2. Merrily swinging on brier and weed,
Near to the nest of his little dame,
Over the mountain side or mead,
Robert of Lincoln is telling his name.
3. Not a word to each other; we kept the great pace--
Neck by neck, stride by stride, never changing our place;
I turned in my saddle and made its girths tight,
Then shortened each stirrup and set the pique right,
Rebuckled the check strap, chained slacker the bit,
Nor galloped less steadily Roland a whit.
4. Oh my dear uncle, you don't know the effect of a fine spring morning
upon a fellow just arrived from Russia. The day looked bright, trees
budding, birds singing, the park so gay, that I took a leap out of your
balcony, made your deer fly before me like the wind, and chased them all
around the park to get an appetite for breakfast, while you were snoring
in bed, uncle.
Quality.--We notice a difference between the soft, insinuating tones of
persuasion; the full, strong voice of command and decision; the harsh,
irregular, and sometimes grating explosion of the sounds of passion; the
plaintive notes of sorrow and pity; and the equable and unimpassioned flow
of words in argumentative style. This difference consists in a variation
in the quality of the voice by which it is adapted to the character of the
thought or sentiment read or spoken. In our attempts to imitate nature,
however, it is important that all affectation be avoided, for perfect
monotony is preferable to this fault. The tones of the voice should be
made to correspond with the nature of the subject, without apparent
effort.