From The Children's Hour
A poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and
read by Peggy Forsythe at her son Ryan's wedding reception
Last Updated 11/13/00
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!
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 wall shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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