Paje 6B EUGENE REGISTER-GUARD, Thurs.. Nov. 22. 1962
The Story Behind the Poem
Professor Surprised His Children
Had a language professor not
been sent to the butcher shop
on Christmas Eve, 1882, chances
are we might not have our best
known and best-loved Christmas
poem.
Clement Clarke Moore wrote
"A Visit from St. Nicholas"
while picking up the traditional
turkey. The sometime poet had
been trying to think of a sur
prise for his six children. A
poem was the logical solution
On the way back from the
shop, his mumbling may haie
been something like this: "On
Christmas Eve and everywhere
humm On the night before
Christmas ah Twas the night
before Christmas and ... all
through the house!"
Moore was a well-to-do Ian
guage professor living in the
Chelsea section oi New xorit
City early In the 19th Century.
He was also, apparently, a
speedy writer. By the time he
reached his estate In what is
now a crowded part of the great
city he had composed the en
tire poem. His children, ranging
from 8 months to 7 years, were
properly surprised and de
lighted. Respectable scholars and
translators such as Moore did
not publish .such flippery in
those days. It took much pass
ing around of copies among rel
atives before the poem reached
the desk of tho Scntinal, a Troy.
N.Y., newspaper. Just in time
for tho following Christmas. I
The Sentinal published the
poem with a preface claiming
it had no idea who had written
it. This was to protect the pro
fessor's reputation. Later, other
newspapers picked it up, and
Moore's Christmas Eve present
was secure in American folk
lore. Moore did not Invent Santa
Claus. Nor did ho introduce the
jolly figure to this country.
Santa Claus had been central in
ecclesiastical controversy since
Pilgrim days. Tho Puritans flat
ly outlawed any celebration of
Christmas, solcm or otherwise.
Other groups thought otherwise.
Tho Dutch, particularly, would
not give up their St. Nicholas,
or Sinterklaas, who came origi
nally not on Christmas Eve but
on December 5.
By Moore's lime, Santa Claus
had been evolved to something
not unlike the jolly old elf in
the poem.
The St. Nick of "A Visit" had
a human model "a portly, rubi
cund Dutchman living in the
neighborhood of Chelsea," as
Moore wrote a friend. It was
typical of Moore to gather all
tho lore already existing, then
add touches of his own. such as
the Dutchman, and a sleigh and
eight tiny reindeer.
"A Visit from St Nicholas"
has been translated into nearly
every language. There are more
than 40 editions of the poem in
the Library of Congress.
To All - A Happy
Thanksgiving
FROM ALL OF
US TO ALL
OF OUR
MANY FRIENDS
Our sheerest gratilude for your failhful patron
age, which we count together with our other
blessings. Let us all this special day, each in his
own way, offer our most heartfelt
thanks to Almighty God .
For our continued prosperity and peace, we
are thankful, and let us pray for 'wisdom and
guidance to preserve them.
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