In short, they tried a whole assortment through, So odd a case, thought, sure the man is blind! 4. " 'No, you great blockhead; if I could, what need SECTION IV. GRAMMATICAL AND RHETORICAL PAUSES. PAUSES are suspensions of the voice in reading or speaking. They are necessary, not only to enable the reader or speaker to take breath, but are more especially important in order to give the hearer a distinct understanding of every thought. There are two kinds: 1. The grammatical pauses, or those used in punctuation to mark the sense of written composition. 2. The rhetorical pause, or a suspension of voice where grammatical pauses do not require it. It is employed to produce rhetorical effect, and is marked thus ( | ). It is supposed that the pupil is already familiar with the characters employed in punctuation, and hence it is unnecessary QUESTIONS. What are pauses, and for what are they necessary? How many kinds are there to be observed in prose compositions? What are they? For what are grammatical pauses used What is a rhetorical pause, and for what is it employed? to introduce them here. It may be well, however, to remark, that no one of them has any uniform or definite length in reading, and must always depend on the emotions of the reader, and his rate of utterance. But the rhetorica. pause deserves the student's most careful attention, for, when properly observed, it adds force and impressiveness to the thought or sentiment uttered. If it precedes an important word or clause, it excites expectation, and prepares the mind for what follows. Its length, like that of grammatical pauses, is indefinite, being governed by the importance of the thought to be expressed. Hence, correct taste will better decide its proper length, and where it should be made, than any set rules. The following rule, however, embraces a few of the instances where its use is required, and is introduced for the purpose of calling the learner's attention to the subject. RULE 13. The rhetorical pause is generally required, 1st, Between a verb and its nominative. 2d, Before and after an intervening phrase. 3d, Before an adjective when it follows its noun. 4th, Before the second of two nouns in apposition, the latter being explanatory of the former. 5th, Before the verb when two or more nouns in succession, are nominatives to it. 6th, Before that, when used as a conjunction. 7th, Where the ellipsis occurs. 8th, Before, and sometimes before and after a word specially important. 9th, Before a verb in the infinitive mood, when governed by another verb. 10th, Before who, and which, when in the nominative case. for who. 11th, Before that, when used QUESTIONS. Have the grammatical pauses any uniform or definite length in read. ing? What is said of the rhetorical pause? Has it any definite length ? What are the specific cases given in the rule, where the rhetorical pause is generally required EXAMPLES OF EACH. 1. Kindness | begets kindness, and love | begets love. Conscience is the chamber of justice. 2. Virtue | however it may be neglected for a time | will ultimately be respected. Modesty | especially in females | is always attractive. 3. It was a calculation | accurate to the last degree. He had a mind | energetic, a judgment | discriminating. 5. Saul and Jonathan | were warm friends. Riches, pleasures, and health | become evils to those who do not know how to use them. 6. It is in society only | that we can relish those pure joys, which gladden the life of man. He went to Egypt | that he might see the pyramids. 7. Add to your faith virtue; to virtue | knowledge; to knowledge temperance; to temperance patience; to patience | godliness; and to godliness | brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness | charity. 8. Socrates died like a philosopher, but Jesus Christ | like a God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me | death. 9. He has gone | to convey the intelligence. The greatest misery is to be self-condemned. 10. Death is the season | which tests men's hopes. This is the man | who deserves commendation. 11. The general | that commanded the army was slain. No man that is wise, will refuse to comply. EXERCISE. REPUBLICAN EQUALITY.-STORY. 1. Gentlemen have argued, as if personal rights only | were the proper objects of government. But what, I would ask, is life worth, if a man cannot eat in security | the bread earned by his own industry? If he is not permitted | to transmit to his children the little inheritance, which his affection has destined for their use? What enables us to diffuse education among all classes of society, but | property? Are not our public schools the distinguishing blessing of our land | sustained by its patronage? I will say no more about the rich | and the poor. There is no parallel to be run between them, founded on permanent, constitutional distinctions. The rich | help the poor, and the poor | in turn | administer to the rich. 2. In our country | the highest man | is not above the people; the humblest | is not below the people. If the rich may he said to have additional protection, they have not additional power. Nor does wealth here | form a permanent distinction of families. Those who are wealthy to-day, pass | to the tomb, and their children divide their estates. Property is thus divided quite as fast as it accumulates. No family can, without its own exertions, stand erect for a long time under our statute of descents and distributions, the only true and legitimate agrarian law. It silently and quietly dissolves the mass, heaped up by the toil and diligence of a long life of enterprise and industry. 3. Property is continually changing, like the waves of the sea. One wave rises and is soon swallowed up in the vast abyss, and seen no more. Another rises, and having reached its destined limit, falls gently away, and is succeeded by yet another, which, in its turn, breaks and dies away silently on the shore. The richest man among us may be brought down to the humblest level; and the child, with scarcely clothes to cover his nakedness, may rise to the highest office in our government. And the poor man, while he rocks his infant on his knees, may justly indulge the consolation, that if he possess talents and virtue, there is no office beyond the reach of his honorable ambition. CHAPTER VII. POETRY. POETRY is commonly defined to be, "the language of passion, or of enlivened imagination." It is most generally formed into regular numbers, called poetic feet, and has two general divisions; rhyme, and blank verse. In rhyme, the terminating words or syllables in two or more lines correspond in sound. In blank-verse, the lines are measured as in rhyme, but the last words or syllables do not harmonize. The earliest accounts which history gives us concerning all nations, bear testimony to the fact, that the first words ever recorded by writing, or transmitted by tradition, were of a poetic character. SECTION I. CONSTRUCTION OF VERSE IN RHYME. 1. A POETIC FOOT consists of a particular arrangement and connection of accented and unaccented syllables. It is called a foot with reference to a measured time in pronouncing it, and always embraces either two or three syllables. 2. QUANTITY, with reference to the reading of poetry, denotes the time of pronouncing each syllable. 3. A SYLLABLE in scanning, is considered long or short. A long syllable usually requires, relatively, twice the length of time of a short one, in pronunciation. QUESTIONS. What is poetry? How is it generally formed, and what are its general divisions? What is the distinction between rhyme and blank-verse? What testimony does history bear in regard to poetry? What is a poetic foot, and why is it so called? What is quantity, with reference to the reading of poetry? How are syllables considered in scanning? What is their relative time? |