A visit from St. Nicholas

_This little Book conveys the Greetings of_

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                               _to_

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[Illustration: (St. Nicholas in a home delivering presents to
children)]




[Illustration: (Page decoration)]


                                _A_
                               VISIT
                              _from_
                           St. NICHOLAS

                                 ∵

                       _By Clement C. Moore_


                              _Boston
                    The Atlantic Monthly Press_
                               1921




[Illustration: (Sleigh and rein-deer on top of home)]


      _’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through 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 danced through their heads;_
      _And Mamma 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 sprang from my 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 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._
      _More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,_
      _And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:_
      “_Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!_
      _On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blixen!_
      _To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!_
      _Now dash away! dash away! dash away, all!_”
      _As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,_
      _When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,_
      _So up to the housetop 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 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!_
      _His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!_
      _His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,_
      _And the beard on 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 laughed, like a bowl full of jelly._
      _He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,_
      _And I laughed 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 filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,_
      _And laying his finger aside of his nose,_
      _And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose._
      _He sprang 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!_”


[Illustration: (St. Nicholas at the fireplace)]




⸿_Designed by Bruce Rogers and printed by William Edwin Rudge,
Mount Vernon, N. Y. The text is that of the original (1837)
edition. The woodcuts are by Florence Wyman Ivins._




[Illustration: (Original back cover)]