THE NINE PARTS OF SPEACH
BY
JOHN NEALE
Three little words we often see,
An ARTICLE, a, an, and the.
NOUN'S the name of anything,
As school, or garden, hoop or string.
ADJECTIVES tell the kind of noun,
As great, small, pretty, white or brown.
Instead of nouns the PRONOUN stand,
John's head, his face, my arm, your hand.
VERBS tell of something being done,
To read, write, count, sing, jump or run.
How things are done, the ADVERBS tell,
As slowly, quickly, ill or well.
A PREPOSITION stands before
A noun, as in, or through a door.
CONJUNCTIONS join the nouns together,
As men and children, wind and weather.
The INTERJECTION shows surprise,
As Oh, how pretty! Ah, how wise!
The whole are called nine parts of speech!
Which reading, writing, speaking teach.
Included in The Childs' Book of Poetry
Re-issued by The Religions Track Soceity in 1886.
Published in the Daily Mail 6 Jan 2003