Hardy is famous for his pessimism, but, as this little poem shows, he would have been happy if his scepticism could have been proved wrong. Even though his reason tells him that the story of the oxen kneeling was just a comforting lie, even as an old man, if someone had told him that they really were kneeling he would still have gone “in the gloom, hoping it might be true". If subtitles are not available in your language, please let me know and I will add them. © All rights reserved