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150 FRANCIS BACON'S CRYPTIC RHYMES
(Truly, it is grand to have the frailty
surety of a name.)
of a man and the
But, the reader will perhaps object, would not that
be a deliberate alteration of the sense to be conveyed
by the passage ? Not at " all. Deus " does not mean
" God " only, but also " protecting Divinity," " Guar
dian Spirit." Besides, the word " Numen, Numinis,"
related in sense to " Deus," in sound to " Nomen,"
it is a
signifies the same. In meaning and rhyme
word half-way between " Deus " and " Nomen " and
expresses the same idea as "Will." In Italian even
to this day, we frequently find the word *' Verbo "
used
in the same sense of " Dio " (God)
in oratorio, " Voce
;
del Verbo " is
equivalent to " the Voice of the
Lord."
But how then does all this agree with the English
translation of the words that precede We ? only need
to do the same, i.e., substitute a word signifying
"name," for the word "God," and the meaning, yea
even the rhyme, corresponds at once to the Latin. In
the Essay "one " rhymes with " Man" to these we
;
add " name " as a third rhyme, the Anglo-French
"nom" (nom de guerre), our "noun," or even the
abbreviation of " anonymous " "
: anon."
Bacon is fond of repeating old rhymes, and in the
old ballads such rhymes as " man " and " name " occur
over and over again.
And then bespake a lady faire,
Mary a Douglas was her name :
You shall bide here, good English lord,
My brother is a traiterous man.
(From the Ballad
" Northumberland betrayed by Douglas.")