December 16-20, 2002
Twas the night before Christmas,
when all through the house
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
Not a creature was stirring, not
even a mouse;
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
The stockings were hung by the
chimney with care,
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon
would be there.
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
The children were nestled all snug
in their beds,
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
While visions of sugar plums danced
in their heads;
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
And mamma in her kerchief, and
I in my cap,
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
Had just settled down for a long
winter's nap.
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
When out on the lawn there arose
such a clatter,
His eyes how hey twinkled! his dimples how merry,
I sprang from my bed to see what
was the matter;
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
Away to the window I flew like
a flash,
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
Tore open the shutters and threw
up the sash.
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen
snow
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
Gave the luster of mid-day to objects
below;
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
When, what to my wondering eyes
should appear,
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight
tiny reindeer.
That shook, when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly.
With a little old driver, so lively
and quick,
He was a chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
I knew in a moment it must be St.
Nick;
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
More rapid than eagles his coursers
they came,
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
And he whistled, and shouted, and
called them by name.
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
"Now DASHER! now DANCER! now PRANCER!
and VIXEN!
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
On COMET! on CUPID! on DONNER!
and BLITZEN!
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk;
To the top fo the porch! To the
top of the wall!
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash
away all!"
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
As dry leaves that before the wild
hurricane fly,
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
When they meet with an obstacle,
mount to the sky;
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle;
So up to the house-top the coursers
they flew,
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
With the sleigh full of toys, and
St Nicholas too.
"Happy Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!"
This famous poem, written in 1822 by Clement Clarke
Moore was anonymously published in the Troy, New York Sentinel on December
23, 1823.
Let's have some math word fun:
1. Find the first word in the first stanza.
A stanza is a group of lines in a poem that is arranged together.
Find the second word in the second stanza. Find the third word in
the third stanza.
Continue this pattern until you find all fourteen
words.
2. Make a sentence using at least six of the
words you found. You can use additional words from the poem to help
you, but you may not use any others. Good luck and be creative.