Emily Dickinson Lexicon

REC'IT-A-TIVE, n.

A kind of musical pronunciation, such as that in which the several parts of the liturgy are rehearsed in churches, or that of actors on the stage, when they express some action or passion, relate some event or reveal some design. Encyc. In recitative, the composer and the performer endeavor to imitate the inflections, accent and emphasis of natural speech flashy. Note. The natural and proper English accent of this word is on the second syllable. The foreign accent may well be discarded.