"The Oxen" Tone Analysis

Thesis: Thomas Hardy uses imagery and rhyme scheme to develop the superstitious and nostalgic tone of the speaker on Christmas night.
     
               The speaker uses various techniques to develop the central mood of the poem.  By including descriptions of a farm and creating the warmth of the "embers in hearthside ease" (4), Hardy begins to establish a setting of simplistic comfort. The time being Christmas Eve adds an even calmer scene, one of religious awareness and respect. The "meek mild creatures" (5) are perceived as innocent and well-treated. The speaker presumes they are feeling similar religious tranquility and connectedness, as he explains how "Nor did it occur to one of us there / To doubt they were kneeling then" (7-8). However, the feeling of stillness is disrupted by the end of the poem. There is more depth to the seemingly tranquil setting, as the speaker refers to a different time: "'Come; see the oxen kneel / 'In the lonely barton by yonder coomb / Our childhood used to know,'" (12-14). The familiar bittersweet feeling of nostalgia overcomes the reader. The childhood is associated with a loneliness felt by the speaker, and he is propelled to see whether the animals too feel a religious connection on Christmas.