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
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!
