but use any suitable material that you have on hand. The whole of the apostrophe to the ocean, which concludes this wonderful poem of Byron's, is recommended for practice; also Poe's Bells, and the many expressive passages that may be culled from Shakespeare.

Exercise in Modulation

The exercises so far given you were for the specific purpose of bringing out particular tones in the voice; now I will give you one to assist in blending those tones. You were told that modulation of the voice consists in changing the pitch and inflection, that its purpose is to avoid monotony and to explain by tone what is expressed by words. This is beautifully exemplified by the next quotation.

Read the following extract from Jerome K. Jerome's one-act play of Fennel, paying particular attention to the expressive power of the words:

The lattice was open, and the wondrous melody came floating out upon the still night air. I knew it was he that was playing, and I hated him, and I tried not to stay and listen, but the magic of the music held me spellbound and I could not stir. And the throbbing notes passed by me into the darkness like the quivering of unseen wings, and they stretched their pinions under me and raised me up, till it seemed as though the little world had sunk away

beneath my feet, and the rushing song was bearing me up to the gates of heaven. And then the music broke with a bitter cry, as though some heart had burst, and the trembling chords were heavy with tears-now pitiful and low like the quiet sobbing of a little child, and now terrible and stern like the deep moaning of a strong man in his agony; and then it rose once more up through the star-lit temple of the night, cleaving the silence with a note so sweet, so pure, so full, so glorious with triumph over conquered pain that I felt as if my very soul were beating to escape against its prison bars; and knowing hardly what I did, I threw myself upon the ground and clung to it, and cried-I could not help it — till the playing ceased and the vibrating harmony had been gathered up into the great bosom of the darkness, and had died away.

Imagine yourself in the quaint old city of Cremona, that you are a young man passing through one of its narrow streets and that you are attracted to a particular house by the tones of a violin that come softly through one of its garret windows into the almost motionless air. Imagine that you discover that the one who plays upon the violin is a rival for the hand of the maiden you love, and that you have permitted your jealousy to cause you to hate him. Now imagine that you tell your experiences to the lady of your love in the words of Jerome.

Remember, you were told in a previous chapter that you can only color words through the action of

the mentality, that you must create the picture in your mind's eye before you can convey it clearly by words to the mind of another; consequently, before attempting to repeat this exercise with expression, be sure that you see distinctly all that I have told you to imagine in reference to the city of Cremona, the young man, and the circumstances under which he narrated his experiences.

We will now look for some of the means that Jerome employed for coloring this effective passage. Note that he deftly paints the picture by telling of the open lattice, the wondrous melody that came floating out upon the still night air. Do you not perceive that these color words tell you clearly what impression the scene had upon the mind of the young man, and that you must see these things exactly as he saw them if you are to impress others in a similar manner? Note that the young man tried not to stay and listen but that the music held him spellbound, that the notes were throbbing, that they passed into darkness, that they quivered like unseen wings, and that they raised him above the earth. Note that the music broke with a bitter cry, that the chords trembled with tears that were pitiful and low like a child's. Now they change to tones that are likened to the deep moaning of a strong man in agony. Again they change, assuming the sweet, pure, full, glorious tones of triumph. Overcome with

emotion, the young man cast himself upon the ground because he could not help it, and remains thus powerless until the melody passes into the darkness and dies away.

I trust you now see that words, backed by thought, are really living things, that you now understand why I said in a previous chapter that they have the power of action. By applying the proper colors to your tones you can make the voice represent the music floating into the air, the hatred of the young man for his rival, the influence the music had upon him when it lifted him spiritually from the earth, and all the other emotions of joy, sorrow, pain, weakness and exultation that are represented by the expressive words of the author of Fennel.

Study this exercise assiduously, and practice it faithfully, and it will be a wonderful aid to you in learning how to modulate your voice.

CHAPTER XI

EMPHASIS: AN INTERPRETATIVE ELEMENT
OF EXPRESSION

Some of the Mechanical Means for Enforcing Ideas

T

HE meaning or thought of a speaker is conveyed by words, but it is interpreted by tones. When thoughts are thus interpreted, emphasis is one of the principal means relied upon for performing the task. By emphasis is meant any special vocal impressiveness, added to spoken words, that aids the speaker in conveying his meaning. It consists not only of stress, or force, but embraces also pitch, time, quality and location.

It is the mistaken idea of many that force alone constitutes emphasis, but he who uses only force for producing his emphatic effects will be a monotonous speaker. The broad and comprehensive use of emphasis so colors language as to make words throb with life. They are made to represent motion in every form-the rush of the winds, the crash of the cataract, the peal of thunder, the flash of lightning and the roar of the ocean. They reproduce the marching of armies, the galloping of horses and the lowing of cattle. They convey to the mind the idea