If I can catch him once upon the hip,

I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him.
He hates our sacred nation, and he rails,

Even there where merchants most do congregate,
On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift,
Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe,
If I forgive him!

Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice, 1, iii.

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.

Longfellow: The Rainy Day.

38. Kinds of vocal quality

The possible changes and shades of quality of the cultivated and obedient voice are limited only by the capacity and range of the imagination and the emotional nature of the individual. According to the character of the impulse +governing the voice, tone quality may be considered as (1) Normal, or Pure, and (2) Abnormal, or Impure.

1. Normal, or pure tone. Pure tone is that clear, rich, resonant quality of voice resulting from the harmonious. action of all parts of the vocal instrument in obedience

to the normal, controlled action of mind, imagination, and feeling. Whatever is worthy, noble, and beautiful in thought and spirit, whether related to the common affairs of every day or to the idealistic conceptions of literature, finds expression in pure tone.1 But, as there are many aspects of human experience and many states of mind and emotion which may be considered normal, there are many modulations of pure tone indicative of varying thoughts and moods of the individual. A minute classification of modulations of pure tone, even were it possible, is not necessary for the purposes of our study, but for the sake of suggestions for training in vocal expression and of affording criteria by which appreciation and emotional response may be judged, certain typical conditions of thought and feeling finding normal expression in tones of pure quality, may be considered in this connection. Qualities of pure tone are heard in (1) common conversation, (2) the expression of strong and elevated feelings, (3) somber and reflective moods, and (4) genial, glad,

exultant emotions.

(1) Common conversation. Under ordinary conditions of everyday conversation the mind is calm, and the voice, if properly used, is pure and pleasing. This is also true of most of the reading aloud done in the home. As the greater part of our speech is of this quieter sort, the cultivation of an easy, normal use of the speaking voice is highly important. Read the following extract in a simple, clear, pure tone, suited to the genial character of the conversation : —

There are sweet voices among us, we all know, and voices not musical, it may be, to those who hear them for the first time, yet

1 A voice misused cannot give consistent and adequate expression to genial, fine thoughts and impulses. Tenderness is not expressed in a harsh guttural, nor strong confidence and hope in a high falsetto, nor happiness in a hoarse whisper. A clear voice of resonant and sympathetic quality is one of the most valuable attainments of the student of vocal expression.

sweeter to us than any we shall hear until we listen to some warbling angel in the overture to that eternity of blissful harmonies we hope to enjoy..

...

"I wish you could hear my sister's voice," said the schoolmistress.

"If it is like yours, it must be a pleasant one,” said I.

"I never thought mine was anything," said the schoolmistress. "How should you know?" said I. "People never hear their own voices any more than they see their own faces. There is not even a looking-glass for the voice. Of course, there is something audible to us when we speak, but that something is not our own voice as it is known to all our acquaintances. I think, if an image spoke to us in our own tones, we should not know them in the least." Holmes: The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table.

(2) Strong and elevated feeling. When feeling is intense, or when the spirit is uplifted in contemplation of that which is noble, sublime, and awe-inspiring, the tone naturally becomes strong, full, round, and open. This tone of enlarged volume and resonance, as distinguished from the voice of ordinary speech, has been called "orotund." But it differs from the usual voice of conversation merely in the strength and fullness of resonance. It is the same tone, produced in the same way, but intensified and enlarged in response to stronger and deeper feeling. Under the stimulus of intense emotions and with the inspiration of exalted thought, the breathing becomes more energetic, the chest expands, the throat opens, and the full resonant power of the voice is heard. The public speaker may begin his address in a conversational tone, but as his thought reaches higher levels, and as his feelings grow more intense and exalted, his voice becomes full, strong, and more resonant, and his style of speech is elevated above that of ordinary, everyday talk. But his expression is none the less natural. Under such conditions the usual colloquial style would be unnatural. Adequate expression of the fol

lowing lines of intense excitement cannot be given in a conversational manner.

"Who dares?". - this was the patriot's cry,

As striding from the desk he came,

"Come out with me, in Freedom's name,
For her to live, for her to die?"

Read: The Rising.

The alert reader will not speak these words in a breakfast-table, "Pass the butter, please," manner of utterance, but in the strong, firm, resonant tone consistent with their heroic spirit.

Imagine in your mind the scene described in the lines taken from Coleridge's Hymn to Mont Blanc, put yourself in the place of the author, and holding the vision before you, breathe deeply, open the throat and give voice to the feelings of admiration, wonder, awe, and worship which the scene awakens within you.

Thou too, hoar Mount! with thy sky-pointing peaks,
Oft from whose feet the avalanche, unheard,

Shoots downward, glittering through the pure serene,
Into the depth of clouds that veil thy breast
Thou, too, again, stupendous Mountain! thou
That as I raise my head, awhile bowed low
In adoration, upward from thy base

Slow traveling with dim eyes suffused with tears,
Solemnly seemest, like a vapory cloud,
To rise before me Rise, O ever rise!

Rise like a cloud of incense, from the earth!
Thou kingly Spirit throned among the hills,
Thou dread ambassador from earth to heaven,
Great Hierarch! tell thou the silent sky,
And tell the stars, and tell yon rising sun,

Earth, with her thousand voices, praises God.

(3) Somber and reflective moods. When the mind is oppressed with sorrow or gloom, or is "clouded with a

doubt," the voice, while usually pure, has not the bright, clear, ringing tone of more usual states of feeling, — of cheerfulness, hope, or gayety, but its tone is dull, covered, somber. Picture the conditions described in the first verses taken from Byron's poem Darkness, and in voicing the lines take time to realize vividly the meaning of every image.

I had a dream, which was not all a dream.

The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth

Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;
Morn came and went — and came, and brought no day,
And men forgot their passions in the dread

Of this their desolation; and all hearts
Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light:
And they did live by watchfires-and the thrones,
The palaces of crowned kings—the huts,
The habitations of all things which dwell,
Were burnt for beacons; cities were consumed,
And men were gather'd round their blazing homes
To look once more into each other's face.

A fearful hope was all the world contain'd.

(4) Genial emotions. Feelings of gladness, elation, exultation in healthful action, all genial and fanciful emotions, find their true expression in tones of clear, bright quality.

Oh, our manhood's prime vigor! No spirit feels waste,
Not a muscle is stopped in its playing nor sinew unbraced.
Oh, the wild joys of living! the leaping from rock up to rock,
The strong rending of boughs from the fir-tree, the cool silver

shock

Of the plunge in a pool's living water, the hunt of the bear,
And the sultriness showing the lion is couched in his lair.
And the meal, the rich dates yellowed over with gold dust divine,
And the locust-flesh steeped in the pitcher, the full draught of wine,