Practical Recitations

Selections for Literary Exercises
APPROPRIATE FOR
Reception-Days, Holidays, Poets’ Birthdays, etc.,
INCLUDING
CONCERT AND MUSICAL RECITATIONS, AND DIALOGUES
FROM POPULAR AUTHORS, ESPECIALLY
ARRANGED FOR THIS WORK.

BY
Caroline B. LeRow,
Instructor in Elocution, Central School, Brooklyn, and formerly
Instructor in Vassar and Smith Colleges.

NEW YORK:
Clark & Maynard, Publishers,
771 Broadway and 67 & 69 Ninth Street.

A Practical Reader.

WITH
EXERCISES IN VOCAL CULTURE.

By CAROLINE B. LeROW,

Instructor in Elocution, Central School, Brooklyn, and formerly at Smith and Vassar Colleges.

All students are expected to be able to read well ordinary prose and poetry, and it is for the purpose of helping them to do this, as well as to help teachers in the teaching of reading, that this book is prepared.

It is thoroughly practical. No unnecessary technical terms are used. The subjects explained and illustrated are those only which, as the result of many years’ experience among teachers as well as pupils, the compiler has found most necessary.

As physical development and correct vocalization must precede all good reading, the simplest and therefore most essential physical and vocal exercises are given, with full directions for their use.

The selections for reading present nothing of a merely showy style of elocution. They are adapted for the upper classes of Grammar Schools, as well as for High and advanced schools.

We claim that the Practical Reader contains more suitable material for elocutionary work in the school-room, in more condensed, analytical, and available form, than any other Reader or Speaker before the public.

224 Pages, 16mo, Handsome Cloth Binding, Red Edges.

A Specimen Copy for Examination, or Copies for Introduction, will be Delivered at 60 Cents Each.

How to Teach Reading.

By CAROLINE B. LeROW.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Failure in the Teaching of Reading—Teaching by Imitation—Natural and Logical Method—Variety in Teaching—Physical Exercise—Value of Exercise—Directions for Using Exercises—Exercises for the Body—Exercises for the Chest—Cautions in the Use of Physical Exercises—Breathing—Breathing Exercises—Cautions in the Use of Breathing Exercises—Whispering—Articulation—Vowel Sounds—Consonant Sounds—Final Consonants—Physical Effort in Articulation—Impediments of Speech—Blundering Articulation—Manner of Practicing Exercises in Articulation—Spelling Words by Sounds—Naturalness in Reading—Place of Emphasis—Selection of Words—Teaching without a Book—Punctuation—Sense Independent of Punctuation—The Reading of Poetry—Concert Reading—Reading and Singing—Vocal Accuracy in Recitations—Breathlessness in Reading—Timidity in Reading—Work in Advanced Classes—Special Faults—Extract from “Reading as a Fine Art.”

32 Pages. Price Postpaid, 12 Cents per Copy.

CLARK & MAYNARD, Publishers,
771 Broadway, New York.

Copyright, 1886, by Clark & Maynard.

PREFACE.

Recitations form one of the most attractive features of school entertainments, and give a pleasant variety to every-day work; yet few teachers have the time, even if they have the ability, to drill pupils in the long and difficult pieces which form the bulk of the countless Recitations offered to the public.

The selections included in this volume are in harmony with the spirit of class-room work, which demands brevity, simplicity, good sense, and sound morality. This is the only compilation of the kind in which these matters are considered as of equal importance with elocutionary effect. Very few of the pieces are to be found in any other book, and each one has been practically tested in the school-room. The style of rendering, wherever specified, can be changed, of course, to suit the taste of the teacher.

As it is desirable that the largest possible number of students should share in such exercises, many short selections, excellent for practice in correct emphasis and distinct articulation, are provided for the purpose.

The observance of our poets’ birthdays is becoming a pleasant and profitable custom in most schools, and provision has been made for these anniversaries as well as for all other holidays.

As it is not possible to make liberal provision for each poet, it is hoped that the Alphabets will be suggestive of their best poems, and the prose extracts concerning the writers will inspire in students a desire to become better acquainted with them and their works.

CONTENTS.

[Miscellaneous Recitations.]
TITLE. AUTHOR. PAGE
A Bird’s Ministry, Margaret J. Preston, [40]
A Discourse of Buddha, Edwin Arnold, [30]
After Vacation, The Kingdom of Home, [11]
An Illumined Text, Christian at Work, [55]
Are the Heroes Dead? Helen Lee Sargent, [26]
A Song for the Conquered, William W. Story, [66]
A Strange Experience, Josephine Pollard, [14]
A Swedish Poem, Anon., [47]
A True Story, Baldwin’s Monthly, [80]
A Turkish tradition, Interior, [43]
Beside the Railway Track, Anon., [65]
Concerning Beginnings and Ends, Rev. A. K. H. Boyd, [13]
Eyes that See Not, Ella Jewett, [44]
Extract from a Letter, Wm. Wirt, [41]
Failed, Phillips Thompson, [27]
Forefathers’ Day, Helen Hunt Jackson, [79]
Forward, Susan Coolidge, [24]
Growth, Horace Mann, [39]
Happiness, Maggie B. Peeke, [55]
Her Angel, Anna F. Burnham, [25]
Home Lights, Sunday-school Times, [13]
Humility, Ernest W. Shurtleff, [35]
Labor, Rev. Orville Dewey, [28]
Lamentation of the Lungs, Phrenological Journal, [44]
Little Christel, Mary E. Bradley, [82]
Luther, Joaquin Miller, [74]
Moral Courage, Rev. Sydney Smith, [17]
My Portion, Carlotta Perry, [50]
Noblesse Oblige, Carlotta Perry, [59]
No Work the Hardest Work, C. F. Orne, [18]
Only a Little, Dora Goodale, [49]
Only a Little Thing, Mrs. M. P. Handy, [68]
Original Maxims, James A. Garfield, [74]
Original Maxims, George Washington, [71]
Questions, Kate Lawrence, [77]
Saxon Grit, Rev. Robert Collyer, [51]
Sparrows, Adeline D. T. Whitney, [32]
Some Old School-books, Harper’s Weekly, [19]
The Amen of the Rocks, Christian Gellert, [67]
The Angel of Dawn, J. S. Cutler, [76]
The Barbarous Chief, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, [38]
The Blessing of the Poets, James T. Fields, [115]
The Burial of the Old Flag, Mary A. Barr, [62]
The Coast-guard, Emily H. Miller, [42]
Their Cost, Ellen M. H. Gates, [21]
The Daily Task, Marianne Farningham, [15]
The Demon on the Roof, Josephine Pollard, [48]
The Holy Place, Mary Frances Butts, [29]
The King’s Bell, Eben E. Rexford, [57]
The Landing of the Pilgrims, Felicia Hemans, [78]
The Light-house, Good Words, [46]
The Little Light, Anon., [53]
The Little Messenger of Love, Harper’s Young People, [69]
The Old Folks in the New School-house, Anon., [37]
The Old Reading Class, Will Carleton, [22]
The Old Stone Basin, Susan Coolidge, [64]
The People’s Holidays, Marianne Farningham, [12]
The Silver Bird’s Nest, Anon., [73]
The Storming of Stony Point, Elaine Goodale, [34]
The Twenty-first of February, Wm. Cullen Bryant, [78]
The Value of Literature, Hamilton W. Mabie, [60]
The Work of a Sunbeam, Nathan G. Shepherd, [72]
True Heroism, Anon., [61]
Uses of Adversity, Watchman, [60]
“What’s the Lesson for To-day?” Anon., [16]
What of That? Anon., [36]
Wind and Sea, Bayard Taylor, [54]
[Concert Recitations.]
Cavalry Song, Edmund C. Stedman, [107]
Songs of the Seasons, Meta E. B. Thorne, [85]
Song of the Steamer Engine, C. B. LeRow, [92]
Summer Storm, James Russell Lowell, [91]
The Cataract of Lodore, Robert Southey, [105]
The Charge at Waterloo, Walter Scott, [90]
The Child on the Judgment Seat, E. Charles, [95]
The Coming of Spring, Wilhelm Müller, [87]
The Death of Our Almanac, Henry Ward Beecher, [100]
The Good Time Coming, Charles Mackay, [88]
The Sorrow of the Sea, Anon., [98]
The Two Glasses, Anon., [97]
Two Epitaphs, From the German, [104]
[Selections for Musical Accompaniment.]
A Winter Song, St. Nicholas, [110]
Hope’s Song, Helen M. Winslow, [109]
Rock of Ages, Ella Maud Moore, [113]
The Angelus, Frances L. Mace, [108]
The Concert Rehearsal, Wolstan Dixey, [111]
The Sunrise Never Failed Us Yet, Celia Thaxter, [110]
[POETS’ BIRTHDAYS.]
[William Cullen Bryant.]
A Bryant Alphabet, Compiler, [117]
Extract concerning Bryant, Rev. Henry W. Bellows, [116]
” ” ” John Bigelow, [115]
” ” ” George William Curtis, [116]
” ” ” Edwin P. Whipple, [116]
Green River, William Cullen Bryant, [123]
The Hurricane, ” ” ” [122]
The Night Journey of a River, ” ” ” [121]
The Third of November, ” ” ” [121]
The Violet, ” ” ” [123]
To William Cullen Bryant, Fitz-Greene Halleck, [115]
[Ralph Waldo Emerson.]
Art, Ralph Waldo Emerson, [131]
An Emerson Alphabet, Compiler, [126]
Emerson, Elizabeth C. Kinney, [124]
Extract concerning Emerson, Rev. C. A. Bartol, [125]
” ” ” George Willis Cooke, [125]
” ” ” Oliver Wendell Holmes, [125]
” ” ” Protap Chunder Mozoomdar, [126]
” ” ” Horace E. Scudder, [124]
” from “Compensation,” Ralph Waldo Emerson, [129]
” ” “Works and Days,” ” ” ” [130]
The Concord Fight, ” ” ” [130]
The Rhodora, ” ” ” [131]
[Oliver Wendell Holmes.]
A Holmes Alphabet, Compiler [135]
Extract concerning Holmes, George William Curtis, [134]
” ” ” Charles W. Eliot, [133]
” ” ” Wm. Sloane Kennedy, [134]
” ” ” Rev. Ray Palmer, [133]
” ” ” Frances H. Underwood, [133]
International Ode, Oliver Wendell Holmes, [140]
James Russell Lowell’s Birthday Festival, ” ” ” [141]
Our Autocrat, John G. Whittier, [132]
The Two Streams, Oliver Wendell Holmes, [140]
Under the Washington Elm, ” ” ” [139]
[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.]
A Longfellow Alphabet, Compiler, [144]
Charles Sumner, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, [150]
Extract concerning Longfellow, George William Curtis, [143]
” ” ” Rev. O. B. Frothingham, [143]
” ” ” Rev. M. J. Savage, [144]
” ” ” Richard H. Stoddard, [143]
” ” ” John G. Whittier, [142]
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William W. Story, [142]
Loss and Gain, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, [149]
Musings, ” ” ” [148]
The City and the Sea, ” ” ” [149]
[James Russell Lowell.]
Abraham Lincoln, James Russell Lowell, [159]
A Lowell Alphabet, Compiler, [154]
Extract concerning Lowell, David W. Bartlett, [153]
” ” ” Rev. H. R. Haweis, [153]
” ” ” North British Review, [152]
” ” ” W. C. Wilkinson, [153]
” ” ” Frances H. Underwood, [152]
Freedom, James Russell Lowell, [160]
The First Snow-fall, ” ” ” [157]
To James Russell Lowell, Oliver Wendell Holmes, [151]
Wendell Phillips, James Russell Lowell, [159]
[John Greenleaf Whittier.]
A Whittier Alphabet, Compiler, [163]
Extract concerning Whittier, John Bright, [163]
” ” ” Horace E. Scudder, [162]
” ” ” Richard H. Stoddard, [162]
” ” ” Frances H. Underwood, [161]
” ” ” Rev. David A. Wasson, [162]
My Country, John Greenleaf Whittier, [168]
The Light that is Felt, ” ” ” [170]
The Moral Warfare, ” ” ” [167]
To Children of Girard, Pa., ” ” ” [167]
1827-1885, ” ” ” [168]
John G. Whittier, James Russell Lowell, [161]
[Decoration Day.]
Between the Graves, Harriet Prescott Spofford, [172]
Decoration Day, Henry W. Longfellow, [171]
Decoration Hymn, William H. Randall, [175]
Flowers for the Brave, Celia Thaxter, [175]
Memorial Day, Margaret Sidney, [176]
Red, White, and Blue, Harriet McEwen Kimball, [173]
The Heroes’ Day, Harper’s Weekly, [174]
[Thanksgiving.]
Elsie’s Thanksgiving, Margaret E. Sangster, [186]
How the Pilgrims Gave Thanks, Anon., [180]
Thanksgiving, William D. Howells, [185]
Thanksgiving Day, The Advance, [178]
Thanksgiving among the Greeks, Anon., [178]
Thanksgiving for His House, Robert Herrick, [184]
Thanksgiving among the Jews, Anon., [179]
Thanksgiving Ode, John G. Whittier, [185]
Thanksgivings of Old, E. A. Smuller, [187]
The First Boston Thanksgiving, Hezekiah Butterworth, [182]
The First English Thanksgiving, Anon, [179]
The First National Thanksgiving, Anon, [181]
Washington’s Proclamation, [181]
[Christmas.]
A Christmas Question, Rev. Minot J. Savage, [197]
A Christmas Thought about Dickens, Bertha S. Scranton, [190]
Christmas Bells, Henry W. Longfellow, [201]
Christmas in Olden Time, Walter Scott, [189]
Christmas Roses, May Riley Smith, [202]
The Day of Days, Anon., [188]
The Little Mud Sparrows, Eliz. Stuart Phelps, [195]
The Nativity, Louisa Parsons Hopkins, [200]
The Star in the West, Hezekiah Butterworth, [192]
Wings, Dinah Mulock Craik, [199]
[New-Year’s.]
Address to the New Year, Dinah Mulock Craik, [203]
A New Year, Margaret E. Sangster, [203]
Another Year, Nathaniel P. Willis, [205]
A Wish, Margaret Veley, [205]
The Child and the Year, Celia Thaxter, [206]
[The Seasons.]
A Song of Waking, Katharine Lee Bates, [207]
December, Louisa Parsons Hopkins, [215]
Early Spring, Alfred Tennyson, [208]
Faded Leaves, Alice Cary, [213]
Frost Work, Mary E. Bradley, [217]
Golden Rod, Lucy Larcom, [210]
Indian Summer, John G. Whittier, [211]
January, Rosaline E. Jones, [216]
June, Travelers’ Record, [210]
May, Good Cheer, [209]
November, Hartley Coleridge, [214]
October, William Cullen Bryant, [212]
September, 1815, William Wordsworth, [212]
Winter, Robert Southey, [214]
[Flowers.]
A Bunch of Cowslips, Anon., [221]
Chrysanthemums, Mary E. Dodge, [223]
Daffodils, Robert Herrick, [222]
Ferns, Anon., [219]
No Flowers, Anon., [218]
Ragged Sailors, Anon., [224]
Roses, Anon., [223]
Sweet Peas, St. Nicholas, [220]
The Message of the Snowdrop, Anon., [224]
The Trailing Arbutus, John G. Whittier, [221]
[Dialogues.]
Alton Locke, Tailor and Poet, Charles Kingsley, [247]
Diogenes and Plato on Pride, T. A. Bland, [238]
Lorna Doone, R. D. Blackmore, [240]
Metaphysics, Anon., [249]
Mistress and Maid, Dinah Mulock Craik, [233]
Ninety-Three, Victor Hugo, [254]
Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan, [245]
Put Yourself in His Place, Charles Reade, [243]
Queen Isabella’s Resolve, Epes Sargent, [227]
Ruth Hall, Fanny Fern, [237]
The Hills of the Shatemuc, Elizabeth Wetherell, [231]
The Mill on the Floss, George Eliot, [229]
The Last Days of Pompeii, Edward Bulwer Lytton, [235]
The Queen’s Necklace, Alexander Dumas, [225]
The Musical Instrument, Anon., [242]
Work: A Story of Experience, Louisa M. Alcott, [251]

LIST OF AUTHORS.