DELIGHT AND POWER
IN SPEECH
A UNIVERSAL DRAMATIC READER
BY
LEONARD G. NATTKEMPER
_Polytechnic High School, Long Beach, Cal.
Formerly Professor of Public Speaking,
University of Southern California_
AND
GEORGE WHARTON JAMES, LITT. D.
_Author of “California, Romantic and Beautiful,”
“Arizona, the Wonderland,” “In and Out
of the Old Missions of California,”
“Reclaiming the Arid West,”
Etc., Etc._
A NEW, COMPLETE AND PRACTICAL METHOD OF
SECURING DELIGHT AND EFFICIENCY IN
SILENT AND ORAL READING AND
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SPEECH
TOGETHER WITH A LARGE AND VARIED COLLECTION
OF CAREFULLY CHOSEN
SELECTIONS IN PROSE AND POETRY,
WITH CHAPTERS ON “THE CULTIVATION OF THE
MEMORY” AND “AFTER DINNER SPEAKING”
THE RADIANT LIFE PRESS
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
1919
Copyright, 1919,
BY THE RADIANT LIFE PRESS
J. F. TAPLEY CO.
NEW YORK
INTRODUCTION
Speech is one of God’s greatest gifts to man, yet, comparatively
speaking, how few there are whose speech is pleasing to hear, clear and
understandable, impressive and stimulative to action.
From the cradle to the grave every person, perforce, uses speech, just
as he eats, breathes, drinks, sleeps. It is one of the important, ever
exercised functions of life. Upon it all our social, business and
professional intercourse is based. Without it, life as we know it, would
be impossible. With it, developed to its natural, normal, proper, and
readily attainable efficiency, there are few limits to what man may
aspire to attain.
Recognizing to the full the truth of the aphorism that “the things we
enjoy doing are the things we do best,” it is the purpose of this book so
to present its subject as to create in its readers a firm resolve to so
thoroughly enjoy good reading that they will do it well.
The aim is twofold: _first_, to stimulate a natural desire on the
part of the student for the proper use of voice and body in the oral
interpretation of literature; and _second_, to present a natural and
practical scheme for the attainment of this end.
After a number of years of experience and observation the authors
have come to believe that when even the most diffident pupil has once
had aroused in him a real _enjoyment_ in the acts of speaking and
reading aloud, he is destined to become not only an intelligent, but an
intelligible reader.
It is no longer necessary to argue for the recognition of vocal
expression as a worthy and definite part of the curriculum of High
School and College. Training in the spoken word is to-day, as never
before, looked upon as a prerequisite to professional and business
success. Henry Ward Beecher, speaking of the rightful place of speech
culture, says:
A living force that brings to itself all the resources of the
imagination, all the inspirations of feeling, all that is
influential in body, in voice, in eye, in gesture, in posture,
in the whole animated man, is in strict analogy with the divine
thought and the divine arrangement ... and so regarded, it should
take its place among the highest departments of education.
The majority of mankind, however, seems to feel that beautiful, powerful,
and effective speech or the ability to read well and acceptably is the
gift or attainment of the chosen few. Nothing can be further from the
fact. Beauty is the normal condition in the universe in every realm of
nature, and is attained by the simple effort of each thing to express
itself in natural and spontaneous fashion. Likewise, clear, impressive,
delight-giving, thought-provoking speech, and the power to read well are
as easy to attain, and may be obtained in the same natural, spontaneous,
unaffected manner.
Unfortunately in the past the teachers of these simple and natural
arts befogged the whole subject by their artificialities, formalities,
conventionalities and pretenses. Their text-books were filled with
unnecessary and injurious rules, mandates, and requirements. And thus the
pseudo-science of “Elocution,” with its stilted expressions, its fixed
gestures, its artificial inflections, came into being. And the students
who were eager to acquire the mastery of effective speech,—than which
there is no greater accomplishment,—were intimidated, frightened away by
the multiplicity of rules and theories.
Let us be thankful that the day is dawning when instruction in correct
spoken language comes through the easy avenues of naturalness,
spontaneity, simplicity and normal enthusiasm. Too long have we been
discouraged by the glib aphorism that there is no easy road to learning.
It is not true, if by learning we mean the attainment of the real
intellectual things, instead of the sham, pretentious things that men in
the past too often have called learning.
The authors of this book venture the affirmation that hardly one of
the great readers, public speakers of power, or orators of influence
have ever taken a lesson in the so-called art of “elocution” or heeded
any of its straight-jacket rules. Daniel Webster has well expressed
the difference between the man with a heart full of burning thoughts
demanding utterance, and the one with a mouth full of carefully chosen
words, and exquisitely modulated phrases, meaning little or nothing to
the soul of him:
True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech. It cannot
be brought from afar. Labor and learning may toil for it, but
they will toil in vain. Words and phrases may be marshaled in
every way, but they cannot compass it. _It must exist in the
man, in the subject, and in the occasion. Affected passion,
intense expression, the pomp of declamation, all may aspire after
it,—they cannot reach it. It comes, if it comes at all, like the
outbreaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting forth
of volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original, native force. The
graces taught in the schools, the costly ornaments and studied
contrivances of speech, shock and disgust men, when their own
lives, and the fate of their wives, their children, and their
country hang on the decision of the hour._ Then words have lost
their power, rhetoric is in vain, and all elaborate oratory
contemptible. Even genius itself then feels rebuked and subdued,
as in the presence of higher qualities. Then patriotism is
eloquent; then self-devotion is eloquent. The clear conception,
out-running the deductions of logic, the high purpose, the firm
resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, beaming
from the eye, informing every feature, and urging the whole man
onward, right onward to his object,—this, this is eloquence; or,
rather, it is something greater and higher than all eloquence: it
is action,—noble, sublime, God-like action.
The natively-eloquent learned to speak with power because they had a
message, because they felt, were deeply moved, saw a vision, experienced
a deep emotion, had a thought they strongly desired to communicate to
others, and with a few fundamental, simple, readily-grasped principles
before them, generally unconsciously exercised, they said their say, and
convinced the world.
To state these basic principles with the simplicity and naturalness
they call for, and to show the pleasure and power that come from their
development is the purpose of the authors of this book.
By following these self-evident steps one who has something worth saying,
whose heart is deeply stirred, will become a good reader, a fluent,
convincing public speaker with little or no conscious effort. Just as a
few simple exercises, regularly persisted in, produce glowing, radiant
health and physical strength, so will these simple, enjoyable exercises,
kept ever in mind and daily used, bring to one the glowing delight of
reading to oneself with appreciation and intelligence, reading publicly
with intelligibility and effectiveness, and speaking to a large or small
audience with convincing power.
THE SELECTIONS OF THE BOOK
While there are many and varied text-books that deal with this important
subject in a more or less modern fashion, they all use, to a greater
or lesser extent, the same old selections from well-known authors and
orators, which, unfortunately, were used by the teachers of the stilted,
artificial, sophomoric and altogether discredited “elocution.” Hence,
the authors and editors of this volume have made an _almost entirely new
choice_ of Selections for illustrative purposes and for public reading.
But few will be found that have been used elsewhere. References are
made to the writings of standard authors which may be obtained in any
ordinary library, but a large percentage of the prose and poetry of this
collection is taken from the more modern and popular American writers.
It is neither the intent nor the desire of the editors to limit the
field of thought of their readers or students to any one field of
English literature. Our aim is quite the contrary. We would so emphasize
the worth of the literature of the West, however, that those who have
hitherto deemed that “no good can come out of Nazareth,” may be led to
search for literary good in other Nazareths.
Literature is as wide as civilized human life, and according to the
intensity with which life is lived, and the desire of those who live
to express that intensity, will literature of strength and power be
produced. The West lives intensely, rapidly, urgently, individually,
hence its literature is intense, strong and powerful.
Just as sure as history records the existence of an early West—a West
where the gun and knife settled men’s heated controversies, a West where,
for many years, there was a dearth of woman’s soft voice and tender
smile—just so sure are the writings of the Western poets, philosophers
and storytellers of this period a vital part of our early American
literature. The literature of the West, as with the literature of any
country, needs only be a true, sincere, worthy expression of the life it
professes to portray.
The greater one’s knowledge of the literatures of the various peoples of
the world, the deeper one’s sympathies become, and the easier it is to
grasp the divine principles of human brotherhood.
The authors also wish to call attention to what they deem another
important feature of their work. It will be seen from the outline plan of
the book that it is divided into four parts, viz.: Intelligible Reading,
Sympathetic Reading, Melodious Reading, Oratorical Reading.
The selections have been arranged, in the main, under these respective
headings, that they may accompany the explanations, serve to elucidate
the principles laid down, and afford copious examples for their practice.
There is also an important and practical chapter on the Development and
Use of the Memory.
That this book will fill a long felt and continuously expressed want on
the part of teachers of Oral Reading is the confident assurance of the
editors.
In the preparation of the technical part of the book the authors have
been immeasurably aided by their large and personal knowledge of, and
acquaintance or friendship with, leading orators in politics, the law,
the church, on the lecture platform, and at public dinners and other
functions. They have also availed themselves of the same knowledge of
the great interpreters in the theater. A long, intimate study of the
essential characteristics which made for the success of many masters
in the art of using the spoken word has been made. Thus the authors
are assured that no factor that leads towards, and assures, success in
dramatic or private reading or speaking has been ignored. All academic
and purely theoretical matter has been rigorously excluded.
The old methods of sophomoric oratory are gone, never to return. Men and
women of purpose have learned that simplicity, directness, naturalness,
are the most potent factors in conveying their ideas to others. It
is gratifying to know that modern methods of teaching Oral Reading
and Private and Public Speaking seek to emphasize these fundamental
principles and reduce to the lowest possible minimum all introductions of
the artificial.
LEONARD G. NATTKEMPER,
GEORGE WHARTON JAMES.
PART ONE
Intelligent and Intelligible Reading
FIRST STEP. Getting the author’s thought. Discussing INTELLIGENT reading.
Giving material for training the pupil in getting the thought from the
printed page. Reading at sight and reproducing in his own words. Making
outlines of simple selections, principally prose selections.
SECOND STEP. Discussion of INTELLIGIBLE reading. Two-fold purpose:
Thought-getting and thought-giving in the author’s words. General
and Special preparation. Exercises in Enunciation, Pronunciation,
Articulation, Vocabulary.
CHAPTER I
READING AND PUBLIC SPEECH
It is the first and last object of education “to teach people how to
think.” When we consider the vast wealth of great thoughts felt and
expressed by great men of all times and recorded for us in books, should
we not give serious reflection upon _what_ we read and _how_ we read?
This book has to do primarily with how rightly to _speak_ thoughts and
feelings hidden in great literature—yet it is strictly in keeping with
this purpose to give some attention to _silent_ reading as distinguished
from _oral_ reading. For how can one hope to become an _intelligible_
reader who is not first an _intelligent_ one? This does not argue that an
intelligent reader is likewise intelligible, for the mere comprehension
of the author’s thought and mood does not in itself insure a proper or
adequate oral rendition of the same. In this sense we think of the former
act as a necessity, and of the latter as an accomplishment.
Yet in this twentieth century we can hardly make the above limitations,
for he who is to become most useful to himself and to others, must not
only be able to understand what he reads, but must, at the same time, be
able effectively to communicate it to others. The latter accomplishment,
of course, necessitates systematic drill and practice, and the greater
portion of this book is devoted to a series of lessons for carrying on
such a course of instruction. In this immediate chapter, however, we are
concerned more particularly with reading in general.
One of the first steps toward fitting oneself to become an impressive
reader and speaker is to acquire a real love for the best literature.
The only way to do this is by making the acquaintance of great authors,
and the best way to come into companionship with noble writers is
conscientiously to study their works. Because, at first glance, an author
may seem obscure, too many are fain to put the book aside, or substitute
for it one that does not require any effort to enjoy. But, after all, is
it not the books over which we struggle most that yield us the most joy
and the most good? When once we form the friendship of great books and
catch their vision, we cannot help but pattern our lives, in a very large
measure, in accordance with those fundamental and lasting principles of
right living and right thinking which characterize the writings of all
great men and women. Their ideals become our ideals.
It seems, therefore, that if we hope to become agreeable speakers or
conversationalists we must, at the outset, realize it as imperative
that we, make ourselves familiar with the writings, in verse and prose,
of noble minds. It is by this close association with great people, who
have not only understood and felt the deeper meanings of life, but who
have put their experiences and knowledge into permanent literature,
that we may have our smaller souls kindled to glow brighter and longer.
It is by giving an attentive ear to the voices that call to us from
our bookshelves that our finer sensibilities are quickened to fuller
appreciation of nature, of art, and of the joy of living.
We must realize that training in the development of oral expression is
primarily a cultural course, but, at the same time, a practical one. Many
people would invert the order of this statement, but all are agreed that
correct vocal expression aids immeasurably in the development of taste
and refinement, and, at the same time, affords, in many ways, practical
assistance in daily living.
Pure water is more likely to be drawn from a deep well than from
a shallow pool. So, also, he who possesses depth of feeling and
appreciation of noble thoughts and pure emotions is more likely to give
adequate and satisfactory oral expression to them than he whose feeling
is shallow and indifferent. Experience teaches that nothing gives greater
aid to a spontaneous, irresistible flow of thought, revealing, through
voice and body, the finer conceptions of the human soul, than a constant
familiarity with the deep wells of the best literature.
By listening eagerly to the best words great men of all times have said
to the world, we make our own natures responsive. Then, in greater or
lesser measure, as readers or speakers, we translate or interpret these
words for the enjoyment or uplift of others.
How can the man, the woman, of limited time and means, proceed so as to
find these treasures of literature?
Let us here set down, briefly and clearly, what seems to us the most
enjoyable and natural method to use. In the first place, ask yourself if
you are willing to be a hard worker, self-sacrificing and humble. Unless
you are, you will find that great spirits are slow to share with you
their richest treasures. You must first make yourself worthy before you
can expect to enter into their _sanctum_. In the words of Ruskin:
You must be willing to work hard to find the hidden meaning of
the author. Ask yourself, “Am I inclined to work as an Australian
miner would? Are my pick-axes and shovels in good order, and am
I in good trim myself, my sleeves well up to my elbows, and my
breath good, and my temper?” ... The metal you are in search of
being the author’s mind or meaning, his words are as the rock
which you have to crush and smelt in order to get at it. And your
pick-axes are your own care, wit, and learning; your smelting
furnace is your own thoughtful soul. Do not hope to get at any
good author’s meaning without those tools and that fire; often
you will need sharpest, finest chiseling, and patientest fusing,
before you can gather one grain of the metal.
Then, too, you must be patient. An untrained reader is, as it were,
wandering in a great forest where he sees many paths, but he knows
not which to take. If he pursue a wrong path the first, second or the
third time, he should not lose hope, but seek again and again. By such
experiences he is sharpening his faculty of discrimination, and erelong
can, in a brief space, detect which paths he should follow. No one but
yourself can prescribe rightly a course of reading best suited to your
particular needs. It must be a voluntary search on your own part, and an
enjoyable one, if you are to get the most from it.
But here enters a serious consideration: Is what I enjoy most the best
for me? The answer is Yes and No! Yes, if you enjoy most what appeals
to the best in you; no, if you enjoy most what in your heart you know
appeals to what is the worst in you. Therefore, the important question
for you to answer is—does this book, article, essay or poem merely
interest me, or does it appeal to the best in me?
Henry Van Dyke expresses the matter perfectly:
The person who wants to grow, turns to books as a means of
purifying his tastes, deepening his feelings, broadening his
sympathies, and enhancing his joy of life. Literature he loves
because it is the most humane of the arts. Its forms and
processes interest him as expressions of the human striving
towards clearness of thought, purity of emotion, and harmony of
action with the ideal. The culture of a finer, fuller manhood is
what this reader seeks. He is looking for the books in which the
inner meanings of nature and life are translated into language
of distinction and charm, touched with the human personality
of the author, and embodied in forms of permanent interest and
power. This is literature. And the reader who sets his affections
on these things enters the world of books as one made free of a
city of wonders, a garden of fair delights. He reads not from
a sense of duty, not from a constraint of fashion, not from an
ambition of learning, but from a thirst of pleasure; because
he feels that pleasure of the highest kind,—a real joy in the
perception of things lucid, luminous, symmetrical, musical,
sincere, passionate, and profound,—such pleasure restores the
heart and quickens it, makes it stronger to endure the ills of
life and more fertile in all good fruits of cheerfulness, courage
and love. This reader for vital pleasure has less need of maps
and directories, rules and instructions, than of companionship. A
criticism that will go with him in his reading, and open up new
meaning in familiar things, and touch the secrets of beauty and
power, and reveal the hidden relations of literature to life, and
help him to see the reasonableness of every true grace of style,
the sincerity of every real force of passion,—a criticism that
penetrates, illuminates, and appreciates, making the eyes clearer
and the heart more sensitive to perceive the living spirit in
good books,—that is the companionship which will be most helpful,
and most grateful to the gentle reader.