The blade would quiver in thy breast,
Ashamed of such ignoble rest!

No; thus I rend thy tyrant's chain,
And fling him back a boy's disdain!"

13. A moment, and the funeral light
Flashed on the jeweled weapon bright;
Another, and his young heart's blood
Leaped to the floor a crimson flood.
Quick to his mother's side he sprang,
And on the air his clear voice rang―
"Up, mother, up! I'm free! I'm free!
The choice was death or slavery;
Up, mother, up! look on my face,
I only wait for thy embrace.

One last, last word—a blessing, one,
To prove thou knowest what I have done;
No look! no word! Canst thou not feel
My warm blood o'er thy heart congeal?
Speak, mother, speak-lift up thy head.
What, silent still? Then thou art dead!
Great God, I thank thee! Mother, I
Rejoice with thee, and thus to die."
Slowly he falls. The clustering hair
Rolls back and leaves that forehead bare.
One long, deep breath, and his pale head
Lay on his mother's bosom, dead.

QUESTIONS.

1 Define Impassioned Force.

2. When used with Pure Tone or Orotund, Expulsive or Effusive Form?

3. When, with Orotund, Expulsive and Explosive Forms?

4. When, with Aspirate, Pectoral, or Guttural, Expulsive and Explosive Forms?

11

5. Selections. "Tell's Address to the Alps." "The Polish Boy."

2. Robert rebuked Richard, who ran roaring. 3. Round the rude ring the ragged rascal ran. 4. Rich, ripe, round fruit hung round the room. 5. Rough and rugged rocks rear their heads high in air.

STRESS.

Stress is the application of the force of the voice to the different parts of the word or sound.

The divisions of Stress are Median, Radical, Compound, Thorough, and Intermittent."

Final,

Median Stress.

Median Stress is the application of the force of the voice to the middle of the word or sound.

It is a gradual increase of force and elevation of pitch through the concrete movement to the middle of the word, and then as gradual a diminution and lowering to the close. Median Stress can be given only in connection with the Effusive Form.

DIAGRAM

OF

MEDIAN STRESS.

ADVANTAGES OF MEDIAN STRESS.

The Median Stress is one of the greatest beauties in expression. It prevents the drawling and lifeless style so prevalent in the reading of the Bible and the Church service, and gives a most impressive beauty, power, and grandeur to the utterance of pathos, sublimity, reverence, devotion, and adoration.

Destitute of its ennobling effect, the reading of many passages in prose and poetry sinks into a monotonous and tedious utterance.

Like every element, it must be judiciously used. Carried to excess it becomes a fault. The habit of mouthing, so prevalent on the stage, has for one of its principal elements an excessive Median Stress.

To cultivate this Stress practice the following elements, words, and sentences, beginning each with very subdued force, which gradually increase in force and raise in pitch to the middle, and then as gradually diminish and lower.

1. O, a wonderful stream is the river Time.

2. Thou hast all seasons for thy own, O Death.

3. O thou that rollest above, round as the shield of my father.

EXERCISES

Combining Form, Quality, Force, and Median Stress.

Repeat each of the above sentences with

1. Effusive Form, Pure Tone, Subdued Force, Median Stress.

2. Effusive Form, Aspirate, Moderate Force, Median Stress.

3. Effusive Form, Orotund, Moderate Force, Median Stress.

MEDIAN STRESS-WHEN USED.

Median is the appropriate stress for the utterance of pathos, solemnity, sublimity, reverence, grandeur, and devotion. It is heard in different degrees, varying with the depth and power of the emotion. Serious, solemn, and tranquil thought require only the milder forms of the Median; while reverence, grandeur, sublimity, and devotion require the fullest form.

EXAMPLE: PATHOS AND SUBLIMITY. Median Stress, Moderate Force, Orotund Quality, Effusive Form.

Break! Break! Break!

TENNYSON.

1. Break, break, break,

On thy cold gray stones, O sea!

And I would that my tongue could utter

The thoughts that arise in me.

2. O well for the fisherman's boy

That he shouts with his sister at play,

O well for the sailor lad

That he sings in his boat on the bay!

3. And the stately ships go on

To their haven under the hill;

But O for the touch of a vanished hand!
And the sound of a voice that is still.

4. Break, break, break,

At the foot of thy crags, O sea!

But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.

QUESTIONS.

1. What is the element in this lesson ?

2. Define Stress.

3. How many kinds of Stress are there? Name them.

4. Define Median Stress.

5. Illustrate it.

6. With what form can it be given?

7. What are its advantages?

8. What is the difference between Effusive Form, and Effusive

Form Median Stress?