No one was more surprised than Dr. Clement C. Moore at the success of a poem he wrote on December 23, 1823 as a Christmas gift for his children. Although he loved kids and writing poetry, he was a scholar who’d assumed that he’d be remembered for a famous Hebrew dictionary that he’d written in 1809 titled the Hebrew and English Lexicon. He was very wrong.
Clement Clarke Moore was born near Chelsea Square in New York City in 1779, and he lived there his entire life. It was a huge house with lots of fireplaces which was good thing because after he married his wife Catherine Elizabeth Taylor, they had nine children. Clement came from a prominent and wealthy NY family and graduated from Columbia College with his B.A. and M.A. He was a theologian and author and professor of ancient languages who had his hand in local politics.
After visiting his cousin in Constable, NY, he wrote this poem as a Christmas gift to his children. Unbeknownst to Moore, a friend anonymously sent the poem to a local paper and it was published on December 23, 1823 in the Troy (NY) Sentinal under the title “A Visit from Saint Nicholas”. The poem gained popularity and it was eventually published in a collection of poems in 1837 with the title “Twas the Night Before Christmas”. At first Moore declined to admit he was the author since he was afraid it would harm his reputation as a scholar. But eventually the story got out and Moore admitted he was the author.
This poem has since been published in most languages around the world, and it has been made into movies and set to music. It also had a profound effect on the way we conceptualize Santa Claus and spear-headed the more modern idea of holiday gift giving (and shopping!). The poem is now in the public domain, and I’ve posted it below for you to enjoy. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season!
Twas the Night Before Christmas
by Clement C. Moore
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes–how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”
