The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-02-04
THE WHEELING THURSDAY MORNING FEBRUARY

&c, whore the rhythm demands it, are Of
course 70 be treated the same; otherwise
8 words Of hpo syllAbles, Here is an.
other instance Of the triplet and eOmpres-'
loa, Both are compulsory for the correct
rendering Of the line.
NoETplE-i,A HIataF Of his p0EF; you know
-Rary VIZ, AT l., Seas l.
The last syllable in "aature" Is not re-
quired to make up the proper amount Of
poetic feet TO the line, and must Of course
be passed over as lightly Us good reading
win allow.
When Shakespeare writes prose he
leaves US In no doubt where 10 find 1t,
and when we come to it We should read
II as prose. We should not drag down
his verse to prose, nor spoil his prose by
trying to elevate It to the dignity Of blank
verse,
I will conclude this part Of this COM
munication by laying down the axiom,
that the rhythm in blank verse, II poSsible,
must always DO preserved, and only
yielded where It's retention will run the
author into nonsense. But such freaks
are very rare indeed, The difficulties
may generally DO tided over by the
methods mentioned by ", G, A." and
those indicated above,
"a Member" says; as it not q falAe
policy to attempt to harmonic Shake
speaFe's verse by such changes in pro-
nunciation as the writer in the Standard
proposCs?" etc, etc. III seems an effort
Of pigmies to help a giants strength"
l think the writer on seeing his article in
print will share my opinion that tho last
quoted sentence docs not ornament his
otherwise beautifully written communica-
ton, With this exception, although not
free from what l think to be errors, il
docs credittO his literary taste and shows
him to be a gentleman Of culture; and ii
is to be regretted that tho Objectionable
sentence escaped his pen,- We assure
him VIC are not preSWmiRg TO assist tho
the great bard, not at alive are trying
to G6sia Ourselvesl
There arc several assertions contained
in the article Of "A Member" which, are
far from being invulnerable, To answer
them all would not DO quite pertinent to
the present occasion, but will alludc to
one instance, He says that Milton wrote
"the only English epic poem actually
worthy Of the NAME" i will merely refer
him to Lord Macauley-no mean author
ity, by the way-whO says that the "sCv.
enteenth century produced tho grand
epic poems, Paradise Lost and BunyNn's
Plgrims Progress"
"a Member" frankly COnfcsscs his keen
love for the sweet verse Of Spenser-and
who does not? But his reasons ale some.
what peculiar, lie says that we, "while
we glide over the silver sounds Of his
melllauous poesy will find no occasion
TO change tho accent Of any word Of we'll
known pronunciation to suit the necessi-
ties Of his measure" The "Faeric
Queen" contains tho following, and has
a prodlgal amount Of like deyiations
from the severe standard claimed for him
by our friend;
CANTo ILL.,, vRRsR VI
"Instead thereof no klss'd her weary icOt,
And llck'd hOr lily hands with iaWnlng tongue,
As h0 her WrOngei innocence did zRGOt,
Q how can beauty master tho most strong
Whose yielded pride and proud submission,
still drGAdlng death, when SlIO had marked long
Her heart gan melt In great COMPASSION;
And driILllng tears did shed for pure affection"
Does Shakespeare anywhere, In tho
round Of all his works, make such CO.
pious drafts on US for change Of pronun.
citation rs spenser does In tho aboveP |
think not, Tie above Ia not ali isolated
verse; there arc plenty more Of similar
instances, In fact they are quite common.
/ would merely say In conclusion, that
this paper Is written by ono who has
profound respect for tho writer Of the
article signed "a Members" II Il the
product Of a very able and graceful pen,
and shows tho author tO'bc a gentleman
Of refinement and culture; but believing
some Of his premises to be wrong, have
deemed It a duty (butI must soy not
pleasant One) TO endeavOr to answer him,
with that care that his beautifully writ.
ten but Objectionable essay deserves, II,
however, gives much excellent advice to
the "Club." 1t advises members to study
their parts, in fact to pcrmeate them.
selves. with the spirit OfEtho Play TO be
performed. This must BE-, or members Of
the "Club" will never attain 10 anything
In the way Of excellence In acting. II
will not suffice for a member merely to
look over his own designated part-lle
mustlook over the whole play, 10 sec what
proportion Ills own character bears to the
others. II he il a king, he should not
come on the boards with the air Of n SOUL
lion II he Is a scullion, he should not
assume the lofty part OF mljestyl let
him aim to personate, thoroughly, in his
manner the condition OF life lie Is called
to represent. Lot 1t be the aim Of every
member to forget that lie IA Smith, Brown,
Jones, or Robinson, when appointed to
personatc character. Let him merge
self entirely. Out OF these elements let
us have the kingly but unhappy Lear;
the heroic but abused Olhello; the mel.
ancholy but philosopllic Dane; and the
ambitious Macbeth. II other Smiths,
Browns, Jonescs, or Robinsons are called
to pcrsonate loitr characters, let them
study to be good "Scullions," "attendants,"
"heralds," "men Of The road' like "Peto"
and "Bardolph," and show the very Image
Of the sack drinking "iat knight" Of
Swindling memory. This is acting, and
the study Of anything short Of It Il from
the purpose Of playing, whose end and
aim IL 10 hold thu niihfnr II n In hatitFn As