Seest one far afield

                         Seest one far afield

  Oft to the shade's mild covert win, or pull

  The grass tops listlessly, or hindmost lag,

  Or, browsing, cast her down amid the plain,

  At night retire belated and alone;

  With quick knife check the mischief, ere it creep

  With dire contagion through the unwary herd.

  Less thick and fast the whirlwind scours the main

  With tempest in its wake, than swarm the plagues

  Of cattle; nor seize they single lives alone,

  But sudden clear whole feeding grounds, the flock

  With all its promise, and extirpate the breed.

  Well would he trow it who, so long after, still

  High Alps and Noric hill-forts should behold,

  And Iapydian Timavus' fields,

  Ay, still behold the shepherds' realms a waste,

  And far and wide the lawns untenanted.