A Visit from St. Nicholas
1848
A Visit from St. Nicholas
1848
This poem changed Christmas. Before 1823, American Santa was a lean Dutch bishop or a scattered collection of regional figures. After Moore's verses spread, he became the round, jolly, flying gift-giver who slides down chimneys with a sack of toys. The narrative unfolds on a quiet Christmas Eve: parents tuck in the children, who drift toward sleep dreaming of sugar-plums, when suddenly the night's silence shatters with the arrival of St. Nicholas and his eight tiny reindeer. The poem's trochaic tetrameter bounces like a sleigh on snow as it describes the hoary old elf's entrance, his bundle of toys, and his mirthful departure. In sixteen stanzas, Moore established the visual vocabulary we now take for granted: the red suit, the belly that shakes like a bowlful of jelly, the eight reindeer with their names, the rapid dash across the rooftops. It has been translated into virtually every language, set to music countless times, and read aloud on Christmas Eve in millions of homes. Whether Moore or Henry Livingston Jr. wrote it remains debated, but the authorship matters less than the impact: this is the text that made Santa Claus American, and Christmas a universal language of wonder.
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“Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.””
— Clement Clarke Moore
“Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the houseNot 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 my 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 a lustre of midday to objects below,When what to my wondering eyes did appear,But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,With a little old driver so lively and quick,I knew in a moment he 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 Blixen!To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;So up to the housetop the coursers they flewWith the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too”
— Clement Clarke Moore
“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!””
— Clement Clarke Moore
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.””
— Clement Clarke Moore
“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””
— Clement Clarke Moore
“for a Christmas present. They read it just after they had hung up their stockings before one of the big fireplaces in their house. Afterward, they learned it,””
— Clement Clarke Moore
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<a href="https://lex-books.com/book/a-visit-from-st-nicholas-6e9b3b98-f6e8-4e11-856f-3cf2d79299d7"><img src="https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg" alt="Read A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore free on Lex" width="160" height="40"></a>[](https://lex-books.com/book/a-visit-from-st-nicholas-6e9b3b98-f6e8-4e11-856f-3cf2d79299d7)[url=https://lex-books.com/book/a-visit-from-st-nicholas-6e9b3b98-f6e8-4e11-856f-3cf2d79299d7][img]https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg[/img][/url]Read A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore free on Lex: https://lex-books.com/book/a-visit-from-st-nicholas-6e9b3b98-f6e8-4e11-856f-3cf2d79299d7Cite this book
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Moore, Clement Clarke. A Visit from St. Nicholas. Lex, lex-books.com/book/a-visit-from-st-nicholas-6e9b3b98-f6e8-4e11-856f-3cf2d79299d7.Moore, C. C. (1848). A Visit from St. Nicholas. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/a-visit-from-st-nicholas-6e9b3b98-f6e8-4e11-856f-3cf2d79299d7Moore, Clement Clarke. A Visit from St. Nicholas. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/a-visit-from-st-nicholas-6e9b3b98-f6e8-4e11-856f-3cf2d79299d7.
