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Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Wednesdays with Words (Longfellow)

http://ladydusk.blogspot.com/search/label/Wednesdays%20with%20words

I am not a poetry loving girl, but I am trying to read poetry to my kids, who unfortunately seem to be too much like their mother. We have been reading through Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and every time I read The Children's Hour to the kids I get a lump in my throat. (Maybe there is hope for me after all!)

The Children's Hour
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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!

3 comments:

  1. I've never read Longfellow, but know I should!

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  2. Longfellow is one of my favorites! I have a thick book of his poetry and love diving in and seeing what catches my fancy. Thanks for sharing this one. I didn't think I liked poetry until I started reading some. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful. Oh, what a reminder to savor those small moments. Thanks, Beth!

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