THE DOWNFALL OF WOLSEY

In reading this speech, apply the principles of Pause, Inflection, Grouping, Emphasis, and Perspective illustrated in the preceding lessons.

From "King Henry VIII" Act III. Scene ii.

Farewell! a long farewell, to all my greatness!This is the state of man: to-day he puts forthThe tender leaves of hope; to-morrow blossoms,And bears his blushing honours thick upon him;The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,5And,—when he thinks, good easy man, full surelyHis greatness is a-ripening,—nips his root,And then he falls, as I do. I have ventured,Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders,This many summers in a sea of glory,10But far beyond my depth: my high-blown prideAt length broke under me; and now has left me,Weary, and old with service, to the mercyOf a rude stream, that must for ever hide me.Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye:15I feel my heart new open'd. O, how wretchedIs that poor man that hangs on princes' favours!There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to,That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin,More pangs and fears than wars or women have;20And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,Never to hope again.—[Enter Cromwell, and stands amazed]Why, how now, Cromwell!Crom.I have no power to speak, sir.Wol.What! amaz'dAt my misfortunes? can thy spirit wonderA great man should decline? Nay, an you weep,25I am fall'n indeed.Crom.How does your grace?Wol.Why, well;Never so truly happy, my good Cromwell.I know myself now; and I feel within meA peace above all earthly dignities,A still and quiet conscience. The king has cur'd me,30I humbly thank his grace; and from these shoulders,These ruin'd pillars, out of pity, takenA load would sink a navy,—too much honour:O, 't is a burden, Cromwell, 't is a burden,Too heavy for a man that hopes for heaven!35Crom.I am glad your grace has made that right use of it.Wol.I hope I have: I am able now, methinks,—Out of a fortitude of soul I feel—To endure more miseries, and greater far,Than my weak-hearted enemies dare offer.40What news abroad?Crom.The heaviest, and the worstIs your displeasure with the king.Wol.God bless him!Crom.The next is, that Sir Thomas More is chosenLord chancellor in your place.Wol.That's somewhat sudden:But he's a learned man. May he continue45Long in his highness' favour, and do justiceFor truth's sake, and his conscience; that his bones,When he has run his course and sleeps in blessings,May have a tomb of orphans' tears wept on 'em!—What more?50Crom.That Cranmer is return'd with welcome,Install'd Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.Wol.That's news indeed.Crom.Last, that the Lady Anne,Whom the king hath in secrecy long married,This day was view'd in open, as his queen,55Going to chapel; and the voice is nowOnly about her coronation.Wol.There was the weight that pull'd me down.O Cromwell,The king has gone beyond me: all my gloriesIn that one woman I have lost for ever.60No sun shall ever usher forth mine honours,Or gild again the noble troops that waitedUpon my smiles. Go, get thee from me, Cromwell;I am a poor fall'n man, unworthy nowTo be thy lord and master. Seek the king;65That sun, I pray, may never set! I have told himWhat and how true thou art: he will advance thee;Some little memory of me will stir him—I know his noble nature—not to letThy hopeful service perish too. Good Cromwell,70Neglect him not; make use now, and provideFor thine own future safety.Crom.O my lord,Must I, then, leave you? must I needs foregoSo good, so noble, and so true a master?Bear witness, all that have not hearts of iron,75With what a sorrow Cromwell leaves his lord.The king shall have my service; but my prayers,For ever and for ever, shall be yours.Wol.Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tearIn all my miseries; but thou hast forced me,80Out of thy honest truth, to play the woman.Let's dry our eyes; and thus far hear me, Cromwell:And—when I am forgotten, as I shall be,And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mentionOf me more must be heard of—say, I taught thee,85Say, Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory,And sounded all the depths and shoals of honour,Found thee a way, out of his wrack, to rise in;A sure and safe one, though thy master miss'd it.Mark but my fall, and that that ruin'd me.90Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition:By that sin fell the angels; how can man, then,The image of his Maker, hope to win by 't?Love thyself last; cherish those hearts that hate thee;Corruption wins not more than honesty.95Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace,To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not:Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,Thy God's, and truth's: then if thou fall'st, O Cromwell,Thou fall'st a blessed martyr. Serve the king;100And—pr'ythee lead me in:There take an inventory of all I have,To the last penny; 't is the king's: my robe,And my integrity to Heaven, is allI dare now call my own. O Cromwell, Cromwell!105Had I but served my God with half the zealI served my king, He would not in mine ageHave left me naked to mine enemies.Crom.Good sir, have patience.Wol.So I have. Farewell110The hopes of court! my hopes in heaven do dwell.

—Shakespeare

Compare the last words of Wolsey with those of Socrates as found in Jowett's translation ofThe Apology, (p.145.)Be just ... martyr.Show that the life and death of Socrates illustrates this ideal.Compare the Pitch in which Wolsey utters his monologue with that in which he addresses Cromwell. (Introduction, p.23.)How is the parenthetical clause in ll. 6 and 7 kept in the back-ground? (Introduction, p.24.) Select similar examples from Wolsey's speeches.AND FROM THESE SHOULDERS ... NAVY. Supply the ellipses.BY THAT SIN ... WIN BY 'T? Select the emphatic words and account for the Emphasis in each case. (Introduction, p.30.)

Compare the last words of Wolsey with those of Socrates as found in Jowett's translation ofThe Apology, (p.145.)

Be just ... martyr.Show that the life and death of Socrates illustrates this ideal.

Compare the Pitch in which Wolsey utters his monologue with that in which he addresses Cromwell. (Introduction, p.23.)

How is the parenthetical clause in ll. 6 and 7 kept in the back-ground? (Introduction, p.24.) Select similar examples from Wolsey's speeches.

AND FROM THESE SHOULDERS ... NAVY. Supply the ellipses.

BY THAT SIN ... WIN BY 'T? Select the emphatic words and account for the Emphasis in each case. (Introduction, p.30.)

That second time they hunted meFrom hill to plain, from shore to sea,And Austria, hounding far and wideHer blood-hounds thro' the country-side,Breathed hot and instant on my trace.—5I made, six days, a hiding-placeOf that dry green old aqueductWhere I and Charles, when boys, have pluckedThe fireflies from the roof above,Bright creeping thro' the moss they love:10—How long it seems since Charles was lost!Six days the soldiers crossed and crossedThe country in my very sight;And when that peril ceased at night,The sky broke out in red dismay15With signal-fires. Well, there I layClose covered o'er in my recess,Up to the neck in ferns and cress,Thinking on Metternich our friend,And Charles's miserable end,20And much beside, two days; the third,Hunger o'ercame me when I heardThe peasants from the village goTo work among the maize: you know,With us in Lombardy, they bring25Provisions packed on mules, a stringWith little bells that cheer their task,And casks, and boughs on every caskTo keep the sun's heat from the wine;These I let pass in jingling line,30And, close on them, dear noisy crew,The peasants from the village, too;For at the very rear would troopTheir wives and sisters in a groupTo help, I knew. When these had passed,35I threw my glove to strike the last,Taking the chance: she did not start,Much less cry out, but stooped apart,One instant rapidly glanced round,And saw me beckon from the ground;40A wild bush grows and hides my crypt,She picked my glove up while she strippedA branch off, then rejoined the restWith that; my glove lay in her breast:Then I drew breath; they disappeared:45It was for Italy I feared.An hour, and she returned aloneExactly where my glove was thrown.Meanwhile came many thoughts; on meRested the hopes of Italy;50I had devised a certain taleWhich, when 't was told her, could not failPersuade a peasant of its truth;I meant to call a freak of youthThis hiding, and give hopes of pay,55And no temptation to betray.But when I saw that woman's face,It's calm simplicity of grace,Our Italy's own attitudeIn which she walked thus far, and stood,60Planting each naked foot so firm,To crush the snake and spare the worm—At first sight of her eyes, I said,"I am that man upon whose headThey fix the price, because I hate65The Austrians over us; the StateWill give you gold—oh, gold so much!—If you betray me to their clutch,And be your death, for aught I know,If once they find you saved their foe.70Now, you must bring me food and drink,And also paper, pen and ink,And carry safe what I shall writeTo Padua, which you'll reach at nightBefore the duomo shuts; go in,75And wait till Tenebrae begin;Walk to the third confessional,Between the pillar and the wall,And kneeling whisper,Whence comes peace?Say it a second time, then cease;80And if the voice inside returns,From Christ and Freedom; what concernsThe cause of Peace?—for answer, slipMy letter where you placed your lip;Then come back happy we have done85Our mother service—I, the son,As you the daughter of our land!"Three mornings more, she took her standIn the same place, with the same eyes:I was no surer of sunrise90Than of her coming: we conferredOf her own prospects, and I heardShe had a lover—stout and tall,She said—then let her eyelids fall,"He could do much"—as if some doubt95Entered her heart,—then, passing out,"She could not speak for others, whoHad other thoughts; herself she knew":And so she brought me drink and food.After four days, the scouts pursued100Another path; at last arrivedThe help my Paduan friends contrivedTo furnish me: she brought the news.For the first time I could not chooseBut kiss her hand, and lay my own105Upon her head—"This faith was shownTo Italy, our mother; sheUses my hand and blesses thee."She followed down to the sea-shore;I left and never saw her more.110How very long since I have thoughtConcerning—much less wished for—aughtBeside the good of Italy,For which I live and mean to die!I never was in love; and since115Charles proved false, what shall now convinceMy inmost heart I have a friend?However, if I pleased to spendReal wishes on myself—say, three—I know at least what one should be.120I would grasp Metternich untilI felt his red wet throat distilIn blood thro' these two hands. And next,—Nor much for that am I perplexed—Charles, perjured traitor, for his part,125Should die slow of a broken heartUnder his new employers. Last,—Ah, there, what should I wish? For fastDo I grow old and out of strength.If I resolved to seek at length130My father's house again, how scaredThey all would look, and unprepared!My brothers live in Austria's pay—Disowned me long ago, men say;And all my early mates who used135To praise me so—perhaps inducedMore than one early step of mine—Are turning wise: while some opine"Freedom grows license", some suspect"Haste breeds delay", and recollect140They always said, such prematureBeginnings never could endure!So, with a sullen "All's for best",The land seems settling to its rest.I think then, I should wish to stand145This evening in that dear, lost land,Over the sea the thousand miles,And know if yet that woman smilesWith the calm smile; some little farmShe lives in there, no doubt: what harm150If I sat on the door-side bench,And, while her spindle made a trenchFantastically in the dust,Inquired of all her fortunes—justHer children's ages and their names,155And what may be the husband's aimsFor each of them. I'd talk this out,And sit there, for an hour about,Then kiss her hand once more, and layMine on her head, and go my way.160So much for idle wishing—howIt steals the time! To business now.

So much for idle wishing—howIt steals the time! To business now.

—Robert Browning (By permission)

Preparatory.—What is the historical back-ground of this poem? Suggest the possible details of the exiled patriot's life in England, his surroundings and frame of mind at the moment of speaking.Reconstruct for yourself the three scenes of which the peasant woman is the centre.What qualities did the Italian at once recognize in the peasant woman which led him to intrust his safety to her?79.Whence comes peace? In what Quality of voice is this read? Give your reason. (Introduction, p.34.)95.He could do much. How is the doubt in this speech and in the one following indicated by the Inflection? (Introduction, p.18.)111-112. With what isTHOUGHT CONCERNINGconnected? How?120-123.I know at least ... hands. What Quality of voice expresses the feeling here? What succeeding lines have the same Quality? (Introduction, p.35.) With what isNEXTconnected? How?139-142.Freedom grows license ... endure. How is the irony of these lines indicated? (Introduction, pp. 21 and 30.)How does the mood of the last two lines differ from the preceding? What is the difference in vocal expression?

Preparatory.—What is the historical back-ground of this poem? Suggest the possible details of the exiled patriot's life in England, his surroundings and frame of mind at the moment of speaking.

Reconstruct for yourself the three scenes of which the peasant woman is the centre.

What qualities did the Italian at once recognize in the peasant woman which led him to intrust his safety to her?

79.Whence comes peace? In what Quality of voice is this read? Give your reason. (Introduction, p.34.)

95.He could do much. How is the doubt in this speech and in the one following indicated by the Inflection? (Introduction, p.18.)

111-112. With what isTHOUGHT CONCERNINGconnected? How?

120-123.I know at least ... hands. What Quality of voice expresses the feeling here? What succeeding lines have the same Quality? (Introduction, p.35.) With what isNEXTconnected? How?

139-142.Freedom grows license ... endure. How is the irony of these lines indicated? (Introduction, pp. 21 and 30.)

How does the mood of the last two lines differ from the preceding? What is the difference in vocal expression?

From an address delivered in Toronto, January 30th, 1891, under the auspices of the Imperial Federation League

I now go on to mention another and greater advantage of Imperial Federation than the one which we have just been considering; an advantage too that is so connected with that of improved trade that the two must be considered together. In fact, in my opinion, the first is not likely to be obtained without the second. We cannot expect Britain to concede preferential trade to us, on the ground that we are part of the Empire, unless we are willing to share the responsibilities of the Empire. I say then, secondly, that only by some form of Imperial Federation can the independence of Canada be preserved, with due regard to self-respect.

If this is true, if Imperial Federation can do this, and if it can be done in no other way, then the necessity for Imperial Federation is proved; for national independence is an advantage so great that no price can be named that is too great to give in payment. It is the same with a country as with a man. Independent he must be, or he ceases to be a man. Burns advises his young friend to "gather gear" in every honourable way, and what for?

Not for to hoard it in a dyke,Not for a train attendant;But for the glorious privilegeOf being independent.

And that which is the supreme dignity of manhood is even more essential in the case of a nation.

What do we mean when we speak of the independence of the country? We mean something beyond price, something that is the indispensable condition of true manhood in any country, something without which a country is poor in the present and a butt for the world's scorn in the future. There are men, or things that look like men, who say that as long as we put money in our purse, nothing else counts. How that class of men must have laughed some centuries ago at a fool called William Wallace! How clearly they could point out that it was much better to be part of the richer country to the south. When they heard of the fate of the patriot, did they not serenely say: "We told you so?" Did they not in their hearts envy the false Menteath the price he got for betraying the man who acted as true sentiment bade? But, give it time, and the judgment of the world is just. Even the blind can now see whether the patriot or the so-called "practical man" did most for Scotland's advantage. Now

At Wallace' name, what Scottish bloodBut boils up in a springtime flood!Oft have our fearless fathers strodeBy Wallace' side,Still pressing onward, red-wat shod,Or glorious died.

What has his memory been worth to Scotland! Would you estimate it in millions? Superior persons will tell me that Wallace is an anachronism. In form, yes; in spirit, never. It may be said that in the end Scotland did unite with England. Yes, but first, what a curse the union would have been if unaccompanied, as in the case of Ireland, with national self-respect! And, secondly,Canada is ready for union with the States any day on the same terms as those which Scotland got: (1) That the States accept our Queen or King as their head. (2) That we keep our own civil and criminal law and parliamentary constitution, as Scotland did. (3) That the whole Empire be included in the arrangement, as the whole of Scotland was in the union. Surely the men who are never tired of citing the case of Scotland and England as parallel to ours must admit that this is fair.

But, here comes a question that must be faced. Is it worth while preserving the independence, the unity, and dignity of Canada? There are men who, for one reason or another, doubt whether it is. They have lost faith in the country, or rather they never had any faith to lose. It is this absence of faith that is at the bottom of all their arguments and all their unrest. Now, I do not wonder that there should be men who do not share our faith. Men who were brought up in England, and who have seen and tasted the best of it; who are proud of that "dear, dear land", as Shakespeare called it, proud of its history, its roll of saints, statesmen, heroes; of its cathedrals, colleges, castles; of its present might as well as its ancient renown; and who have then come to live in Canada,—well, they naturally look with amused contempt at our raw, rough ways, our homespun legislators and log colleges, combined with lofty ambitions expressed sometimes—it must be admitted—in bunkum. I do not wonder, either, that men who have been citizens of the United States, who exult in its vast population, its vast wealth, and its boundless energy, should think it madness on our part that we are not knocking untiringly at their door for admission, and that the only explanation of our attitude that they can give is thatwe are "swelled heads", or "the rank and file of jingoism." But, after all, they must know that this question is not to be settled by them. It must be settled by genuine Canadians. We, like Cartier, are Canadiansavant tout. Most of us have been born in the land, have buried our fathers and mothers, and some of us our children, too, in the natal soil, and above the sacred dust we have pledged ourselves to be true to their memories and to the country they loved, and to those principles of honour that are eternal! God helping, we will do so, whether strangers help or hinder! We do not think so meanly of our country that we are willing to sell it for a mess of pottage. I know Canada well, from ocean to ocean; from the rich sea pastures on the Atlantic all the way across to Vancouver and Victoria. Every province and every territory of it, I know well. I know the people, too, a people thoroughly democratic and honest to the core. I would now plainly warn those who think that there is no such thing as Canadian sentiment that they are completely mistaken. They had better not reckon without their host. The silent vote is that which tells, and though it will not talk, it will vote solid all the time for those who represent national sentiment when the national life is threatened. I am not a party man. In my day, I have voted about evenly on both sides, for when I do vote, it is after consideration of the actual issues involved at the time. Both sides therefore rightly consider me unreliable, but, perhaps, both will listen when I point out that the independent vote is increasing, and that it is the only vote worth cultivating. The true Grit or Tory will vote with his party, right or wrong. No time, therefore, need be given to him. Let the wise candidate win the men who believe that the country ishigher than party, and there is, I think, only one thing that these men will not forgive—lack of faith in the country. They have no doubt that it is worth while to preserve the unity, dignity, and independence of Canada.

We are quite sure of this. Are we as sure that it is our duty to pay the price? The United States are paying three or four times our whole revenue in pensions to those who fought to keep the country united. They do not grudge this enormous price. They have besides a respectable army, and a fleet that will soon be formidable. What means do we find it necessary to use? In any trouble we simply call on the Mother Country. The present system is cheap. No! it is dear and nasty, and cannot last.

What should we do? First, let us remember what Britain has dared for us within the last two or three years. Britain would fight the rest of the world rather than the United States,—not because the Republic could hurt her seriously, not because her trade with it is five times as much as with us, but because she is proud of her own eldest child and knows that a war between mother and daughter would be a blow struck at the world's heart. Yet, for us she spoke the decisive word from which there was no drawing back. For us, once and again, because we were in the right, she dared a risk which she hated with her whole soul.

Let us show that we appreciate her attitude. Let us, at any rate, do what Australia has done—enter into a treaty, according to which we shall pay so much a year for a certain number of ships, to be on our own coasts in peace, and in war at the disposal of the Empire. That would be tantamount to saying: "You have shared our risks, we will share yours; we will pay part of theinsurance that is necessary to guarantee peace; we are educating officers for the army, and we are willing to give a much needed addition to the fleet". That would be a first step toward the attainment of full citizenship. What would be the next? We could ask that our voice should be heard in some constitutional way before any war was decided on. And we would have the right standing ground from which to urge a wise system of preferential trade in the common interest. These three things are, in my opinion, connected, and I have ventured to indicate the order in which they should be taken.

Would it pay? The experience of the world proves that nothing pays in the long run but duty-doing. How can a country grow great men if it is content to be in leading-strings, and to give plausible excuses to show that that state of things is quite satisfactory?

Only by some form of Imperial Federation can the unity of the Empire be preserved.

The previous advantages to which I referred concerned Canada directly. This one may appear, to some persons, far away from us, but it is not. In another speech I may enlarge on this advantage, but suffice it to say now, that we cannot isolate ourselves from humanity. Canada ought to be dearer to us than any other part of the Empire, but none the less we must admit that the Empire is more important to the world than any of its parts, and every true man is a citizen of the world.

I will not speak to-night of what the Empire has done for us in the past, of the rich inheritance into which we have entered, and of the shame that falls on children who value lightly the honour of their family and race. Consider only the present position of affairs. TheEuropean nations are busy watching each other. Britain is detaching herself from them, understanding that she is an oceanic, colonizing, and world power, much more than a European state. The United States and Britain are the two Powers, one in essence, cradled in freedom, that have a great future before them. According to the last census, the first has a population of some fifty-four millions of whites. The census of next April will show that the other has nearly forty millions in the home islands and ten millions in the self-governing Colonies. The two Powers have thus about the same population of white men, and the two are likely to grow at the same rate.

In Britain the rate of increase will be less, but in the Colonies it will be greater than in the States during the next half century. The States will keep united. They have stamped out disunion. We have to prove that we intend to keep the Empire united; but that can be done only by giving the ten millions a gradually increasing share in common privileges and responsibilities. Surely such a work is not beyond the resources of statesmanship. For a long time decentralization was needed. Now, all the signs of the times indicate the necessity to centralize. The days of small powers are over, and modern inventions make communication easy between east and west, as well as between north and south.

If this is not done, what will certainly happen? Separation, first of one part then of another; weakness of each part and weakness all round. Think of the impetus that this would give to every force that makes for chaos among the three hundred millions over whom God in His providence has placed us. The work that the British Empire has in hand is far grander than thecomparatively parochial duties with which the States are content to deal. Its problems are wider and more inspiring; yet, at the same time, the white race that alone, so far, has proved itself fit for self-government, lives by itself, instead of being commingled with a coloured race to which only nominal freedom is allowed. Any one who has lived either in South Africa or in the Southern States will understand what a free hand and what an unspeakable leverage this gives us. We need no Force Bill to ensure a free ballot in Britain, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand. Already our sons are taking their part in introducing civilization into Africa, under the aegis of the flag, and in preserving thePax Britannicaamong the teeming millions of India and southeastern Asia, those peoples kindred to ourselves, who for centuries before had been the prey of successive spoilers. Think of the horizon that this opens up, and remember that in building a state we must think not of the present but of the future.

In a generation all the best land on this continent will have been taken up. But, thanks to the far-reaching wisdom of our fathers, the greater part of the world will be open to the trade, to the colonizing, and to the enterprise of our children. We shall not be confined to a frozen north or to a single continent. We shall take part in work that is of world-wide significance, and shall act out our belief that God loves not North America only, but the whole world. Only on conditions of the British Empire standing, can this be done. This is the ideal that we should set before us, and remember that no people has ever been a great or permanent factor in the world that was without high ideals. I know that this advantage to which I am referring is not one that can becalculated in dollars, any more than the work of a Wallace or the poems of a Shakespeare, the life of Sydney or the death of Gordon; but it is an advantage none the less for which many of us are content to struggle and, if need be, to suffer. What are we in this world for? Surely for something higher than to still the daily craving of appetite. Surely for something higher than to accumulate money, though it should be to the extent of adding million to million. Surely we are in the world for something better! Yes, we are here to think great thoughts, to do great things, to promote great ideals. This can be done only through faithfulness to the best spirit of our fathers. Society is an organism, and must preserve its continuity. It must work, too, through instruments; and the most potent, keenest, best-tried instrument on earth for preserving peace, order, liberty and righteousness, is the Empire of which we are citizens. Shall we throw away that citizenship, or shall we maintain and strengthen that Empire?

—George Monro Grant (By permission)

Apply the principles of Emphasis, Inflection, Grouping, and Perspective in reading this address. Give specific illustrations of each.

Father of nations! Help of the feeble hand!Strength of the strong! to whom the nations kneel!Stay and destroyer, at whose just commandEarth's kingdoms tremble and her empires reel!Who dost the low uplift, the small make great,5And dost abase the ignorantly proud,Of our scant people mould a mighty state,To the strong, stern,—to Thee in meekness bowed!Father of unity, make this people one!Weld, interfuse them in the patriot's flame,10Whose forging on Thine anvil was begunIn blood late shed to purge the common shame;That so our hearts, the fever of faction done,Banish old feud in our young nation's name.

—Charles G. D. Roberts(By arrangement)

This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,This other Eden, demi-paradise,This fortress, built by Nature for herselfAgainst infection and the hand of war,This happy breed of men, this little world,This precious stone set in the silver sea.

1.ā as in ate, fate, cave, made, glade, pale.

â as in air, fair, chair, hair, lair, pair, care, dare, bare, share, bear, fairy, compare, parent, prayer, garish, there, heir.

ă as in at, that, and, damp, glad, bade, castle, baron, barrel.

ä as in far, arm, hark, charm, march, bard, calm, palm, psalm, balm, half, alms, father, dark, wrath, path, marsh, laugh.

ȧ as in ask, grasp, fast, last, pass, past, branch, chance, dance, mast, vast, gasp, quaff, craft, staff, chant, grass, mass.

ạ as in all, talk, squall, dawn, warp, hawk, laurel, haughty, halt.

a obscure, in final medial syllables, unaccented, and closed by n, l, nt, nce, nd, s, ss, st, p or ph or ff, m, or d, as in sylvan, vacancy, mortal, loyal, valiant, guidance, husband, breakfast, gallant, ballad, etc.

ē as in me, seem, reap, weed, lean, evil, redeem.

ĕ as in met, end, spell, debt, text, jest, when, merry, America, ceremony.

ẽ (coalescent) as in her, fern, earth, mercy, verse, stern, earl, pearl, term, verge, prefer, serge, earn, early.

ī as in time, tide, mile, wine, high, size.

ĭ as in pin, grim, king, gift, this, grip.

ĩ (coalescent) as in bird, girl, fir, stir, girdle, circle, virgin, first.

ō as in note, old, spoke, pole, wrote, joke.

ŏ as in not, shot, top, odd, honest, comic, on, gone, off, often, dog, (not "dawg"), God, soft, long, song, strong, coral, orange, foreign, torrid, coronet, corridor, correlate.

ô as in corn, lord, stork, orb, form, forlorn, morn, short, adorn.

o as in word, work, worm, worry.

ȯ as in love, done, some, cover, brother, another, month, company, Monday, front, covet, wonder, sponge, smother.

ö as in do, move, who, whose, lose, prove, too, bosom.

ū as in use, pure, duke, tune, tube, blue, duty, flew, new, student, subdue, pursue, absolute, illumine, tumult, suit, during, pursuit, presume, lunacy, Tuesday, numeral.

ŭ as in us, up, but, drum, dusk, trust.

ṳ as in rude, brute, fruit, sure, true, construe, recruit.

ụ as in full, pull, put, push, cushion, bushel, pulpit, bullet.

û as in hurt, burr, cur, fur, furl, burst, purr, recur, curfew, furlong, surge, urn.

Note that ä in far and ȧ in ask are called long Italianaand short Italianarespectively. The quality of the sound is the same in each, but they differ in quantity, the latter being shorter.

The following vowels have the same sound:

ẽ (coalescent) and ĩ (coalescent);

ö as in do, ṳ as in rude, and ōō as in food;

o as in word and û as in hurt;

ȯ as in love and ŭ as in us.

After marking the vowels diacritically read the following passages, paying special attention to the vowel sounds:

So Lord Howard passed away with five ships of war that day.That desperate grasp thy frame might feelThrough bars of brass and triple steel.The guide, abating of his pace,Led slowly through the pass's jaws,And asked Fitz-James by what strange causeHe sought these wilds, traversed by fewWithout a pass from Roderick Dhu.The hand cannot clasp the whole of his alms,The heart outstretches its eager palms.O listen, ladies, ladies gay!No haughty feat of arms I tell;Soft is the note, and sad the layThat mourns the lovely Rosabelle.And when the Angel met him on his way,And half in earnest, half in jest, would say,Sternly, though tenderly, that he might feelThe velvet scabbard held a sword of steel,"Art thou the King?" the passion of his woeBurst from him in resistless overflow,And, lifting high his forehead, he would flingThe haughty answer back, "I am, I am the King!"Then rest thee here till dawn of day;Myself will guide thee on the way,O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward,Till past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard,As far as Coilantogle's ford;From thence thy warrant is thy sword.Around the keel that raced the dolphin and the sharkOnly the sand-wren twitters from barren dawn till dark;And all the long blank noon the blank sand chafes and marsThe prow once swift to follow the lure of the dancing stars.

So Lord Howard passed away with five ships of war that day.

That desperate grasp thy frame might feelThrough bars of brass and triple steel.

The guide, abating of his pace,Led slowly through the pass's jaws,And asked Fitz-James by what strange causeHe sought these wilds, traversed by fewWithout a pass from Roderick Dhu.

The hand cannot clasp the whole of his alms,The heart outstretches its eager palms.

O listen, ladies, ladies gay!No haughty feat of arms I tell;Soft is the note, and sad the layThat mourns the lovely Rosabelle.

And when the Angel met him on his way,And half in earnest, half in jest, would say,Sternly, though tenderly, that he might feelThe velvet scabbard held a sword of steel,"Art thou the King?" the passion of his woeBurst from him in resistless overflow,And, lifting high his forehead, he would flingThe haughty answer back, "I am, I am the King!"

Then rest thee here till dawn of day;Myself will guide thee on the way,O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward,Till past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard,As far as Coilantogle's ford;From thence thy warrant is thy sword.

Around the keel that raced the dolphin and the sharkOnly the sand-wren twitters from barren dawn till dark;And all the long blank noon the blank sand chafes and marsThe prow once swift to follow the lure of the dancing stars.

2.Distinguish the sound ofūin use, pure, duke, etc.,

from the sound ofooinfood, hoof, mood, rood, roof, soot, aloof,and from the sound ofooinbook, good, nook, hood, rook, look, foot, crook.

Read the following with special reference to these sounds:

Flew flashing under the blinding blue.She left the web, she left the loom,She made three paces thro' the room,She saw the water-lily bloom,She saw the helmet and the plume,She look'd down to Camelot.Singing the bridal of sap and shoot,The tree's slow life between root and fruit.... helter-skelter through the blueLike a crowd of frightened porpoises a shoal of sharks pursue.While on dreary moorlands lonely curlew pipe.

Flew flashing under the blinding blue.

She left the web, she left the loom,She made three paces thro' the room,She saw the water-lily bloom,She saw the helmet and the plume,She look'd down to Camelot.

Singing the bridal of sap and shoot,The tree's slow life between root and fruit.

... helter-skelter through the blueLike a crowd of frightened porpoises a shoal of sharks pursue.

While on dreary moorlands lonely curlew pipe.

My Lords, you have that true image of the primitive Church in its ancient form, in its ancient ordinances, purified from the superstitions and vices which a long succession of ages will bring upon the best institutions.

3.Double and triple consonant endings present difficulties of articulation:—Robbed, bragged, divulged, mends, breathed, gossips, casques, barracks, depths, heights, lengths, breadths, lists, aspects, seethes, thirsteth, breathest, sheath'st, melt'st, search'st, sixths, twelfths, tests.

Read with special reference to the articulation of the final consonants:

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