Public Speaking - Clarence Stratton

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Paean from the bells!

       And his merry bosom swells

       With the paean of the bells!

       And he dances, and he yells;

       Keeping time, time, time,

       In a sort of Runic rhyme,

       To the paean of the bells—

       Of the bells.

      17.

      Collecting, projecting,

       Receding and speeding,

       And shocking and rocking,

       And darting and parting.

       And threading and spreading,

       And whizzing and hissing,

       And dripping and skipping,

       And hitting and splitting,

       And shining and twining,

       And rattling and battling,

       And shaking and quaking,

       And pouring and roaring,

       And waving and raving,

       And tossing and crossing,

       And flowing and going,

       And running and stunning,

       And foaming and roaming,

       And dinning and spinning,

       And dropping and hopping,

       And working and jerking,

       And guggling and struggling,

       And heaving and cleaving,

       And moaning and groaning;

      And glittering and frittering,

       And gathering and feathering,

       And whitening and brightening,

       And quivering and shivering,

       And hurrying and skurrying,

       And thundering and floundering;

      Dividing and gliding and sliding,

       And falling and brawling and sprawling,

       And driving and riving and striving,

       And sprinkling and twinkling and wrinkling,

       And sounding and bounding and rounding,

       And bubbling and troubling and doubling,

       And grumbling and rumbling and tumbling,

       And clattering and battering and shattering;

      Retreating and beating and meeting and sheeting,

       Delaying and straying and playing and spraying,

       Advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing,

       Recoiling, turmoiling and toiling and boiling,

       And gleaming and streaming and steaming and beaming,

       And rushing and flushing and brushing and gushing,

       And flapping and rapping and clapping and slapping,

       And curling and whirling and purling and twirling,

       And thumping and plumping and bumping and jumping,

       And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing;

       And so never ending, but always descending,

       Sounds and motions for ever and ever are blending,

       All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar;

       And this way the water comes down at Lodore.

      18.

      Sister Susie's sewing shirts for soldiers,

       Such skill at sewing shirts our shy young

       Sister Susie shows.

       Some soldiers send epistles

       Say they'd rather sleep in thistles

       Than the saucy, soft, short shirts for soldiers

       Sister Susie sews.

       Table of Contents

       Table of Contents

      Vocabularies. The collection of words a person can command either in use or understanding is a vocabulary. Every person has three distinct ones: his reading vocabulary, his writing vocabulary, his speaking vocabulary. Of these, the reading vocabulary is the largest. There are thousands of words he recognizes in reading and although he might not be able to construct a dictionary definition for every one, he has a sufficiently clear idea to grasp the meaning. In this rude approximation to sense he is aided by the context, but for all practical purposes he understands the word. If he were writing, carefully taking time to note exactly what he was expressing, he might recall that word and so consciously put it into a sentence. He might use it in exactly the same sense in which he had seen it in print. But never in the rush of ideas and words in spoken discourse would he risk using a word he knew so slightly. If nothing more, he would beware of mispronunciation.

      Thus a person could easily deduce from his reading that a hangar is a building to house airplanes. He might—to avoid repeating the word shed too frequently—use it in writing. But until he was absolutely certain of its significance and its sound he would hardly venture to say it to other men.

      

      Spoken discourse is so alive, it moves so rapidly, that it is never so precise, so varied in its choice of words, as written material. The phraseology of written discourse sounds slightly or markedly stilted, bookish, if repeated by the tongue. This difference—though it may appear almost trifling—is apparent to everyone. Its recognition can be partly illustrated by the fact that after President Lowell and Senator Lodge had debated on the topic, the League of Nations, in Boston and were shown the reports of their speeches, each made changes in certain expressions. The version for print and reading is a little more formal than the delivered sentences. The Senator said, "I want" but preferred to write "I wish"; then he changed "has got to be" into "must," and "nothing to see" into "nothing visible."

      One might say that all three vocabularies should correspond, but there is no real need of this. So long as people read they will meet thousands of words for which they have no need in speaking. Everybody must be able to understand the masterpieces of the past with their archaic (old-fashioned) words like eftsoons or halidom, but no one need use such expressions now. So there is no discredit in the fact that one's speaking vocabulary is more restricted than his reading vocabulary.

      New Ideas, New Words. It is true, however, that an educated person should never rest content with the size of his usable speaking vocabulary. The addition of every new word is likely to indicate the grasp of a new idea. Likewise, every new idea is almost certain to require its individual terms for expression. An enlarging vocabulary is the outward and visible sign of an inward and intellectual growth. No man's vocabulary can equal the size of a dictionary, the latest of which in English is estimated to contain some 450,000 words. Life may be maintained upon a surprisingly meager group of words, as travelers in foreign lands can testify. Shakespeare's vocabulary is said to have included as many as 15,000 words. Figures for that of the average person vary considerably.

      Increasing the Vocabulary. The method of increasing a vocabulary is a quite simple process. Its procedure is a fascinating exercise. It covers four steps. When a new word is encountered it should be noticed with keen attention. If heard, its pronunciation will be fixed upon the ear. If seen, its spelling should be mastered at once. The next step is to consult a dictionary for either spelling or pronunciation. Then all its meanings

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