From 8-year old Hilda’s diary:
My father will be here tomorrow so I had to learn a poem that I really know already. It is called “The Children’s Hour,” and it was written by an American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He wrote the poem for his own children. He loved them very much. One daughter was called Allegra. I think that is a most beautiful name and I like it so much better than Hilda. I wish that children were able to name themselves.
Hilda wrote the poem in her diary. Below is a typed transcription. She remembered it almost word for word. On the following page of her diary, she included her favorite poem, which she attributed to A.A. Milne. I found “Seven Times One” by Jean Ingelow.
