"What, that nahsty stuff!" "It isn't nahsty, pet, it's quite good.” "It is nahsty." 66 'No, it isn't nahsty." "It's oful nahsty, Neddy, and I shan't drink it." Then the question was, what she must have. She said he knew very well that she never drank anything but champagne. She added: "You know very well papa always has champagne on his table, and I've always been used to it." Neddy made a playful pretense of being distressed about the expense, and this amused her so much that she nearly exhausted herself with laughter, and this pleased him so much that he repeated his jest a couple of times, and added new and killing varieties to it. When the bride finally recovered, she gave Neddy a love-box on the arm with her fan, and said, with arch severity: "Well, you would have me-nothing else would do-so you'll have to make the best of a bad bargain. Do order the champagne; I'm oful dry." So, with a mock groan, which made her laugh again, Neddy ordered the champagne. The fact that this young woman had never moistened the selvedge edge of her soul with a less plebeian tipple than champagne had a marked and subduing effect upon Harris. He believed she belonged to the royal family. But I had my doubts. -Mark Twain. LESSON XL. Mont Blanc Before Sunrise. [Study for reverential feeling. Do not try to describe these pictures. Simply express the emotions the poem awakens in you, and your audience will feel them also.] Hast thou a charın to stay the morning star In his steep course? So long he seems to pause O dread and silent mount! I gazed upon thee Till thou, still present to the bodily sense, Didst vanish from my thought: entranced in prayer Yet, like some sweet beguiling melody, So sweet we know not we are listening to it,— Thou, the meanwhile, wast blending with my thought, Till the dilating soul, enrapt, transfused, As in her natural form, swelled vast to heaven. Awake, my soul! not only passive praise Thou first and chief, sole sovereign of the vale! Or when they climb the sky, or when they sink,— And you, ye five wild torrents fiercely glad! Your strength, your speed, your fury and your joy, And who commanded-and the silence came 66 Here let the billows stiffen and have rest?" Ye ice-falls! ye that from the mountain's brow Who made you glorious as the gates of heaven "God!" let the torrents, like a shout of nations, Answer! and let the ice-plain echo, "God!" "God!" sing, ye meadow streams, with gladsome voice Ye pine groves, with your soft and soul-like sounds! And they, too, have a voice, yon piles of snow, And in their perilous fall shall thunder, "God!" Ye living flowers that skirt the eternal frost! Utter forth "God!" and fill the hills with praise! Thou, too, hoar mount! with thy sky-pointing peaks, Slow travelling, with dim eyes suffused with tears, To rise before me,-rise, oh, ever rise! Rise, like a cloud of incense, from the earth! -S. T. Coleridge. Note to Lesson XXIII., page 204, and to Lesson XXXVI., Page 232. The accompanying diagram explains the usual stage directions that are found in acting editions of plays and dialogues. Side entrances.-Right or Left, 1st, 2d, 3rd, and upper entrance. Principal characters come to or near the centre, subordinate characters, and principals also, when for the time they give place to others, belong 'up stage. The actor should stand so that his face is easily seen by the audience, unless there is an especial reason for turning his back upon them; for this reason, the foot nearest the person whom he is addressing on the stage should be the foot furthest "up stage, and in pacing to and fro the last step at either side of the stage should always be upon this foot, so that the transition to the other direction can be made without turning the back on the audience. In grouping a number of characters on the stage the chief thing to be borne in mind is that everyone should be so placed that he can be easily seen from the front. The simplest form is the arc of a circle, but if the arc is broken into a number of little groups the effect is more artistic. Often the principals are grouped in the front with subordinates up the stage. One of the most difficult accomplishments of the actor is the exit or departure from the stage. It should always be made expressive in the highest degree. After an impassioned speech amateurs often walk tamely off with an air as if all were finished; on the contrary, the exit should emphasize the prevailing mood, whether of love, hate, joy or sorrow. Entrances, exits and all other changes of position should be accomplished gracefully, avoiding angularity. |