A Visit fom St. Nicholas
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; |
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The children were nestled all snug in their beds.
While visions of sugar-plums danced through their heads;
And Mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap -
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When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter;
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Torethe shutters and threw up the sash,
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The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of midday 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 SAINT NICK.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name: |
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"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!"
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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 a sleigh full of toys and ST. NICHOLAS too!
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof,
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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! |
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A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedlar justng 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 laugh'd,
like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump;
a right jolly old elf; |
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And I laughed, when I saw him, in spite of myself.
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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 off a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!"
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Clement C. Moore
If it weren't for a dignified professor of religion, author
of A Conipendious Lexicon of the Hebrew Language, Santa might use handcart or packhorse, or even rocket ship, to deliver toys on Christmas Eve. The sleigh that flies, light as thistledown despite its bulky load of toys; the eight reindeer with magical, mysterious
names and prancing hoofs-this marvelous mode of transportation was the inspired creation of Dr. Clement C. Moore, who in 1822 wrote a poem for the amusement of his children.
Dr. Moore was a preacher as well as a teacher, and the
son of a bishop. Educated at Columbia University, he
knew all there was to know about saints including the
Dutch saint, Nicholas, whose name stood for generosity
and gift-giving. But Dr. Moore was a warmhearted, tolerant, humorous man, and his version of Saint Nicholas owed more to the jolly traditions of the Dutch settlers of New York than to religious history.
Legend has it that he started composing the verses while on a trip to market, by sleigh, to buy the Christmas turkey. His picture of Santa Claus, jolly and plump, with the stub of his pipe in his teeth, may be a description of the Moores' Dutch handyman, Jan Duyckinek.
Once home, Dr. Moore jotted the verses down on paper, and that night, seated before the fireplace, he read them aloud to his family. Dr. and Mrs. Moore were the parents of six children. One version of the story has it that there was a guest staying with the Moores that year, in their roomy old-fashioned home called Chelsea House (there's now a
New York City skyscraper on the site). If so, she was
Miss Harriet Butler, daughter of Moore's friend David
Butler, who was rector of a church in Troy, New York,
and she later gave a handwritten copy of the poem to the
editor of the Troy Sentinel.
The following Christmas the
poem was printed in that newspaper, and readers were as
delighted as Dr. Moore's children had been. Five years
later, in 1837, the poem appeared with several others by
Dr. Moore in The New York Book of Poetry, and in 1844
it appeared as a book for children, with illustrations.
Since then? No one has an accurate count of how
many times the poem has appeared in print, or in how
many different languages. It is a worldwide favorite, and
the reindeer-drawn sleigh that flies through the night-time sky has become a peculiarly American contribution to the lore of Christmas... |
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In the Library
Anniversary/Birthstone Guide
Christmas Stories
Doll Collecting
Materials List
Today's Food Tip
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