The Everything Family Christmas Book (38 page)

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

Clement C. Moore

On Christmas Eve, 1822, Dr. Clement Clarke Moore unveiled what is arguably the most popular Christmas poem of all time, “A Visit from Saint Nicholas.” Also known as “'Twas the Night Before Christmas,” the poem was written strictly for the enjoyment of Moore’s children, but a listener present at the reading was impressed enough to send the poem to The Troy Sentinel, where it was published the following December.

‘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 Saint Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads;
And Mama 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 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 Saint 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, Donner 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 housetops the coursers they flew,
With a sleigh full of toys—and Saint 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 Saint 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 peddler 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 in 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!”

Clement Moore (1779–1863), a professor of Biblical Learning at the New York General Theological Seminary, liked to dabble in rhymes and poetry, but was too embarrassed by “A Visit” to take public credit for it. The poem was published anonymously until 1844, when Moore, presumably encouraged by the poem’s success, included it in a collection of his other works.

A Christmas Carol

Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti is one of a very few popular female poets of the nineteenth century. Her poem and the classic story from Charles Dickens share not only a title, but also a reverence for Christmas and the spirit that surrounds it. The last stanza of this poem is often published alone under the title “My Gift.” Whether excerpted or whole, the poem reminds us that it is the desire to give, and not the gift itself, that is the essence of the Christmas spirit.

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow, In the bleak mid-winter Long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign;
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty
Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;

Enough for Him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.

Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air;
But only His mother
In her maiden bliss
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.

What can I give Him
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part,
—Yet what I can I
give Him, Give my heart.

The Victorian poet Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) was born in London into an Italian family that was deeply involved in the arts, including writing. She published her first poems at the age of twelve. Her work is often religious in nature, but also deals with fantasy and fairy tales.

Bird of Dawning

William Shakespeare

What would a collection of Christmas literature be without a contribution from the Bard himself? This extract, from Act One, Scene One of Hamlet, conveys in a few brief lines the essential sacredness of the season.

Some say that ever ‘gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long;
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow’d and so gracious is that time.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) covered the full range of the human condition—from history to tragedy to comedy—in his work, which features a rhythm called iambic pentameter. Although the language of Elizabethan England can initially be daunting, Shakespeare’s themes and observations have remained current for centuries.

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Christmas Carol

F
ew holidays on the calendar are as closely associated with music and singing as Christmas. From choirs that fill cathedrals and churches with song to grade-school concerts that fill parents with pride, Christmas is linked with lyrics that celebrate the season. You’ll find the words for some of the most popular traditional carols in this chapter (including all of the gifts from the “Twelve Days of Christmas”). Why not gather some friends, plan your route around the neighborhood, and start singing?

Angels We Have Heard on High

Lyrics and Music: Traditional French

1. Angels we have heard on high,
Sweetly singing o’er the plains,
And the mountains in reply,
Echoing their joyous strains.
Refrain: Gloria in excelsis Deo!
    
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

2. Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be,
Which inspire your heav’nly song?
(Refrain)

3. Come to Bethlehem and see,
Him whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn King.
(Refrain)

As Joseph Was A-Walking

Lyrics and Music: Appalachian Spiritual

1. As Joseph was a-walking, he heard an angel sing:
“This night shall be the birthnight of Christ, the heav’nly King.” (repeat)

2. "He neither shall be bornéd in house nor in the hall,
Nor in a king’s palace, but in an oxen’s stall.” (repeat)

3. "He neither shall be washen in white wine nor in red,
But in the clear spring water with which we were christenéd.” (repeat)