PART II

THE DELIVERY

I. THE PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL EXPRESSION

"An Element," says Webster, "is one of the essential parts or principles upon which the fundamental powers of anything are based." The notes of the song bird and the roar of the mountain storm, so different in significance, accord with nature's elements of expression. These elements are as old as nature itself. The principles of man's vocal art are no less traceable to nature, the original source from which we must draw our knowledge of applied elocution. All the principles of elocution herein set forth are heard in the sounds of nature, and we must learn to use them correctly if we would be natural in public speech. Furthermore, there is a close relation between these principles and the triune nature of man previously discussed (Part I, p. 4), so that each one has its foundation in our inward consciousness as well as in the external realms of nature.

There are four fundamental vocal principles, (1) Time, (2) Quality, (3) Force, and (4) Pitch. Briefly defined, Time is the duration of utterance; Quality is the kind of sound; Force is the power with which sound is emitted; and Pitch is the elevation or depression of the notes on the scale. These are essential to all utterance, since no sound can be made that does not embody all of them, while in their various modifications and combinations every shade of expression can be traced.

As a tabular view of all the vocal principles and their triune relation, and for use as a reference page as each element is discussed, we subjoin the following diagram :

CHAPTER I

TIME

Time is the duration of utterance. It relates to the length of vocal sounds, syllables and words, the rests which occur between them, and the rate with which they are uttered. Its subdivisions are (1) Pause, (2) Quantity, and (3) Movement. The relation of these divisions to the triune nature is as follows:

Pause is the time spent between syllables, words, or groups of words in utterance. Pause does not always imply a complete stoppage of sound; the euphony of language often requires a gentle flow of sound between words mentally separated; e.g. "Return to thy dwelling, all lonely return." Nor is the length of a Pause absolute; it is relative, dependent upon the sentiments to be expressed, and must be governed by the individual taste and judgment of the speaker. He who pauses by the stop watch or the counting method of a half century ago will, of course, read in a mechanical, unnatural way; but the places for rhetorical Pauses are inherent in the language itself and may be definitely stated and observed without the slightest loss of individuality on the part of the speaker.

1. The Physical Necessity for Pauses is evident, since they afford the reader or speaker the opportunity to take breath without breaking his sentences at improper intervals.

2. The Mental Necessity for Pauses arises out of the construction of language. A word is "the sign of a conception or idea." A single word or a group of words is necessary to the expression of a complete idea. The mind comprehends ideas only as they

are presented singly and separately, no matter how rapidly they may be given. Hence this process of expression which groups words according to their ideas, making them clear to the understanding, represents the Mental nature of man.

The necessity for grammatical Pauses which convey the thought of the page to the eye of the reader is fully understood, and they are indicated by a well-established system of punctuation marks; were these sufficient for the oral reader or speaker, our treatment of this subject would end here. But there are many more rhetorical than grammatical Pauses, and often the necessities of speech require no cessation of utterance where grammatical Pauses would be placed; for example, the following sentence punctuated grammatically by the usual marks, and rhetorically by rests, shows one of the former (the semicolon) and at least four of the latter.

Shakespeare's attitude toward human life will become again attainable to us only when intelligent people can return to an agreement on first principles; when the common sense of the wisest and best among us has superseded the theorizing of parties and factions. Froude.

In the following the rhetorical Pause comes before "that" instead of after it, as indicated by the grammatical punctuation :

When the child went to his solitary bed, he dreamed about the star; and dreamed that, lying where he was he saw a train of people taken up that sparkling road by angels. - Dickens.

Again the sense is often obscured or the meaning changed by the want of a rhetorical Pause or a misplacing of it. An omission of the Pause before the word "like" in the second line of the following would give a meaning quite opposite to that intended:

And I wonder why I do not care

For the things that are like the things that were;

Does half my heart lie buried there

In Texas down by the Rio Grande? - Desprez.

On the other hand, the rhetorical Pause usually includes the grammatical, and often the two agree throughout an entire sentence, as in the following:

At the dawn of civilization, when men began to observe and think, they found themselves in possession of various faculties, first their five senses, and then imagination, fancy, reason and memory. - Froude.

3. Law of use.

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To meet all cases we may here lay down the fundamental law for the use of Pauses: Words necessary to convey each idea of a sentence must be grouped together and separated from adjacent groups by Pauses.

But this general law which underlies all further directions is not sufficiently specific for the younger student of elocution, to say nothing of many older ones. It is, therefore, necessary to know the pausing-places revealed by a closer analysis of language construction. Rhetorical Pauses should be used:

(1) BEFORE.

(2) BETWEEN

(3) AFTER

(4) BEFORE AND AFTER

a. Relative Pronouns.

b. Conjunctive Words (with exception).
c. Prepositional Phrases (with exception).
d. Infinitive Phrases (with exception).

a. Words of a Series.

b. Words marking an Ellipsis.
c. Clauses.

a. Nominative Phrases.

b. Words or Phrases used Independently.

c. Words of Strong Emphasis or Emotion.

a. Transposed Words or Phrases.

b. Words or Phrases used in Apposition. c. Direct Quotations.

d. Parenthetical Expressions.

4. Explanation and Illustrations. Whenever there are two connecting words either of which would require a Pause before it only one Pause is necessary and it should be placed before