Letters
A, E, I, O, U,
The vowels we may call;
W, Y, are vowels too,
Whene'er they chance to fall
To the end of syllable or word.
And this we well may know
That all the rest are consonants;
Just nineteen in a row.
K, P, and T are called the mutes,
Because they interrupt
All voice or sound; while B and D
Can only intercept;
Hence these are partial mutes, my child;
And H is aspirate;
And th, too, in think and throne,
But vocal in this, that.
Then lip-letters, or labials,
And dentals, or tooth letters,
With palatals and sibilants
Seem wondrously like fetters.
But, ah! instead of prisoning,
They open wide the way
That leads to Learning's loftiest heights;
Press on, and win the day.
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