"From threshing Corn, he turns to thresh his Brains; / For which Her M------y allows him Grains."
— Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745)
Author
Place of Publication
Dublin
Publisher
George Faulkner
Date
1737
Metaphor
"From threshing Corn, he turns to thresh his Brains; / For which Her M------y allows him Grains."
Metaphor in Context
The Thresher Duck, could o'er the Q ------ prevail,
The Proverb says; No Fence against a Flayl.
From threshing Corn, he turns to thresh his Brains;
For which Her M------y allows him Grains.
Though 'tis confess't, that those who ever saw
His Poems, think them all not worth a Straw.
Thrice happy Duck, employ'd in threshing Stubble!
Thy Toil is lessen'd, and thy Profits double.
The Proverb says; No Fence against a Flayl.
From threshing Corn, he turns to thresh his Brains;
For which Her M------y allows him Grains.
Though 'tis confess't, that those who ever saw
His Poems, think them all not worth a Straw.
Thrice happy Duck, employ'd in threshing Stubble!
Thy Toil is lessen'd, and thy Profits double.
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Swift, Jonathan. Poems on Several Occasions (Dublin: George Faulkner, 1737): 304. <Link to RPO>
Date of Entry
01/04/2011
