FULL OF WISE SAWS AND MODERN IN STANCES; And fo he plays his part: the fixth age shifts Every emphasis and variation of voice fhould be founded on reafon; it may be proper, therefore, to fhow why the feveral parts of the preceding lines are thus diftinguished. In the firft age of infancy, the upper notes are most defcriptive of that tender time, as they are alfo of the whimpering fchool-boy; and their foftnefs likewife fuits the fighing of the lover. The forward confidence of the foldier demands a full-fpirited medium; and the corpulent importance, generally imputed to magiftracy, is well pictured by the jolly fwell of the base notes, while the feebleness of fast declining age calls for the counter-tenor, tremulated, as it were, with weakness. Thus much for general explanation, which I have delivered in as full and clear a manner as the nature of my design would poffibly admit; and, having fet forth fuch examples as, explained by teachers, or carefully investigated by students, may give a full idea of what is intended, I shall pro ceed to fome brief remarks upon utterance and E action. action, in which, though it is not probable that many will excel, yet moft may be improved. First then, if a voice is naturally harsh, great care should be taken to avoid guttural expreffion; nor fhould the tongue be allowed to play too much between the teeth; the breath, drawn, as it were, from the ftomach, and vibrated upon within the mouth, will foften harth notes, and render them much more tuneable; on the con trary, a weak fhrill voice fhould borrow folidity and force from the throat: as too great an expan fion of the lips is difgraceful to the features, fo unnatural contraction of them will render expreffion unmeaning and imperfect. Stops and cadences are a moft effential point of confideration, and cannot be better fet forth than in the following remarks of a French author: It is neceffary for us,' fays he, to refpire from time to time, but the voice does not repofe equally at the conclufion of every sense; in a fentence of confiderable length, we refpire at every comma; but this fhort pause is made in fuch a manner as to fhow, by the tone of conti nuance, that we are to go farther, the ear re maining unfatisfied, because the pronunciation ⚫ continues fufpended till the fentence is completely finished; as for example: At fuch a time, the • King, having taken these matters into confideration, ⚫ determined, here Attention is inquifitive to know what follows; the colon and femicolon are marks ⚫ of more confiderable refpiration, yet ftill leave Judgment in fufpence till the period unfolds the ⚫ whole, and calls for a concluding cadence. In every part, or parts of a sentence there is elevation and depreffion of the voice, which never abfolutely reposes but at the conclufion of ' a period, a period, all other refpiration being of conti ' nuance.' There is undoubtedly much judgment in the compofition of harmonious and comprehenfive periods; a diffonant unconnected ftyle will take greatly from the beauty and force of expreffion, as a difcordant piece of mufic muft difgrace a performance of the ableft mafter, and injure the utterance of the most perfect inftruments. ?> Frequent use ftrengthens and meliorates the organs of expreffion, and practice will teach a molt effential point, that of pitching the voice to any place or number of perfons. There is confiderable nicety in knowing the different effect which the fame notes of voice may have in places of equal dimenfions, but of different conftruction, of a place containing but few auditors, or thronged with a large number; and this point of excellence must be attained by much practice and obfervation, Only thus much may be observed in general of thẹ operations of found; that where it undulates con fiderably, the louder a reader or declaimer goes beyond the just pitch, the more indiftinct he will be, of which we find very frequent inftances in cathedral churches: a full audience in any place will require at least twice the force of expreffion of a thin one; which, exclufive of fome buzz that muft unavoidably attend a numerous affembly, may be philofophically accounted for by an effential denfity of air, from the conjunct refpiration of fo many people. The voice being pitched, and modulated thro" the feveral variations which may be found neceffary, it remains to confider, to comprehend, and to feel the fubject; without which expreffion must be languid, unaffecting, and wearifome. What we E 2 read read or fpeak unfelt, must be like painting with out light or fhade; there may be just symmetry of parts and good colouring; but unless they are Taifed and brought forward, both pall on the view, and die upon the canvas. Spirit and feeling are neceffary to idea as well as to fight; for which reafon teachers fhould not only make their pupils understand every word they read, but their general fenfe in a state of connec tion: a point of care feldom attended to. Emphatic expreffion, feeling, and taste, are particularly effential to poetry, as that, in general, appeals oftner to the paffions than any other fpecies of writing. Cadences alfo are more critical in numbers than in profe; in both they should be smooth, gradual, and die away almoft infenfibly, yet so as to preferve and to imprefs the last fyllable both upon the ear and mind, without snapping short the breath or found, which is extremely grating to a judicious hearer. How often is verfe of every kind miferably mangled! A fort of unmeaning pedantic recitative, tedious from a repetition of misplaced unharmonious tones, is fubftituted for dignity; thus we find many, who make a tolerable fhift with profe, the moment they fee any number of measured fyllables, throw afide nature, reafon, nay even common fenfe, to difplay their knowledge of verfification, and what they think its peculiar importance.What can be more abfurd? Genuine poetry needs no pompous affectation to dignify it; for as by tranfpofing the words you cannot reduce it to profe, neither can you take from its harmony by plain, natural expreffion. I know not any thing which has done our language, and the reading of it, more injury than the gingle of rhime, efpecially that which is thrown into heroic measure, it being certain that the more correct an author in that way is, the more he will lead to monotony. Inftance Mr. Pope, who has been fo critically exact in accenting particular fyllables, that very few of his pieces can be read with any tolerable variation of voice; for which reafon I would have learners kept from rhime in heroic measure till they are well grounded in a juft mode of utterance. Indeed we are not to wonder that the generality chaunt verfe in fo lamentable a manner, when fome of those who have sketched rules for reading, infift upon fuch a fervile obedience to the author, as not only to change the accented fyllable, but even to favour his bad rhime, with falfe pronunciation; for example, to found the laft fyllable of liberty, as an exact rhime either to flee or fly. To prefcribe a ftop or half pause at thẻ end of a line, whether the fenfe requires it or not, is another rule that has been given, equally erro neous and difguftful. t In reading, properly fo called, action has no concern, but declamation is very defective without it; yet, except upon the stage, and among many there miferably methodized, we fcarce find any. When I recommend action, I would not be fuppofed to intend that a fpeaker fhould be in continual motion; or that, puppet-like, he is to lift up first one hand and then another, merely to lay them down again.-No-I would have motions few, eafy, graceful; and, for my own part, I know not how a declaimer can poffibly feel and ftand ftock-ftill: but, admit the poffibility of this, I will venture to lay there is but little probability that his audience will think him in earneft: I know that fome delicate perfons are afraid of becoming E3 |