Clement Clarke Moore

“ A sweet endearing creature perish'd last,
In youth's first spring, all childhood's dangers past—
Oh! awful trial of religion's power,
To see a suffering innocent's last hour!
But mark me well—I would not change one jot
Of Heaven's decrees, to meliorate my lot:
Farewell to earthly bliss, to all that's bright!
No thought rebels; I know, I feel 'tis right. ”

“ There is, to our apprehension, a spirit of cordial goodness in it, a playfulness of fancy, and a benevolent alacrity to enter into the feelings and promote the simple pleasures of children, which are altogether charming. We hope our little patrons, both lads and lasses, will accept it as proof of our unfeigned good will toward them—as a token of our warmest wish that they may have many a merry Christmas ”

“ Dr. Clement C. Moore, who wrote the poem, never expected that he would be remembered by it. If he expected to be famous at all as a writer, he thought it would be because of the Hebrew Dictionary that he wrote.
He was born in a house near Chelsea Square, New York City, in 1781; and he lived there all his life. It was a great big house, with fireplaces in it;—just the house to be living in on Christmas Eve.
Dr. Moore had children. He liked writing poetry for them even more than he liked writing a Hebrew Dictionary. He wrote a whole book of poems for them. ”

“ It has happened that almost all the children in the world know this poem. How few of them know any Hebrew!
Every Christmas Eve the young men studying to be ministers at the General Theological Seminary, New York City, put a holly wreath around Dr. Moore’s picture, which is on the wall of their dining-room. Why? Because he gave the ground on which the General Theological Seminary stands? Because he wrote a Hebrew Dictionary? No. They do it because he was the author of “A Visit from St. Nicholas.”
Most of the children probably know the words of the poem. They are old. ”

“ That calms, at will, or sets the soul on fire;
Whose changeful notes through ev'ry mode can stray,
From deep-toned horror to the sprighliest lay.
In Fancy's wilds with you I love to roam,
Where all things strange and monstrous make their home. ”

“ Rais'd thee from earth to life, immortal flower!
Oh! how does even grief rejoice,
The tear dry in affliction's eye,
When memory gives thy parting voice
Exclaiming, "Oh! how sweet to die!"
↑ Susan Moore, daughter of the late Dr. William Moore, died in 1814. She was a most lovely young creature; the delight of all who knew her. She suffered so much pain during her last illness, that, shortly before her death, she uttered the exclamation with which these lines conclude. ”

“ was the night before Christmas, when all through the house ”

“ His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow; ”

“ 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.
is eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1939, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 84 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”

“ That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly. ”