Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 7.djvu/429



a thorn bush, or oaken bough, Stuck in an Irish cabin's brow, Above the door, on country fair, Betokens entertainment there; So bays on poets' brows have been Set, for a sign of wit within. And, as ill neighbours in the night Pull down an alehouse bush for spite; The laurel so, by poets worn, Is by the teeth of Envy torn; Envy, a canker-worm, which tears Those sacred leaves that lightning spares. And now t' exemplify this moral: Tom having earn'd a twig of laurel, (Which, measur'd on his head, was found Not long enough to reach half round, But, like a girl's cockade, was ty'd, A trophy, on his temple-side) Paddy repin'd to see him wear This badge of honour in his hair; . VII.