Explain the purpose of the story's allusion to Longfellow's poem "The Children's Hour."

Longfellow's poem celebrates the innocence of childhood from the perspective of a parent who vows to preserve the memory of the children and their carefree joy "forever." The "Children's Hour" referred to is the time between the end of the work day and getting ready for bedtime, when things slow down and the speaker of the poem has time to enjoy his children. The allusion to this poem increases the irony of the daily transformation of the nursery for the delight of children whose innocence ended along with their lives.