Christmas Traditions: Twas the Night Before Christmas

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

by Clement Clarke 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 would soon 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 setled down 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

Given 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 Saint 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 old jolly 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."

In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, an Episcopal minister, wrote a long Christmas poem for his three daughters entitled, "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas", or currently known as "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Moore's poem is largely responsible for our modern image of Santa Claus as a "right jolly old elf" with a portly figure and the supernatural ability to ascend a chimney with a mere nod of his head. His poem helped to popularize Christmas Eve--Santa Claus waiting for the children to go to sleep the now-familiar idea of a Santa Claus who flew from house to house on Christmas Eve in a miniature sleigh which was led by eight flying reindeer. Santa Claus left presents for deserving children.

In 1881 political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew upon Moore's poem to create the first likeness that matches our modern image of Santa Claus. His cartoon, which appeared in "Harper's Weekly", depicted Santa Claus as a rotund, cheerful man with a full, white beard holding a sack laden with toys for lucky children. Nast gave Santa his bright red suit trimmed with white fur, North Pole workshop, and his wife Mrs. Claus.