McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson Elocution · Part 1: Principles of Elocution
4. Principles of Elocution: Reading Verse optional
Goal: Your student reads poetry with natural inflection and accent, keeping its flow without falling into a singsong.
You'll need
- The book, or the scan beside this guide
- A notebook and pen
- A mirror is handy, and a phone to record your student reading (optional)
What's in the book
Instructions for Reading Verse: inflections in poetry, the danger of a chanting delivery, accent and emphasis in verse, and short exercises from well-known poems.
The lesson, step by step
The main rule
Read the book's rule together:
In reading verse, every syllable must have the same accent, and every word the same emphasis as in prose.
SayThe poem's rhythm should never make you say a word wrongly.
Avoid the singsong
The book says the greatest difficulty is to give verse a measured flow without chanting. Its cure: if unsure, the reader should
reduce the passage to earnest conversation, and pronounce it in the most familiar and prosaic manner
then read it again as verse, keeping that natural sense.
Practice
Use the exercises on the page. One begins:
Here rests his head upon the lap of earth
Read it first as plain talk, then as verse. Your student does the same with one more exercise.
Talk about it
SayWhy do people often read poems in a singsong voice?
SayWhat does the book say to do when the rhythm of a line and the right accent of a word disagree?
SayHow should a reader show the end of a line that runs on into the next?
Make it a habit
Before each poem in the book, have your student read one stanza "as conversation" first. It quickly becomes natural.