The Children's Hour by Longfellow

This is one of Gladys' favorite poems, her Grandaughter, Mary Jane
furnished the copy for this post. Many thanks to Mary Jane.



THE CHILDREN'S HOUR


Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
That is known as the Children's Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
O'er the arms and back of my chair,
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms around me entwine,
Til I think I'm the bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, o blue-eyed bandetti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,
And I will not let you depart,
But put you down in my dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.

And there I will keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day.
Til the walls shall crumble to ruin,
and moulder to dust away.