VII. PAUSES. I. PAU DEFINITIONS. AUSES are suspensions of the voice in reading and speaking, used to mark expectation and uncertainty, and to give effect to expression. 2. Pauses are often more eloquent than words. They differ greatly in their frequency and their length. In lively conversation and rapid argument, they are few and short. In serious, dignified, and pathetic speaking, they are more numerous, and more prolonged. 3. The Pause is marked thus 9 illustrations and exercises. THE II. in the following RULES FOR PAUSES. HE Subject of a Sentence, or that of which something is declared, when either emphatic or compound, requires a pause after it; as, ។ The cause will raise up armies. Sincerity and truth form the basis of every virtue. 2. Two Nouns in the same Case, without a connecting word, require a pause between them; as, I admire Webster ។ the orator. 3. Adjectives that follow the words they qualify or limit require pauses immediately before them; as, He had a mind deep activewell stōred with knowledge. 4. But, hence, and other words that mark a sudden change, when they stand at the beginning of a sentence, require a pause åfter them; as, ។ ។ But these joys are his. Hence Solomon calls the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom. 5. In Cases of Ellipsis, a pause is required where one or more words are omitted; as, He thanked Mary many times Kate but once. ។ man friend, that brother. Call this 6. A Slurred Passage requires a pause immediately befōre and immediately after it; as, The plumage of the mocking-bird though none of the hōmeliest has nothing bright or showy in it. These rules, though important if properly applied, are by no means complete; nor can any be invented which shall meet all the cases that arise in the complicated relations of thought. A good reader or speaker pauses, on an average, at every fifth or sixth word, and in many cases much mōre frequently. In doing this, he will often use what may be called suspensive quantity. III. SUSPENSIVE QUANTITY. USPENSIVE QUANTITY means prolonging the end of a word, without a reäl pause; thus suspending, without whōlly interrupting, the progress of sound. 2. This Prolongation on the last syllable of a word is indicated thus, in the following examples. It is used chiefly for three purposes: 1st. To avoid too frequent a use of pauses; as, Her lover sinks-she sheds no ill-timed tear; 2d. To produce a slighter disjunction than that of a pause; and thus at once to separate and unite; as, Would you kill your friend and benefactor? 3d. To break up the current of sound into small pōrtions, easily managed by the speaker without the abruptness which would result from pausing whenever this relief was needed; and to give ease in speaking; as, Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees. GENERAL RULE.--When a preposition is followed by as many as three or four words which depend upon it, the word preceding the preposition will either have suspensive quantity, or else a pause; as, He is the pride of the whole country. Students will tell which of the preceding rules or principles is illustrated by the following exercises-bōth the marked and the unmarked. EXERCISES IN PAUSES. 1. All promise is poor dilatory man. ។ 2. Procrastination is the thief of time. 3. Weeping may endure for a night but joyeỏmeth in the morning. 4. Paul the Apostle wrote to Timothy. ཝ 5. Solomon, the son of David, was king of Israël. ། 6. He was a friendgentlegenerous good-humored affectionate. 7. You see a gentleman, polished, easy, quiet, witty, and, socially, your equal. 10. The night wind with a desolate moan swept by. 11. Here come men women children. to 12. It matters věry little what immediate spot may have been the birth-place of such a man as Washington. No people can claim no country can appropriate him. The boon of Providence to the human race his fame is eter។ nity and his dwelling-place creation. ។ ។ ༈ ។ 13. 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? 14. ༈ ។ How shall we rank thee upon glory's page, Thou more than soldier and just less than sage! ། All thou hast been reflects less praise on thee, Far less than all thou hast fôrborne to be. ។ |