The Oxen
CHRISTMAS EVE, and twelve of the clock.“Now they are all on their knees,”An elder said as we sat in a flockBy the embers in hearthside ease.
We pictured the meek mild creatures whereThey dwelt in their strawy pen,Nor did it occur to one of us thereTo doubt they were kneeling then.
So fair a fancy few would weaveIn these years! Yet, I feel,If someone said on Christmas Eve,“Come; see the oxen kneel
“In the lonely barton by yonder coombOur childhood used to know,”I should go with him in the gloom,Hoping it might be so.
Words in this poem
- pictured a.
- Furnished with pictures; represented by a picture or pictures; as, a pictured scene.
- strawy a.
- Of or pertaining to straw; made of, or resembling, straw.
- occur v. i.
- To meet; to clash. [L. occurrere, occursum; ob (see Ob-) + currere to run. See Course.]
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- barton n.
- The demesne lands of a manor; also, the manor itself. [Eng.] [AS. beret courtyard, grange; bere barley + t an inclosure.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- coomb n.
- A dry measure of four bushels, or half a quarter. [AS. cumb a liquid measure, perh. from LL. cumba boat, tomb of stone, fr. Gr. kumpf bowl.]
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Oxen is in the public domain. This text is taken from Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #3255; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hardy, The Oxen, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/the-oxen.html, id L24146.
Form and metre
The Oxen is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB clockA · kneesB · flockA · easeB
- 2 ABAB whereA · penB · thereA · thenB
- 3 ABAB weaveA · feelB · eveA · kneelB
- 4 -A-A coomb · knowA · gloom · soA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| CHRISTMAS EVE, and twelve of the clock. | 8 | /˘······ |
| “Now they are all on their knees,” | 7 | ······· |
| An elder said as we sat in a flock | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| By the embers in hearthside ease. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| We pictured the meek mild creatures where | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| They dwelt in their strawy pen, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Nor did it occur to one of us there | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| To doubt they were kneeling then. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| So fair a fancy few would weave | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In these years! Yet, I feel, | 6 | ······ |
| If someone said on Christmas Eve, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| “Come; see the oxen kneel | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “In the lonely barton by yonder coomb | 10 | ··/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Our childhood used to know,” | 7 | /˘/···· |
| I should go with him in the gloom, | 8 | ········ |
| Hoping it might be so. | 6 | /˘···· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.