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H4
FRANCIS BACON'S CRYPTIC RHYMES
they rhyme, "one," " Bloud" and " Hurt," a particu
larly fine rhythm is obtained in the first sentence,
which with the words "the Dolors of Death" in the
rhyme runs on into the next sentence. The rhymes
of the lines immediately following intertwine so artist
ically, that we might also read :
But above all, beleeve it,
the sweetest Cantide
is; Nunc dimit/is ;
when a Man . . .
Whichever way we choose to write them, the lines
retain their full melodious rhythm, for a fine ear. Had
Francis Bacon interpolated doggerel rhymes in his
Essays, many an ear would probably have detected
them, before this. But the lines are " curiously rhymed,"
confession of his
which he set down here as the last
giant-soul.
The long dash before the Latin quotation
is not put
there for nothing, either. It means that we are to
imagine the rest of the words, or turn to, and read, the
whole passage in Horace. It runs thus :
Urit enim fulgure suo, qui praegravat artes
Infra se positas;
extinctus amabitur idem.
Voss's translation is scarcely intelligible. This is a
better German translation :
Denn es verbrennt mit seinem Geblitz, wer holier an
Ktinsten
Als die anderen steigt ;
erloschen wird man ihn lieben.
We should translate it thus :
For he torrefies with his lightnings, who higher than others
Rises in arts sublime ; extinguished all shall 'gin love him.
These newly added rhymed lines concluding the
Essay are again a confession, and entirely of a personal