Christmas Poems

Christmas poems are nearly as much a part of this holiday as Christmas songs. Most of the Christmas carols sung over the years started out as poems with the music added later. There are still many traditional poems that are heard and read each Yule season that have remained just that: poems. These will be familiar to nearly every one of all ages.

There is one particular poem that is read every year at Christmas. It has also been re-written to incorporate other holiday experiences into it with a more comical angle. This, one of the most popular of Christmas poems, is called Twas the Night Before Christmas. As most people know, this is a poem written about a family who goes to bed on Christmas Eve, and gets to experience the sighting of Santa Claus himself. This poem was written by Clement Clarke Moore, and was originally titled A Visit from St. Nicholas. It was first published anonymously in the Troy New York Sentinal on December 23, 1823. The poem was re-named Twas the Night Before Christmas, and was re-printed frequently around Christmas after that.

Another very popular writing that is also reprinted yearly during the Christmas season is not actually one of the Christmas poems, but is still considered a very important holiday publication. This is called Yes, Virginia, There IS a Santa Claus. In 1897, a little 8 year old girl named Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a very touching letter to the New York Sun newspaper. In this letter, she said that many of her friends had told her there was no such thing as Santa Claus. Her father had told her that if she “sees it in the Sun, then it is so.” Therefore, little Virginia wrote to the newspaper hoping to see in the Sun the printed proof that Santa was real. Her letter, along with a reply, was printed in the newspaper stating that Santa WAS indeed real, and scoffed at the idea that anyone who could doubt it.

The Twelve Days of Christmas is one of those Christmas poems that was later set to music and became one of the most fun and well loved Christmas songs around. Children and adults both love to sing this rousing, and often confusing, song about the different gifts given to someone by his or her true love each day during the 12 days prior to Christmas. This is one of the most fun songs that is sung during the holidays, although it might be wise to not try it if you have had just one too many cups of eggnog.

Other people have written poems especially dedicated to this wonderful time of year, and many more poems will be written as an ode to Christmas. There are more poems than books to hold them when it comes to Christmas. Maybe one day you, too, will try your hand at writing your very own Christmas poems to be handed down over the years.