{{Short description|Poem by Thomas Hardy}} {{About|the poem by Thomas Hardy|the animal, and for other uses of the noun 'ox', singular and plural|Ox (disambiguation)}} {{Use British English|date=May 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}}
"'''The Oxen'''" is a poem (sometimes known by its first line, "'''Christmas Eve, and Twelve of the Clock'''") by the English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (1840{{ndash}}1928). It relates to a West Country legend: that, on the anniversary of Christ's Nativity, each Christmas Day, farm animals kneel in their stalls in homage. It was first published in December 1915, in the London newspaper ''The Times''.<ref name=recmusic>{{cite web |url=http://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=7259 |website=recmusic.org |title=Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock |accessdate=18 May 2015 }}</ref> It has been set to music many times.
== Musical settings == These include (in date order, where known):<ref name=recmusic />
* 1919{{snd}}Graham Peel (1878{{ndash}}1937), for voice and piano * 1920{{snd}}Edward Joseph Dent (1876{{ndash}}1957), for voice and piano * 1921{{ndash}}22{{snd}}Gerald Finzi (1901{{ndash}}56), for voice and orchestra, as the third piece in his song cycle ''By Footpath and Stile'', Op. 2 * 1927{{snd}}Leslie Cochran, for voice and piano * 1945{{snd}}Robert Fleming (1921{{ndash}}76), for medium voice and piano * 1951{{snd}}Armstrong Gibbs (1889{{ndash}}1960), for voice and piano * 1954{{snd}}Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872{{ndash}}1958), for baritone and orchestra, No. 7 in his cantata ''Hodie'' <ref>{{IMSLP2|work=Hodie (Vaughan Williams, Ralph)|cname=Hodie (Vaughan Williams, Ralph)}}</ref> * 1954{{snd}}Robert Williams, for unison chorus and piano * 1958{{snd}}Richard K. Winslow (born 1918), for SATB chorus and piano or organ * 1963{{snd}}William Reginald Pasfield (1909{{ndash}}94), for unison chorus and piano * 1967{{snd}}Alan Rawsthorne (1905{{ndash}}71), for mixed chorus ''a cappella'' * 1968{{snd}}Benjamin Britten (1913{{ndash}}76), for SA chorus and piano * 1991{{snd}}Jonathan Rathbone, ''a capella'', for the SATB popular group The Swingle Singers<ref>{{AllMusic |class=song |id=the-oxen-mt0009413177 |label=The Swingle Singers: The Oxen, Composed by Thomas Hardy |accessdate=18 May 2015 }}</ref> * 2009{{snd}}Derek Holman (born 1931), as "Christmas Eve", for voice and piano, No.2 in his ''The Four Seasons'' * Jonathan Elkus (born 1931), for high voice and piano
== References == {{wikisource|The year's at the spring/Hardy, Thomas}} {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxen, The}} Category:Poetry by Thomas Hardy Category:1915 poems Category:Christmas poems
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