by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock
Language: English
Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock. "Now they are all on their knees," An elder said as we sat in a flock By the embers in hearthside ease. We pictured the meek mild creatures [where]1 [They]2 dwelt in their strawy pen, Nor did it occur to one of us there To doubt they were kneeling then. So fair a fancy few would weave In these years! Yet I feel, If someone said on Christmas Eve, "Come; see the oxen kneel, In the lonely barton by yonder coomb Our childhood used to know," I should go with him in the gloom, Hoping it might be so.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)First published in The Times, December 1915
1 omitted by Gibbs.2 Gibbs: "As they"
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "The Oxen", first published 1915 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "The Oxen", published 1968 [ SA chorus and piano ], carol [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leslie Cochran , "The Oxen", published 1927 [ voice and piano ], carol [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edward Joseph Dent (1876 - 1957), "The Oxen" [ voice and piano ], first published in Sackbut, Dec. 1920 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jonathan Elkus (b. 1931), "The Oxen" [ high voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "The Oxen", op. 2 no. 3 (1921-1922), published 1925 [ baritone and string quartet ], from By Footpath and Stile, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Robert James Berkeley Fleming (1921 - 1976), "The Oxen", published 1945 [ medium voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "The Oxen", 1951, published 1952 [ voice, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Derek Holman (b. 1931), "Christmas Eve", 2009, first performed 2009 [ voice and piano ], from The Four Seasons, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by William Reginald Pasfield (1909 - 1994), "The Oxen", published 1963 [ unison chorus, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Gerald) Graham Peel (1878 - 1937), "The Oxen", published 1919 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alan Rawsthorne (1905 - 1971), "The Oxen", published <<1967 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], carol [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "The Oxen", op. 52 (1944) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "The Oxen", op. 628 (1962) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "The Oxen", published 1954 [ soprano or mezzo-soprano, tenor, and baritone soli, boys' chorus, mixed chorus, and orchestra ], from cantata Hodie, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Williams , "The Oxen", published 1954 [ unison chorus, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard K. Winslow (b. 1918), "The Oxen", published 1958 [ satb chorus and piano or organ ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 106