the bud that breathed the yet infolded perfume of sweet but undefined hopes, that coming years would ripen to fruition. His remorseless foot has fallen beside this hearthstone and lo! the dread footprint has hollowed The baby is dead. a little grave. The tiny image, white as sculptured Parian, lies yonder in its snowy casket, draped in spotless fabrics, and wreathed in funeral flowers. The mother bends with anguished eyes over the still, small effigy of her last hope, but the baby is not there. Out of her arms, out of life, something has gone that will not return. The sealed lids will not uplift from happy sleep, the wondering eyes will search her face no more. The little restless hands lie still and pulseless, frozen into eternal quiet, their silken touches, vague and aimless as the kisses of the south wind, will steal into her bosom to soothe her weariness and assuage her grief, no more. She realizes this, and with all the live, pulsating grief of newly-bereaved motherhood, she leans above the dainty coffin, and slow, scalding tears, wrung from the very fibres of her bruised life, drop one by one on the unconscious face. And the days lengthen, and the nights fall, and the years roll on. She keeps the key to baby's casket in her bosom the memory of her rosebud far within her breast and life, for her, is never again quite what it used to be ere baby died. (BROWN: The Baby is Dead) KING DAVID MOURNS FOR ABSALOM The waters slept. Night's silvery veil hung low Their glassy rings beneath it, like the still, Unbroken beating of the sleeper's pulse. The reeds bent down the stream; the willow leaves, Forgot the lifting winds; and the long stems, How strikingly the course of nature tells, King David's limbs were weary. He had fled From far Jerusalem; and now he stood They gathered round him on the fresh green bank, Oh! when the heart is full - when bitter thoughts (WILLIS: Absalom) THE DAYS THAT ARE NO MORE Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean, Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail, That sinks with all we love below the verge; As sad and strange as in dark summer dawns The casement slowly grows a glimmering square; Dear as remembered kisses after death, (TENNYSON: The Princess) CHAPTER XIII RATE (IN WORDS AND SENTENCES) In addition to quality, force, and pitch, every sound has a certain duration in time. When several sounds are uttered in succession, the term rate, instead of duration, is used to designate the time element. Broadly classified, rate of speaking may be considered as moderate (normal), rapid, or slow. A skillful and discriminating use of these ranges is a signal help in delivery. The changes in pitch and force already presented are sufficient to provide for the expression of normal interest and for the distinction of ordinary relative values. Therefore, a moderate rate is used most of the time. But if the speaker desires to create an impression of emotional intensity, excitement, or rapid action, a fast rate is much more suggestive to his audience. If, on the contrary, he wishes to give unusual weight, or emphasis to an idea or part of an idea, or if he has occasion to suggest great size or slow action, a more deliberate than normal rate is most fitting. Furthermore, the student should not overlook the fact that a changing rate is an aid to pitch and force variation in the avoidance of monotony. And, of course, an appreciable change of rate may be made in any one raterange without passing into one of the others; i. e., there are various degrees of normal, of slow, and of rapid rate. For more detailed consideration of the time ele ment, it will be advantageous to study its application to words and sentences, and later to whole sections of an address. Rate Applied to Single Words The time occupied in speaking any word may vary considerably, from an utterance which is abrupt to one which is slowly drawn out. This possibility is due to the fact that the vowels, especially the long vowels, and the continuant consonants may all be indefinitely prolonged or shortened in quantity, as may also the breaks between syllables. From this it is obvious that words which are composed mainly of short vowels and explosive consonants, such as quick, brisk, chuck, and pick, lend themselves readily to rapid utterance. On the contrary, words comprising long vowels and continuants, such as allay, lean, file, moan, and use, invite slow utterance. Moreover, words of many syllables, such as occupation, prohibition, and manufacture, are more adaptable to slow delivery than are words of about the same length but of fewer syllables, such as blackboard, playground, and throughout, owing to the possibility of retarding at the breaks between syllables. Speakers may well bear in mind, both in composition and delivery, this varied capacity in words. Of course, in the case of extempore speaking not much choice for purposes of rate is to be expected, but it is desirable to realize that a single well-chosen and aptly spoken word can produce a marked effect. For example, supposing a person is talking about a plan which has been carefully worked out, when one day something went wrong and "click the whole thing fell through. The failure was due to procrastination." The word "click," just one fault |