download PDF version: 47.1MB - Global Grey

FRANCIS BACON'S CRYPTIC RHYMES 53
Five similar stanzas follow just as rich in rhyme, the
length
of the lines varying
from two to ten syllables,
affording a delightful variety of rhythm, each ten verses,
even the shortest of which (God wot) are rhymed,
forming together one harmonious whole. A rhyme,
such as " ago " and " mo " must not astonish the
modern reader. It is an old rhyme and none the worse
"
for that. Mo " stands for " more," in which latter
word the "r" is scarcely heard even to-day.
We have begun by quoting the above stanza, as it is
directly connected with the names of Shakespeare and
Bacon. Prince Hamlet (ii. 2) quotes
it in reference to
Polonius and his daughter Ophelia. Bacon, as we
shall see, utilises the same stanza in a "curiously
rhymed " little verse in his Essays.
As a second instance of the predilection
for rhyme
shown in English popular song, we have chosen the
commencement of the ballad of " Robin Good-Fellow,"
who
" "
as Puck in A Midsummer-
Night' s Dream :
plays his part
From Oberon, in fairye land,
The king of ghosts and shadows there,
Mad Robin I, at his command,
Am sent to viewe the night-sports here.
What revell rout
Is kept about,
In every corner where I go,
I will o'ersee,
And merry bee,
And make good sport, with ho, ho, ho !
The eleven stanzas of the poem, that follow, are just
as rich in rhymes.
But this fondness of rhyme
extended also to the