Delsarte System of Oratory by Various
page 51 of 576 (08%)
page 51 of 576 (08%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
4. It neither rises nor falls in hesitation. 5. Interrogation is expressed by the rising inflection when we do not know what we ask; by the falling, when we do not quite know what we ask. For instance, a person asks tidings of his friend's health, aware or unaware that he is no better. 6. Musical tones should be given to things that are pleasing. Courtiers give musical inflections to the words they address to royalty. 7. Every manifestation of life is a song; every sound is a song. But inflections must not be multiplied, lest delivery degenerate into a perpetual sing-song. The effect lies entirely in reproducing the same inflection. A drop of water falling constantly, hollows a rock. A mediocre man will employ twenty or thirty tones. Mediocrity is not the too little, but the too much. The art of making a profound impression is to condense; the highest art would be to condense a whole scene into one inflection. Mediocre speakers are always seeking to enrich their inflections; they touch at every range, and lose themselves in a multitude of intangible effects. 8. In real art it is not always necessary to fall back upon logic. The reason needs illumination from nature, as the eye, in order to see, needs light. Reason may be in contradiction to nature. For instance, a half-famished hunter, in sight of a good dinner, would say: "I am _hungry_" emphasizing _hungry_, while reason would say that _am_ must be emphasized. A hungry pauper would say: "I _am_ hungry," dwelling upon _am_ and gliding over _hungry_. If he were not hungry, or wished to deceive, he would dwell upon _hungry_. |
|