A Visit From St. Nicholas (T'was the Night Before Christmas) A Visit From St. Nicholas '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 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 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 hand, 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!" If you've been reading our pages, you know that we have big things planned, and a lot on our plate, so keep checking back. And contact us with any questions or suggestions you have in the meantime. Paul and Shelia Race Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas by Major Henry Livingston, Jr. | Poetry Foundation Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas by Major Henry Livingston, Jr. Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas Related Poem Content Details ’Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro’ 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 danc’d in their heads, And Mama 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 rein-deer, 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 call’d them by name: “Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer, and Vixen, “On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blixem; “To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! “Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!” As dry leaves 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 dress’d all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnish’d with ashes and soot; A bundle of toys was flung on his back, And he look’d 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 laugh’d, like a bowl full of jelly: He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laugh’d 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 fill’d all the stockings; then turn’d with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. He sprung 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. A Visit From St. Nicholas - Attributed to Clement Clarke Moore A Visit From St. Nicholas Attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, ca. 1822 Vocal Recording by Douglas D. Anderson: MP3 / OGG .

'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 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 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 hand, 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." Artwork by John A. Hows from Christmas In Art And Song.

New York: The Arundel Printing and Publishing Company, 1879. "The Visit of Saint Nicholas" Issued by John H. Wolff, Stationer, Philadelphia "A Visit from St. Nicholas" Illustrated by F.O.C. Darley (New York: James G. Gregory, 1862) Public Domain Recordings: In addition, this poem was recorded by nine other readers from LibriVox; see T'was The Night Before Christmas . Here is a ZIP of these nine recordings: Twas The Night Before Christmas . Notes: In the early 1800s, several publications published poems about Santa Claus, including The Spectator (1815), and The Childrenï¿½s Friend. In 1821, a small, sixteen-page booklet appeared, titled A New Yearï¿½s Present for the Little Ones from Five to Twelve, Part III. It was about Christmas, and was the first to picture Santa Claus in a sleigh drawn by a reindeer (see right). It isnï¿½t known whether Dr. Clement Clarke Moore had read any of these, but Dr.

Moore did know of Washington Irving or at least of his work, including Knickerbocker's History of New York , which contained descriptions of the Dutch Santa Claus. Irvingï¿½s phrase "laying his finger beside his nose" was used in the poem by Dr. Clement Clarke Moore, "A Visit from St. Nicholas," more commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas." Dr. Moore gathered elements of European lore, deities and folk-characters, added to them contemporary lore and Washington Irving, and created a poem that was to become the gospel of Santa Claus. His verse expanded the mode of transport from a single reindeer to a team of eight.

And it is Moore's description of Santa that we most often think of today: "He had a broad face, and a little round belly, that shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly." Moore added such details as the names of the reindeer (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder ï¿½ not Donner -- and Blitzen); Santa Claus's laughs, winks, and nods; and the method by which Saint Nicholas, referred to as an elf, returns up the chimney. By the way, "Donder" got changed to "Donner" in the Robert L. May childrenï¿½s book, "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (1939). Dr. Moore purportedly composed the poem in 1822, to read to his then six children on Christmas Eve. The poem might have remained privately in the Moore family if a friend, Miss Harriet Butler of Troy, New York, had not send a copy of it ï¿½ without permission ï¿½ to Orville L. Holly, editor of a newspaper.

It was published for the first time in the Troy (New York) Sentinel on December 23, 1823, without attribution. Although it was reprinted numerous times in the next few years, Moore did not allow his name to be associated with it until 1844 when he included it in a volume of his poetry. The poem was printed in the 1837 New York Book of Poetry, but did not cite Moore as author. However, the Troy Budget acknowledged Mooreï¿½s authorship on December 25, 1838. For more information about Moore, see S. W. Patterson, The Poet of Christmas Eve (1956). The original manuscript by Dr. Moore has been lost, however, he did produce other long-hand versions of his now famous poem. One of these hand-written, signed copies of the poem was sold for $255,500 at a Christieï¿½s auction in 1994. Dr. Moore wrote the facsimile that reproduced on a separate page . There were subsequently many different publications, each illustrated according to the characteristics dictated by the poem, published from 1823 onwards.

One of the first illustrated copies was the reprint by the Troy Sentinel in 1830; the engraving by Myron B. King showed Santa with sleigh and eight reindeer on a roof. A copy is reproduced left. There is a dispute concerning the authorship of this poem. For more information, see A Quandary - Part 1 of 2 . If you would like to help support Hymns and Carols of Christmas, please click on the button below and make a donation. Related Hymns and Carols Santa Claus - Christmas - HISTORY.com Santa Claus A+E Networks Introduction The man we know as Santa Claus has a history all his own. Today, he is thought of mainly as the jolly man in red, but his story stretches all the way back to the 3rd century. Find out more about the history of Santa Claus from his earliest origins to the shopping mall favorite of today, and discover how two New Yorkers–Clement Clark Moore and Thomas Nast–were major influences on the Santa Claus millions of children wait for each Christmas Eve. Google The Legend of St. Nicholas The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas.

It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the best known of the St. Nicholas stories is that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married. Over the course of many years, Nicholas’s popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors. His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, December 6. This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or to get married. By the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe. Even after the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged, St. Nicholas maintained a positive reputation, especially in Holland. Did You Know? The Salvation Army has been sending Santa Claus-clad donation collectors into the streets since the 1890s. Sinter Klaas Comes to New York St.

Nicholas made his first inroads into American popular culture towards the end of the 18th century. In December 1773, and again in 1774, a New York newspaper reported that groups of Dutch families had gathered to honor the anniversary of his death. The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). In 1804, John Pintard, a member of the New York Historical Society, distributed woodcuts of St. Nicholas at the society’s annual meeting. The background of the engraving contains now-familiar Santa images including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over a fireplace. In 1809, Washington Irving helped to popularize the Sinter Klaas stories when he referred to St. Nicholas as the patron saint of New York in his book, The History of New York.

As his prominence grew, Sinter Klaas was described as everything from a “rascal” with a blue three-cornered hat, red waistcoat, and yellow stockings to a man wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a “huge pair of Flemish trunk hose.” Shopping Mall Santas Gift-giving, mainly centered around children, has been an important part of the Christmas celebration since the holiday’s rejuvenation in the early 19th century. Stores began to advertise Christmas shopping in 1820, and by the 1840s, newspapers were creating separate sections for holiday advertisements, which often featured images of the newly-popular Santa Claus. In 1841, thousands of children visited a Philadelphia shop to see a life-size Santa Claus model. It was only a matter of time before stores began to attract children, and their parents, with the lure of a peek at a “live” Santa Claus. In the early 1890s, the Salvation Army needed money to pay for the free Christmas meals they provided to needy families. They began dressing up unemployed men in Santa Claus suits and sending them into the streets of New York to solicit donations.

Those familiar Salvation Army Santas have been ringing bells on the street corners of American cities ever since. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas 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.” Moore’s poem, which he was initially hesitant to publish due to the frivolous nature of its subject, 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! Although some of Moore’s imagery was probably borrowed from other sources, his poem helped popularize the now-familiar image of a Santa Claus who flew from house to house on Christmas Eve–in “a miniature sleigh” led by eight flying reindeer–leaving presents for deserving children. “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” created a new and immediately popular American icon. In 1881, political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on 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 as a rotund, cheerful man with a full, white beard, holding a sack laden with toys for lucky children. It is Nast who gave Santa his bright red suit trimmed with white fur, North Pole workshop, elves, and his wife, Mrs. Claus. A Santa by Any Other Name 18th-century America’s Santa Claus was not the only St. Nicholas-inspired gift-giver to make an appearance at Christmastime. Similar figures were popular all over the world. Christkind or Kris Kringle was believed to deliver presents to well-behaved Swiss and German children. Meaning “Christ child,” Christkind is an angel-like figure often accompanied by St. Nicholas on his holiday missions. In Scandinavia, a jolly elf named Jultomten was thought to deliver gifts in a sleigh drawn by goats. English legend explains that Father Christmas visits each home on Christmas Eve to fill children’s stockings with holiday treats. Pere Noel is responsible for filling the shoes of French children. In Russia, it is believed that an elderly woman named Babouschka purposely gave the wise men wrong directions to Bethlehem so that they couldn’t find Jesus.

Later, she felt remorseful, but could not find the men to undo the damage. To this day, on January 5, Babouschka visits Russian children leaving gifts at their bedsides in the hope that one of them is the baby Jesus and she will be forgiven. In Italy, a similar story exists about a woman called La Befana, a kindly witch who rides a broomstick down the chimneys of Italian homes to deliver toys into the stockings of lucky children. The Ninth Reindeer Rudolph, “the most famous reindeer of all,” was born over a hundred years after his eight flying counterparts. The red-nosed wonder was the creation of Robert L. May, a copywriter at the Montgomery Ward department store. In 1939, May wrote a Christmas-themed story-poem to help bring holiday traffic into his store. Using a similar rhyme pattern to Moore’s “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” May told the story of Rudolph, a young reindeer who was teased by the other deer because of his large, glowing, red nose.

But, When Christmas Eve turned foggy and Santa worried that he wouldn’t be able to deliver gifts that night, the former outcast saved Christmas by leading the sleigh by the light of his red nose. Rudolph’s message—that given the opportunity, a liability can be turned into an asset—proved popular. Montgomery Ward sold almost two and a half million copies of the story in 1939. When it was reissued in 1946, the book sold over three and half million copies. Several years later, one of May’s friends, Johnny Marks, wrote a short song based on Rudolph’s story (1949). It was recorded by Gene Autry and sold over two million copies. Since then, the story has been translated into 25 languages and been made into a television movie, narrated by Burl Ives, which has charmed audiences every year since 1964. Tags The portrayal of Santa Claus as a jolly old elf began with a famous poem originally known as "A Visit from St. Nicholas". What other title is the poem also known by? | Poll Everywhere That's an interesting question! Looks like a Poll Everywhere user asked an audience that very same question.

You can crowdsource answers, too! We'll walk you through the steps to turn this question into a live poll. After that, you can ask any crowd, anywhere, anytime. Much more fun than asking Google. The portrayal of Santa Claus as a jolly old elf began with a famous poem originally known as "A Visit from St. Nicholas". What other title is the poem also known by? Poll responses are kept private A Christmas Carol When Santa Claus Comes Twas the Night before Christmas This multiple choice poll was created on December 16, 2013 and last updated January 17, 2014. Ask your audience a question with the Poll Everywhere app Step 2 Audience answers in real time using mobile phones, Twitter, or web browsers Step 3 See your response live on the web or in a PowerPoint presentation Still have questions? Is Poll Everywhere free? Yes! Free plans for K12 and Higher Ed educators include 40 responses per question, and the free business plan allows 25 responses per question. Paid plans allow more responses per question, along with premium features like moderation, post-event reporting, and a custom URL for your audience response page. Is this legit? Yup.

We invented this live text/web polling bonanza back in 2007. Now over 60% of the Fortune 500 and 100,000 educators use Poll Everywhere to engage everyone. We process millions of audience responses every month. The Night Before Christmas - About Clement Clarke Moore Contact | Home Clement Clarke Moore 1779 ~ 1863 Moore was born on July 15, 1779, in a large mansion, on his parents' Chelsea estate that encompassed the area that is now 18th to 24th Streets between Eighth and Tenth Avenues in Manhattan. The house itself was located at what is now Eighth Avenue and West 23rd Street. He was the only child of heiress Charity Clarke and Dr. Benjamin Moore, Episcopal Bishop of New York, Rector of Trinity Church, and President of Columbia College. Moore was educated at home in his early youth and graduated first in his class from Columbia in 1798. He became a well-known and respected scholar and, typical for an educated person of his period, Moore's publications related to a wide variety of topics such as religion, languages, politics, and poetry.

When he wrote A Visit from St. Nicholas in 1822, Moore was a Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature, as well as Divinity and Biblical Learning, at the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Located on land donated by the "Bard of Chelsea" himself, the seminary still stands today on Ninth Avenue between 20th and 21st Streets, in an area known as Chelsea Square. Moore's connection with that institution continued for over twenty-five years. At the age of thirty, he compiled a Hebrew lexicon, the first work of its kind in America. He was forty-three when he wrote A Visit from St. Nicholas, but it was not until he was sixty-five, in 1844, that he first acknowledged that he was the author of the famous verses by including the poem in a small book of his poetry entitled Poems, which he had published at the request of his children. He translated Juvenal, edited his father's sermons, wrote treatises and political pamphlets, including his well-known 1804 attack on our third president in Observations Upon Certain Passages in Mr.

Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, Which Appear to Have a Tendency to Subvert Religion and Establish a False Philosophy, and was often a contributor to the editorial pages of local newspapers. He also wrote George Castriot, Surnamed Scanderbeg, King of Albania, which appeared in 1852 and was highly commended at the time. Despite this scholarship, it was the simple but magical poem about the mysterious Christmas Eve visitor that has kept the memory of Clement Clarke Moore alive. Although he was embarrassed for most of his life that his scholarly works were overshadowed by what he publicly considered a frivolous poem, Moore will forever be remembered as the person who truly gave St. Nicholas to the world. The poet of Christmas Eve lived a long and productive life and died in Newport, Rhode Island, his summer home, on July 10, 1863, just a few days short of his eighty-fourth birthday. Along with members of his family, he is buried in the Washington Heights area of New York City, in Trinity Cemetery at the Church of the Intercession on Upper Broadway at 155th Street. Clement C. Moore's image is an engraving by J. W.

Evans based on a portrait from life painted for his children circa 1840. The rendering of Old Chelsea mansion house is from Moore's St. Nicholas, the first color illustrated version of the poem, with illuminations by Mary C. Ogden, the poet's daughter, as a gift to her husband in 1855. Samuel Patterson's The Poet of Christmas Eve: A Life of Clement Clarke Moore was published in 1956 by Morehouse-Gorham (New York); it is the only full-length biography of Moore. St. Nicholas - Saint - Biography.com St. Nicholas St. Nicholas was a Christian bishop who provided for the poor and sick, and is the basis for the popular character of Santa Claus. IN THESE GROUPS Famous Turkish People Synopsis Born in Patara, a land that is part of present-day Turkey, circa 280, St. Nicholas was a Christian bishop who helped the needy. After his death, the legend of his gift-giving grew. St. Nicholas transformed into the legendary character called Santa Claus, who brings Christmas presents to children around the world. Early Life St.

Nicholas was born sometime circa 280 in Patara, Lycia, an area that is part of present-day Turkey. He lost both of his parents as a young man and reportedly used his inheritance to help the poor and sick. A devout Christian, he later served as bishop of Myra, a city that is now called Demre. Reputation There are many legends about St. Nicholas of Myra. One story tells how he helped three poor sisters. Their father did not have enough money to pay their dowries and thought of selling them into servitude. Three times, St. Nicholas secretly went to their house at night and put a bag of money inside. The man used the money so that one of his daughters could marry. On the third visit, the man saw St. Nicholas and thanked him for his kindness. He also reportedly saved three men who were falsely imprisoned and sentenced to death. Death and Legacy Several sources state St. Nicholas is believed to have died on December 6, 343. Over the years, stories of his miracles and work for the poor spread to other parts of the world. He became known as the protector of children and sailors and was associated with gift-giving.

He was a popular saint in Europe until the time of the Reformation in the 1500s, a religious movement that led to the creation of Protestantism, which turned away from the practice of honoring saints. St. Nicholas, however, remained an important figure in Holland. The Dutch continued to celebrate the feast day of St. Nicholas, December 6. It was a common practice for children to put out their shoes the night before. In the morning, they would discover the gifts that St. Nicholas had left there for them. Dutch immigrants brought St. Nicholas, known to them as Sint Nikolaas or by his nickname Sinterklaas, and his gift-giving ways to America in the 1700s. In America, St. Nicholas went through many transformations and eventually Sinterklaas became Santa Claus. Instead of giving gifts on December 6, he became a part of the Christmas holiday. In the 1820 poem "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore, he is described as a jolly, heavy man who comes down the chimney to leave presents for deserving children and drives a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer.

The cartoonist Thomas Nast added to the St. Nicholas legend with an 1881 drawing of Santa as wearing a red suit with white fur trim. Once a kind, charitable bishop, St. Nicholas had become the Santa Claus we know today. Clement Clarke Moore, Author of The Night Before Christmas By Robert McNamara Updated November 29, 2016. Clement Clarke Moore was a scholar of ancient languages who is remembered today because of a poem he wrote to amuse his children. His memorable work, widely known as “The Night Before Christmas” appeared anonymously in newspapers beginning in the early 1820s, titled "A Visit From St. Nicholas." Decades would pass before Moore admitted that he had written it. And there have been hotly disputed claims over the past 150 years that Moore did not really write the famous poem. Moore, along with Washington Irving , helped to create the character of Santa Claus . In Moore’s poem some of the traits associated with Santa today, such as his use of eight reindeer to pull his sleigh, were established for the first time.

As the poem gained popularity over several decades, characteristics first put on paper by Moore became central to how others portrayed the character. The poem has been published countless times and the reciting of it remains a cherished Christmas tradition. continue reading below our video What are the Seven Wonders of the World Perhaps no one would be more surprised by its enduring popularity than its author, who was, during his lifetime, highly regarded as a very serious professor of difficult subjects. The Writing of “A Visit From St. Nicholas” According to an account Moore gave to the New York Historical Society when he was in his eighties, he had written the poem to entertain his children (he was the father of six in 1822). The character of St. Nicholas was, Moore, said, inspired by an overweight New Yorker of Dutch descent who lived in his neighborhood. (Moore's family estate became Manhattan's present day Chelsea neighborhood.) Moore apparently had no intention of ever publishing the poem. It first appeared in print on December 23, 1823, in the Troy Sentinel, a newspaper in upstate New York.

According to published accounts from the late 19th century, a daughter of a minister from Troy had stayed with Moore's family a year earlier and heard a recitation of the poem. She was impressed, transcribed it, and passed it along to a friend who edited the newspaper in Troy. The poem began to appear in other newspapers every December, always appearing anonymously. About 20 years after its first publication, in 1844, Moore included it in a book of his own poems. And by that time some newspapers had credited Moore as the author. Moore presented several handwritten copies of the poem to friends and organizations, including a copy given to the New York Historical Society. The Dispute About Authorship A claim that the poem had been written by Henry Livingston dates to the 1850s, when descendants of Livingston (who had died in 1828) asserted that Moore was wrongfully taking credit for what had become a very popular poem. The Livingston family had no documentary evidence, such as a manuscript or a newspaper clipping, to support the claim. They simply claimed their father had recited to the poem to them as early as 1808.

The assertion that Moore hadn’t written the poem was generally not taken seriously. However, Don Foster, a scholar and professor at Vassar College who employs “linguistic forensics,” had claimed in 2000 that “A Night Before Christmas” was probably not written by Moore. His conclusion was widely publicized, yet it was also widely disputed. There may never be a definitive answer as to who wrote the poem. But the controversy has captured the public imagination to the extent that in 2013 a mock trial , dubbed "The Trial Before Christmas," was held at the Rensselaer County Courthouse in Troy, New York. Lawyers and scholars presented evidence arguing that either Livingston or Moore had written the poem. The evidence presented by both sides in the argument ranged from the unlikelihood that someone with Moore's stern personality would have written the poem to specific notes on language and the meter of the poem (which only matches one other poem written by Moore). The Life and Career of Clement Clarke Moore Again, a reason for speculation about the authorship of the famous poem is simply because Moore was regarded as a very serious scholar.

And a cheerful holiday poem about a “jolly old elf” is like nothing else he had ever written. Moore was born in New York City on July 15, 1779. His father was a scholar and a prominent citizen of New York who served as the rector of Trinity Church and the president of Columbia College. The elder Moore administered the last rites to Alexander Hamilton after he was wounded in his famous duel with Aaron Burr . Young Moore received a very good education as a boy, entered Columbia College at the age of 16, and received a degree in classical literature in 1801. He could speak Italian, French, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. He was also a competent architect and a talented musician who enjoyed playing the organ and the violin. Deciding to follow an academic career, rather than becoming a clergyman like his father, Moore taught for decades at the Protestant Episcopal Seminary in New York City. He published a number of articles in various newspapers and magazines. He was known to oppose the policies of Thomas Jefferson, and occasionally published articles on political subjects. Moore would also publish poetry on occasion, though none of his published work was anything like “A Visit From St.

Nicholas.” Scholars could argue that the difference in the writing style could mean he didn’t write the poem. Yet it’s also likely that something written simply for the enjoyment of his children would be quite different than a poem published for a general audience. Moore died in Newport, Rhode Island, on July 10, 1863. The New York Times briefly mentioned his death on July 14, 1863 without referring to the famous poem. In the following decades, however, the poem kept being reprinted, and it by the late 19th century newspapers regularly ran stories about him and the poem. According to one such article, published in the Washington Evening Star on December 18, 1897, an 1859 edition of the poem published as a small book with drawings by a prominent illustrator, Felix O.C. Darley made "A Visit From St. Nicholas" extremely popular just before the Civil War. The poem has since been reprinted countless times, and recitations of it are a standard component of Christmas pageants and family gatherings.

Clement Clarke Moore | Poetry Foundation Clement Clarke Moore Poet Details 1779–1863 Clement Clarke Moore was born in New York City, the son of the Reverend Benjamin Moore and Charity Clarke Moore. An only child, Clement was capably tutored at home by his father until he entered Columbia College; according to his biographer. Samuel White Patterson, he graduated in 1798 "at the head of his class, as his father had, thirty years earlier." In 1801 he earned his MA from Columbia University: he was awarded an LLD in 1829. In 1813 Clement Moore married 19-year-old Catharine Elizabeth Taylor, with whom he eventually had nine children. A very religious man, he gave a large portion of the land that he had inherited, part of his Chelsea estate and now called Chelsea Square, to the General Theological Seminary, where he was a professor of oriental and Greek literature from 1823 until he retired in 1850. At his retirement he purchased a house in Newport, Rhode Island, where he died on July 10, 1863.

During his lifetime Moore wrote on a variety of subjects. He produced a two-volume A Compendious Lexicon of the Hebrew Language (1809), a translation from the French of A Complete Treatise on Merinos and Other Sheep (1811), and the historical biography George Castriot, Surnamed Scanderbeg, King of Albania (1850). Throughout his life he also wrote poetry, which was published in the Portfolio and similar periodicals. Moore claimed to have been the author of " A Visit from St. Nicholas ," asserting that he wrote the poem for his own children and recited it to them on Christmas Eve 1822. After it was published anonymously the following year, it became increasingly popular, appearing in newspapers, school readers, other anthologies, and in many different single editions. The New-York Book of Poetry (1837), an anthology of works by New York poets, contained some written by Moore, including "A Visit from St. Nicholas," although "Anonymous" was still listed as the author. Not until 1844, when Moore's collection Poems was published, was "A Visit from St.

Nicholas" acknowledged in print as having been written by Clement C. Moore, LLD. Because the poem was published anonymously and became very popular, other people tried to claim authorship. Authorship is typically attibuted now to Major Henry Livingston , Jr., whose great-grandson spent many years trying to establish Major Livingston as the author. Livingston had also written verses for his children, but he made no written mention of " A Visit from St. Nicholas " during his lifetime, nor had his friends heard of his connection with the verses. They were said to have been published in a Poughkeepsie newspaper long before they appeared in the Troy Sentinel, but no copies of the paper containing the poem have ever turned up. Several magazine and newspaper articles appeared, especially during the 1940s, questioning the authorship, but scholars today give the credit to Livingston. Discover this poet's context and related poetry, articles, and media. Poems by Clement Clarke Moore VOA Staff Presents 'A Visit From St. Nicholas' VOA Staff Presents 'A Visit From St. Nicholas' December 23, 2014 Copy and paste the embed code below. The code changes based on your selection.

The code has been copied to your clipboard. Video size VOA Staff Presents the Story of Santa Claus Share See comments illustration by Thomas Nast ​The American idea of Santa Claus largely comes from a poem called "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Clement Clarke Moore wrote the poem in 1822, but he did not put his name on it. Some say it is the most famous poem ever written by an American. The poem, also known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," tells the story of the arrival of Santa Claus. On the night before Christmas, a man hears noises outside his house. He looks outside and sees Santa Claus, who is also is called Saint Nicholas. Santa is flying on a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. The sleigh lands on the roof of the storyteller's house. Santa enters the house through the chimney, carrying a sack full of toys. He puts toys in the stockings, which are hanging by the fireplace. The storyteller laughs as Santa and the reindeer fly away. A Visit from St.

Nicholas by Clement Clark 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. illustration by Thomas Nast 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 pedler 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; illustration by Thomas Nast 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.”

Question: Which popular poem was alternatively known as A Visit from St Nicholas?
Answer: 'Twas The Night before Christmas