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246 FRANCIS BACON'S CRYPTIC RHYMES
upon all the errors and wanderings of the present
times."
and former
(Almost without rhyme.)
"The Advancement of Learning " (1605).
Neither is that pleasure of small efficacy and contentment to
the mind of man, which the poet Lucretius describeth elegantly.
Suave mari magno, turbantibus aequora ventis, &c.
It is a view of delight (saith he) to stand or walk upon the shore
side, and to see a ship tossed with tempest upon the sea or to
;
be
in a fortified tower, and to see two battles join upon a plain. But
it is a pleasure incomparable, for the mind of man to be settled,
landed, and fortified in the certainty of truth ;
and from thence to
descry and behold the errors, perturbations, labours, and wanderings
up and down of other men."
:
(Rhymes side-fortified-fortified, see-sea-be-see-be-certaintydescry,
plain-men.)
" De Augmentis Scientiarum" (1623).
Neque ilia voluptas, quam depingit Lucretius, ultimum in Animo
locum sortitur.
Suave mari magno turbantibus aequore Ventis, &c.
Suave est spectaculum (inquit) stantem aut ambulantem in littore,
navem intueri tempestate in mari :
jactatam suave itidem ex editd
turri duas cernere Acies concursantes in planitie
: at nil dulcius est
Homini, quam mens per doctrinam, in arce veritatis collocata, unde
aliorum errores, & labores dispicere possit.
(Rhymes : stantem-ambulantem, intueri-mari, errores-labores ;
" Spectaculum
"
added.)
Essay of Truth (1625).
The Poet, that beautified the Sect, that was otherwise inferiour to
the rest, saith yet excellently well ;
It is 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, and to see a Battaile, and the Adventures
thereof, below : But no pleasure
is
comparable, to the standing, upon
the vantage ground of Truth :
(A hill not to be commanded, and
where the Ayre is alwaies cleare and serene And to see the
;)
Errours, and Wandrings, and Mists, and Tempests, in the vale
below.
(Rhymes : inferiour-shore, well-Castel'-Batter-comparabir-hill,
see-Sea-be-see, window'-below-below, where-Ayre-cleare, and a
few internal rhymes.)