Quantity values in prose. While these different quantities are an ever-present consideration in the interpretation of poetry, they are no less important in prose. Compare the quantity of the opening lines of the speech of Robert G. Ingersoll on Napoleon with the later lines of the speech which describe Napoleon's military campaigns, and the difference in the quantity values of prose is apparent.

1. A little while ago I stood by the grave of the old Napoleon a magnificent tomb of gilt and gold, fit almost for a dead deity—and gazed upon the sarcophagus of rare and nameless marble, where rest at last the ashes of that restless man.

2. I saw him putting down the mob in the streets of Paris. I saw him at the head of the army of Italy. I saw him crossing the bridge of Lodi with the tricolor in his hand. I saw him in Egypt in the shadows of the pyramids. I saw him conquer the Alps and mingle the eagles of France with the eagles of the crags. I saw him at Marengo, at Ulm and Austerlitz. I saw him in Russia, where the infantry of the snow and the cavalry of the wild blast scattered his legions like winter's withered leaves. I saw him at Leipsic in defeat and disaster, driven by a million bayonets back upon Paris - clutched like a wild beast - banished to Elba.

In the first part of this speech Ingersoll portrays a scene of awe and magnificence—a man standing in silent contemplation before the gilded tomb of the great conqueror. Language is chosen that suits exactly the atmosphere of the scene. The words "ago," "old," Napoleon, "tomb," 'gold," 'rare,' nameless," "marble," are made up of easy-flowing sounds which produce just the effect that the speaker intended.

९९

The later lines of the speech portray an atmosphere entirely different. Here it is the martial tread of Napoleon's armies on their different campaigns. One can almost hear the tramp of the soldiers' feet and the hoof beats of the horses in the movement of the lines. The words employed are crisp and full of action. The abrupt "scattered," "withered," "driven," "clutched," 'banished," give the martial effect that the speaker desired and exactly accomplish his purpose.

Attention to quantity values fundamental. There can be no doubt that Ingersoll possessed a genius for sound and color that few orators have approached. Yet every skilled speaker employs this principle to some extent. The speaker is constantly narrating incidents, describing objects, explaining processes, portraying scenes, and he needs every possible resource to accomplish his end. If he gives no attention to quantity values in speech, he is denying himself the use of one of the very effective instruments of expression.

The speaker who utters all syllables, regardless of their quantity values, in an abrupt manner is not able to give adequate expression to a great range of sentiments, such as the pathetic or the sublime. He may be possessed genuinely of a desire to express such a sentiment, and yet be wholly unable to do so because of his fixed habit of abrupt utterance. On the other hand, he who unduly prolongs every syllable, whether it be long or short, finds it equally impossible to give adequate expression to that which requires abruptness and point.

In order to overcome difficulties of this kind, it is necessary that the speaker understand the different time

values of our language and the influence that they have upon expression. He should know that some sounds are of so long quantity that they may be easily prolonged; that others are so short that they can scarcely be prolonged at all; and that it is fatal to good expression when no attention is given to these values. Accordingly it is necessary that he be discriminating in his diction, and that he be able to give to the elements of speech their proper values. If he has never observed the differences in quantity of the various speech elements, and has been accustomed to give to all sounds and syllables an equal length, he will no doubt experience much difficulty in overcoming the habit. But he will be repaid for his pains, since a true evaluation of the initial elements of speech is fundamental.

Nowhere is the importance of this principle more apparent than in oratorical composition. To be successful with this style of writing is by no means easy. It requires an ability to sense time values to an extent that the verbal expression will harmonize with the emotion. In fact, in all prose that is more or less emotional we find a certain tendency towards measured utterance, which calls into use the quantity elements of speech. For instance, the writer who attempts to express a feeling of strong patriotism by means of cold, matter-of-fact language, that might be very appropriate for an essay, fails chiefly because he does not understand quantity values. So in all expression, whether written or spoken, it is desirable to gain such a feeling for the quantity values of language that one becomes accustomed, more or less unconsciously, to suit sound to sense.

II. PAUSE

The second principle of time is that of pause. Pause is the cessation of utterance between the logical divisions of speech. All language is made up of a series of ideas, presented one after another by means of words and groups of words. In order to grasp the thought, the mind must rest momentarily upon each idea as it is presented. This makes necessary a slight cessation, or pause, after each thought group. These thought groups, each containing a single idea, are known as phrases, and the process of grouping together the words that express single ideas is known as phrasing.

These phrases are usually closely related, and the pauses serve not only to separate them but also to show their relation to one another and to the thought as a whole.

It is a mistake to suppose that pause serves no other purpose than to separate expression into its component phrases. Very often pause is the determining factor that manifests more clearly than anything else the thought and purpose of the speaker. Consider the words of Hamlet, "To be, or not to be that is the question." What element of expression could portray as do the weighty pauses of this line the feelings of the young prince as he soliloquizes on the value of human existence, where a soul stands in the borderland between a known misery and an unknown eternity!

The first question relating to pause is the consideration of where pauses should and should not be used; the second, that of their value as related to the more effective expression of the speaker's thought as a whole.

Pause not a mechanical principle. First let us consider where pauses may properly be used. The suggestion that is sometimes made that the speaker should pause before or after certain parts of speech, as before relative pronouns and after intransitive verbs, is of little value, inasmuch as it directs the attention to the mechanical structure of language instead of to its logical purpose. It should be remembered that pause, like inflection, serves to show logical rather than grammatical relations. The old-time schoolmaster took infinite pains to impress his pupils with the importance of pausing for a certain number of counts at every comma, a longer time at every semicolon, and still longer at every period. The fact is that, in order to show true logical relations, one sometimes makes no pause at a comma, occasionally pauses several times as long at a comma as at a semicolon or period, and makes pauses constantly where there are no marks of punctuation at all. This goes to show that punctuation is not a reliable guide for the voice. In fact, it is not intended to be. It serves merely as an aid to the eye in pointing out grammatical relations. The eye of the reader is able usually to catch at a glance the relations indicated on the printed page, often traveling several phrases in advance of the thought which his voice is expressing.

Pause necessary to reveal the thought. The ear needs considerable more assistance than the eye. If the eye does not catch at first glance the relations indicated upon the printed page, it can go back and take its time in discovering them. This the ear cannot do. If the thought relations are not made clear by the voice step by step as the speaker proceeds, they are lost and the ear has no