Week 5 – A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore

Welcome to 2023!  On Mondays this year, let’s discuss and have fun with books. No I’m not writing book reviews. But this website is for writers, and writers like books right? So let’s have FUN with books!

Week 5 – A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore

A Visit from St. Nicholas, full title Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas – also called The Night Before Christmas or ’Twas the Night Before Christmas – was first published anonymously in the Troy (New York) Sentinel on December 23, 1823.

This poem is an account of the visit of St. Nicholas AKA Santa Claus to the narrator’s home on Christmas Eve.

Read it here

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43171/a-visit-from-st-nicholas

Here’s an analysis of the poem

https://poemanalysis.com/clement-clarke-moore/a-visit-from-st-nicholas/

It is commonly credited to Clement Clarke Moore but certain scholars believe it was actually written by Henry Livingston Jr.

This website has compiled 849 versions of the poem, ranging from innocent to obscene. The site clearly states to read at your own risk!

https://alchemistmatt.com/twas/twasallmain.html

Here are the original names of the reindeer

"Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer, and Vixen,
"On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blixem;

Read why Santa’s reindeer must be female

https://people.com/pets/santas-reindeer-are-female/

Santa Claus

1914

2010

North Pole
https://www.northpolealaska.com/

Unusual Christmas traditions around the world

https://www.holidayextras.com/travel-blog/wanderlust/unusual-christmas-traditions.html

https://www.countryliving.com/entertaining/g4933/christmas-traditions-around-the-world/

One of my family's Christmas traditions is to read this poem on Christmas Eve, followed by the account of Jesus' birth from the Bible. Do you read this poem on Christmas Eve? What other traditions do you have? Tell us in the comments!