Mild and leise wie er lachelt, Wie das Auge er uffnet [4].

It was Isolde's death song. She had never sung in Wagner, fearing the strain on her voice, but this, I suppose, she had often sung in concerts. It did not matter now that instead of an orchestral accompaniment she had only the thin tinkle of a piano. The notes of the heavenly melody fell upon the still air and travelled over the water. In that too ro­mantic scene, in that starry night, the effect was shattering. La Falterona's voice, even now, was exquisite in its quality, mellow and crys­talline; and she sang with wonderful emotion so tenderly, with such tragic, beautiful an­guish that my heart melted within me. I had a most awkward lump in my throat when she finished, and looking at her I saw that tears were streaming down her face. I did not want to speak. She stood quite still looking out at that ageless sea.

What a strange woman! I thought then that I would sooner have her as she was with her monstrous faults, than as Peter Melrose saw her, a pattern of all the virtues. But then people blame me because I rather like people who are a little worse than is reasonable. She was hate­ful, of course, but she was irresistible.

Notes

1. Turtle –горлица.

2. These titles are usually translated in the following way: «Бремя страстей человеческих», «Луна и грош».

3.The story The Voice of the Turtle is not an exception. In short, the conflict here focuses on the characters’ research of the ambiguous nature of an artistic woman. The conversation between the narrator and a famous opera singer named La Falterona is the final one and brings the story to its close.

4.How gently and slowly he smiles,

How he opens his eyes.

V. Answer the questions.

1. Where is the extract taken from?

2. What do you know about the author? Have you read any other books by him?

3. Which of the aspects of text analysis require special attention in the process of interpreting this extract – narrative method, plot structure, images and means of characterisation, tone and atmosphere, message, language?

4. What narrative method does the author resort to? Do we deal with a reliable or unreliable narrator? Do you think that the narrator reproduces the author’s point of view?

5. Do you think this extract is the climax and the denouement of the story? Why?

6. Is this extract a narration, a description, a character-drawing, a dialogue, the author’s digression? Into how many parts can one divide this extract?

7. Where does the action take place? As the extract contains a small story within a larger one define the setting for both of them.

8. Speak about La Falterona. What ways of characterisation does the author apply to create the image of a famous opera singer?

9. Pay attention to La Falterona’s speech. Is it complicated and sophisticated or rather ordinary? What makes La Falterona’s speech vivid and expressive? Is it rich in colloquial phrases and set-expressions? Are there any vulgarisms in it? What kind of person is La Falterona when she speaks? Do you think she is well-educated?

10. How do the singer’s actions characterize her in the first part of the extract? Mind her story about pearls, her own attitude to it, her giggling, the way she addresses her secretary.

11. Does her behaviour change when she starts singing? What sort of woman does she turn into?

12. Does the author use contrast to reveal her personality?

13. Is the atmosphere of the second half of the extract different? Is this effect achieved due to a number of stylistic devices and expressive means?

14. Do you think the title of the story is connected with the image of the main character? If yes, in what way? What associations can the word turtle arouse in the reader? Has the title got a metaphorical meaning?

15. Does the narrator sounds paradoxical in the last paragraph?

16. What is the main problem raised in the story? (You may need the following words and phrases to answer this question: ambiguity and duality of human nature, women in art, artistic people, diversity of opinions).

Coming to grips with stylistics

VI. The language aspect of analysis is of utmost importance and one of the most challenging at the same time. What stylistic devices and expressive means do you know?

Make a list of them and state their definitions.

Write down words and phrases in bold type from the second part of the extract. Among them find:

– epithets

• metaphors

• allusions

• foreignisms

• stylistic repetition

• stylistic inversion

• oxymoron

– antithesis

16. Say what the text obtains through the above mentioned emotionally coloured words and phrases.

Example:

The quotation from Isolde’s death song (which is also an allusion) lets the skilled reader reveal a romantic note in La Falterona’s personality. Referring to one of the most tragic and beautiful love-stories in history the author creates a romantic and at the same time magnificent setting …