The lines are from Lucan, i. 181, describing the evils that preceded the Civil War. The phrase 'avidumque in tempore foenus' is curious, and some have hazarded the conjecture 'in tempora,' which seems more easy of construction. We might, perhaps, translate it, ' and griping interest, that meets the demand for time.' Certainly Swift's paraphrase can hardly be got out of the words ; and the poetical version of Nicholas Rowe —
'And usury still watching for its day'
— has little meaning of any kind.