Death is like the insect 1
Menacing the tree,
Competent to kill it,
But decoyed may be.
Bait it with the balsam, 5
Seek it with the saw,
Baffle, if it cost you
Everything you are.
Then, if it have burrowed 9
Out of reach of skill－
Wring the tree and leave it,
'Tis the vermin's will.
Menacing the tree,
Competent to kill it,
But decoyed may be.
Bait it with the balsam, 5
Seek it with the saw,
Baffle, if it cost you
Everything you are.
Then, if it have burrowed 9
Out of reach of skill－
Wring the tree and leave it,
'Tis the vermin's will.
(F.1783/J.1716)
[1] Death:: death-watch (OED 1668); death watch beetle, insect that makes a ticking noise like a clock portending death.
[2] Menacing the tree:: the beetle can consume wood with its jaws.
[3, 4] kill, decoyed:: capable to kill it, but it's better just to drive it away by some decoys.
[5–8] Methods to trick the beetle out, to stop the noise.
[9, 10] burrowed, Out of reach:: the beetle can go deep into a tree.
[11, 12] leave, vermin's will:: the beetle's will, that people leave it alone. Vermin means also noxious human being.
Wronghead
[1] Death:: a stubborn fellow, wronghead. the insect:: death-beetle.
[2] tree:: a family, race, stock (OED 6a).
[3] kill:: to resolve the problem.
[5] balsam:: solace, consolation.
[6] Seek:: to explore, examine, the wronghead. saw:: a saying; a discourse.
[7] Baffle:: to block the fellow.
[8] you are:: your attitude.
[9, 10] burrowed, Out of reach:: the fellow avoids you.
[11] Wring, leave it:: to compress, tighten the relationship with the fellow and leave him alone.
[12] vermin:: a mischievous fellow.
"They believe that the ticking sound it makes is sent as a token or warning of approaching death; hence they call it the death-watch" . . . "The ticking is indeed very much like that of a watch, and has a singular effect in the dead of the night, when all other sounds are hushed. I remember being once so much deceived by it as to remove some of the chimney ornaments, under the idea that a watch must have been inadvertently left behind them. But the insect has actually been seen at its work, tapping the wood-work of houses with its hard jaws, and eating its way through it. ─ First Steps in General Knowledge (1848)
"They believe that the ticking sound it makes is sent as a token or warning of approaching death; hence they call it the death-watch"
"Nurse told mamma that she heard the death-watch several times before aunt died," said Mary; "and when mamma explained to her that the noise was made by a little insect, she seemed quite offended."
"The ticking is indeed very much like that of a watch, and has a singular effect in the dead of the night, when all other sounds are hushed. I remember being once so much deceived by it as to remove some of the chimney ornaments, under the idea that a watch must have been inadvertently left behind them. But the insect has actually been seen at its work, tapping the wood-work of houses with its hard jaws, and eating its way through it." ─ First steps in general knowledge (1848)
