"But when the swinging signs your ears offend,
With creaking noise."
GAY's Trivia; or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London.
Offend our ears? Pedestrian Muse of GAY,
Had you foreseen the London of to-day,
How had you shuddered with ashamed surprise
At "swinging signs" which now offend our eyes!
Long have Advertisement's obtrusive arts
Pervaded our huge maze of malls and marts;
But now the "swinging signs" of ogre Trade,