“’Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the house . . .”
– Clement Clarke Moore
Moore was a straitlaced,
no-nonsense Classics Professor at New York’s General Theological Seminary when
he composed A Visit from St. Nicholas for his kids after a
Christmas Eve sleighride in 1822. Arguably, the lilting tale of Santa Claus has
become one of the best-known verses ever written by an American.
The scholarly Moore, born in New
York City in 1779, was at first hesitant to publicly acknowledge his
association with such an “unscholarly” verse (he published it in 1823 but
didn’t publicly acknowledge his authorship until 1837). But his kids – for whom he had composed the
piece in the first place – were proud of their father’s tale and wanted
children everywhere to know who to thank for creating it.
Moore’s poem is widely considered the
basis for depicting Santa Claus as we know him today – including his physical
appearance, mode of transportation, number and names of his reindeer, and the
tradition that he brings toys to children.
By the way, before he was moved by
the spirit of the season to pen his famous poem, Moore’s most notable work was
a two-volume tome titled A Compendious Lexicon of the Hebrew Language. Christmas
miracles indeed.
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all
a good-night!”
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