Children's Poetry: The Children's Hour

Here's one I memorized in fifth grade. I no longer know anything but the first verse by heart. I really liked it way back then, but I find it more than a little sappy now. And what's with all the exclamation points?

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 about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,
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 will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.

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

---Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Other children's poetry posted recently:

• Daddy Fell Into The Pond at The Upward Call
• Benjamin shares a poem about work at Lux Venit
  

You can join in this month's fun, too. Just post a poem for children on your blog and send me the link by email or in the comments. Haven't a blog? You can still participate by posting a poem in the comments of this post.