that is uttered. Unless the orator have a lofty ideal of virtue always prominent before his mind, his eloquence must be misapplied, abused, imperfect, impure, and therefore not entitled to the name which is given to it by inconsiderate
INFLECTIONS OF THE VOICE.
RULE II. Sentences beginning with an interrogative pronoun or adverb or questions which cannot be answered by "yes" or "no," generally close with the falling inflection.
Who sank thy sunless pillars deep in earth? Who filled thy countenance with rosy lìght?
Extract from "Paradise and the Peri."
Now, upon Syria's land of roses, Softly the light of eve reposes, And, like a glory, the broad sun Hangs over sainted Lebanon,
Whose head in wintry grandeur towers, And whitens with eternal sleet, While summer, in a vale of flowers, Is sleeping rosy at his feet.
To one, who looked from upper air O'er all th' enchanted regions there, How beauteous must have been the glow, The life, the sparkling from below! Fair gardens, shining streams, with ranks Of golden melons on their banks, More golden where the sunlight falls; Gay lizards, glittering on the walls
Of ruined shrines, busy and bright As they were all alive with light; And, yet more splendid, numerous flocks Of pigeons settling on the rocks,
With their rich, restless wings, that gleam Variously in the crimson beam
Of the warm west, as if inlaid With brilliants from the mine, or made Of tearless rainbows, such as span Th' unclouded skies of Peristan ! And then, the mingling sounds that come, Of shepherds' ancient reed, with hum Of the wild bees of Palestine,
Banqueting through the flowery vales; And, Jordan, those sweet banks of thine, And woods so full of nightingales!
But nought can charm the luckless Peri; Her soul is sad, her wings are weary! Joyless she sees the Sun look down On that great temple, once his own,* Whose lonely columns stand sublime, Flinging their shadows from on high, Like dials, which the wizard Time Had raised to count his ages by!
Yet haply there may lie concealed, Beneath those chambers of the sun, Some amulet of gems, annealed In upper fires, some tablet sealed With the great name of Solomon, Which, spelled by her illumined eyes, May teach her where, beneath the moon, In earth or ocean, lies the boon,
*The Temple of the Sun at Balbec.
The charm, that can restore, so soon, An erring spirit to the skies!
Cheered by this hope, she bends her thither; Still laughs the radiant eye of Heaven, Nor have the golden bowers of even, In the rich west, begun to wither; When, o'er the vale of Balbec winging Slowly, she sees a child at play, Among the rosy wild-flowers singing, As rosy and as wild as they ; Chasing, with eager hands and eyes, The beautiful blue damsel flies, That fluttered round the jasmine stems, Like wingéd flowers or flying gems; And near the boy, who, tired with play, Now nestling 'mid the roses lay, She saw a wearied man dismount
From his hot steed, and, on the brink Of a small imaret's rustic fount, Impatient, fling him down to drink.
Then swift his haggard brow he turned To the fair child, who fearless sat, Though never yet hath day beam burned Upon a brow more fierce than that,- Sullenly fierce a mixture dire, Like thunder-clouds, of gloom and fire! In which the Peri's eye could read Dark tales of many a ruthless deed; The ruined maid, the shrine profaned, Oaths broken, and the threshold stained With blood of guests! there written, all, Black as the damning drops that fall From the denouncing angel's pen, Ere mercy weeps them out again!
Yet tranquil now that man of crime- As if the balmy evening time Softened his spirit-looked and lay, Watching the rosy infant's play; Though still, whene'er his eye by chance Fell on the boy's, its lurid glance Met that unclouded, joyous gaze, As torches, that have burned all night, Through some impure and godless rite, Encounter morning's glorious rays.
But hark! the vesper-call to prayer, As slow the orb of daylight sets, Is rising sweetly on the air,
From Syria's thousand minarets! The boy has started from the bed Of flowers, where he had laid his head, And down upon the fragrant sod
Kneels, with his forehead to the south, Lisping th' eternal name of God
From Purity's own cherub mouth; And looking, while his hands and eyes Are lifted to the glowing skies, Like a stray babe of Paradise, Just lighted on that flowery plain, And seeking for its home again!
O, 'twas a sight,—that heaven that child, A scene, which might have well beguiled Even haughty Eblis of a sigh
For glories lost, and peace gone by.
And how felt he the wretched man Reclining there- - while memory ran O'er many a year of guilt and strife, Flew o'er the dark flood of his life,
Nor found one sunny resting-place,
Nor brought him back one branch of grace? "There was a time," he said, in mild, Heart-humbled tones, "thou blessed child, When young and, haply, pure as thou, I looked and prayed like thee; but now He hung his head; each nobler aim,
And hope, and feeling, which had slept From boyhood's hour, that instant came Fresh o'er him, and he wept he wept!
Blest tears of soul-felt penitence! In whose benign, redeeming flow Is felt the first, the only sense
Of guiltless joy that guilt can know.
And now behold him kneeling there, By the child's side, in humble prayer, While the same sunbeam shines upon The guilty and the guiltless one,
And hymns of joy proclaim through heaven The triumph of a soul forgiven
INFLECTIONS OF THE VOICE.
RULE III. Interrogative sentences commencing with a verb, or questions which may be answered by "yes" or usually end with the rising inflection.
Can the soldier, when he girdeth on his armor, boast like him that putteth it off? Can the merchant predict that the speculation, on which he has entered, will be infallibly
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