions from time to time, I wish to express my heart-felt thanks.

FOREWORD

For the timely suggestions and helpful criticism, due appreciation is extended to Mrs. Mabel Athalane Hardy.

For the use of selections herein contained, I wish to express my profoundest gratitude and consideration for the most excellent courtesies extended by Lothrop, Lee & Shepherd Co., for the selections "Toussaint L'Ouverture," by Wendell PhiUips, "Rock Me to Sleep," by Elizabeth Akers Allen, and the poems by Sam Walter Foss ; also the courtesy of the author, Mr. Charles Follen Adams for the poems from his book, entitled "Yawcob Strauss;" "The House by the Side of the Road" by Sam Walter Foss, from the book, "Dreams in Homespun;" P. J. Kennedy & Sons, for the privilege of using the selection "Rory O'More" by Samuel Lover; Small, Maynard & Co., for the use of the selections "Aunt Shaw's Pet Jug," and "The Stock m the Tie Up" by Holman F. Day; Houghton Mifflin & Co., "The Wreck of the Hesperus;" J. B. Lippincott & Co., for the poems "Sheridan's Ride," "The Closing Scene," and "Lord Ulhn's Daughter;" and Rose Hartwick Thorpe for the privilege of using her poem "Drifted Out to Sea." "My Ships" by EUa Wheeler Wilcox. Extracts from speeches of Theodore Roosevelt.

I wish to express my thanks to Miss Minnie C. Clark for her kindness in reading and criticising the work.

Introduction

AFTER years of careful study and due consideration of the subject now presented, I can assure you that it is not the result of conceit, nor with the feeling of "knowing it all," that I attempt to present a subject which many have written upon and discussed not a little; but, it is with trepidation, that I submit for your consideration this book, "The Psychology of the Spoken Word." I mean by the Psychology of the Spoken Word — the process of the mind's activity in presenting different forms of literature to the general public; and in dealing with this subject, I find that it entails a rather unusual, broad, and lengthy discussion, by which I have been obliged to treat rather extensively the GRAMMAR OF THE SPOKEN WORD and the FORMS OF POETRY; and in order to carry out the fundamental principles which are sometimes sadly neglected, I have devoted a portion to PROSODY and to FIGURES OF SPEECH.

Again I find the old Biblical statement: "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein," especially applicable here; for neither can you enter the kingdom of the Spoken Word, except you become "as a little child." And I therefore have devoted another portion to the matter of child poems and Mother Goose melodies. In the presentation of the GRAMMAR OF THE SPOKEN WORD, I invite your attention to the first step.

Part I

THE GRAMMAR OF THE SPOKEN WORD I. Inflection

INFLECTION is the change of pitch from one definite pitch to another definite pitch with no apparent interval of pitch. It is upon every word, but is especially noticeable upon each successive thought word. What I mean by thought word is, that in each idea, there is one word, rarely two, which, when connected with successive individual thought word or words, forms the positive chain of the theme; while the other less important words are thrown in, in order to embellish the theme and to help direct the mind, and assist in making clear the story told. Therefore, the inflection falls upon this thought word in each successive idea, and when the mind is fully concentrated, and trained to respond truthfully in its activity, it will reveal the attitude of the speaker's mind towards his subject and his auditor. There are four kinds of inflection : —

A. Long. The long inflection is usually used in commands or intense speeches.

In order to differentiate what is meant by long and straight inflection, I would say that technically the only difference is in the gamut of pitch. In the long inflection the voice should travel over the length of an octave. Where the tone begins and where it leaves off, the musical ear will detect just how far the voice has traveled. Some have gone so far as to record the melody of speech by long lines upon paper, after which they have attempted to transcribe them into music; but all such attempts failed, primarily because there is no instrument which will record these delicate graded tones. While the violin is capable of many delicate shadings, yet even that instrument fails in its attempt to reproduce the spoken word. Example : —

Antony's speech to roman citizens

Shakespeare.

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them.

The good is oft interred with their bones;

So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus

Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:

If it were so, it was a grievous fault,

And grievously hath Caesar answer 'd it.

Here, imder leave of Brutus and the rest —

For Brutus is an honorable man;

So are they all, all honorable men —

Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.

He was my friend, faithful and just to me :

But Brutus says he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honorable man.

He hath brought many captives home to Rome,

Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill :

Did this in Caesar seem ambitious.?

When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept;

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious:

And Brutus is an honorable man.

You all did see that on the Lupercal

I thrice presented him with a kingly crown,

Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition .f*

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;

And, sure, he is an honorable man.

I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,

But here I am to speak what I do know.

You all did love him once, not without cause:

What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him?

O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts.

And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;

My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,

And I must pause till it comes back to me. "

Length of Inflection: —

"On! ye brave,

Who rush to glory, or the grave !

Wave, Munich, all thy banners wave ! And charge with all thy chivalry!

Few, few shall part where many meet ! The snow shall be their winding sheet, And every turf beneath their feet Shall be a soldier's sepulchre. '*

"Bathing in sunlight the fortress.

Turning to gold the grim walls.

While louder and clearer and higher Rings the song of the waterfalls."

"Go home, if you dare, to your constituents, and tell them that you voted it down! Meet those who sent you here, and tell them that you shrank from the declaration of your own sentiments; that you cannot tell how, but that some unknown dread, some indefinable danger affrighted you — that the spectres of cimeters, and crowns and crescents, gleamed before you, and alarmed you; and that you suppressed all the noble feelings prompted by religion, by liberty, by national independence, and by humanity!"

" Oh ! thoughts ineffable ! Oh ! visions blest !

Though worthless our conceptions all of thee. Yet shall thy shadowed image fill our breast,

And waft its homage to thy Deity.

God! thus alone my lonely thoughts can soar;

Thus seek Thy presence, Being wise and good ! *Midst Thy vast works admire, obey, adore!"

And these are suns ! — Vast, central, living fires,

Lords of dependent systems, kings of worlds

That wait as satellites upon their power.

And flourish in their smile. Awake, my soul,

And meditate the wonder! Countless suns

Blaze round thee, leading forth their countless worlds !-

Worlds, in whose bosoms living things rejoice,

And drink the bliss of being from the fount

Of all-pervading love! What mind can know,

What tongue can utter, all their multitudes, —

TWENTY-FOURTH PSALM

The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, The world and they that dwell therein; For he hath founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the floods.

First Choir

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?

Second Choir

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; Who hath not lifted up his soul imto vanity, And hath not sworn deceitfully.

AU

He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek after him, That seek Thy face, O God of Jacob.

All Without

Lift up your hands, O ye gates!

And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors!

And the King of Glory shall come in.

Choir Within Who is the King of Glory?

Choir Without

The Lord strong and mighty; The Lord mighty in battle.

Choir Without

Lift up your heads, O ye gates !

Yea, lift them up, ye everlasting doors!

And the King of Glory shall come in.

Choir Within Who is this King of Glory?

All Without The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.

B. Straight. The straight inflection is used in dignified, judicial, or business speeches.

The Straight inflection has comparatively little range. The gamut through which the tone travels in the thought word which reveals straight inflections, will be found to cover very few and sometimes no more than two notes, and although the change is very subtle in many straight inflections, yet the well tuned ear will be able to detect the pitch, at the start, and the gradation of the inflection. Examples : —

Portia's speech

From the Merchant of Venice.

"The quality of mercy is not strained;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath; it is twice blessed;

It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:

'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown:

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;

But mercy is above this sceptred sway.

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,

It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God's

When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,

Though justice be thy plea, consider this, — ■

That in the course of justice, none of us

Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render

The deeds of mercy. I have spoke this much,

To mitigate the justice of thy plea;

Which, if thou follow, this strict court of Venice

Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there."

"I hope, sir, that gentlemen will dehberately survey the awful isthmus on which we stand. They may bear dowTQ all opposition. They may carry the measure triumphantly through this house. But if they do, sir, in my humble judgment, it will be a triumph of the military over the civil authority — a triumph over the powers of this house — a triumph over the constitution of the land — and I pray, sir, most devoutly, that it may not prove, in its ultimate effects and consequences, a triumph over the liberties of the people. "

"Gentlemen of the Jury, the evidence to w^hich you have so faithfully listened during this w^eek, show^s that this prisoner must be guilty either of manslaughter or his freedom. I charge you to think well and carefully weigh the evidence you have in hand before making your report to the coiu-t. **

"The vengeance which the French took of the Swiss, for their determined opposition to the invasion of their country, was decisive and terrible. The soldiers dispersed over the country, carried fire, and sword, and robbery, into the most tranquil and hidden valleys of Switzerland. From the depths of sweet retreats echoed the shrieks of murdered men, stabbed in their humble dwellings, under the shadows of the high mountains, in the midst of those scenes of nature which make solemn and pure the secret thought of man, and appall him with the majesty of God. The flying peasants saw, in the midst of the night, their implements of husbandry, and the hopes of the future year, expiring in one cruel conflagration."

C. Abrupt. The short or abrupt inflection is used in petulant speeches, also in light or insipid conversation where no weighty matters are being discussed, usually over the afternoon tea-cups. Abrupt inflection may or may not have the same length as is contained in a long inflection, tonically speaking; but the movement of the inflected sound is so increased that it seems to shorten it; hence the differentiation between long or short or abrupt inflection. Examples: —

Speed, Malise, SPEED!— The dun-deer's hide

On fleeter foot was never tied;

Speed, Malise, SPEED ! such cause of haste

Bend 'gainst the steepy-hill thy breast —

RUSH down like torrent from its crest !

ScoU.

Unhand, me, gentlemen!

By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me! I say away! — Go on; I'll follow thee!

O, that the slave had forty thousand lives ! One is too poor, too weak, for my revenge ! Arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow cell ! Yield up, O love, thy crown and hearty throne To tyrannous hate!

Strike till the last armed foe expires! Strike for your altars and your fires! Strike for the green graves of your sires ! God, and your native land !

Pierpont

How ill this taper burns! Ha! who comes here? I think it is the weakness of mine eyes. That shapes this monstrous apparition! It comes upon me! — ^Art thou anything?

Shakespeare.

Have mercy. Heaven ! — Ha ! soft ! 'twas but a dream ! But then so terrible, it shakes my soul! Cold drops of sweat hang on my trembling flesh ! My blood grows chilly, and I freeze v/ith horror!

D. Circumflex. The circumflex inflection is used in

undignified speeches, also in the mental attitude of

prevarication.

Circumflex inflection is very readily understood because

of the twisting of the tone from the time of its beginning

to the close, and each will unconsciously realize that the

inflections of the undignified or the prevaricating mind

are continually twisting and turning until it is difficult to

realize definitely what is meant by the speech. Examples :

ELDER ford's TWO CANDIDATES

S. W, Foss.

Now I don*t want to brag at all; but this is my idee;

It takes a purty scrumptious man to git ahead er me.

I've got a brain for planning things, I've got an eye that's peeled,

And the chap who gits ahead of me hez kep himself concealed.

I opened up my grocery-store down here two year ago, An' thought if I should jine the church, I'd have a better

show; For this is a religious place, an' I seen very well The piouser a feller was, the more goods he would sell.

So I applied to jine the church, let no time run to waste. **This is a solium step," they said, "an' shouldn' be took

in haste."

"Go home an' pray about this thing. Go pray," says

Elder Ford, "An' talk it over prayerfully an' deeply with the Lord."

I see they didn' want me then; but this is my idee; It takes a purty scrumptious man to git ahead er me. "I'll come and see ye later, sir," sez I to Elder Ford, "Wen I've talked it over prayfuUy an' deeply with the Lord."

So two weeks later I appeared before the church ag'in An' asked politely as I could if they would let me in. "I've talked it over with the Lord," said I, "for many

a day."

"An' what, pray tell," asked Elder Ford, "what did the

good Lord say?"

"I'm tryin' to git in," sez I, "to the church of Elder Ford, An' they won't let me in at all." *Don't worry' sez the Lord.

*You are not the only one,* sez he, 'they've laid upon the sheK.

'I've tried ten years without success to git in there myself.'"

"Knock, knock! Who's there, in the other devil's name? Faith here's an equivocator that could swear in both the scales against either scale; who committed treason enough for God's sake, yet could not equivocate to Heaven. O, come in, equivocator."

Shakespeare.

"He will come straight. Look you lay home to him: Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with, And that your grace hath screened and stood between Much heat and him. I'll sconce me even here. Pray you, be round with him.''

Shakespeare.

"Certainly my conscience will serve me to run from this

Jew my master.

The fiend is at mine elbow, and tempts me, saying to me,

'Gobbo, Launcelot Gobbo, good Launcelot,' or 'good Gobbo,' or

' good Launcelot Gobbo, use your legs, take the start, run away.'"

Shakespeare.

"I couldn't help a-methinkin' to myself several times. It duz seem to me that there hain't a question a-comin' up before that Conference that is harder to tackle than this plasterin' and the conundrum that is up before us Jonesville wimmen how to raise 300 dollars out of nuthin', and to make peace in a meetin' house where anarky is now rainin' down.

But I only thought these thoughts to myself, fur I knew every woman there wuz peacible and law abidin' and there wazn't one of 'em but what would rather fall offen her barell then go agin the rules of the Methodist Meetin' House.

The second night of my arjuous labors on the meetin' ouse, Josiah began wild and eloquent about wimmen bein' on Conferences, and mountin' rostrums. And sez he, "'That is suthin' that we Methodist men can't stand/"

Marietta Holley.

11. Pitch

Pitch is the melodic response of voice to mind from one central thought word or key to another central thought word or key; that is, every idea awakens a peculiar feeling of its own and the voice naturally will respond in different keys; as, for instance, in a degree of sorrow or melancholy, the voice will have a minor key; while in love, it will have a major key; also, in joy. In other words, every idea, if truthfully enjoyed and lived, will have a key of its own and the voice will respond in these various keys, thus revealing the grasp of the mind on each successive idea.

Pitch occurs between ideas, and it shows change of thought. Therefore, one cannot have inflection without change of pitch, but may have change of pitch with little or no inflection.

In Robert Louis Stevenson's "Where Go the Boats?" the reader will observe if he concentrates his thought definitely upon the first idea, "Dark brown is the river," that the voice will be concentrated in one definite place, according to the degree of understanding of what is meant by "Dark brown is the river." Then when the next idea presents itself, "Golden is the sand," the voice naturally becomes illuminated by this idea of brilliancy and the result is a change of key, and on in the next idea where it "Flows along forever," there is a sort of suspension of suggested continuity, and again the voice takes another key, and so on throughout the entire poem, which is quoted in full below, you will find this very apparent. As many students have found comfort in its interpretation, I take pleasure in submitting it for the general pubUc.

"Dark brown is the river" of experience. "Golden sands" of comfort are thrown in, as we go along, and it "flows along forever" that is, the stream of experience, that seems to start to-day for us, has been going on from the beginning of time, and as time never had a beginning and will never have an end, so this stream "flows along forever." "With trees on either hand," these trees lending their protection for resting places from the heat of the sun during the day's labor. "Green leaves a-floating," these green leaves are the individual aspirations of every young man and woman in the world, and though they are green or new leaves, still, to each one they are "castles of the foam." "Boats of mine a-boating;" they are indeed the great boats to us who are started out on this river of experience, and in the language of Robert Browning in his reference to youth, he says, " Mine be some transfigured flame which transcends them all." Each feels that he or she in launching this boat upon this river of time will send it in climes and regions where no one else has dared to venture. In the last line of this verse comes the great question which so perplexes the youth: — "Where will all come home.?" that is, where shall this great dream, "boats of mine, " come home; when shall I realize this great undertaking?

"On goes the river, and out past the mill;" this river continually goes on, and on, and on, until it comes to, and goes out past this mill of grinding. These many days and years which are spent in toil in the burning of the midnight oil and concentration upon the plans, have been steps which lead toward the realization of his dream or idea. Yet, each must do so much grinding in this world of experience; and unless those grindings come, the preparation for the launching and sending forward of their boats will be at fault, and only discouragement and sorrow will result.

"Away down the valley;" and many times in our struggle to accomplish these great ideals, each one goes down into the valley of discouragement. **Away down the hill;" of despair and then there comes the consolation in these few lines, "Away down the river a hundred miles or more, ' ' ' 'Other little children shall bring my boat ashore. ' * How wonderful it is to know that we are the other little children bringing to shore the boats that were launched by some loved one or dear friend, perhaps a hundred years before; and what a great satisfaction to know that we have a part in launching a boat which must be of use to bear a rich store of precious gems of knowledge, information and inspiration for those other little children who will bring the boat ashore.

UP HILL

Christina G. Rossetti.

Does the road wind up hill all the way.^

Yes, to the very end.

Will the day's journey take the whole long day?

From morn to night, my friend.

But is there for the night a resting place?

A roof for when the slow dark hours begin. May not the darkness hide it from my face?

You cannot miss that inn.

Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?

Those who have gone before.

Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?

They will not keep you standing at that door.

Shall I find comfort, travel sore and weak?

Of labor you shall find the sum.

Will there be beds for me and all who seek?

Yea, beds for all who come.

RIENZI TO THE ROMANS

Mary Russell Mitford.

Mary Russell Mitford, the author, was born in 1786 in England; died 1855. The following is taken from the play of "Rienzi," (Cola di Rienzi, a Roman tribune, was born at Rome in 1313, and died in 1354,) and is founded upon a speech made by Rienzi in 1347, when he proposed, after the assassination of his brother by a Roman noble, a set of laws for the better government and protection of the common people of Rome. —

"I come not here to talk. You know too well The story of our thralldom. We are slaves ! The bright sun rises to his course, and lights A race of slaves! He sets, and his last beams Fall on a slave; not such as, swept along By the full tide of power, the conqueror led To crimson glory and undying fame, — But base, ignoble slaves; slaves to a horde Of petty tyrants, feudal despots, lords. Rich in some dozen paltry villages; Strong in some hundred spearmen; only great In that strange spell, — a name !

Each hour dark fraud, Or open rapine, or protected murder. Cries out against them. But this very day. An honest man, my neighbor, — there he stands, — ■ Was struck — struck like a dog, by one who wore The badge of Ursini ! because, forsooth. He tossed not high his ready cap in air, Nor lifted up his voice in servile shouts. At sight of that great ruffian! Be we men, And suffer such dishonor? Men, and wash not The stain away in blood? Such shames are common. I had a brother once — a gracious boy, Full of all gentleness, of calmest hope. Of sweet and quiet joy; there was the look Of heaven upon his face, which limners give To the beloved disciple.

How I loved That gracious boy ! Younger by fifteen years, Brother at once and son! He left my side, A summer bloom on his fair cheek; a smile Parting his innocent lips. In one short hour That pretty, harmless boy was slain ! I saw The corse, the mangled corse, and then I cried For vengeance! Rouse, ye Romans! Rouse, ye slaves. Have ye brave sons? — Look in the next fierce brawl To see them die. Have ye fair daughters.'^ Look To see them live, torn from your arms, disdained Dishonored; and, if ye dare call for justice. Be answered by the lash.

Yet this is Rome That sat on her seven hills, and from her throne Of beauty ruled the world! And we are Romans. Why, in that elder day, to be a Roman Was greater than a king !

And once again, — Hear me, ye walls that echo to the tread Of either Brutus! Once again, I swear The eternal city shall be free. Her sons Shall walk with princes ere to-morrow's dawn The tyrants —

Hark— the bell, the bell!

That to the city and the plain.

Proclaim the glorious tale Of Rome reborn, and freedom.

See the clouds are swept away, and the moon's boat of

light Sails in the clear blue sky, and million stars Look out on us, and smile — Hark! that great voice

Hath broke our bondage. Look, without a stroke The capitol is won — the gates unfold — The keys are at our feet. Alberti, friend — How shall I pay the ser\dce.? Citizens! First to possess the palace citadel —

The famous strength of Rome, then to sweep on,