The Poet. It sounds from all things old, It sounds from all things young, From all that's fair, from all that's foul, It is not only in the rose, It is not only in the bird, Not only where the rainbow glows, R. W. EMERSON. 17. Do unto another what you would he should do unto you; and do not unto another what you would not like if done to yourself. Thou needest only this law alone. It is the foundation and principle of all the rest.-CONFUCIUS. 18. There should be no selfish devotion to private interests. We are born not for ourselves only, but for our kindred and fatherland. We owe duties not only to those who have benefited, but those who have wronged us. We should render to all their due; and justice is due even to the lowest of mankind.-CICERO. 19. With klingle, klangle, klingle, The cows are coming home; Now sweet and clear, and faint and low, The airy tinklings come and go, Like chiming from some far-off tower, Or pattering of an April shower Ko-kling, ko-klang, koklinglelingle, 20. AGNES E. MITCHELL. You are the evening cloud floating in the sky of my I paint you and fashion you ever with my love longings. With the shadow of my passion have I darkened your eyes, I have caught you and wrapped you, my love, in the net of my music; You are my own, my own, Dweller in my deathless dreams. -RABINDRANATH TAGORE. CHAPTER X VOCAL INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE DEFINITION. Literature in its broadest sense may be said to include all that is written or printed. But in its usual and more restricted meaning, it embodies only the genuine thought life and emotional life of the race. Mr. Arlo Bates says, "Literature is the adequate expression of genuine and typical emotion." It is one of the fine arts; and as such must express the ideal in mankind. To be the highest form of literature, it must be emotional, universal, genuine, sincere, and true to life. In reading literature, we live the life of the race. A selection is beautiful and enjoyed by us only when it expresses a phase of life comprehended within our experience. It must voice our thoughts, our emotions, our experience. VOCAL INTERPRETATION. To interpret the thoughts, emotions, and the action of others adequately, is impossible through silent reading. We may gather the thought life of the race in this way, but the emotional phase escapes us; and, as we have seen, this is the only expression of true literature. Hence poetry and the best of prose must be read aloud to be appreciated by ourselves, and it is the only way we may be able to interpret it to others. CLASSIFICATION. In the study of a selection with a view to its vocal interpretation, the classification on the basis of purpose suggested in the previous chapter, will be adequate for the present. A more detailed classification is presented in Part II, Chapter VI. Through the study of literature the student will have familiarized himself with many other classifications. THOUGHT ANALYSIS. The first step in the study of any selection is to understand it; the second step is to reproduce it. No selection can be read or spoken properly until understood. To determine the author's thoughts is frequently no easy task, if not altogether an impossible one. To reproduce in our own emotional life what the author felt, is still more difficult. Nevertheless, the aim of the reader should ever be to apperceive the author's meaning and feeling and express the same to others to the best of his ability. He should not be content until he has exhausted all resources at his command. Words on the printed page are meaningless and dumb until the reader conceives and voices the meaning. The reader is the author's interpreter. The first thing, then, is to interpret properly the author's meaning. While it is desirable to acquire facility in reading at first sight, the best interpretative reading, even of the most simple prose, requires close study in advance of oral expression. For a student of reading, at any rate, such preliminary study, with a view of comprehending and assimilating the thought and feeling of a selection, should always precede any attempt at the oral expression. This general suggestion is presented in detail in the following directions. Let each pupil prepare a written report on his analysis of an assigned selection. Each report should be reviewed with its author, and sometimes with the entire class. Such reports should be continued until the class has a thorough grasp of the requirements of thought analysis. Such reports should be required at intervals throughout the year to guard against superficial study. Keep in mind that good reading requires close, accurate, vigorous thinking, and the lack of this care in reading, in turn, gives rise to most of the troubles that pupils have with other studies. WRITTEN WORK. Just how much of the following outline should be required in written form will vary with each selection and with the progress of the class: this must be left to the discretion of a wise teacher. Usually, it will not be desirable to require answers to Section VI. handed in. Far better, however, to study only a few selections intensely than to skim over many. QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR A WRITTEN REPORT PRELIMINARY TO ITS ORAL PRESENTATION I. THE AUTHOR 1. Who was the author? 2. Tell briefly what you know of his life. 3. Name some of his best productions. 4. What was his temperament? Was he thoughtful, melancholy, pleasant, kind, sociable, sorrowful, cynical, optimistic, pessimistic? 5. What were the immediate circumstances in his life that led him to write the selection, or deliver the speech? II. THE ATMOSPHERE, OR GENERAL SETTING 1. Where is the scene laid? When? 2. Local color, surroundings, characters interested, etc. 3. When the selection was written or spoken, was the author in a happy mood, or was he sorrowful, penitent, angry, hopeful, or what emotion best describes his feelings? 4. Is the general purpose of the selection didactic, emotional, or volitional? 5. Of what incidents or emotions in your past life does this remind you? |