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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