THE scholar who is believed to have written the poem “’Twas the night before Christmas” is being celebrated in a film commissioned by the Episcopal seminary in the United States where he was a professor.
The scholar Clement Clarke Moore composed the poem — first published under the title “A Visit from St Nicholas” — while he was Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature, Divinity, and Biblical Learning at the General Theological Seminar (GTS), New York.
It is believed that he wrote and recited it in 1822 as a Christmas present for his six children. It was published anonymously a year later, and he claimed authorship some years after that. But his authorship has been questioned, however, as the daughter of Henry Livingston, a farmer, claimed that Livingston was the true author. The debate has not been resolved.
Moore was a lifelong Episcopalian. His father was Rector of Trinity Church, Wall Street, before becoming Bishop Coadjutor of New York. Moore donated part of his inherited estate to the diocese to found the seminary.
It commissioned the short film, Mr Moore’s Gift, which explores his writing of the poem through the eyes of a young girl. It was filmed on the campus in September, and will be available to watch online on Christmas Eve at sixhalfdev.com/projects/mrmooresgift.
The President of the GTS, the Very Revd Dr Ian Markham, told the Episcopal News Service that the seminary commissioned the film to celebrate not only the Christmas season, but also the special nature of GTS’s campus.
“GTS has always had a very strong sense of place,” he said. “The beauty of the movie is that we are reminded afresh how special the place is. It is a place of deep creativity, which is associated with something utterly beautiful and compelling: namely, the magic of Christmas.”
The poem has been suggested as a source for the modern portrayal of Santa Claus, whom it describes as “dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot” and with rosy cheeks, a beard, and a pipe.
The commissioning the 15-minute film was funded through donations, GTS said.
At Trinity Church cemetery, in Hamilton Heights, where Moore and his wife and three of their children are buried, there has been an annual reading of the poem for the past century.