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Next rose, the occasion to assist,
A “promising elocutionist.”
(His rivals averred, with jealousy warmed,
He promised much more than he performed;
But seldom artist-sister and -brother
See half the excellence of each other.)
What is there not in the human voice,
To make humanity's nerves rejoice,
Or grieve, as its master may make the choice?
What has not gesture and facial art
Achieved with the human mind and heart?
In every country and every realm,
The voice can flatter or overwhelm;
George Whitefield made men tremble and weep,
Or laugh or in abject terror creep,
Just by the way (from his friends' accounts)
He “Mesopotamia” could pronounce.
The politicians their fences bound
With sound discourse and discourse of sound;
And even the social words are sped
More thriftily, when in soft tones said.
A “promising elocutionist.”
(His rivals averred, with jealousy warmed,
He promised much more than he performed;
But seldom artist-sister and -brother
See half the excellence of each other.)
What is there not in the human voice,
To make humanity's nerves rejoice,
Or grieve, as its master may make the choice?
What has not gesture and facial art
Achieved with the human mind and heart?
In every country and every realm,
The voice can flatter or overwhelm;
94
Or laugh or in abject terror creep,
Just by the way (from his friends' accounts)
He “Mesopotamia” could pronounce.
The politicians their fences bound
With sound discourse and discourse of sound;
And even the social words are sped
More thriftily, when in soft tones said.
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