Hello, everyone, and welcome to EnglishPod.
My name is Marco.
My name is Catherine, and a very Merry Christmas to everyone.
That's right.
Merry Christmas.
We are at that time again where we are celebrating Christmas.
We're having dinner with family and friends.
We're giving presents.
And, of course, there are some other traditions that come into play, like, for example, Santa Claus.
Santa Claus.
So we've got a very special advanced level lesson for you today.
We've got a poem.
It's a very traditional poem that is read or listened to on the holiday.
And we're going to talk a little bit about some of the interesting words and phrases that are used in this.
But first off, let's just listen to the poem itself.
'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.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads, and Mama in her kerchief and I in my cap had just settled down for a long winter's nap.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw open the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the luster of midday to objects below, when what, to my wondering eyes, should appear but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer?
With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St.
Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, and he whistled and shouted and called them by name.
Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer and Vixen, on Comet, on Cupid, on Donder and Blitzen.
To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall, now dash away, dash away, dash away all.
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricanes fly when they meet with an obstacle mount to the sky.
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew with the sleighs full of toys, and St.
Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof the prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head and was turning around, down the chimney St.
Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his toe, and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes, how they twinkled.
His dimples, how merry.
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry.
His droll little mouth was drawn up in a bow and the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right old jolly elf, and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word but went straight to work and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh to his team, gave a whistle and away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim ere, as he drove out of sight 'Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night'.
Alright, we're back.
So the poem is very nice.
It's long.
And just to kind of recap what the poem is talking about, what is the general story of the poem?
The story of the poem is that Santa Claus is coming to visit someone's house.
Mm-hmm.
And there's a person in the story who is watching Santa Claus arrive.
And he's seeing Santa Claus take the reindeer up onto the roof, come down the chimney and lay the presents out for the children, filling the stockings as well.
Okay.
So it's basically a nice poetic description of Santa Claus.
And also it goes in to describe in a very nice way the way Santa Claus looks like.
It's very descriptive.
We have descriptions of what Santa Claus looks like, what he's wearing his smile, how he's a little bit fat.
We also have descriptions of the animals, these special animals that we hear about so often, that are called reindeer.
All right, so we've divided up the poem by lines, so then it's going to be easier for you to go to the line that we're talking about.
Let's start with the first line with this first word.
So what does this first word mean?
Twas is an abbreviation, so it's a shortened version of it was.
Okay.
So, but do you actually use this now in like, if you're writing?
No, this is not something I would use now in writing, and it's not something I would say.
It's actually more of an archaic form, something that you might hear in poetry or historical writing.
Okay, so it was the night before Christmas, right?
So we're talking about December 24th.
The night of December 24th, that's right.
All right.
So the first two lines talk about how it was the night before Christmas, and in the house there was nothing stirring, not even a mouse.
So not even the smallest little animal.
So it's very quiet in the house is what's happening.
So now we jump to line number seven, where the poet describes and mama in her kerchief and I in my cap.
So we know that the person talking is the dad because he's talking about himself and mama, mother.
They're in bed together.
And mama in her kerchief and I in my cap.
So I'm wearing a nightcap, a cover on my head.
It's like a hat.
And mama has a kerchief.
What's a kerchief?
A kerchief is another abbreviation.
It's short for handkerchief.
Okay.
And a handkerchief is a piece of fabric or cloth that sometimes we use for our noses when we have to blow our nose.
But also, you can use a kerchief in your hair to cover your hair.
Okay.
So, if you can imagine it, this must take place.
I don't know, maybe 50, 60 years ago, when dads used to wear hats to bed and women also handkerchiefs on their heads.
Or longer, maybe 200 years ago when people wore these long night hats, night caps.
The pajamas and everything.
All right.
Now let's jump over to line 18 and 19, when he's talking about the reindeer and the sleigh arriving.
And he says, I knew in a moment it must be Saint Nick.
This is another way of calling Santa Claus, right?
Saint Nicholas is his name, but you also call him Claus or Santa Claus.
Okay.
And then he said, more rapid than eagles, his coursers, they came.
So the word order is a bit strange here.
This is common in poetry.
We could also say, his coursers came more rapidly than eagles.
They were very, very fast.
But what are these coursers?
We're talking about the animals pulling Santa Claus.
And what are those animals again?
They're called reindeer.
Reindeer.
So the reindeer are very, very fast.
Okay, that's right, because he's making the comparison about how fast eagles are compared to them.
Okay.
And we hear their names, right?
Exactly.
He goes on to say now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer, and all of their names Vixen Comet Cupid, Donder and Blitzen.
All eight reindeer.
Each animal has its own name.
That's right.
So all eight reindeer.
Actually, we're missing one, though, that's very common nowadays.
The reindeer that goes in the front lighting, illuminating the sky.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
You might know the song, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
That's right.
That's right.
So there are actually nine reindeer nowadays, but I guess the story was before the Rudolph story came out.
All right, so this is interesting because those are the names of all the reindeer.
Now, I'm not sure in which order they are.
I don't know who's in the back, who's in the front.
I don't know either, but it's important to know that they're very fast and they come down and then they go up.
They have to take St.
Nicholas to the roof of the house, on top of the house.
That's right.
So now he arrives to the top of the house.
Line 32, we see, down the chimney, St.
Nicholas came with a bound.
He came quickly down the chimney.
Boom.
And at the end, he's all dressed in fur from his head to his foot.
So top to bottom, he has fur on.
That's right.
And I think he's got fur because he lives in the North Pole, right?
That's right.
And it's very cold where Santa Claus lives, so he has to wear these clothes that are very warm.
So to tarnish or tarnish means dirty.
Something is tarnished if it's dirty.
So his clothes, his fur clothes were dirty with ashes and soot.
This means that you know in your fireplace when the fire is gone there's some gray and black stuff.
And that's what's on Santa Claus's clothes.
Okay, very good.
So and then we go on to line 35 a bundle of toys he had flung on his back and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
All right, a peddler.
Now, this is not just something we talk about on Christmas.
You know, we have peddlers all year round.
What are peddlers?
What do they do?
Basically, they go around selling things.
So maybe you see them in a small market or sometimes in different places, and maybe, I don't know, on the streets you see them selling little things like toys or combs or books, something like that.
Oranges, you see fruit peddlers, people who sell fruit.
Or you could see those watch peddlers.
You know, they say, would you like a Rolex watch?
That's a watch peddler.
So that's what they do, right?
They're informal salesmen.
They don't have a store.
They work on the street.
So this is why Santa looks like a peddler.
He isn't in a store.
He has a bag.
And he says, look in my bag.
Right, exactly.
Now, from line 37, we go on to describe the way Santa Claus looks like.
So he says, "...his eyes how they twinkled, his dimples how merry."
Dimples are those small circles on your cheeks.
So some people, when they smile, they have these small holes or circles.
Those are dimples.
They're very cute.
That's right.
So not everyone has them, right?
Some people, when they smile, you can see those dimples.
All right.
And his cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry.
So we're saying that they're red.
They're red.
They're pink.
Okay.
Now in line 39, he says, his droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow.
Now, droll is a word that some people still use.
It's pretty common in places like England.
We don't use it as much in America.
We say funny instead.
But something that is droll, D-R-O-L-L, droll, is funny.
Okay.
So his mouth, his face is funny looking.
Okay, his face is funny looking.
All right.
And going on to line 45, we're describing how he was chubby and plump.
So we're basically saying he was a little bit fat.
Yes.
Okay.
A right jolly old elf.
So what is an elf?
An elf is... Actually, normally we talk about elves.
So one elf, two elves.
As people, little people who help Santa.
They're mythical creatures who live in the North Pole and who make presents.
So an elf is a small creature who makes presents.
Okay.
Or maybe lives in the woods.
There are many different stories with elves.
Elves.
Right, right.
Okay.
And in line 46, we say, and I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself.
What does he mean by in spite of myself?
This is really important.
And this is something we say in English all the time, in spite of myself.
So I laughed in spite of myself.
So I didn't want to laugh.
I wanted to be serious.
But I did laugh.
So in spite of myself, I didn't want to laugh.
I laughed anyway.
So you say in spite of myself when you did the thing you did not want to do.
Okay.
And finishing off, we are going towards the last three lines where we say and away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
What is a thistle?
They're talking about the part of a flower that's a thistle.
Oh, okay.
So they just, they all flew away like quickly, rapidly, like the little flower.
Well, you know when a flower is sending its seeds out, it's down, it's white.
So maybe if you blow on a flower with the white seeds, they blow away.
That's what it looks like.
It looks like the seeds of a flower being blown away.
I see.
Very easy.
Okay.
Line 55 says, but I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight.
So this is an older way of saying, as he drove out of sight.
So as he's flying away, I can't see him anymore.
Almost I can't see him anymore.
He exclaimed something.
So ere means, you know, while this is happening.
Now, this is another one of those maybe old English words that we don't use anymore, right?
You wouldn't really use air.
Air I was walking to school, I saw the milkman.
No, we don't say this anymore, but you will find it in poetry and you might also find it in stories.
Okay.
And line 56, he ends and this is the famous way that this poem ends by saying Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
Yeah, and the first line of the poem are the most famous.
Everyone knows these.
Okay, very good.
So a beautiful poem.
Why don't we listen to it one more time?
'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.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads, and Mama in her kerchief and I in my cap had just settled down for a long winter's nap.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw open the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the luster of midday to objects below, when what, to my wondering eyes, should appear but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer?
With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St.
Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled and shouted and called them by name.
Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer and Vixen On Comet, on Cupid, on Donder and Blitzen, To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall.
Now dash away, dash away, dash away, all as dry leaves that, before the wild hurricanes fly when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the housetop, the coursers, they flew, with the sleighs full of toys and st nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, i heard on the roof the prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his toe, and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes, how they twinkled.
His dimples, how merry.
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry.
His droll little mouth was drawn up in a bow and the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right old jolly elf, and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word but went straight to work and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh to his team, gave a whistle and away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim ere, as he drove out of sight 'Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night'.
All right.
So this is one of the very famous poems you can listen.
Usually people listen to it or read about it during Christmas.
That's right.
It's a classic.
It's something that you think about people listening to in front of the fireplace.
And they're, you know.
They're drinking their eggnog and talking about how wonderful, you know, family is.
And so, yeah, it's a classic.
It's something that we often talk about and read and listen to.
All right, so it's very interesting because it's part of the American tradition of Christmas.
I think maybe also in other parts of the world the poem might be translated or also might be popular.
But you know, Santa Claus and all these things are traditions that are observed in some countries and it's very interesting to understand them.
Absolutely.
And I'm very curious to know about your Christmas traditions.
What do you do in your home country on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day?
Do you know any poems like this or do you listen to this poem in translation?
Let us know.
Our website is EnglishPod.com.
All right, guys.
We'll see you there and have a Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
Bye.
