The theme of Christmas and St. Nicholas with his reindeer delivering presents brings back memories of childhood for adults and brings excitement for children. It is a poem which was written a long time ago, but it has stood the test of time. It was my favourite poem as a child and it is still my favourite poem today.
Themes and Imagery in "Twas the Night Before Christmas"
The subject matter of children snuggled up on Christmas Eve waiting for St. Nicholas and his reindeer gives the poem an element of excitement and also nostalgia for the adult reader. The traditional old-fashioned voice and use of language e g. ‘twas’, ‘nestled’, ‘kerchief’, ‘shutters’, ‘sash’, etc shows a use of polite, well-spoken English that now seems from a different era, and gives the poem appeal to parents / adult readers who are reading the poem out loud to children.
It can be argued that this poem could be a form of social satire based upon the victorianisation of Christmas with the overly enthusiastic imagery and used of language, but to most readers it is simply a nicely written, happy, child-friendly poem about Christmas.
When describing the flying reindeer, Clement Moore makes the use of alliteration e.g. ‘Dasher... Dancer’ (line 21), ‘Comet... Cupid’ (line 22), and ‘Prancing and Pawing’ (line 30), with the use of the plosive phonemes ‘D’ and ‘C’ to add an element of fun, and repetition e.g. ‘dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!’ (Line 24) to build up the pace and excitement of the poem and surround children in the magic of Christmas. Then whilst describing St. Nicholas his use of descriptive imagery is highly vivid e.g. ‘A bundle of toys he had flung on his back’ (line 35), ‘His eyes – how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!... He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf’ (lines 37 – 45). At the end of the poem Clement Moore finished with a message which appears not only to be the exalting last line of his poem, but also seems to be a message to his readers / listeners when he states ‘Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.’
The poem represents the innocence of childhood in the way that children are capable of believing in the reality of St. Nicholas and his flying sleigh pulled by reindeer, and this is re-iterated in the innocent construction and style of the poem with rhyming couplets, repetition, and musical rhythm which is child-like. It also represents childhood in the poem’s use of descriptive visual imagery.
Most writing which is aimed at adults is not so descriptive, but this poem paints a picture of the tiny reindeer pulling a sleigh which contains St. Nicholas ‘dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot’ (line 33). Descriptions like this are condusive to being read to children so that they can picture the image in their mind.
The poem has been printed and published as an illustrated picture book many times using Clement Clarke Moore’s descriptions as a guide for the illustrations. This gives the poem added appeal for a child reader. It seems to envisage childhood as a perfect time when everything in life is perfect. The vision of Clement Moore’s childhood is as rosy as the cheeks of St. Nicholas is in his poem, and is a somewhat ideolised vision.
Structure of "Twas the Night Before Christmas"
The poem is highly musical, and has a strong rhyme scheme. It contains rhyming couplet throughout, consisting of an AABB rhyme scheme, excepting the third and fifth verses which consist of an AABBCC rhyme scheme. The poem is written using an anapaestic metric scheme consisting of two short syllables followed by one long syllable u u / u u / u u / u u / and with the rhyme scheme along with this type of metre, the poem is exceptionally easy to read.
Upon analysis of this poem it does show itself to be slightly cheesy and over-the-top, but it has shaped people’s (not just children’s) image of Santa Claus, and in today’s society children grow up being taught from birth onwards that a jolly fat man with a beard pops down the chimney when they are asleep on Christmas Eve with a sack of presents on his back, and he is taken from house to house by a sleigh pulled by magical reindeer. This image has influenced the activities of millions of households worldwide at Christmastime and has brought delight and happiness to the hearts of millions of children.
Readers may also enjoy reading Realism and Fantasy in Swallows and Amazons, and Themes in Harry Potter and the Philosophers’ Stone
Bibliography:
Brett, J (1998) The Night Before Christmas, MacDonald Young Books
Angie Briscoe - I am a 36 year old writer, recently graduated from the Open University in Humanities with Philosophy. I have been writing for ...
