“A Visit from Saint Nicholas” Is Published
“A Visit from Saint Nicholas,” commonly known by its opening line, “’Twas the night before Christmas,” is a significant Christmas poem first published on December 23, 1823, in Troy, New York. It is attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, an educator and theologian from a prominent New York family. The poem was reportedly composed for Moore’s daughters but was published anonymously. Its whimsical portrayal of Santa Claus transformed the character from a stern bishop into a jovial figure, emphasizing gift-giving during the Christmas season.
Over the years, debates over the true authorship of the poem have emerged, with some scholars, like Don Foster, suggesting that Henry Livingston Jr., a Dutch American poet, might have been the original author. Despite these discussions, the poem's impact on American Christmas traditions and the image of Santa Claus remains profound. The original manuscript is believed to have been lost, adding to the intrigue surrounding its authorship. The poem continues to resonate across cultures, symbolizing the festive spirit of Christmas.
“A Visit from Saint Nicholas” Is Published
“A Visit from Saint Nicholas” Is Published
One of the most popular Christmas poems ever written, “A Visit from Saint Nicholas,” was first published on December 23, 1823, by a newspaper called The Sentinel in Troy, New York. It was reputedly written by Clement Clarke Moore, who was born on July 15, 1779, in New York City. His father had been rector of Trinity Church on Wall Street in lower Manhattan. Clement was educated at Columbia College, now the undergraduate division of Columbia University, and became a professor of Greek and Asian literature at New York's (Episcopal) General Theological Seminary. Moore is supposed to have written “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” for his two daughters, Margaret and Charity, but his poem was published anonymously and probably without his permission.
“A Visit from Saint Nicholas”—popularly known by its first line, “'Twas the night before Christmas . . . ”—is largely responsible for shaping the celebration of Christmas and the image of Santa Claus in America. Prior to the poem's publication, St. Nicholas was often portrayed as a skinny, fairly humorless bishop who was also quite a disciplinarian—a far cry from the man with “a broad face and a little round belly, / That shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly.” The poem reinforced the notions of Christmas as a time for giving gifts to children and of St. Nicholas as the cheerful distributor of those gifts.
In recent years, however, the very authorship of the poem has come into question. In 2000, Don Foster, an English professor at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, attempted to prove a claim made frequently during the past 150 years that the Dutch American poet Henry Livingston Jr., rather than Moore, authored the famous poem. Foster points to similarities in style and syntax between “A Visit from St. Nicholas” and other poetry by Livingston and claims that the Christmas poem includes a number of Livingston's favorite images, such as flying vehicles and reindeer. Despite efforts by Foster and Livingston's descendants, this is one mystery that may never be solved, since the original, handwritten copy of the poem is said to have been lost in a fire.
Moore died on July 10, 1863, in Newport, Rhode Island. Livingston died earlier, on February 29, 1828, before Moore began receiving credit for the poem's composition at around 1844.