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170 FRANCIS BACON'S CRYPTIC RHYMES
the emphasis on the second syllable, we obtain the
recurring internal rhymes " horn "-" come "-" from,"
while the words " Hill," " still," and "will," furnish a
profusion of terminal rhymes. The word "Prai'rs"
rhymes with the last syllable of the word " Observers'."
" Againe-againe-when
"
may be said almost to run
into each other. Occurring at the end of a line, the
last syllable of the word " Miracle " is
emphasised so
strongly as to afford a "
rhyme : Mirakil'," a very
common feature in " "
English poetry. Top-up also
rhyme, and were pure rhymes in Bacon's day. A few
times we find the verbal suffix " ed " forming a rhyme.
Translated into verse, the lines would run thus :
(sic/
Nay you shall see a Bold Fellow',
many times, doe
Mahom'et's Miracle (Mira&7').
Mahom'et made the People beleeve,
that he would call an Hill
to him ;
And from the Top
of offer it, up
his Prai'rs, for the Observers' of his Law (Fop ?}
The People assembled' ;
Mahomet cald the Hill
to come to him, againe, and againe ;
And when the Hill stood still,
He was never a whit abashed',
but said ;
If the Hill
will not come to Mahom'et, Mahom'et will
go to the hi/,
" to hill" also means " "
to veil," to hide.")
The line containing the word " Law" almost chal
lenges us to substitute the word " Fop," which would
rhyme with " Top " for it
; was, indeed, a fop.