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FRANCIS BACON'S CRYPTIC RHYMES 137
refer to Bacon himself, who belonged to the " Sect "
of " concealed Poets," for the words we heard last and
the rhymes are Bacon's own rather than the words and
metre of the Roman. The word " voluptas " (pleasure)
occurs once in Lucrece ;
the essayist uses the word
"
pleasure
"
three times. Bacon views the battle from
a "window"; Lucrece never mentions the word.
Thus Bacon so changes that part of the passage as to
make it resemble a box at a theatre, the scene on the
stage as witnessed from an enclosed portion of the
gallery in a public theatre. He then changes Lucrece's
"templa" into a "hill." And from that hill Bacon
looks down upon erring humanity, just as his equitype,
the Magician Prospero, does in the last act of The
Tempest. We have already mentioned that the words
"ships " and "Tempests " were deliberately added by
Bacon. We would also ask the reader to compare the
final verses which will be found to deviate from those
of Lucrece, and we would draw attention to the many
colons added by Bacon in the long sentence, exactly
where each of his verses and rhymes indicate a pause.
For the lengthy and yet clearly worded composition
translated into verse and rhyme, runs thus :
The Poet that beautified the Sect,
that was otherwise inferiowr
to the rest, saith yet excellently well :
It's a pleasure to stand upon the shore,
and to see ships tost upon the Sea :
A pleasure to stand in the window/
of a Castle (Caste!'),
and to see a Battaile (Batfc/'),
and the Adventures thereof, be/ow :
But no pleasure is comparable (comparafo'/'),
to the standing, upon the t/awtage ground of Truth :
(A hill