"Behold, what fire is in his eye, what fervor on his cheek! That glorious burst of winge werds! how bound they from his tongue! The full expression of the mighty thought, the strong, triumphant argument, The rush of native eloquence, resistless as Niagara, The keen demand, the clear reply, the fine, poetic image, The nice analogy, the clinching fact, the metaphor bold and free, (18) "THE HUMAN VOICE is to be considered as a musical instrument-an organ, constructed by the hand of the Great Master of all Harmony. It has its bellows, its pipe, its mouth-piece; and, when we know the 'stops,' it will discourse most eloquent music. It has its gamut, or scale of ascent and descent; it has its keys, or pitch, its tones, its semi-tones, its bass, its tenor, its alto, its melody, its cadence. It can speak as gently as the lute, like the sweet south upon a bed of violets,' or as shrilly as the trumpet; it can tune the 'silver sweet' note of love, and the iron throat of war;' in fine, it may be modulated by art to any sound of softness or of strength, of gentleness or harshness, of harmony or discord-and the art that wins this music from the strings is ELOCUTION." |