History Literature / TwasTheNightBeforeChristmas

A perennial favorite for [[ChristmasSpecial Christmastime reading]], the poem is considered the TropeCodifier for a lot of the popular imagery of SantaClaus, up to and including his reindeer and their names[[note]]The TropeMaker for the creation of the specific American depiction of Santa is thought to be Creator/WashingtonIrving's satire ''[[ShortTitleLongElaborateSubtitle A History of New York, From the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty]]'', also known as ''Knickerbocker's History of New York'', though Santa himself (or rather, the archetype of what would later be known as "Santa Claus") is believed to be [[OlderThanTheyThink much]] ''[[OlderThanFeudalism much]]'' [[OlderThanFeudalism older]][[/note]]. As such an iconic work, it has also been {{parod|y}}ied and spoofed enough to merit its own trope: TheParodyBeforeChristmas. A related spoof is for someone to mix up the names of the eight reindeer in particular; that's DasherDancerPrancerAndNixon.

A perennial favorite for [[ChristmasSpecial Christmastime reading]], the poem is considered the TropeCodifier for a lot of the popular imagery of SantaClaus, up to and including his reindeer and their names. As such an iconic work, it has also been {{parod|y}}ied and spoofed enough to merit its own trope: TheParodyBeforeChristmas. A related spoof is for someone to mix up the names of the eight reindeer in particular; that's DasherDancerPrancerAndNixon.

** He's said to "dress in all fur, from his head to his foot," whereas modern Santa wears a bright red overcoat with white trimmings. When was the last time you saw an animal with bright red fur?

** The sleigh doesn't fly in this poem; rather it's pulled on the ground until it reaches the house, at which point it levitates to the roof.

Originally titled (and also known as) ''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', this 1823 poem -- first published anonymously but eventually attributed to the American Episcopalian scholar Clement Clarke Moore -- is about one household's, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin visit from St. Nicholas]].

** St Nick actually originally said "''Happy'' Christmas to all" in the original version, though the "''Merry'' Christmas" variation dates back to at least 1829.

** St Nick actually originally said "''Happy'' Christmas to all" in the original version, though the "''Merry'' Christmas" dates back to at least 1829.

** St Nick actually originally said "''happy'' Christmas to all" in the original version.

* ChristmasElves: St Nick ''himself'' is described as an 'elf' here, making this debatably the UrExample.

* DasherDancerPrancerAndNixon: Even the UrExample here is not immune from [[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-donner-partys-over/ confusion about the reindeers' names]]. The [[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Visit_From_St_Nicholas_-_Troy_Sentinel.png#/media/File:A_Visit_From_St_Nicholas_-_Troy_Sentinel.png original printing]] identified the final two reindeer as "Dunder and Blixem" (Dutch in English spelling for "Thunder and Lightning"). The first anthologized printing, however, corrected them to "Donder and Blixen", supposedly to make it closer to the German spelling of the same words (and perhaps to improve the rhyme with "Vixen"). Clement Moore adopted the second spelling in the later anthology published under his own name. However, the actual German words for thunder and lightning are "Donner" and "Blitzen," leading to those reindeers' names being changed even more in some later editions.

* DasherDancerPrancerAndNixon: Even the UrExample here is not immune from [[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-donner-partys-over/ confusion about the reindeers' names]]. The [[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Visit_From_St_Nicholas_-_Troy_Sentinel.png#/media/File:A_Visit_From_St_Nicholas_-_Troy_Sentinel.png original printing]] identified the final two reindeer as "Dunder and Blixem" (Dutch in English spelling for "Thunder and Lightning"). The first anthologized printing, however, corrected them to "Donder and Blixen", supposedly to make it closer to the German spelling of the same words (and perhaps to improve the rhyme with "Vixen"). Clement Moore adopted the second spelling in the later anthology published under his own name. However, the actual German word for thunder is "Donner", leading to that reindeer's name being changed even more in some later editions.

A perennial favorite for [[ChristmasSpecial Christmastime reading]], the poem is considered the TropeCodifier for a lot of the popular imagery of SantaClaus, up to and including his reindeer and their names. As such an iconic work, it has also been {{parod|y}}ied and spoofed enough to merit its own trope: TheParodyBeforeChristmas.

* SantaClaus: You were expecting maybe the EasterBunny?

->''[='=]Twas the night before Christmas,\\

A perennial favorite for [[ChristmasSpecial Christmastime reading]], the poem is considered the TropeCodifier for quite a bit of the popular imagery of SantaClaus, up to and including the eight reindeer and their names. As such an iconic work, it's been {{parod|y}}ied and spoofed often enough to merit its own trope: TheParodyBeforeChristmas.

A perennial favorite for [[ChristmasSpecial Christmastime reading]], the poem is considered the TropeCodifier for quite a bit of the popular imagery of SantaClaus, up to and including the eight reindeer and their names. As such an iconic work it's been {{parod|y}}ied and spoofed often enough to merit its own trope: TheParodyBeforeChristmas.

Originally titled (and also known as) ''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', this 1823 poem -- first published anonymously but eventually attributed to American Episcopalian scholar Clement Clarke Moore -- is about one household's, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin visit from St. Nicholas]].

Originally titled (and also known as) ''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', this 1823 poem -- first published anonymously but eventually attributed to American Episcopalian scholar Clement Clarke Moore -- is about one household's, well, visit from [[SantaClaus St. Nicholas]].

The poem is a perennial favorite for [[ChristmasSpecial Christmastime reading]], and is considered the TropeCodifier for quite a bit of the modern imagery of SantaClaus, up to and including the eight reindeer and their names. As such an iconic work it's been {{parod|y}}ied and spoofed often enough to merit its own trope: TheParodyBeforeChristmas.

The poem is a perennial favorite for [[ChristmasSpecial Christmastime reading]], and is considered the TropeCodifier for quite a bit of the modern imagery of SantaClaus. As such it's been {{parod|y}}ied and spoofed often enough to merit its own trope: TheParodyBeforeChristmas.

[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upuUV_TdmtM Here it is as read by none other than the trumpet master Louis Armstrong, himself.]]

** Also, Rudolph is of course not present, this work having been published more than a century prior to [[Literature/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer his introduction]].

** Also, Rudolph is of course not present, this work being published more than a century prior to [[Literature/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer his introduction]].

** The sleigh doesn't fly in this poem, rather it's pulled on the ground until it reaches the house, at which point it levitates to the roof.
** Also, Rudolph is of course not present, having been introduced by his later namesake song.

* SecretMessageWink: "A wink of his eye and a twist of his head / Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread." St. Nick's wink to the narrator lets him know that even though the situation seems strange and even supernatural, he means no harm.

* SecretMessageWink: "A wink of his eye and a twist of his head / Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread." St. Nick's wink to the protagonist lets him know that even though the situation seems strange, he means no harm.

Originally titled (and also known as) "A Visit from St. Nicholas", this 1823 poem -- first published anonymously but eventually attributed to American Episcopalian scholar Clement Clarke Moore -- is about one household's, well, visit from [[SantaClaus St. Nicholas]].