You've heard of the beloved "’Twas the Night Before Christmas" poem—maybe some reinterpretations and parodies of it too. But who actually wrote it, and what inspired these iconic holiday verses?
“’Twas the Night Before Christmas”: The Original Poem and Its Controversial Backstory
Published on Dec. 11, 2024
As far as classic Christmas Eve activities go, nothing beats reading the “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem with a crackling fireplace, twinkling tree and jolly carols playing in the background. While there are certainly many festive Christmas celebrations and symbols tracing back to both ancient Christian and pagan times, it wasn’t until this poem’s publication in the 19th century that the legend of Santa Claus as we know it was cemented into American culture.
The poem tells the charming story of a father who witnesses St. Nicholas, aka Santa Claus, on Christmas Eve. The “jolly old elf” arrives in a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer and leaves behind toys for the children. Since its publication, the poem has been reinterpreted into children’s books and movies, adapted into songs and read all around the world, continuing to inspire joy and wonder in kids and adults alike.
This holiday season, impress your friends and family with fun facts about the history of Christmas traditions, including the history of the “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem, from its inspiration to its controversial authorship.
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“’Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem
Many of us know and love this holiday poem for its first iconic line, which has inspired many Christmas Eve traditions. But believe it or not, the poem’s title is not actually “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” or even “‘The Night Before Christmas.” The Christmas classic was originally published under the title “A Visit from St. Nicholas” with the following text.
“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 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 Blitzen!
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!”
The history of the “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem
The “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem was first published anonymously on Dec. 23, 1823, in The Sentinel, a newspaper based in Troy, New York. An instant success, the poem was republished several times in different publications and Christmas books throughout the years, but Clement Clark Moore (1779–1863) did not accept authorship until 1837. Born into a prominent, wealthy New York family (his father was a bishop and the president of Columbia College), Moore may have initially kept it a secret because he considered the poem to be of less scholarly merit.
Moore allegedly wrote the Christmas poem on Dec. 24, 1822, while running errands in Greenwich Village on a sleigh operated by a plump Dutchman with a beard. Incorporating images of St. Nicholas as a jolly, gift-giving patron saint of children, he then shared these rhyming couplets to entertain his young kids that evening.
The holiday classic isn’t without controversy, though: There is some debate as to who actually wrote the poem. Some scholars credit Maj. Henry Livingston Jr. (a distant relative of Clement Clark Moore’s wife) as the true author of this classic.
Regardless of who you believe wrote “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” its impact on Christmas as a global phenomenon is undeniable. The poem is credited with popularizing the mainstream version of Santa Claus, from his merry physical description and the delightful names of his flying reindeer to the idea of holiday gift-giving as we now know it.
So as you plan Christmas activities this December, be sure to pay homage to the “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem and spread that holiday magic and cheer!
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Sources:
- Library of Congress: “Today in History—December 24: Time for a Visit from St. Nicholas”
- The New York Institute for Special Education: “Distinguished Staff Alumni: Clement Clarke Moore”
- University of Michigan, Clements Library Chronicles: “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”
