the mist is on the hills; the blast of the north is on the plain; the traveller shrinks in the midst of his journey. Ossian, whose beautiful and sublime address to the sun is here inserted, was a Caledonian, and is supposed to have been the son of Fingal. It is presumed that he flourished in the fourth century, from which period to the present time, his writings have commanded the admiration of the world. His effusions have been the delight of men highly distinguished for their talents, among whom may be mentioned Napoleon Bonaparte. At the time Ossian made this magnificent apostrophe to the sun, he was blind, to which circumstance he alludes, when he says: "For he beholds thy beams no more." Homer and Milton were also blind when they wrote some of their best pieces. It seems, that in proportion as physical light was excluded from the three great poets, eyes of genius were planted in their minds. The sun is the first material object to which man ever bowed in worship. It both discovers and conceals the glory of its great Creator, who alone is entitled to our adoration. Ossian's cotemporaries doubtless worshipped the sun; but it appears that he, at least, doubted the propriety of doing it, as he calls in question its eternity. It is, however, believed that Ossian paid more homage to the sun, than to any other object; and, therefore, his address to it may be regarded as a prayer, emanating from the heart of a blind and aged man. Its elocution requires slow time, somewhat of a low key, and long quantity. It is one of the most exquisite productions in our language; and, when properly read or recited, appeals powerfully to the sympathetic feelings of our nature. The author is aware the question is not settled with certainty, that Ossian really existed, or if he did, that he actually wrote the poems attributed to him. 16. RIENZI'S ADDRESS TO THE ROMANS.-Miss Mitford. 1. I come not here to talk. You know too well 2. Strong in some hundred spearmen-only great Each hour, dark fraud, 3. 4. Cry out against them. But this very day, Full of gentleness, of calmest hope, Of sweet and quiet joy-there was the look How I lov'd Yet this is Rome, That sat on her seven hills, and, from her throne Was greater than a king! And once again,— Hear me, ye walls, that echoed to the tread The above address was written by Miss Mary Russel Mitford, and it is a most admirable piece for an elocutionary exercise. It requires sudden transitions of voice; in other words, the high, low, and middle keys of the voice are all heard in it. The talent displayed in the composition of the address, exhibits evidence of the high intellectual endowments of the writer. It shows, moreover, that ladies may wield as powerful a pen as men. 17. ADDRESS TO THE OCEAN.-Byron. 1. Oh! that the desert were my dwelling place, In deeming such inhabit many a spot? 2. There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, 3. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean-roll! 4. Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form Calm or convulsed-in breeze, or gale, or storm, Dark heaving;-boundless, endless, and sublime- Of the Invisible; even from out thy slime The monsters of the deep are made; each zone 5. And I have lov'd thee, Ocean! and my joy 6. My task is done-my song hath ceased-my theme The spell should break of this protracted dream. Which in my spirit dwelt, is fluttering, faint, and low. George Gordon Byron, a nobleman of England, was born at London, January 23, 1788, and died at Missilonghi, in Greece, April 20, 1824. His poetry relates to a great variety of subjects, and is of the highest liteary order. At the early age of thirty-six, Lord Byron fell a martyr in the cause of freedom, while assisting the Greeks, in their virtuous struggle to throw off the shackles of despotism. It is a matter of regret, that his moral habits were not, in all respects, correct, and that some of his writings are apparently hostile to the pure principles of christianity. His address to the ocean is from "Childe Harold." It should be given on a middle key, with slow time, and long quantity. Elocution requires that it be so read or recited as to call up all the internal feelings which animated the author at the time he wrote it, in the minds of both reader and hearer. 18. SPEECH OF HENRY V. TO HIS TROOPS, BEFORE THE GATE OF HARFLEUR.-Shakspeare. 1. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead! In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man, But when the blast of war blows in our ears, O'erhang and jutty his confounded base, 2. Now set the teeth, and stretch the nostrils wide; 3. And teach them how to war! And you, good yeomen, That you are worth your breeding, which I doubt not; In the third line of the second verse of King Henry's speech, a rhetori cal pause should be made, after uttering the word, "full," thus: "To its full height." Rhetorical pauses should generally be short,-the quaver rest in music, is about their duration of time. They should however be longer or shorter, according to their sense. The object of the king was to stimulate his subjects to fight in his behalf; and his speech, excepting the third and fourth lines, requires a quick rate of utterance, and a very high key. |