Tone Poem 3

"The Oxen"

This poem reminded me of when my mom told me there was no Santa Claus. At the beginning he remembers a tale from his childhood about oxen. He talks about how much faith he had in the fact that the oxen really would be kneeling if he went and checked on them, so much so that he didn't feel the need to. Towards the end of the poem, he says that if someone told him that story now, he would try to cling onto the feeling he had as a small child. He would hope that it might be so. However, he also notes that he would go with the storyteller to check and see if it was true. He can never regain that blind faith that he had as a child because time and experience have taught him that it is wrong. People are so anxious to grow up, but then when they do, they are just as anxious to go back. We must learn to appreciate childhood, and try to preserve the innocence of those who still believe that the oxen would be kneeling in the barn if they went out and checked on Christmas Eve.