Down the chimney St. 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 pedler just opening his pack. His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!

" A Visit from St. Nicholas " (often called " The Night Before Christmas " and " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas ", from its first line) is a poem, first published anonymously under the title " Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas ", in 1823.

Gave a lustre of midday to objects below, When what to my wondering eyes did appear, But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer, With a little old driver so lively and quick, I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.

With a sleigh full of toys—and St. Nicholas too. The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. His eyes how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath. That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself.

Read the full text of Clement Clarke Moore's classic poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas (The Christmas Poem)." Explore poetic themes, analysis, and share your own critique with a community of fellow poets.

Book is extremely fragile and most pages are loose-leaf. Text and pictures are printed to page edges.

"A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore is a poem first published anonymously in 1823. On Christmas Eve, a father witnesses Santa Claus arriving by sleigh with eight reindeer, descending through the chimney to deliver presents and fill stockings.

Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web. Book digitized by Google and uploaded to the Internet Archive by user tpb.

On December 23, 1823, a poem called "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" was published anonymously in the Sentinel, the local newspaper of Troy, New York.

Prior to the poem, American ideas about St. Nicholas and other Christmastide visitors varied considerably. The poem was published anonymously in 1823 by the Troy Sentinel.