O the night was dark and the night was late,
    And the robbers came to rob him;
  And they picked the locks of his palace-gate,
    The robbers that came to rob him—­
  They picked the locks of his palace-gate,
  Seized his jewels and gems of state,
  His coffers of gold and his priceless plate,—­
    The robbers that came to rob him.

  But loud laughed he in the morning red!—­
    For of what had the robbers robbed him?—­
  Ho! hidden safe, as he slept in bed,
    When the robbers came to rob him,—­
  They robbed him not of a golden shred
  Of the childish dreams in his wise old head—­
  “And they’re welcome to all things else,” he said,
    When the robbers came to rob him.

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