Oh Golly! It Is The…

…night before Christmas!

‘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 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 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 on 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 bowl full 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!”

~Clement Clark Moore

About Clement Clarke Moore

Clement Clarke Moore was born on July 15, 1779 in New York City. Moore received both his B.A. and M.A. from Columbia College. He went on to be the professor of Oriental and Greek Literature at General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church in New York City. 

Prior to the 1804 presidential election, Moore anonymously published a pro-Federalist pamphlet. In it he attacked the religious views of Thomas Jefferson. 

On December 23, 1823, he also anonymously published the poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas” in the Troy, New York Sentinel. It wasn’t until over a decade later that Moore acknowledged authorship of this piece. This poem is better known as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”, and it helped to create an image of St. Nicholas, because before this, the opinion varied. 

Moore also had a park named after him in New York City. It opened on November 22, 1968, but it wasn’t until a year later that it was named in his memory.

Clement Clarke Moore died on July 10, 1863 in Newport, Rhode Island.

In case you are wondering who the gentleman is in the photo at the top, that is Clement Clarke Moore!

Keep sprinkling JOY!