featuring the Nancy H. Marshall "A Visit from St. Nicholas" Collection
The magic of Christmas morning begins the night before, on Christmas Eve. Clement Clarke Moore probably had this in mind when he wrote "A Visit from St. Nicholas" in 1822. By opening his poem with the line "'Twas the night before Christmas," Moore puts nighttime center stage. By lingering over whimsical details—the snowy landscape, mice asleep in their beds, the father in his cap, and stockings by the chimney—Moore creates a vivid narrative that is instantly recognizable. It is about what happens at night, when no one is looking and everyone is fast asleep. Blurring the line between dreams and reality, night becomes an event of change, expectations, hopes, dreams, excitement and whimsy.