From "The Buccaneer" by R. H. Dana the last line of the second verse,
and the first line of the third verse are easily connected by one word,
Sand, thus--
"And silver waves go noiseless up the beach."
(Sand)
"And inland rests the green, warm dell;"
The last word "beach" naturally suggests sand, drop the s and you have
the first word of the next verse, "and", also the "beach", sand, and
"inland" suggest a natural sequence. Sand here becomes a bridge of
thought over which your mind will easily travel. It is not always easy
to find one word for a bridge, but a visual picture, a thought, a word,
or repeated letter can be found to aid you.
The poem "Things Divine" by Jean Brooks Burke is used by students of
elocution as ideal for practice because of the difficulty which it
presents. The thoughts cover a wide range with apparently no relation
one with the other. Often two thoughts are expressed in one line, and
to get them all well fixed in mind so as to repeat them makes the poem
difficult, to say the least, yet you, who know how to apply your memory
intelligently, may learn it with comparative ease. Read slowly and note
the visual pictures and then go back and "bridge" them together. This
is an excellent example of a difficult poem to practice upon. It will
be an opportunity to use all of the principles given in this chapter.