And when the cattle, as they gazing stand,
Seem nobler objects than when view’d from land:
Then anchor’d vessels in the way appear,
And sea-boys greet them as they pass - “What cheer?”
The sleeping shell-ducks at the sound arise,
And utter loud their unharmonious cries;
Fluttering they move their weedy beds among,
Or instant diving, hide their plumeless young.
Along the wall, returning from the town,
The weary rustic homeward wanders down: