ought, but it is
essential that he be able to feel the emotions that possessed the author
or manifested themselves in the characters he describes. If anyone is
thoroughly possessed by the sentiment of any given poem, the quality of
his voice will modify itself and respond to the behests laid upon it. He
will unconsciously pitch his voice at the proper key, will use the right
amount of force, and speak at the rate which most suitably expresses his
feelings. When this is done, we have perfectly natural reading, the
highest art.

Pitch, rate, quality and force are the particular characteristics of
good reading which depend almost entirely upon the mental state of the
reader.

a. Pitch. Much depends upon the proper pitch of the voice. The key upon
which one reads may be medium, or low, or high, and what it is depends
upon certain physiological conditions. If the vocal chords are tense,
the pitch is high. Accordingly, any state of mind that produces tense
vocal chords produces high pitch in the voice. A person can forcibly
tighten his vocal chords and utter sounds at high pitch, but they are
strained, artificial and unnatural. If a certain amount of feeling goes
with the effort, the tones become more agreeable.

If a person's voice is pitched too high, is harsh and unmelodious, the
remedy is by way of a process of forgetting. He must forget that he is
reading and feel that he is talking. If his conversation is marked by
the same faults as his reading, he may gain something by imitation in
the way of raising his standards of expression. In general, he reads
harshly because he thinks he _must_ read. The nervous tension which this
feeling produces has affected his vocal chords without any intention on
his part. He cannot read more expressively while he feels as he does.
Harshness and unnatural pitch will disappear from his voice when he can
forget that he is reading from compulsion.

For practice the following selections are excellent:

_Gettysburg Address_, IX, 321.
_Boat Song_, VII, 17.
_Battle of Waterloo_, VIII, 176.

b. Rate or Time. The rate at which a person reads, or the time consumed
in any one selection, is regulated by the extent or breadth of thought
and by the rapidity of action. There is a certain medium or ordinary
time in which those selections that are in no way emotional are read.
Commonplace selections, not calculated to stir the feelings, are of this
character, as are simple narratives where th