It describes Duck's struggles as an agricultural labourer, and the situation of the early eighteenth-century British working class in general.
[3] "The Thresher's Labour" gives details about the hard, tedious labour of an agricultural worker of the 18th century: Soon as the golden Harvest quits the Plain, And Ceres' Gifts reward the Farmer's Pain; What Corn each Sheaf will yield, intent to hear, And guess from thence the Profits of the Year, He calls his Reapers forth: Around we stand, With deep Attention, waiting his Command.
"[4] His characterisation of the agricultural cycle as a destructive machine controlled by "The Master" has been contrasted with the traditional depictions of pastoral scenes.
Duck portrays the workers as strong men, covered in dust from their work, while mentioning that the women are at home taking care of the children.
The Sweat, the Dust, and suffocating Smoke, Make us so much like Ethiopians look, We scare our Wives, when Ev'ning brings us home; And frighted Infants think the Bugbear come.