’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.

These opening lines come from the narrative Christmas poem best known as “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” traditionally attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, a New York scholar and professor. The poem was first published anonymously in 1823 in the Troy Sentinel (Troy, New York) and quickly became a staple of American Christmas culture, helping to standardize imagery of St. Nicholas/Santa Claus and domestic holiday rituals. Moore later acknowledged authorship and included the poem in his 1844 volume of verse, though a long-running attribution dispute has persisted. The quoted stanza sets the scene on Christmas Eve in a quiet household awaiting St. Nicholas’s arrival.

The stanza establishes a hushed, anticipatory domestic tableau: the entire house is still, even the mouse, and the stockings are carefully placed as a sign of hopeful expectation. Its power lies in how it frames Christmas as a family-centered ritual of waiting and belief, where small household details (silence, chimney, stockings) become charged with wonder. The lines also help define a distinctly American Santa tradition—St. Nicholas as a benevolent visitor who enters via the chimney and rewards children—shifting emphasis from religious observance to cozy, imaginative, home-based celebration. The sing-song meter and vivid simplicity make the scene memorable and easily recitable.

1) “’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house / Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”
2) “The stockings were hung by the chimney with care / In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.”
3) Title variation: “A Visit from St. Nicholas” is often popularly referred to as “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.”