The
function of rhythm in the world should be perceived, and such natural
phenomena as day and night, the seasons, the tides, and countless
others, seem to be examples of the same principle. The same influence
may be traced in social activities. Work cannot be organized and carried
on where rhythmic order is not found, and no conception of the brain or
of the artistic faculty can emerge uninformed by rhythmic continuity.
A human being imperfectly endowed with a sense of balance or rhythm is a
danger to the community, and one who is entirely without this sense is
spoken of as 'insane'.
In the training of the teacher it is well to call attention first to the
rhythm of speech, before entering into that of music. Those who have had
a literary education have already studied the metrical properties of
poetry and prose. They will readily agree that such phrases as:
'My father's father saw it not.'
'Happy New Year to you.'
'Because I sought it far from men,
In deserts and alone.
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