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A Visit from St. Nicholas

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'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 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; 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."

This poem is in the public domain.

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A Visit from St. Nicholas

The poem "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" , also known as "The Night Before Christmas" from its first line, and first published in 1823, is largely responsible for the contemporary American conception of Santa Claus, including his appearance, the night he visits, his method of transportation, the number and names of his reindeer, and that he brings toys to children. Prior to the poem, American ideas about St. Nicholas and other Christmastide visitors varied considerably.

The poem was published anonymously in 1823 by the Troy Sentinel . It was first attributed to Clement Clarke Moore in 1837 by Charles Fenno Hoffman in The New York Book of Poetry . Moore himself first claimed authorship in his 1844 book Poems . Circa 1860, the family of Major Henry Livingston, Jr. (1748–1828) discovered the claims of Moore's authorship, but waited until after Moore's death to publicly argue that Livingston had first composed the poem circa 1807.

The last two reindeer names were Dunder and Blixem when the poem was first published anonymously on December 23, 1823. [1] The editor of the 1825 McClure Almanac was the first to change Blixem to Blixen . [2] When Moore later published the work as his own ( Poems , 1844), the names were spelled Donder and Blitzen . [3] In a number of later reprintings, Dunder/Donder's name is further simplified to Donner. [4]

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• " Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas " in the Troy Sentinel (December 23, 1823)
• " Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas " in the United States National Almanac , ed. by David McClure (1825)
• " Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus ", broadsheet published by the Troy Sentinel (1830)
• " A visit from St. Nicholas " in Poems by Clement Clarke Moore (1844)
• " A Vision of St. Nicholas " in The Strand Magazine , 2 ( 12 ) (1891).
• " A Visit From St. Nicholas " in Poems That Every Child Should Know , edited by Mary E. Burt (1904)
• The Night Before Christmas , illustrated by Arthur Rackham  (1915)
• " A Visit from St. Nicholas ", in Famous Single Poems (1924), edited by Burton Egbert Stevenson
• " A Visit from St. Nicholas " in Our American Holidays - Christmas (1949)

This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

Public domain Public domain false false

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A visit from St. Nicholas

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Lyrics for Christmas - Lyrics to our Christmas songs and carols.

The night before christmas.

The Christmas poem A Visit from St. Nicholas a.k.a. The Night Before Christmas.

History and facts about A Visit from St. Nicholas.

• A Visit from St. Nicholas is a Christmas poem written by Clement Clarke Moore (1779 – 1863).
• The poem is also known by the name The Night Before Christmas and ‘Twas the night before Christmas .
• The poem was published anonymously in 1823.

Lyrics to A Visit from St. Nicholas 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 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.”

A Visit From St. Nicholas

Source: Burton Egbert Stevenson, ed., The Home Book of Verse , Volume 1 (New York: Henry Holt And Company, 1912); Project Gutenberg Etext #2619 http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2619 .

Artwork by John A. Hows from Christmas In Art And Song . New York: The Arundel Printing and Publishing Company, 1879.

• Christmas Short Works Collection 2006 (Recordings by Fernashes and JemmaBlythe )
• 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 .

It isn’t 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. Irving’s 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 – 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 children’s 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 — without permission — 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 Moore’s 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 Christie’s auction in 1994. Dr. Moore wrote the facsimile that reproduced on a separate page .

There is a dispute concerning the authorship of this poem. For more information, see A Quandary - Part 1 of 2 .

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The Quick 10: 10 Alternate Versions of "A Visit from St. Nicholas"

By stacy conradt | dec 23, 2010.

"A Visit from St. Nicholas" is one of the most parodied pieces ever written - more than 1,000 versions have been penned by professional writers and amateurs alike. Here are a few of them, but rest assured there's a version out there for just about any profession or interest you can think of.

1. My personal favorite: the Hemingway-inspired version by writer James Thurber. It first appeared in The New Yorker in 1927. Sample text: "It was the night before Christmas. The house was very quiet. No creatures were stirring in the house. There weren't even any mice stirring. The stockings had been hung carefully by the chimney. The children hoped that Saint Nicholas would come and fill them. The children were in their beds. Their beds were in the room next to ours. Mamma and I were in our beds. Mamma wore a kerchief. I had my cap on. I could hear the children moving. We didn't move. We wanted the children to think we were asleep." Here's the rest.

2. "A Visit from Jack Nicklaus." Sample text: "As our members and guests all gathered around, Down the chimney Jack Nicklaus came with a bound. He wore slacks of pastel, cerise or vermilion, White shoes, yellow sweater – he looked like a million!"

3. "A Visit from St. Sigmund." Sample text: "T'was the night before Christmas, when all through each kid Not an Ego was stirring, not even an Id."

4. 'Twas the Night Before the Morning After, by Dave Barry. Sample text: "'Twas the Night Before the Morning After Christmas Or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever religious holiday your particular family unit celebrates at this time of year via mass retail purchases And all through the house Not a creature was stirring Except Dad, who was stirring his third martini In a losing effort to remain in a holiday mood." Here's the rest.

5. "Magical Mystery Yule"

Sample text:

""Now, Maxwell! Now, Martha! Now, Prudence and Pepper!

On, Sun King! On, Sadie! On, Jude and Loretta!"

The bus was soon landed. The slightest of pauses

Then out through the doors came four Santa Clauses!"

6. The Cajun Night Before Christmas . Sample text: "Den Mama in de fireplace done roas' us de ham, ?Stir up de gumbo, an' make de baked yam. Den out on de bayou dey got such a clatter... Make soun' like old Boudreaux done fall off his ladder." Here's the rest.

7. "A Visit from St. Nicholson." This was on a comedy album by Bob Rivers. Sample text: "And with that, he buried his head in the sack and said, 'Let's see what you get from your old buddy Jack. A hatchet for Daddy…' He reared back his head. 'To scare all those little buggers upstairs in bed. And a stiff drink for mommy in a nice tall glass. She could really use something to kill that bug up her chimney.'" Here's the rest.

8. A Pirate's Night Before Christmas by Philip Yates. Sample text: "When out in the mist thar arose such a racket, I slid down the mast with me sword to attack it. Away to the poop deck I ran very fast, I threw off the anchor and shouted 'Avast!'"

9. Larry the Cable Guy's politically correct "Twas the Night Before a Nondenominational Winter Holiday."

10. The Solider's Night Before Christmas. Corporal James M. Schmidt wrote this version in 1986 and it has been passed around ever since, often attributed to someone else entirely ("a solider stationed in Okinawa" is pretty common). Sample text: "But half asleep he rolled over, and in a voice clean and pure, said 'Carry on Santa, it's Christmas Day, all secure.' One look at my watch and I knew he was right, Merry Christmas my friend Semper Fi and goodnight." Here's the rest, and the story behind it.

Here's the real one , just in case you're not all St. Nicholased out.

Birth: 1980

Death: 2023

Nicholas Dunn OBITUARY

died Wed. Oct. 4, 2023. Visit Thurs. Oct. 12 from 2pm to 8pm. Service Fri. at 10am at St. Isidore. For more info visit www.kaatzfunerals.com

Honor with Flowers

In memory of Nicholas

Plant a Living Memorial

What teams are on Oregon State’s first West Coast Conference men’s basketball schedule?

O regon State plays a home-and-home with perennial top 25 teams Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s as the West Coast Conference released its first look at the 2024-25 18-game men’s basketball schedule Thursday.

With 11 teams in the conference, each school plays two teams only once, and everyone else twice. The Beavers play Washington State only at home, and Loyola Marymount only in Los Angeles.

OSU will have home-and-home games against Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, Portland, San Diego, Pepperdine, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Pacific.

The WCC only offered matchups in its first release of next season’s schedule. Later this summer, the WCC will produce television partners, game dates and tip-off times.

After playing in the Pac-12 for decades, OSU and Washington State begin a two-year affiliate WCC membership this fall in 12 sports , including men’s and women’s basketball.

The WCC plays a 20-game double round-robin schedule in women’s basketball. It will be released later this summer.

Oregon State hasn’t played Gonzaga during the coach Mark Few era. The last time the teams played was 1991. OSU leads the series 25-2. The Beavers haven’t played Saint Mary’s since 1968.

— Nick Daschel can be reached at 360-607-4824, [email protected] or @nickdaschel .

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