Between the dark and 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 lamp-light, 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 in the dungeon, In the round-tower of my heart.
And there I will keep you forever, Yes, forever and a day, Till the walls shall crumble to ruin, And moulder in dust away.
