the sympathy could not share with him his suffering. He trod the winepress alone. With unfaltering front he faced death. With unfailing tenderness he took leave of life. Above the demoniac hiss of the assassin's bullet he heard the voice of God. With supple resignation he bowed to the Divine Decree. PAUSE AND THE GATHERING AND CONTROL OF EMOTION. [Some sentiments, to be effectively expressed, require time for the gathering of the emotion. The following requires an increased pause preceding "before" to enable the speaker to gather the awe, destiny and inspiration that must be exhibited in every word: "Sir, before God I believe the hour is come." Sometimes there is a tendency for an emotion to master the speaker and overwhelm his utterance, as in the lines "I said all well," and, "Ah, Hal, I'll try, "' in the selection under this head. In such cases increased pause is required in which to control the feeling.] Our Folks. ETHEL LYNN. "Hi! Harry Holly! Halt,—and tell You did? Shake hands,-Oh, ain't I glad; And hot saltpetre flames and smokes, While whole battalions lie afield, One's apt to think about his folks. And so you saw them-when? and where? Or does she seem to pine and fret You saw them in the church, you say; What ails you, Hal? Is this a hoax? "I said all well, old comrade, true; See, this long curl was kept for you; And this white blossom from her breast, And here your sister Bessie wrote There's some bad news from Grainger's folks." He turns his back-the only foe That ever saw it—on this grief, And, as men will, keeps down the tears But in my throat there's something chokes, I s'pose she must be happy now, By being tender, kind, and true. And when His hand deals other strokes, She'll stand by heaven's gate, I know, And wait to welcome in our folks." Break! Break! Break! ALFRED TENNYSON. Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O Sea! And I would that my tongue could utter Oh, well for the fisherman's boy, That he shouts with his sister at play! Oh, well for the sailor lad, That he sings in his boat on the bay! And the stately ships go on To their haven under the hill; But O for the touch of a vanished hand, Break, break, break, At the foot of thy crags, O Sea! But the tender grace of a day that is dead PAUSE AND THE SUBSIDENCE OF EMOTION. [The subsidence of emotion manifests itself by increased pause. In the following, increased pause after "dwelling" is demanded to give time for the subsidence of the deeply stirred feelings of Spartacus: "That very night the Romans landed on our coast. I saw the breast that had nourished me trampled by the hoof of the war horse; the bleeding body of my father flung amid the blazing rafters of our dwelling."'] Spartacus to the Gladiators. E. KELLOGG. Today I killed a man in the arena; and, when I broke his helmet clasps, behold! he was my friend. He knew me, smiled faintly, gasped, and died; the same sweet smile upon his lips that I had marked, when, in adventurous boyhood, we scaled the lofty cliff to pluck the first ripe grapes, and bear them home in childish triumph! I told the prætor that the dead man had been my friend, generous and brave, and I begged that I might bear away the body, to burn it on a funeral pile, and mourn over its ashes. Ay, upon my knees, amid the dust and blood of the arena, I begged that poor boon, while all the assembled maids and matrons, and the holy virgins they call Vestals, and the rabble, shouted in derision, deeming it rare sport, forsooth, to see Rome's fiercest gladiator turn pale and tremble at sight of that piece of bleeding clay. And the prætor drew back, as if I were pollution, and sternly said, "Let the carrion rot; there are no noble men but Romans." And so, fellow-gladiators, must you, and so must I, die like dogs. O Rome, Rome, thou hast been a tender nurse to me. Ay, thou hast given to that poor, gentle, timid shepherd lad, who never knew a harsher tone than a flute-note, muscles of iron and a heart of flint; taught him to drive the sword through plaited mail and links of rugged brass, and warm it in the marrow of his foe;-to gaze into the glaring eye-balls of the fierce Numidian lion, even as a boy upon a laughing girl. And he shall pay thee back, until the yellow Tiber is red as frothing wine, and in its deepest ooze thy lifeblood lies curdled. Ye stand here now like giants, as ye are. The strength of brass is in your toughened sinews; but tomorrow some Roman Adonis, breathing sweet perfume from his curly locks, shall with his lily fingers pat your red brawn, and bet his sesterces upon your blood! Hark! hear ye yon lion roaring in his den? 'Tis three days since he tasted flesh, but tomorrow he shall break his fast upon yours,—and a dainty meal for him ye will be! If ye are beasts, then stand here like fat oxen, waiting for the butcher's knife. If ye are men, -follow me! Strike down yon guard, gain the mountain passes, and there do bloody work, as did your sires at old Thermopyla. Is Sparta dead? Is the old Grecian spirit frozen in your veins, that you do crouch and cower like a belabored hound beneath his master's lash? O comrades, warriors, Thracians,--if we must fight, let us fight for ourselves! If we must slaughter, let us slaughter our oppressors! If we must die, let it be under the clear sky, by the bright waters, in noble, honorable battle! |