And quivering and shivering, And clattering and battering and shattering, PAUSES Are of two kinds: Grammatical and Rhetorical. The former pertain to the study of Grammar. They are: The comma (,) semicolon (;) colon (:) and period (.); as well as the notes of interrogation (?) and exclamation (!); as also the dash (-) parentheses (()) and quotation marks (""), are pauses which divide composition or discourse into sentences, and these again into smaller sections, some of which, at times, consist even of a single word. The very great importance of these points, renders it imperative on us to study them carefully, and consider them with close attention; for a disregard of them in reading, and a misapplication of them in punctuating, will, even in a comma, very frequently destroy the sense completely, or change it into something very different from what it should be. In primary reading, they should be explained; but the child should not be required to count one at a comma, two at a semicolon, etc., but should be told that the sense will govern the length of the pauses. If the sense requires rapid utterance, the pauses will be very short; if slow utterances, the pauses will be long. Pauses in speech are to sentences, what inspiration is to respiration: the time for taking breath. Words in speech are to sentences, what expiration is to respiration: the expulsion of breath. Hence, sentences must be cut up into sections, by pauses or rests, to allow time for inspiration, or taking breath. Words can be pronounced only during expiration, and pauses made during inspiration. Therefore, Pauses in speech and reading are used for inspiration, and words for expiration. The proper management of inspiration and expiration (or of breathing) in the process of intonation, is of the very utmost importance to a reader or public speaker. All that passes in the mind may be reduced to two classes, which may be called Ideas and Emotions. By Ideas, we mean all thoughts that rise and pass in succession through the mind; by Emotions, all the EFFECTS produced on the mind by those ideas, from the more violent agitation of the passions, to the calmer feelings produced by the operation of the intellect and fancy. In short, thoughts are the objects of the one, internal feelings of the other. That which serves to express the former, we call language of ideas; that which serves to express the latter, the language of emotions. Words are the signs of our ideas; tones and emphasis are the signs of our emotions. Without these two sorts of language, it would be impossible to communicate to the ear, all that passes in the mind. We have, therefore, another kind of Pauses, called Rhetorical, or Emotional Pauses. The following general rule should be observed: A Rhetorical Pause should be placed immediately before or after some word of peculiar importance, or on which we wish to fix the hearer's attention; while at the same time, also, it gives a little more time to fix the thought more intently upon the subject. The pause before awakens curiosity and excites expectation; and after, it rolls back the mind to what was last said. It should not be repeated too frequently; for, as it excites strong emotions, and, of course, raises expectation, if the importance of the matter be not fully answerable to such expectation, it occasions disappointment and disgust. EXAMPLES OF RHETORICAL PAUSES. Creation sleeps: 1. 'tis as the general pulse of life - stood still; And nature made a pause, an awful pause, Prophetic of her end. 2. The stars shall fade away, - the sun - himself - The wreck of matter, - and the crush of worlds. 3. A lowly knee to earth he bent, - his father's hand he took; lead! He looked up to the face above — the face was of the dead! A plume waved o'er the noble brow; - that brow was fixed and white; He met, at last, his father's eyes, - but in them was no sight! Up from the ground he sprang, and gazed- - but who could paint that gaze? They hushed their very hearts, - that saw its horror and amaze ! 4. Who's here so base that would be a bondman? - If any, speak; - for him have I offended. -- Who's here so rude, that would not be a Roman ? - If any, speak; - for him have I offended. Who's here so vile, that will not love his country? If any, speak; - for him have I offended. -- I pause for a reply. 5. O thou Eternal One! - whose presence bright Whom none can comprehend, - and none explore! Embracing all supporting - ruling o'er! Being whom we call God- and know no more! Discourse on written composition is generally broken up into different portions, consisting of one or a greater number of periods, and generally marked by a break in the composition, with an indentation of the left marginal line of a page, and called Paragraphic portions, or Paragraphs. The pause that indicates the transition from one of these portions to another, may, with propriety, be called the Paragraphic Pause. EXAMPLE. Have we no great names to go flaming down the ages? When will Henry's clarion voice be hushed, or Warren cease to tell men how to die for liberty? When will Adams, and Franklin, and Jefferson, fade from history? Is it constitutional wisdom, excellence of laws, or incentives to individual exertion? No other land can compare with ours in these respects. Is it grandeur of scenery? God has made but one Niagara, one Mississippi, one Hudson. Is it territorial extent? Our domain stretches from ocean to ocean, and from lake to gulf. By all these incentives, let our school-boys be fired with an enthusiastic love for the dear land of their birth, the precious heritage of their fathers; let them leave the school-room for the arena of active life, feeling that, next to God and their parents, their country claims and shall receive their best affections and most uncompromising devotion; let them realize that their conduct will bring honor or dishonor upon their country, as surely as upon their parents and friends; let them learn to identify themselves, as citizens, with the interests of the commonwealth - blushing at whatever disgraces her, exulting in all that contributes to her glory and renown; let them feel that this great country is their country- that they have a personal proprietorship in the lustre of her history, the honor of her name, the magnificence of her commerce, the valor of her fleets and armies, the inviolability of her constitution and laws, and the magnitude and beneficence of her civil, social, and religious institutions. All the Elements of Expression, in their single and combined action in the production of the various kinds of Emphasis, Qualities of Voice, Waves, Measures of Speech, Transitions, Drifts and Pauses, that are intended to be observed in reading Prose, should be equally applied in the reading of Verse. There is this only difference in the intonation of poetry from that of prose: the use of the Cesural Pause, which can not be brought into requisition in prose, from its exclusive applicability to verse, as also the predominance in verse of either the Common or Triple time measure of speech. These are the only two particulars which distinguish the intonation of poetry from prose. The balance of the difference consists, not in intonation, but arises out of the mechanical construction of the sentences; the more or less regularity of the rhythm in verse, and the great irregularity of it in prose. We have found that when the student could manage the rhetorical pause well, he had little difficulty with the poetical pauses. The principle of their application is the same, only in poetry it is more regular and uniform. INFLECTION AND EMPHASIS. Emphasis always points out the sense of those words which may be regarded as expressive of certain thoughts, sentiments, or emotions. Whatever is the sense of any word, Emphasis will bring it out; and will not only raise it into conspicuous importance, but contradistinguish it from the sense of other words, mark or direct the sense of an ellipsis, and point out grammatical relation. The occasions for the use of Emphasis are of constant occurrence; and either of these circumstances will afford sufficient ground for its use. A perception of the grammatical construction of a sentence, of its special meaning, of the kind and amount of feeling it is intended to convey — in a word, a perception of the relation of thoughts in the author's mindare the circumstances which must regulate the application of Emphasis. A nice and rigid analysis of the import of what is read or said, is necessary, to employ Emphasis with correctness or propriety. There are certain characteristics of vocal sounds which unerringly call the attention of an auditory. They are High Powers of Stress, in any of its specific modes; Extreme Length of Quantity; Wide Intervals of Pitch; and a Peculiar Quality of Voice, when set on words, may be considered as Elements of Emphasis. When the Emphasis is positive or absolute, we use the Falling Inflection. When the Emphasis is relative, or dependent upon something yet to follow, we use the Rising Inflection. EXAMPLES. 1. On! ON! you noble English. 2. Must I bid twice? Hence, varlets, FLY! 3. Slaves! TRAITORS! have ye flown? 4. To arms! to ARMS! ye braves! 5. Be assured, be ASSURED, that this declaration will stand. 6. Rise, RISE, ye wild tempests, and cover his flight! 7. To arms! to ARMS! to ARMS! they cry. 8. Hence! HOME, you idle creatures! get you HOME! 9. Hurrah for bright water! HURRAH! HURRAH! 10. I met him, FACED him, SCORNED him. 11. Horse! HORSE! and CHASE! 12. We may die; die COLONISTS! die SLAVES! 13. The charge is utterly, TOTALLY, MEANLY, false. 14. Ay, cluster there! Cling to your master, judges, ROMANS, SLAVES. 15. I defy the honorable gentleman; I defy the GOVERNMENT; I defy the WHOLE PHALANX. 16. Strike till the last armed foe expires! STRIKE for your altars and your fires! STRIKE for the green graves of your sires! 17. He has allowed us to meet you here, and, in the name of the present generation, in the name of your cOUNTRY, in the name of LIBERTY, to thank you. 18. They shouted France! SPAIN! ALBION! VICTORY! We see that Emphasis and Inflection are intimately connected. We especially urge the use of the falling inflection whenever the sense demands it, as the character, amount of knowledge, and even success of an individual may be understood or made a failure by its neglect. We submit the following rule for the application of Inflection: In all Loose, Complex, and Compound Sentences whatever, whose members, clauses and phrases which have the sense incomplete, or are dependent on something following, should have the RISING inflection; and all those which have the sense finished and completed, or are independent of any thing that follows, require the FALLING inflection. In this rule we have embraced the two great important particulars, which are the grånd governing principles in nearly all the rules regulating the inflections of the voice, at the end of members and smaller sections of sentences. They are very comprehensive, and should, therefore, be well understood: and when once understood so as to be carried into practice, they will greatly aid the reader and speaker, in giving him |