"The Oxen" presents an interesting instance. especially for someone who is religious, namely Christian, and celebrates Christmas. in the first two stanzas, we read about a group of small children gathered around what I presume to be a manger scene of some sort. whatever the elder told them they believed. in their childish innocence, there was no reason to doubt what this older, presumably wiser man said: "nor did it occur to one of us there/to doubt". and rightly so. as children, we're taught to listen and learn. it isn't until we mature and age that we begin to question and doubt what we're told. while none of this maturing stage is shown in the any of the four stanzas, the last two reflect on the naïve nature of the speaker's (and everyone's) childhood, but with a nostalgic overtone. he says that if he were in that position again and told that at that very moment "they are all on their knees", that he hopes he could believe it might actually be so.
this hope is a nostalgic, longing-for-innocence-again sort of hope.
the whole tone of the poem sets this nostalgic tone.
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