Death is like the insect — Death-Watch Beetle

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.

(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)