'Twas the Night Before Christmas: Full Poem, Meaning and History
The full 1823 text of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, checked word for word, with its meaning, the reindeer names and who really wrote it.
Reviewed by: Hazel Max
"'Twas the Night Before Christmas" is the popular name of "A Visit from St. Nicholas", a 56-line Christmas Eve poem first printed, with no author's name, in the Troy Sentinel of Troy, New York, on December 23, 1823. It is usually credited to Clement Clarke Moore, who put it in his book Poems in 1844, though some scholars argue that Henry Livingston Jr. wrote it. In rhyming couplets, a father tells how a clatter on the lawn wakes him, and he watches St. Nicholas land on the roof with eight tiny reindeer, fill the stockings and fly away.
Below are the full words as first printed, checked word for word, with the meaning, the history and tips for reading it aloud.
'Twas the Night Before Christmas: the full text
This is the first printing, from the Troy Sentinel of December 23, 1823, as transcribed and checked against the page scan on Wikisource. We kept its spelling and punctuation, such as "jirk" (jerk) and the quotation mark opening each line of St. Nicholas's call. The paper printed the poem as one block, so the stanza breaks are ours; no words are changed.
Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' 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 danc'd 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 sprung from the 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 the lustre of mid-day to objects below;
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and call'd them by name:
"Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer, and Vixen,
"On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blixem;
"To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
"Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top 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 dress'd all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnish'd with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys was flung on his back,
And he look'd 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 of 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 laugh'd, like a bowl full of jelly:
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laugh'd 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 fill'd all the stockings; then turn'd with a jirk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprung 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.
How the 1823 and 1844 texts differ
Know a slightly different version? Moore's own book, Poems (1844), uses his later wording, which many later editions follow:
| Line | 1823, Troy Sentinel | 1844, Moore's Poems |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | all thro' the house | all through the house |
| 10 and 53 | I sprung / He sprung | I sprang / He sprang |
| 22 | Dunder and Blixem | Donder and Blitzen |
| 50 | turn'd with a jirk | turned with a jerk |
| 56 | No quotation marks | "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night." |
Want a Christmas Eve poem about your own family, in the same galloping rhythm? Describe your house and traditions, and the generator writes a first draft.
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Quick facts
| Title | "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (printed in 1823 as "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas") |
|---|---|
| Poet | Usually credited to Clement Clarke Moore (1779–1863); some scholars credit Henry Livingston Jr. (1748–1828) |
| First published | Troy Sentinel, Troy, New York, December 23, 1823, anonymously |
| Moore's own edition | Poems (1844) |
| Form | Narrative poem told by a father, in 56 lines (28 couplets) |
| Rhyme scheme | AABB CCDD and so on |
| Meter | Anapestic tetrameter: four beats a line, mostly "da-da-DUM" |
Summary
On Christmas Eve a father, woken by a noise, sees St. Nicholas arrive in a tiny sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. St. Nicholas comes down the chimney, fills the stockings without a word and flies off, calling goodnight to all.
What the poem means, part by part
Lines 1 to 8, the sleeping house: the children dream of sugar plums (sweets), and the parents, the mother in her 'kerchief (a head cloth), have just gone to bed. The calm sets up the noise to come.
Lines 9 to 12, the clatter: the father races to the window and pushes up the "sash", its sliding frame. Quick verbs (sprung, flew, tore, threw) speed the poem up.
Lines 13 to 24, the sleigh: moonlight on fresh snow makes the night as bright as noon. Everything is small: a miniature sleigh, tiny reindeer, a little old driver who calls his "coursers" (swift horses) by name.
Lines 25 to 32, up and down: like dry leaves swept upward by a hurricane, the team rises to the roof, and St. Nicholas comes down the chimney "with a bound".
Lines 33 to 48, the visitor: sooty fur, a pack of toys like a peddler's (a travelling seller), rosy cheeks, a white beard and a pipe. "Droll" means funny. When his belly shakes with laughter, the father laughs too, "in spite of myself".
Lines 49 to 52, the work: he fills the stockings in silence, then lays a finger beside his nose and nods, a knowing "this is our secret" sign.
Lines 53 to 56, goodbye: the team flies off like thistledown, the fluffy seeds of a thistle. "Ere" means "before".
Themes
- Wonder, seen by a grown-up: the visit makes a father laugh like a child.
- Home and family: the poem never leaves one house on one night.
- Giving in secret: St. Nick works in silence and leaves before anyone can thank him.
- Magic in an ordinary night: real details (shutters, soot, a pipe) make the impossible feel close.
Poetic devices, meter and rhyme
| Device | Example from the poem |
|---|---|
| Simile | "His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry" |
| Extended simile | "As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly ... So up to the house-top the coursers they flew" |
| Alliteration | "The prancing and pawing of each little hoof" |
| Onomatopoeia | "there arose such a clatter" |
| Repetition | "Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!" |
The gallop comes from the meter, anapestic tetrameter: four feet a line, each with two light syllables and one strong one, as in "Not a CREA-ture was STIR-ring, not E-ven a MOUSE." Some lines open with one light syllable instead of two: "The STOCK-ings were HUNG by the CHIM-ney with CARE." It sounds quicker than the five-beat da-DUM of iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme runs in pairs, so the poem is 28 rhyming couplets, a few only near rhymes, such as "Vixen" and "Blixem".
The reindeer names: from Dunder and Blixem to Donner and Blitzen
The poem named Santa's reindeer, and the last two names changed over time. "Dunder and Blixem" is close to the old Dutch "Donder en Blixem", meaning "thunder and lightning".
| Year | Printing | Last two names |
|---|---|---|
| 1823 | Troy Sentinel | Dunder and Blixem |
| 1825 | United States National Almanac | Dunder and Blixen |
| 1844 | Moore's Poems | Donder and Blitzen |
| Early 1900s on | The usual spelling today | Donner and Blitzen |
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet and Cupid have not changed since 1823. Rudolph is not in the poem: Robert L. May created him in 1939 for the Montgomery Ward stores.
Who wrote 'Twas the Night Before Christmas?
The Sentinel's editor, Orville L. Holley, was given the poem by Sarah Sackett of Troy, who probably had it from a friend of Moore's family. It was first credited to "Clement C. Moore" in The New-York Book of Poetry (1837). Moore put it in his Poems in 1844, and in a letter that year he said he wrote it "not for publication, but to amuse my children".
Moore (1779–1863) was a New York scholar who published a Hebrew and English Lexicon in 1809 and taught Biblical learning at the General Theological Seminary, built on land he gave from his Chelsea estate.
The rival claim comes from the family of Henry Livingston Jr., a poet from Poughkeepsie, New York, who died in 1828. His children said he had read them the poem as his own around 1807, but Livingston never claimed it, and no printing with his name has been found. Donald Foster's Author Unknown (2000) and MacDonald P. Jackson's 2016 study argued for Livingston; the historian Stephen Nissenbaum, the document dealer Seth Kaller and computer tests reported in 2023 sided with Moore.
How the poem shaped the modern Santa Claus
Before this poem, American ideas about St. Nicholas varied. Washington Irving's comic A History of New York, first published in 1809, had him riding over the treetops in a wagon, smoking a pipe and "laying his finger beside his nose". An 1821 New York picture book, The Children's Friend, gave him a sleigh pulled by one reindeer. "A Visit from St. Nicholas" set much of the picture still used today:
- He comes on Christmas Eve, while the children sleep.
- Eight named reindeer pull his flying sleigh to the roof.
- He comes down the chimney and fills the stockings with toys.
- He is plump, white-bearded and jolly.
Not everything stuck: this St. Nick is an "elf" in a "miniature sleigh", smokes a pipe and wears fur, with no red suit.
How to read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas aloud on Christmas Eve
At a relaxed pace the poem takes three to four minutes.
- Start quietly. Read the sleeping house softly, so the "clatter" in line 9 surprises.
- Feel the gallop. Tap four beats a line on your knee.
- Let the children call the reindeer. Practise the roll call so they can shout "dash away all!" with you.
- Whisper the secret. Drop your voice for "He spoke not a word", then lay a finger beside your nose and nod.
- Pause before the last line, then say it as your own goodnight.
For little ones not ready for 56 lines, try our short Christmas poems for kids.
'Twas the Night Before Christmas books, cartoon and stage show
Book: Project Gutenberg has a free 1912 picture book edition illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith to read online or download.
The 1974 cartoon: this Rankin/Bass special, first shown on CBS on December 8, 1974, tells its own story about a clockmaker and a family of mice, with the poem read by Joel Grey.
Cirque du Soleil: 'Twas the Night Before…, the company's first holiday show, opened at the Chicago Theatre on November 29, 2019, before moving to New York. A girl named Isabella, tired of the Christmas fuss, meets characters from the poem.
Write your own "'Twas the night before" poem
Borrow the poem's pattern for your own family: keep four beats a line, rhyme in pairs and use your family's real habits. A start, written for this page:
The Night Before Christmas at Our House
'Twas the night before Christmas, and down in the den,
Dad was wrapping the presents at quarter to ten;
He had tape on his elbow and bows in his hair,
And the cat was curled up in the gift for Aunt Claire.
Keep going, or let our free AI poem generator draft a version with your family's names, then edit it until it sounds like you.
Write a family Night Before Christmas poem
FAQs
Is the last line "Merry Christmas to all" or "Happy Christmas to all"?
Both the 1823 printing and Moore's 1844 text say "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night."
What are the reindeer names in the poem?
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem (Donder and Blitzen from 1844). Rudolph is not in it.
Can I print the poem or use it in class?
Yes. It was published in 1823, so it is in the public domain in the United States.