when the storm passed how pure was the climate cleared how bright in the brow of the firmament planet which it revealed to us! that it was the 3. In the production of Washington it does really appear as if nature was endeavoring to improve upon herself and that all the virtues of the ancient world were but so many studies preparatory to the patriot of the new. Individual instances no doubt there were splendid exemplifications of some single qualification. Cæsar was mercifulScipio was continent Hannibal was patient. But it was reserved for Washington to blend them all in one and like the lovely masterpiece of the Grecian artist to exhibit in one glow of associated beauty the pride of every model and the perfection of every master. 4. As a general he marshaled the peasant into a veteran and supplied by discipline the absence of experience. As a statesman he enlarged the policy of the cabinet into the most comprehensive system of general advantage. And such was the wisdom of his views and the philosophy of his counsels that to the soldier and the statesman he almost added the character of the sage. 5. A conqueror he was untainted with the crime of blood a revolutionist he was free from any stain of treason for aggression commenced the contest and his country called him to the field. Liberty unsheathed his sword necessity stained victory returned it. crowns his career 6. If he had paused here history might have doubted what station to assign him whether at the head of her citizensor her soldiers her heroes or her patriots. But the last glōrious act and banishes all hesitation. Who like Washington after having emancipated a hemisphere resigned its crown and preferred the retirement of domestic life to the adoration of a land he might almost be said to have created? 7. How shall we rank thee upon glory's page, and just less than sage! Thou more than soldier All thou hast been reflects less praise on thee, VIII. MEASURE AND RHYTHM OF VERSE. VERSE is a line of poëtry, and consists of a certain number of accented (or heavy) and unaccented (or light) syllables, following each other in regular order. A MEASURE, or foot, is a succession or group of accented and unaccented syllables. These measures were called feet, because among the Greeks their time, in pronunciation, was regulated by the foot of the Coryphe'us, or director of the choirs. A STANZA Consists of a certain number of verses, or lines. A Couplet is a stanza of two verses; a Triplet, of three. SCANSION, or scanning, is the act of dividing a verse into the measures or feet that compose it. VERSIFICATION IS PERFECT, so far as concerns measure (says Mr. Mulligan), when the arrangement of the words in a verse is such that, regarded as mere prose, the relative force which the syllables demand for correct pronunciation corresponds with the demands of the measure of the verse; in other words, when the good pronunciation of a passage naturally produces metrical melody. All the feet used in poëtry consist either of two or of three syllables, and are reducible to eight kinds, namely: a Trochee, an Iambus, a Spondee, and a Pyrrhic, being of two syllables each; and the four remaining ones, a Dactyl, an Amphibrach, an Anapest, and a Tribrach, of three. A TROCHEE has the first syllable accented, and the last unaccented; as, Lovely, péttish. AN IAMBUS has the first svllable unaccented, and the last accented; as, Awáy, resist. A SPONDEE has both the words or syllables accented, or heavy; as, Fúll moon. A PYRRHIC has both the words or syllables unaccented; as, On the tall tree. A DACTYL has the first syllable accented, and the two latter unaccented; as, Láborer, possible. AN AMPHIBRACH has the first and last syllables unaccented, and the middle one accented; as, Delightful, doméstic. AN ANAPEST has the first two syllables unaccented, and the last accented; as, Contravéne, acquiésce. A TRIBRACH has all its syllables unaccented; as, Numerable, conquerable. THE PRINCIPAL FEET, so called because pieces of poetry may be chiefly or wholly formed of any of them, are the Trochee, Iambus, Anapest, and Dactyl. In fá ble's dréss | the breath | of génius póured, ANAPESTIC VERSE. May I govern my pás sions with absolute swáy; | DACTYLIC VERSE. Hail to the chief who in | tríumph advances; A strict conformation to the above mechanical measurement and scanning of verse, which makes all the measures alike, taking the first measure in a line for a model, is to be studiously avoided whenever it interferes with the grammatic relation of syllables, by separating such as belong to each other in the formation of grammatic words and phrases. For example, making trochees of the feet in the following line Stánd, the ground's your | ówn, my braves! dislocates almost every syllable from its grammatic fellow, and destroys the sense. This sentence, in a natural and proper method of reading, is scanned Stánd, the ground's | your ówn, | my bráves! RHYTHM consists in making the measures in reading or speaking all equal, or multiples of each other, so that if you choose to divide the time of sound and of rest by formal beats, these shall all come at equal intervals, and be coincident with the measures or equal parts of a measure. Rhythm may be applied to reading or recitation, in connection with Calisthenics or Gymnastics, by making the unit of measuring time the same as in music, a beat of the hand, foot, or metronome, or a motion from any assignable position. Probably no combination has been devised, in Physical Training, that is at the same time as interesting and useful as that of Poetic Recitation with Calisthenics or Gymnastics. Let the daily practice of this combination be continued for a few weeks, especially in the open air, and the student will be surprised at the new powers the depth, the mellowness, and the purity of his voice. In the recitation of the following selections, when connected with calisthenic or gymnastic exercises, it is necessary to so divide the stanzas as to make each verse consist of eight beats, or four feet. The instructor, however, in order to avoid the sing-song style of reading which is produced by the accentuation of little and insignificant words, will require students to apply carefully the principles of EXPRESSIONespecially Emphasis, Slur, and Pauses-to each selection. KEY TO THE SOUNDS OF MARKED LETTERS. àge or age, åt or åt, ärt, áll, båre, åsk; wè or we, end or end, her; ice or ice, in or in; old or old, on or on, do; mùte or mute, ůp or up, füll; this; azure; reäl; agèd. IV: RECITATIONS IN VERSE. NÓW KNO THE CLIME OF THE EAST.1 the land where the cypress and myrtle Are émblems of déeds that are dóne in their clíme; Where the flowers ever blóssom, the leaves ever shíne; 3 Where the light wings of zéphyr, oppressed with perfume, Wax fáint o'er the gardens of Gúl* in her blóom! Where the cítron and ólive are fáirest of frúit, And the voice of the nightingale néver is múte; Where the tínts of the earth, and the húes of the ský, In color though váried, in béauty may víe, And the púrple of O'cean is déepest in dye; Where the virgins are sóft as the róses they twine, And áll, save the spírit of mán, is dĭvíne ? 'Tis the clíme of the Eást,—'tis the land of the sún! Are the hearts which they béar, and the táles which they téll. |