While yet I looked, what a change there came! The garland beneath her had fallen to dust; Grew crook'd and tarnished, but on they kept; From the shriveled lips of the toothless crone, John Pierpont. FROM THE LOTOS-EATERS. How sweet it were, hearing the downward stream Falling asleep in a half-dream! To dream and dream, like yonder amber light, Which will not leave the myrrh-bush on the height; To hear each other's whispered speech; Eating the Lotos day by day, To watch the crisping ripples on the beach, To lend our hearts and spirits wholly To the influence of mild-minded melancholy; Heaped over with a mound of grass, Two handfuls of white dust, shut in an urn of brass! Lord Tennyson. FROM ROMEO AND JULIET. Rom. It is my lady; O, it is my love! She speaks, yet she says nothing; what of that? I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks: Having some business, do entreat her eyes As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven Jul. Wilt thou be gone? it is not yet near day: Rom. It was the lark, the herald of the morn, No nightingale: look, love, what envious streaks William Shakespeare. THE BROOKSIDE. I wandered by the brookside, I could not hear the brook flow,— There was no burr of grasshopper, But the beating of my own heart I sat beneath the elm tree; I watched the long, long shade, I did not feel afraid; But the beating of my own heart He came not,—no, he came not,— Each on his golden throne; The evening wind passed by my cheek, Fast, silent tears were flowing, Lord Houghton. EXERCISES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF VOCAL ENERGY. In the discussion of purity of tone, we confined ourselves to selections that required subdued or moderate volumes of voice, for two reasons: first, because we seldom use, in the ordinary affairs of life, anything more than moderate force; second, because it is easier to secure purity of tone with the moderate forces of voice than with the louder or more impassioned. Nevertheless, it is necessary to cultivate the louder forces of voice, and though the much greater portion of our literature is rendered with moderate volumes, yet the louder forces are needed for public address and for the expression of the more elevated forms of thought. The First Step in securing vocal energy is the mastery of those physical exercises that relate to the development of strength in the action of the diaphragm and the muscular walls of the abdomen; the development of the muscles of the chest, and the expansion of the lungs; the development of elasticity in the muscles of the trunk, and flexibility in the muscles of the thorax and the throat. PHYSICAL EXERCISES. To develop upper chest muscles.-Raise arms sideways, shoulders high, elbows straight, hands clenched, knuckles toward floor. Make as many small circles with arms from shoulder as possible, while inhaling one full deep breath slowly. Inhale full deep breath while raising arms slowly sideways to meet overhead. Keep hips back, head up, weight forward, and elbows perfectly straight. Exhale while arms come down slowly to position. This exercise fills the lungs completely, and gives the greatest strength and freedom to the respiratory muscles. Repeat the same lying with the back flat on the floor. Abdominal muscles.-Inhale and hold breath while bending at the waist line, first to the right, then to the left. Repeat, bending to the front and back at the waist. Lying flat on the back, keep the heels together on the floor, fold arms across chest, and rise to sitting position. Use the abdominal muscles in the exercise of panting like a dog, closing the exercise by one quick expulsion of the remaining breath. Let the throat muscles be free. Whisper the following commands with free, open position of throat, and strong, quick action of abdominal muscles: Forward, the Light Brigade! "My bannerman, advance! I see," he cried, "their column shake; Not a minute more to wait! Shove ashore, then blow up, burn the vessels on the beach! In the exercises for purity of tone, the resonance was confined to the cavities of the mouth, nose, and pharynx, and hence it is called head tone. In the following exercises, the resonance will be felt in all the air-chambers of the body, especially in the large cavity of the chest, and this is known by the term chest tone. The Second Step is to vocalize the vowels or numerals expulsively and explosively. An expulsive sound is a short shout, having a very appreciable vanish; an explosive sound is a pistol-like report, having little appreciable vanish. EXERCISES FOR PRACTICE. 1. Repeat the word up five times expulsively. 2. Repeat the word up five times explosively. 3. Repeat each one of the vowels ā, ē, ī, ō, ũ, and the |