You know this one: “’Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house…”
Clement Moore wrote it in 1823, almost 200 years before Santa went digital, it’s an iconic feel-good poem, it’s written to early 19th century tastes….
What if Ernest Hemingway had been moved to memorialize the domestic Christmas Eve experience?
James Thurber, America’s high-profile early 20th century humorist, asked himself that question, and decided to answer it in the pages of The New Yorker magazine in 1927:
“It was the night before Christmas. The house was very quiet. No creatures were stirring in the house. There weren’t even any mice stirring. The stockings had been hung carefully by the chimney. The children hoped that Saint Nicholas would come and fill them…”
That’s how it starts, you can read the whole thing here.
If you’re a Hemingway fan, you should read the whole thing.
If you’re not a Hemingway fan, well, shoot, read it anyway for the hoot.
“…He whistled at his team and the team flew away. The team flew as lightly as thistledown. The driver called out, “Merry Christmas and good night.” I went back to bed…”
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2014
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