A Visit from St. Nicholas (’Twas the Night Before Christmas)

By Clement Clarke Moore

“A Visit from St. Nicholas,” better known by its first line, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” is the 56-line poem, first published anonymously in 1823, in which a father wakes on Christmas Eve to see St. Nicholas land on his roof with a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. It is credited to the New York scholar Clement Clarke Moore, and it did more than any other work to create the modern Santa Claus.

Our reading: the poem’s magic is its scale. Everything about St. Nick is small, from the “miniature sleigh” to the “little old driver” and his “little round belly,” and that shrinking turns a stern old saint into a jolly elf a child could love rather than fear.

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Summary · The Poem · Background · Analysis and Themes · Form and Technique · Notable Lines · Themes · FAQ
Glossary · In Popular Culture · Related Poems

Summary

On Christmas Eve, the house is silent, the stockings are hung, and the children are asleep. The speaker, their father, has just gone to bed when he hears a clatter on the lawn. Running to the window, he sees a miniature sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer, driven by a lively little old man he knows at once must be St. Nick, who calls his reindeer by name and flies up to the roof.

St. Nicholas comes down the chimney, dressed in fur and covered with soot, carrying a bundle of toys. He is plump and merry, with rosy cheeks, a white beard, and a belly that shakes like jelly when he laughs. Without a word, he fills the stockings, lays a finger beside his nose, and rises back up the chimney. As he drives away, he calls out, “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”

The Poem

The poem is given here in full, following the text of the 1912 Houghton Mifflin edition illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith, which reprints Moore’s version with the reindeer names Donder and Blitzen and the closing “Happy 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 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.”

Background

The poem first appeared, without an author’s name, in the Troy Sentinel, a newspaper in upstate New York, on December 23, 1823, under the title “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas.” It had been sent to the paper by a friend of the Moore family. Over the next decade, it was reprinted in newspapers and almanacs across the country, and in 1837 it was first attributed in print to Clement Clarke Moore (1779–1863), a New York scholar who taught Oriental and Greek literature at the General Theological Seminary, which stood on land he had given from his family’s Chelsea estate in Manhattan.

According to family tradition, Moore wrote the poem for his children in 1822 and was at first reluctant to be linked with such light verse. He included it in his collection Poems in 1844. The early 1823 text named two of the reindeer “Dunder and Blixem,” close to the Dutch for “thunder and lightning”; Moore’s later version has “Donder and Blitzen.”

The authorship has been disputed. Descendants of Henry Livingston Jr. (1748–1828), a Hudson Valley farmer and poet, have long claimed he wrote it, and in 2000 the scholar Don Foster argued the case in his book Author Unknown. Other scholars have defended Moore, and a 2023 computer analysis of the poem’s style came down on Moore’s side, but the question has never been settled beyond doubt.

Analysis and Themes

“A Visit from St. Nicholas” reads like a simple nursery rhyme, but it is a carefully built story, and it changed how the world pictures Christmas. Three things repay attention: how it invented Santa Claus, how it uses scale, and how it turns fear into delight.

The Poem That Invented Santa Claus

Before 1823, American ideas of St. Nicholas varied widely. He could be a stern bishop, a figure of Dutch New York folklore, or a gift-bringer who came on New Year’s Day or St. Nicholas Day, December 6. The poem fixed many of the details that are now standard: he comes on Christmas Eve, travels by flying sleigh, lands on the roof, comes down the chimney, and fills stockings hung by the fireplace. It also gave him eight reindeer and their names, a team that later grew to include Rudolph, who first appeared in a 1939 story.

Just as important is his personality. Moore’s St. Nick is not a saint who judges children but a “right jolly old elf,” with twinkling eyes, rosy cheeks, and a laugh that shakes his belly. Every later image of Santa Claus, from the drawings of Thomas Nast to modern films, builds on this cheerful figure.

A World in Miniature

The poem keeps insisting that everything is small. The sleigh is a “miniature sleigh,” the reindeer are “eight tiny reindeer,” the driver is “a little old driver,” and he has a “droll little mouth” and a “little round belly.” The narrator even calls him an “elf.” This is how he can come down a chimney, and it is also what makes him charming rather than frightening.

The miniature scale suits the poem’s audience. Seen from a child’s bed, a small, round, twinkling visitor is a friend. By shrinking the old saint, the poem makes him part of the cozy world of the nursery, the stockings, and the sugar-plums.

From Alarm to Laughter

The story is told by the father, and it has the shape of a small suspense scene. A noise wakes him, he rushes to the window, and a stranger comes down his chimney into the dark house. For a moment, it could be a burglary. Then the visitor turns out to be funny, and the father laughs “in spite of myself.” A wink and a twist of the head give him “to know I had nothing to dread.”

That movement from alarm to delight is the emotional heart of the poem. Adults read it aloud to children, and in it an adult sees the magic for himself. The father’s surprise lets every grown-up reader share the children’s wonder, which may be why the poem has been read aloud on Christmas Eve for two centuries.

Form and Technique

The poem has 56 lines in rhymed couplets, set as one continuous stanza. It is written in anapestic tetrameter: four beats to a line, each beat usually preceded by two light syllables, as in “’twas the NIGHT be-fore CHRIST-mas, when ALL through the HOUSE.” That galloping da-da-DUM rhythm is the sound of the reindeer’s hooves, and it carries the listener forward so easily that children can learn the poem by heart.

Moore packs the poem with vivid, concrete detail: the kerchief and cap, the moon on the snow, the soot on the fur, the pipe smoke circling his head like a wreath. The famous roll call of reindeer, “Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!,” uses alliteration and exclamation to speed up the scene, and similes such as “like a bowlful of jelly” and “like the down of a thistle” are homely and exact. The poem ends where it began, in the quiet of the night, with a single spoken blessing.

Notable Lines

Four passages hold the poem’s most famous images.

’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

Lines 1 to 2

One of the most recognized openings in American verse. The silence of the house sets up the clatter to come.

“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!

Lines 21 to 22

The roll call that named Santa’s reindeer. “Donder” and “Blitzen” come from the Dutch and German words for thunder and lightning.

He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.

Lines 43 to 44

The couplet that gave Santa Claus his shape and his laugh.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”

Lines 55 to 56

The closing blessing. Moore wrote “Happy Christmas,” though many later printings changed it to “Merry Christmas.”

Themes

Four ideas run through the poem, all of them about the magic of Christmas Eve.

Wonder. The poem captures the thrill of seeing something magical with your own eyes, even as an adult.

Home and family. Everything happens in a sleeping family house, with stockings, a fireplace, and children in bed.

Generosity. St. Nicholas comes only to give, filling the stockings and leaving without a word.

Joy over fear. A stranger in the night turns out to be a jolly friend, and alarm dissolves into laughter.

Frequently Asked Questions

These are the questions readers most often ask about the poem.

Who Wrote “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”?

It is credited to Clement Clarke Moore, a New York professor who claimed it and published it in his Poems in 1844. The descendants of Henry Livingston Jr. have argued that he wrote it instead, but most scholars still accept Moore as the author.

When Was “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” Written?

By tradition, Moore wrote it for his children in 1822. It was first published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel, a New York newspaper, on December 23, 1823.

What Is the Real Title of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”?

The poem’s title is “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” It is so well known by its first line that most people call it “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” or “The Night Before Christmas.”

What Are the Names of the Reindeer in the Poem?

There are eight: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen. The first printing called the last two “Dunder and Blixem,” and Rudolph was added much later, in a 1939 story.

Is “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” in the Public Domain?

Yes. The poem was first published in 1823, so it is in the public domain and free to read, share, and reprint. Some modern illustrated editions are still under copyright for their pictures.

Glossary

These words from the 1820s help bring the poem’s scene into focus.

• sugar-plums (line 6): Small round sweets, made of sugar-coated seeds or nuts, not plums.
• ’kerchief (line 7): A kerchief, a square of cloth worn over the head, here at night.
• sash (line 12): The frame of a window, which slides up to open it.
• lustre (line 14): Brightness or shine.
• coursers (line 19): Swift horses; here, the reindeer.
• Donder and Blitzen (line 22): From the Dutch and German words for thunder and lightning.
• pedler (line 36): A peddler, a traveling seller who carries his goods in a pack.
• droll (line 39): Amusing in an odd way.
• ere (line 55): Before.

In Popular Culture

Few poems have been parodied, illustrated, and adapted as often as this one.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1939): Robert L. May’s story, written for the Montgomery Ward stores, added a ninth reindeer to the team the poem named, and was written in verse in the same galloping rhythm.

’Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974): Rankin/Bass made an animated television special loosely based on the poem, long a holiday staple on American TV.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993): Tim Burton’s film, which began as a poem he wrote in imitation of Moore’s, takes its title from the famous first line.

Related Poems

These poems suit the same season, or share the poem’s galloping sound.

• In the Bleak Midwinter by Christina Rossetti: The beloved Christmas poem and carol, as quiet and reverent as Moore’s is merry.
• The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe: A poem that opens with the jingle of silver sleigh bells on a frosty winter night.
• Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost: Another snowy night, a horse, and a pause in the dark before the journey home.
• The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy: A bleak winter scene at the turn of 1900, lit by an unexpected burst of joy.