Tonight, for this month’s Snoozecast+ Deluxe bonus episode, we’ll read a selection of classical Christmas poems, starting with “A Visit from St. Nicholas” written by Clement Clarke Moore.

We hope that our Deluxe listeners enjoy tonight’s sleep holiday poetry. If you are interested in learning more about what Snoozecast+ and Snoozecast+ Deluxe offer, please go to snoozecast.com/plus

Moore was an American writer, scholar and real estate developer. But he is best known to this day as the author of the poem with the opening line “Twas the Night Before Christmas” that has become "arguably the best-known verses ever written by an American," from its opening line “Twas the Night Before Christmas…”

The poem was initially published anonymously, or rather under a penname, which was customary for poetry at the time, in 1823. As the poem's popularity grew so did curiosity about its author. In response to a query in 1829, a newspaper editor wrote that "We have been given to understand that the author ... belongs by birth and residence to the city of New York, and that he is a gentleman of more merit as a scholar and a writer than many of more noisy pretensions."

Fourteen years after initial publication, the author was revealed. It was his children, for whom he had originally written the piece, that encouraged him to submit it for publication. Snoozecast wishes a happy Christmas to all our listeners, and to all, a good night.