oxen

To transport the sandstone blocks to the new federal city, skids — or what were sometimes called “stone boats” — were pulled by oxen to a wharf.

The years like Great Black Oxen tread the world And God the herdsman goads them on behind.

Black Oxen is a reminder of the healthy benefits of cynicism, and in retrospect served as an early warning to an ebullient age.

Just a little before daybreak they were all wakened by the bellowing of the oxen and the barking of dogs.