PRESENTATION OUTLINE
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!
TITLE - LITERAL MEANING
THIS POEM REFERS TO WHEN THE DAUGHTERS SPEND TIME WITH THEIR FATHER AT NIGHT
TONE - THE SPEAKER STARTS OUT IN A MYSTERIOUS TONE WHICH PROGRESSIVELY BECOMES HAPPIER AND FULL OF LOVE
ONOMATOPIA - "THE PATTER OF LITTLE FEET"
METAPHOR - THE SPEAKER'S ROOM IS COMPARED TO A CASTLE
METAPHOR - THE SPEAKER COMPARES HIS DAUGHTERS TO 'BLUE-EYED BANDITTI' (BANDITS) (BECAUSE THEY STOLE HIS HEART)
HYPERBOLE - 'THEY ALMOST DEVOUR ME WITH KISSES"
ALLUSION - BISHOP OF BINGEN
THE THEME OF THIS POEM IS THAT IT IS IMPORTANT TO SPEND TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY, ESPECIALLY IN TIMES OF MOURNING.
AROUND THE TIME THIS POEM WAS WRITTEN, HENRY'S WIFE DIED. HENRY FELT A VERY STRONG NEED TO SPEND TIME WITH HIS DAUGHTERS.