'Twas the Night Before Christmas

by Donna Huber

Here we are on the day before Christmas. Have you had time to read a few Christmas stories? If not, perhaps you can sneak in a Christmas poem or two tonight. It might even be one of the most famous American poems that you will share with your children tonight. Learn a little about this famous poem and another Christmas poem (less well-known) by the same author.

We'll be back tomorrow with one more list for our 25 Days of Christmas Reading. We hope you have enjoyed the features and we wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

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It is a bit ironic that the most well-known Christmas poem is one we don't ever call by its true title. I wonder how many even know what the original title was. Do you know the poem of which I speak?

'Twas the Night Before Christmas is the first line of the poem but if you if you are looking for it you will find it under the title A Visit from St. Nicholas. However, the title it was first published under on December 23, 1823, in the Troy Sentinel was Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas.

Who penned this poem?

It was published anonymously and it wasn't until 1837 that a claim of authorship was made. 

Apparently, a friend of Clement Clarke Moore sent the poem to the newspaper without Moore's knowledge and it was the friend who claimed Moore as the author in 1937. It wasn't until 1844 that Moore himself confirmed authorship when he included it in an anthology of his work.

Some people have suggested Henry Livingston, Jr. wrote it, including his own family in 1900. Moore didn't claim the authorship until nearly a decade after Livingston, Jr's death. Experts still debate the authorship of this famous poem. Who knew there was such controversy around it? Livingston's children claim that they remember their father reciting the poem to them well before it was published in the newspaper. There was a claim of an original handwritten draft of the poem but it was lost in a fire the same year the family learned that Moore had claimed authorship. 

Among experts, the authorship is still argued. Donald Wayne Foster, a professor at Vasser College, published his argument for Livingston being the author in his 2000 book Author Unknown. In 2023, Tom A. Jerman published his findings of computer-assisted forensic linguistics in The Fight for "The Night": Resolving the Authorship Dispute over "The Night Before Christmas.

Who knew there was so much controversy with this cheery poem?

A little history

For those claiming Moore penned the poem, it is said that he wrote it during a shopping trip (which would have been done in a sleigh) and that a local Dutch handyman inspired his St. Nick.

While what most of us today associate with Santa Claus originated in the poem, there were a few things already in the lore that Moore borrowed. A notable departure was having St. Nick arrive on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day. This may have been in response to the religious arguments between Protestants and Catholics that were popular at this time.

Fun Fact: Donder and Blitzen spellings were adopted in a reprint of the poem. The original 1823 poem used Dunder and Blixem which is Old Dutch for thunder and lightning. 

Another Christmas poem?

The Academy of American Poets credits the poem Old Santeclaus to Clement Clarke Moore. When I looked it up on Wikipedia, the entry came up as Old Santeclaus with Much Delight which was published anonymously in 1821 as an illustrated children's poem. Was it penned by Moore or did it just serve as inspiration? I'll let you delve into that mystery. I'll leave you with the text of the poem which is in the public domain but be sure to check out the link above to the Wikipedia article to see the illustrations.

Old Santeclaus

Old Santeclaus with much delight

His reindeer drives this frosty night,

O'r chimney tops, and tracts of snow,

To bring his yearly gifts to you.

The steady friend of virtuous youth,

The friend of duty, and of truth,

Each Christmas eve he joys to come

Where peace and love have made their home.

Through many houses he has been,

And various beds and stockings seen;

Some, white as snow, and neatly mended,

Others, that seemed for pigs intended.

To some I gave a pretty doll,

To some a peg-top, or a ball;

No crackers, cannons, squibs, or rockets,

To blow their eyes up, or their pockets.

Where e're I found good girls or boys,

That hated quarrels, strife and noise,

I left an apple, or a tart,

Or wooden gun, or painted cart;

No drums to stun their Mother's ear,

Nor swords to make their sisters fear;

But pretty books to store their mind

With knowledge of each various kind.

But where I found the children naughty,

In manners crude, in temper haughty,

Thankless to parents, liars, swearers,

Boxers, or cheats, or base tale-bearers,

I left a long, black, birchen rod,

Such as the dread command of God

Directs a Parent's hand to use

When virtue's path his sons refuse.

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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