gether;
As, man _and_ boy, or birds will fly _and_ winds blow o'er the heather.

Then _Interjections_, _Oh!_ and _Ah! Behold!_ and many another,
Express surprise, delight; dismay, far more than every other.

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And these the _Parts of Speech_ we call; _Eight_ parts as you may tell;
And all the language you will know, when these you've studied well.

_NUMBER AND GENDER._

A NOUN or name that means but one,
Is called in the _singular number_;
But when it stands for more than one,
'Tis _plural_, child, remember.

* * * * *

A NOUN that is the name of males,
As ox, or horse, or father,
Is _masculine_ in _gender_, dear;
While cow, and mare, and mother,
And all the names of females, child,
Are _feminine_, 'tis true;
Now tell me all the names you know,
And tell their gender, too.
But you will find there's many a noun
Not male, nor female either,
As chair, and book; and such we call
In _neuter gender_--neither.

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ONE LITTLE CHICKEN.

ONE little chicken, two little chickens, three little chickens, dear;
Don't you see we add _s_, when more than one is here?
And this we do with almost all the nouns that may appear.

One little birdy, two little birdies, three little birdies soar;
The _y_ is changed to _i-e-s_ for birdies two or more;
And this, when a word shall end in _y_ with a _consonant_ before.

One little donkey, two little donkeys, three little donkeys bray.
But here the _y_ remains unchanged, and _s_ is called in play;
And this, when a word shall end in _y_, where a _vowel_ leads the way.

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_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 _th_ink and _th_rone,
But vocal in _this, that._

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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.