Thomas Hardy's The Oxen (1915) is a classic Christmas poem, expressing the balance of doubt and faith: the rationalism of present times is weighed against a nostalgia for childhood customs and beliefs.

This setting uses a modally ambivalent style to express this dilemma, finally settling on a B major chord as the poem ends on a note of hope. A performance could make the most of the passing dissonances, especially the recurring alto G sharp that clashes with the soprano A on the lead into cadences. The passage at bar 22 ('Come; see the oxen kneel') should come across with a sense of whispered energy and urgency, before the settled assurance of the final bars.