download PDF version: 47.1MB - Global Grey

78 FRANCIS BACON'S CRYPTIC RHYMES
A scene in What you will (ii. 5)
affords us evi
dence, moreover, that the English of those days
were accustomed to that sort of thing. A letter has
been played into the hands of the old dotard Malvolio,
steward to Olivia. The letter is in the imitated
hand-writing of the countess, his mistress. Malvolio
reads :
Jove knows I love :
But who ?
Lips do not move ;
No man must know.
No man must know. What follows ? the numbers
altered 1 No man must know : if this should be thee,
Malvolio ?
(From the Tauchnitz Edition.)
"
Who " (pronounced with O-sound) rhymes with
"know," so do "do" and "no." "Love" rhymes
with "move" (pronounced with O-sound), and with
" Jove." We merely mention the abundance of rhyme
in this passage, without attributing further importance
to it. But what is the object
? What does Malvolio
do ? He wants to replace the final line by another
with just the same number of syllables. He, in fact,
proceeds to count them out on the fingers :
No man must know
Mai vo li o !
Schlegel translates :
Den Gottern ist's kund,
Ich Hebe : doch wen ?
Verschleuss dich, o Mund !
Nie darf ich's gestehn.
Nie darf ich's gestehn. Was folgt weiter ? Das
Silbenmass verandert! Nie darf ich's gestehn. Wenn du
das warst, Malvolio ?