Is there any difference as to how the two series should be spoken? Yes. The commencing series requires the falling infection on every member except the last, which should be given the rising inflection; as,
From the very beginning I chose an honest and straightforward course in politics, to support the honor, the power, the glory of my fatherland.
—Demosthenes
The series is embraced in the words “the honor, the power, the glory,” and as the sense is incomplete with the close of the series, requiring “of my fatherland” to complete the sense, it is a commencing series. The proper delivery of this series requires that “honor” should be given the falling inflection, “power” the falling, and “glory” the rising.
The concluding series requires the falling inflection on every member except the next to the last, which should be given the rising inflection; as,
He thinks the whole world sees it in his face, reads it in his eyes, and almost hears its workings in the very silence of his thoughts.
—Daniel Webster
This is an excellent example of a concluding series of phrases. The first phrase, ending with “face,” requires the falling inflection; the second, ending with “eyes,” requires the rising inflection; the third, ending with “thoughts,” requires the falling inflection.
series of contrasts
What is a series of contrasts? A series of contrasts is where there are at least three contrasts arranged in the form of the series; as,