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AUTHOR: RAWLEY, WILLIAM TITLE: A TRANSLATION OF THIRTY-TWO LATIN PL A CE : BOSTON DA TE : 1904 Restrictions on Use: COLUMBIA iJNIVERSIiV l.I15i: / '' ^y - ^- \ \ \ i . -.UiL^ .-^ .'■'I -..IJI:.! ■ ' ' ktM^T- il POEMS IN HONOR OF FRANCIS BACON / / . »"»"»»»,-» nr.»#«*«|t •:m)i-f ■•»j*w,»Mi«:5.i.» '.,*«* ■««F»#»»*>« .^2,,^:^ ' - ' Jl..Mi^.Mji]:lJli',Jf!^.J^..:-f- • V i%j^ '^B^:::?-^ 1 m If I ( A TRANSLATION OF THIRTY-TWO LATIN POEMS IN HONOR or FRANCIS BACON PUBLISHED BY RAWLET IN 1626 !■ t BOSTON PRIVATELY PRINTED 1904 ♦ ' I'- ll • ■ i ■} ^ ^ ^ i U The following translation of the Eawley-Bacon poems is from the text in Harleian Miscellany ^ x, pp. 287 ff. 5 London, 1813, a reprint of the editio pinnceps by John Haviland, London, 1626. Attention has also been paid to an article by II. Meurer, Texfkritih und Beitrdge zur ErTcVdrung von " Die Rawley'sche Sammlung von 32 Trauerge- dicMen auf Francis Bacon, Jierausgegeben von George Cantor, Halle, 1897," in Anglia 24 (1901) pp. 100 ff . In this article Meurer offers a criticism of Cantor's text, which was taken from the Harleian Miscellany (=A), with comparison of the edition of Bacon by John Blackbourne, London, 1730 (=B), and gives for various passages the readings of the original Haviland edition, besides those of A. and B. He incorporates also (p. 112) the criticisms in a review of Cantor's edition by Hermann Hagen in Lit. CentraTblatt, 1897, p. 1530. Of no significance for the text is the edition, with introduction, by Edwin Bormann: Der Mstorische Beweis der Bacon- Shakespeare -TJieorie erbracM durch das Zeiigniss von siebenundzwanzig Zeitge- nossen des DicMer- Gelelirten, Leipzig, 1897. •y )^ CD < 371158 MxMaiia [6] The most convenient and least expensive recent edition is that of Cantor referred to above, as cor- rected by Hagen and Meurer, — G. Cantor: Die Bawlei/sclie Sammlung von zweiunddreissig Trau- ergedidden auf Francis Bacon, ein Zeugniss zu Gunsten der Bacon - Shakespeare - Theorie, Halle, 1897. The same author had previously pubUshed a translation of the thirty-second poem in his Eesur- rectio Divi Qidrini Francisci Baconi, Halle, 1896. E. K. E^iXD. Harvard University, 1903. MANES VERULAMIANI f ( » • « m - •5»'R--»t.»»». < m | » »! > i-«.-l»»;««>!S»:'W ■-!;.».' / Kt,t" [8] [9 ] Memoriae Honoratissimi Domini Francisci, Baronis De Verulamioy Vice-Comitis Saudi Albaniy Sacrum. Londiiii In Officina Johannis Havilandy 1626. [Harl. Misc. x, p. 287.] Sacred to the Memortj of the Most Honorable Sir, Francis Baron Verulamy Viscount St. Alban. London^ at the press of John Haviland^ 1626. II \ I [10] Francisms Bacon Baro DeVerulam S!^ Alhr Vic.^ Sen Notioribus Titulis Scientiarum Lumen, Facundice Lex Sic Sedebat. Qui Postquam Omnia Naturalis Sapientice Et Civilis Arcana Emlmsset Katurce Decretum Explevit Composita Sohantur An.' Dm MDG, XXVL Aetat^LXVL Tanti Viri mem. Thomas Meautys Superstitis Cidtor Defuncti Admirator [11] * Francis Bacon Baron Verulam, Viscount St Alban, Or by titles still better known^ The Light of the Sciences, the Norm of Eloquence. Thus took his rest. He, after that he had unfolded all the secrets Of natural and civic lore^ Fulfilled the decree of Nature ( Let his frame now dissolve ) ^ In the year of our Lord 3IDCXXVL At the age of LXVI. To the Memory Of so great a 3fan Thomas Meautys Friend of the Living Admirer of the Dead Has set this Monument, 1 Translation of the inscription on the marble erected by Sir Thomas Meautys in the chapel of St. Michel's Church, Old Verulam. ^ i. e. of philosophy and jurisprudence. ^ composita solvantur. Composita^ ' his united, ordered parts,' i. e. * his frame.' Or (cf. Horace's omnes composuij Sat. i. 9, 28) * his buried remains.* Possibly solvantur =^ he released,' i. e. at the resurrection. '^ [12] [13] Lectori 8. Quod praecipium sibi duxit honoratissimus Dominus meus, Vice-Comes Sancti Albani, academiis et viris literatioribus ut cordi esset, id (credo) obtinuit ; quandoquidem insignia bsec amoris et moestitise monumenta indicant, quantum amissio ejus eorundem cordi doleat. Neque verb parca manu sym- bolum hoc conjecerunt in eum musae ; (plurimos enim, eosque optimos versus apud me contineo;) sed quia ipse mole non delectabatur, molem baud magnam extrusi. Satis etiam sit, ista veluti fundamenta, praesentis saeculi nomine, jecisse ; fa- bricam (puto) banc exornabit et amplificabit unumquodque s^culum; cuinam autem saeculo ultimam manum imponere datum sit, id Deo tantum et fatis manifestum. G. Rawley, S. T. D. \ w,. To the Reader. That which my most honored Master, the Viscount St. Alban, thought of the highest concern, namely to win the favor of Academies and Men of Letters, this, methinks, he has ob- tained. For the present illustrious memorials of love and grief indicate how great a sorrow his loss has brought to the hearts of such. No, verily, the Muses have not thrown to him 1 this contribution 2 with sparing hand — for very many verses, and those most excellent ones, I keep in my posses- sion.3 But as he himself delighted not in piles of things, no great pile have I raised. Be this, moreover, enough, to have laid, as it were, the foundations, in the name of the present age. Every age, methinks, will adorn and amplify this structure : though to what age it is vouchsafed to set the finishing hand — this is known only to God and to the G. Rawley, S. T. D. 1 conjecerunt in eum : probably the idea is, ' heaped upon his grave.' See Meurer, p. 108. a symbolum : probably, as Meurer shows (p. 108), with the meaning of symhola, ae, * a scot, or contribution to a feast.' It is a kind of sympo- sium. Or, the word may have its ordinary meaning of * token.* It has no arcane connotation, such as Bormann (p. 10) reads into it. » A consolation for those contributors whose verses were too bad to publish. i H^ ii B| il l l Hi>l* I H >Hi««»-il«»«!'.-«li-»» .*v'1,i»»- ■ *!|g»»- m miiimii !iiii 0ti»miii»<^-m-:>^m''- -mff ■fiMBa »ii I ■ » m -!»•- [14] [15] Deploratio Obitus omnia doctissimi et darissimi Viri D. Fraiicisci Bacon S. Alhanensis. Albani plorate lares, tuque optime martyr, Fata Verulamii non temeranda senis. Optime martyr et in veteres i tu quoque luctus, Cui nil post dirum tristius ampJiibalum. Lament for the Death of the all-learned and eminent Man, Sir ^ Francis Bacon of St. Alhan. Mourn, ye Alban Lares, and thou good Martyr,^ the hallowed demise ^ of the old man of Verulam. Aye, good Martyr, raise thou too the old lament, to whom nothing has been sadder, next to thy dire cloak> ; I take Dominus here and in most of the headings to denote the title ' Sir ' given to a B. A. of Cambridge. (See Cent. Diet. s. v. dominus and sir.) This whole collection of poems is a kind of bouquet from Cambridge, especially Trinity College, from which Bacon was grad- uated. * Lord ' however, is a possible translation, as Bacon was Lord Chancellor. Or, again, the Sir may refer to his knighthood. St. Alban, protomartyr of England. fata non temeranda, lit. ' the fate which none may desecrate.* Fatum has its ordinary meaning, yet appears also to connote sepulcrum, the tomb, its outer sign. The phrase is practically equivalent to cineres sacros in Poem 4, near end. Alban exchanged his cloak with that of a fugitive Christian, who thus escaped his pursuers, whereas Alban was martyred by them. The story is told by Gildas and Bede. See Baring Gould, Lives of the SaintSj June 22. [ 16] [ 17 ] II Baconi Opera Uteraria vocantur ad Rogum, Instauratio magna ; dicta acute ; Auginentum geminum scientiarum, Et scriptum patrie et dein Latine Auctu multiplici, profunda vitae Mortisque liistoria, ut lita anne lota Rivo nectaris Atticive mellis ! Ilenriciis neque septimus tacetor ; Et quicquid venerum politiorum, et Si quid praeterii inscius libellum Quos magni peperit vigor Baconi. Plus novem edecumata musa musis, Omnes funebribus subite fiammis, Et lucem date liquidam parenti. Non sunt ssecula digna quae fruantur Vobis, ah Domino (ah nefas) perempto. S. Collins, R. C. P. I; II The Literary Works of Bacon are called to the Pyre. Instauratio Magna; ^ subtle sayings ;2 a twofold increase of the sciences, written both in thy country's speech and then in Latin with multifold enlargement ; ^ profound history of life and death,4 anointed as it were, or rather bathed, with stream of nectar or with Attic honey ! Nor must the seventh Henry ^ fail of mention, or if aught there be of more cultured loves,^ aught that I unwitting have passed over of the works which the vigor of great Bacon hath produced'— a Muse more choice than the nine Muses. Ascend ye [Muses] all, the funeral flames and give to your parent ^ liquid light. The ages are not worthy to enjoy you, when alas, (oh monstrous shame !) your Lord is taken away. S. Collins, R. C. P. (Rector of King's College, Cambridge.) 1 Alluding to Bacon's work of this name. ^ The Apothegms (?). 8 The Advancement of Learning, in its twofold edition (English and Latin). * The Historia Vitce et Mortis. « The History of Henry VI I. • i. e. stories of love more spiritually interpreted, as in de princlpiis atque onginihus secundum Fahulas Cupidinis et Caeli (?). Cf. also the general method of de Sapientia veterum. ^ Punctuate : Baconi, — Mush. 8 i. e. Bacon. The above lines suggest the conception of the Muses and of Philosophy in Boethius, Consolatio Philosophice. I .f ms :• J,. >-i.,-\, ,-r ;;,■;.-—-_.. [18] [19] li m In OUttm incomparaUlis Francisd, Vicecomitis Sandi Alhani, Baronis rerulamii. Dum longi lentique gemis sub pondere morbi Atque hffiret dubio tabida vita pede ; Quid voluit prudens f atum, jam sentio tandem : Constat, Aprile uno te potuisse mori : Ut flos hinc lacrymis, iUinc Philomela querelis. Deduoant lingua funera sola tuae. Geobgius Hekbert. > '\ III On the Death of the Incomparable Francis, Viscount St. Alhan, Baron Verulam} The while thou didst groan beneath the burden of a long and lingering malady, and pining life halted with uncertain foot, what did wise fate intend ? ^ I now at last can see. Only in April, surely, couldst thou die, that here the flower with its tears, there Philomel ^ with her laments, may follow only thy tongue's funeral-train.* ° George Herbert. 1 This poem is translated into German by G. Cantor. Op. cit., p. xv. * Punctuate : pede . . . fatum ? Jam . . . * the nightingale. * i. e. may devote all their laments to you. [20] [21] IV In Obitiim honoratissimi Viri ac Domini^ D. Fran- cisci de Veridamio, Vicecomitis Sancti Albania nuperi Anglice Cancellarii, Adhuc superbis insolente purpura Feretri rapinis inclytos in tot viros Sterile tribunal ? cilicio dicas diem, Saccumque totam facito luxuriem fori. A Themide libra nee geratur pensilis, Sed urna, prsegravis urna VERULAMII. Expendat. Eheu ! Ephorus baud lancem premit, Sed Areopagus ; nee minor tantus sopbos, Quam portions braccbata. Nam vester scbolae, Gemiscit axis, tanta dmn moles ruit. Orbis soluta cardo litterarii, Ubi studio coluit togam et trabeam pari. Qualis per umbras ditis Euridice vagans IV On the Death of the most honored Man and Lord,^ Sir'^ Francis of Veridam, Viscount St, Albany late Chancellor of England? Art tbou still proud in insolent purple wben the bier has robbed so many famed men,* thou barren court? Thou shouldst give the day to haircloth and make to sackcloth all the pomp of the bar. Nor let Themis bear the hanging scales, but the urn, the weighty urn of Verulam. Then let her weigh.5 Alas, not Ephorus tips the beam, but Are- opagus. Nor is so great a sage less than the barbarian porch ; ^ for your axis groaned, ye schools, when fell so great a pile ; the very vault ' of the world of letters was dissolved, wherein, with equal zest, he graced the civic and the royal robe.^ Even as Eurydice, wandering through shades of Dis, 1 domini, in a general sense : something like ' gentleman.* 2 domini, in the sense noted on p. 4, n. 1. 8 The writer of this poem is an admirer of Juvenal, and catches at least the difficulties of that author's style. * lit. * at the bier's plundering against so many famed men.' 6 cf. Juvenal, Sat. x. 147. 6 Porticus brac(c)ata (bracchata is a misprint) denotes the scholastic phi- losophy, for which ' barbarian porch ' is an apt designation. Meurer, p. 101, with less point adopts a contemporary sense of braccatus, sleeved. ' cardoj V. Harper's Lex. 1 B 2 ; the phrase then means, continuing the astronomical figure in axisy * the whole heavens fell in.' Meurer, how- ever, p. 109, restricting the meanings of both cardo and orbis litterarii^ may be right in rendering ' eurer litterarischer Kreis geht aus den An- geln' ('Your literary circle goes off the hooks'). To Bormann, p. 15, cardo = Theater drehmaschine. 8 togam et trabeam^ i. e. civil law and the history of princes (Henry VII.). Or it may refer to the lower and higher parts of philosophy, the prac- tical and the speculative. Meurer, p. 109, translates 'Kichter und Rittertracht ' (* robe of judge and of knight '). ( jki- [22] Palpare gestiit Orpheurriy quali Orpheus, Saliente tandem (vix prius crispa) Styge, Alite fibras lyrae titillarit manu ; Talis plicata philologwn aenigmatis Petiit Baconum vindicem, tali manu Lactata cristas extulit philosophia : Humique soccis repitantem coraicis Non proprio ardelionibus molimine Sarsit, sed instaurarit. Hinc politiiis Surgit cothurno celsiore, et organo Stagirita virbius reviviscit novo. Calpen superbo Ahylamque vincit remige Phoehi Columbus, artibus novis novum Daturus orbem ; promovet conamina Juvenilis ardor, usque ad invidiam trucem Fati minacis. Quis senex vel Hannibal, Oculi superstitis timens caliginem, Signis suburram ventilat victricibus ? Quis Milo multus quercubus bilem movet, Senecta tauro gibba cum gravior premit ? M [23] longed to caress her Orpheus, and even as with winged hand — the while Styx leaped at last, scarce ruffled before — he strummed ^ the fibres of his lyre, so did Philosophy, involved in scholars' ^ riddles, call Bacon to her rescue ; so by his touch entranced,^ she reared her crest : and as she crept along the ground in comic sock, he did not succor ^ her with some de- vice ^ that gossips would approv3,^ but made her wholly new. Then with more polished art, he rose in higher buskin, and the Stagerite, another Virbius," lives again in a new Organon. Columbus leaves Calpe and Abyla ^ behind, with the proud oarage of Phoebus, destined by new arts to give man a new world ; his youthful ardor advances his emprise even to the ruthless envy of a threatening fate. What old man, or what Hannibal, in fear of darkness for his only eye, fans the Suburra with his victorious standards ? ^ What Milo strong raises the wrath ^^ of oaks, when old age, weight heavier than a bull 11 presses him down ? The while our hero bestowed ^ lit. 'tickled' — an exaggeration characteristic of this writer. ^ philologwn : the schoolmen, * lovers of words,' a phrase in the spirit of Mephistopheles' " im Ganzen — haltet Euch an Worte^' etc. 5 lactata, gen. ' cajoled,' but here in a good sense. * lit. 'patch.' * lit. * undertaking.' * i. e. he resorted to no half way, dilettante measures. ' Hippolj-tus was raised from the dead and under the name of Virbius lived another life. Thus Bacon is an Aristoteles redivivus. 8 The two pillars of Hercules. * Illustration and phrasing from Juvenal. Sat. x. 156 f . Ventilat, ' fans ' (i.e. 'stirs'), is an example of the exaggeration of the writer's style, which out-Juvenals Juvenal. ^^ bilem, ' spleen ' — more tasteless imagery. The allusion is to Milo's tragic end. 11 Alludes to the story of Milo's carrying a heifer on his shoulders at the Stadium of Olympia— an achievement of his youth. [24] Dum noster lieros traderet scientias ^ternitati, prorsus expeditior Sui sepulchri comperitur artifex. Placida videtur ecstasis speculatio, Qua mens tueri volucris idaeas boni In lacteos properat Olympi tramites. His immoratur sedibus domestica, Peregrina propriis. Redit. Joculariter Fiigax ; vagatur rursus, et rursus redit. Furtiva tandem serib, se substrahit Totam ; gementi, morbido cadaveri Sic desuescit anima, sic jubet mori. Agite lugubres musae, et a Libani jugis Cumulate thura. Sydus in pyram illius Scintillet omne ; scelus sit accendi rogum Eeo:iim Prometheo culinari foco. Et si qua forte ludat in cineres sacros Aura petulantior, fugamque suadeat, Tunc flete ; lachrymis in amplexus ruent Globuli sequaces. Denub fundamine Ergastuli everso radicitus tui Evehere fcelix anima, Jacohum pete, Ostende, et illuc civicam fidem sequi. E tripode juris, dictites oracula Themidos alumnis. Sic (beati ccelites) Astrcea pristine fruatur vindice, Vel cum Bacono rursus Astrceam date. f I I \ R. p. [25] eternity upon the sciences, he was found, in truth, a readier artist of his own sepulchre.^ Calm speculation seemeth extasy, where-by the winged mind, to gaze on the Ideas of Good, hastens to Olympus' milky paths. In these abodes ^ it tarrieth as its house, a stranger with its own. It comes again.3 Playfully it flies away ; again it wanders and again comes back ; at last in earnest stealing away it utterly with- draws. Even so the soul quits the moaning, wasting corpse ; so does it bid it die.^ Come then, ye Muses of Woe, and from the spurs of Liba- nus gather ye incense, let every star shower its sparks upon his pyre; be it a crime to light the pile of kings with flame of Prome- theus from a kitchen hearth. And if perchance some breeze more wanton should play about his hallowed ashes and scatter them flying, then weep ye ; your tears will flow in sequent globules to mutual embrace.^ Since then, the fundament of thy prison house is shattered utterly a second time, rise, happy soul, seek James ; ^ show him that civic fidelity followeth even there. From the law's tripod thou shalt utter oracles for Themis' fosterlings. Thus, ye blest Heavenly Ones, may Astraea take pleasure in her ancient champion ; or else, give ye Astraea back with Bacon. R. p. 1 i. e. the old man of Verulam performed a task that called for the strength of a young hero (hence the point of the preceding illustration). Bacon's great monument that he was rearing turned out to be his tomb. ^ i. e. on earth. ' i. e. to its heavenly home. * Reason has appeared once or twice on earth in the person of Aristotle and other Sages ; now at the demise of Bacon, its last incarnation, it leaves for good and all. ^ i. e. will chase each other down your cheeks. « James I. died 1625, the year before. 5' V » [26] [27] Memorice Meritisque honor atissimi D. Francisci D. Verulamiiy Vice-Comitis, Sancti-AlbanL Lugete fletu turbulenta flumina, Sub calce nata Pegasi^ Rivoque nigrum vix trahente pulverem Limo profana currite. Viridisque Daphnes decidens ramis honos Arescat infoelicibus. Quorsum Camoence laureas inutiles McEsti colatis hortuli? Quin vos severis stipitem bipennibus Vanae secatis arboris ! Vivos reliquit, cui solebat unico Coronam ferre lauream, Divum potitus arce Verulamius Corona f ulget aurea : Supra coeli terminos sedens amat Stellas videre cernuus : Sophiam qui sede caelitum reconditam Invidit immortalibus, Affgrressus orbi redditam cultu novo Mortalibus reducere : Quo nemo terras incolens majoribus Donis pollebat ingeni : Nee ullus aeque gnaviter superstitum Themin maritat Palladi, Adductus istis, dum vigebat, artibus Aonidum sacer chorus, In laude totam fudit eloquentiam, Nihil reliquit fletibus. Posui WiLHELMUS BOSWELL. 1 I '•: I % ■i'y m f •i To the Memory and the Merits of the Most Honored 8ir,^ Francis, Lord^ of Verulam, Viscount St. Alhan. Mourn ye streams, with weeping troubled, ye that were born beneath the heel of Pegasus, and as your current can scarce draw the black dust, run ye with mud profaned. And let Daphne's verdant glory ^ droop and wither on leafless boughs. To what end Muses, would ye rear the useless laurels of a garden sad ? Nay, rather, with the ruthless axe cut the stalk of the vain tree ! He hath left the living for whom alone it was wont to bear a crown of bay : Verulam, gaining the citadel of the gods, shineth in crown of gold, and * sitting above the boundaries of the sky he loves to see the stars mak- ing obeisance. The wisdom treasured in the Heavenly One's abode, he begrudged the immortals, essaying to bring it back to mortals, restored for the world's new adoration.^ No dweller of earth abounds in greater gifts of genius than he ; nor does any of surviving men with equal skill wed Themis to Pallas. Moved by such talents, while yet he flourished, the sacred choir of Aonids^ poured all their eloquence in his praise, and nought hath left for tears. By William Boswell. / ^ Domim = Cambridge B. A. » Dommt=: Lord of the Manor (?) V. Cent. Diet. S. V. * i. e. the laurel. * Read supraque with Hagen and Meurer. * i. e. he restores a long lost cult, as it were, — the love of wisdom. * i. e. the Muses. m [28] VI In Obitum honoratissimi Domini Frayicisci BaconU magni nuper totius Anglice Cancellarii, &c. Audax exemplum quo mens humana feratur Et ssecli vindex ingeniose tui, Dum senio macras recoquis fceliciter artes, Subtrahis et prisco libera colla jugo, Quo deflenda modo veniunt tua f unera ? quales Exposcunt lacrymas, quid sibi fata volunt ? An timuit natura parens ne nuda jaceret, Detraxit vestem dum tua dextra sacram ? Ignotique oculis rerum patuere recessus, Fugit et aspectum rimula nulla tuum ? An verb, antiquis olim data sponsa maritis, Conjugis amplexum respuit ilia novi? An tandem, damnosa piis atque invida cseptis, Correpuit vitae fila (trahenda) tuae ? Sic ultra vitreum Siculus ^ ne pergeret orbem Privati cecidit militis ense senex. Tuque tuos manes ideb (Francisce) tulisti, Ne non tentandum perficeretur opus. [29] VI On the Death of the Most Honored Sir^ Francis Bacon, of late High ^ Chancellor of England, &c. Thou bold exemplar of bow far the human mind may rise ; thou talented deliverer of thine age ; the while thou dost hap- pily repair the meagre arts and ease free ^ necks of their an- cient yoke, how shall thy funeral be mourned, that now comes on? What tears do thy fates demand, what mean they? Did Parent Nature fear lest she lie naked while thy hand stripped her sacred robe ? Were the world's hidden corners bared to thine eyes, and did no cranny escape thy gaze ? Or, can it be, did she who was betrothed to ancient lords, spurn the embraces of her newest spouse ? Or, in fine, ruinous to the good and envious of endeavor, ^ did she snap thy life's threads, which rather should have been prolonged ? Thus, that the Sicilian old man * might not soar beyond the crystal sphere,^ he fell by a private's sword. Thou, too, Francis, hast for this received thy fate, that the forbidden task should not be finished. 1 Archimedes. ,y ^ Perhaps domini here=:* Lord,' as the office of Chancellor is mentioued. Or should Magni be rendered not * High ' but * Lord ' ? * Prolepsis, common in Latin poetry; i. e. * ease and set free.' * Read coeptis as in B., not ccsptis. * i. e. Archimedes. ^ In the sense of Lucretius's flammantia moenia mundi (i. 73). He was not to pursue his investigations too far into the divine. I ■;: ..-A'. [30] VII In Eundem. Sunt qui defuncti vivant in marmore, et sevum Annosis credant postibus omne suum ; -3Ere micant alii, aut f ulvo spectantur in auro, Et dum se ludunt, ludere fata putant. Altera pars hominum, numerosa prole superstes, Cum Niohe magnos temnit iniqua deos : At tua cselatis haeret nee fama columnis, Nee tumulo legitur, Siste viator iter : Siqua patrem proles referat non corporis ilia est, Sed quasi de cerebro nata Minerva Jovis: Prima tibi virtus monumenta perennia praestat, Altera, nee citiiis corruitura, libri : Tertia nobilitas ; ducant jam fata triumpbos, Quae (Francisce) tui nil nisi corpus babent. Utraque pars melior, mens et bona fama supersunt Non tanti ut redimas vile cadaver babes. T. Vincent, T. C. 4l> [31] VII On the Same. Some tbere are who, dead, would live in marble, and entrust their immortality to aged pillars ; Some shine in bronze, ^ or glitter in yellow gold,i and while they cheat themselves, think that they cheat the fates. Another breed of humankind, sur- viving with numerous progeny, like Niobe unjustly scorns the great gods.^ But thy renown neither clings to graven columns nor does thy tomb read,^ " Traveler, stay thy course." * If any offspring should recall his parent, 't is not that of his body, but such as Minerva, sprung from the brain of Jove.^ First thy virtue bestows on thee perennial monument: and second — not soon to perish — thy books : third, thy nobility. Now let the Fates hold triumph, who, Francis, have nothing of thee but thy body. Both thy better parts, thy mind and thy good fame survive : thou boldest it not dear to ransom the vile corpse. T. Vincent, T. C. (i. e. OF Trinity College.) 1 i. e. have statues of bronze or gold erected to their memory. 2 i. e. imagine they never shall die. ^ Meurer, p. 103, would (inappropriately) change legitur to tegitur. * i. e. bear some conventional eulogy. Siste viator iter is a frequent head- ing in epitaphs. ^ i. e. his immortality is not to be transmitted through his descendants in the flesh: his qualities ensure his fame. 1 1 [32] [33] 1 VIII In Obitum nobilissimi Domini Francisd Baronis Verulamii, &c. Visa mihi pridem nee in uno vivere posse Tot bona sunt, unquam nee potuisse mori. Queis, quasi syderibus ccelum, tua vita refulsit, Et quae sunt fatum cuncta secuta tuum ; Ingenium, et largo procurrens flumine lingua, Philosophi pariter, juridicique decus. Nunc video potuisse quidem ; sed parcite amici, Hie si non redeat, non reditura puto. I. ViXCENT, T. C. VIII On the Death of the Most Nohle Sir, Francis, Baron, Verulam &e. Once did I deem neither that so many virtues could dwell in one man, nor that they would ever die : with the which thy life shone like the heaven with stars, and which have all fol- lowed thine own fate ^ — genius and eloquence flowing in gen- erous stream, the glory of sage and of jurist too. I see now that this might have been — but friends, enough. If he shall not return, I think not that such traits will come again. I. Vincent, T. C. (i. e. OF Trinity College.) 1 ; i. e. departed with thee. .A X [34] [35] IX In Obitum illustrissimi clarissimique Heroisy Domini Frandsci Baconiy Baronis de Verulamio^ dpr^vcoSia. Musse fundite nunc aquas perennes In threnos, lacrymasque Apollo f undat Quas vel Castalium tenet fluentum : Nam letho neque convenire tanto Possint nsenia parva, nee eoronent Immensa haec modicae sepulchra guttle : Nervus ingenii, medulla suadae Dicendique Tagus^ reconditarum Et gemma pretiosa literarum Fatis concidit, (heu trium sororum Dura stamina) nobilis Baconus. O quam te memorem Bacone summe Nostro carmine ! et ilia gloriosa Conctorum monumenta seculorum, Excusa ingenio tuo, et Minerva ! Quam doctis, eligantibus, profundis, Instauratio magna^ plena rebus ! Quanto lumine tineas sopborum Dispellit veterum tenebricosas Ex chao procreans novam oro<^tW : Sic ipse Deus inditum sepulcbro Corpus restituet manu potenti ; Ergo non moreris (Bacone), nam te A morte, et tenebris, et a sepulcbro, Instauratio magna vindicabit. IX Threnody on the Death of the Most Illustrious and Most Eminent Hero, Sir Francis Bacony Baron Verulam. Pour now ye Muses your perennial founts into a song of woe, and let Apollo sbed in tears whatever even tbe stream of Castaly contains. For no humble dirge would befit so great a death, nor moderate drops crown this stupendous tomb. The Sinews of Wit, the Marrow of Persuasion, the Tagus ^ of Eloquence, the Precious Gem of Recondite Letters,^ has fallen by the Fates (ah me, the three sisters' cruel threads !) — The noble Bacon, Ah how can I extol thee great- est Bacon, in my lay ! or how those glorious monuments of all ages, chiselled by thy genius, by Minerva.^ How full thy Instauratio Magna of matter learned, elegant, profound! With what light hath it dispelled the gloomy moths of ancient sages, creating new Wisdom out of Chaos ! So God Himself with potent hand will restore the body consigned to the tomb.* Thus Bacon, thou shalt not die ; for from death, from the shades, from the tomb, thy great Instauration shall deliver thee.^ XV. C X. c (i, e. OF Trinity College.) ^ i. e. golden stream. 2 i. e. his philosophical works. 8 or by thy genius and thy wit. * i. e. as God vouchsafed a resurrection to the human body, so Bacon to the old philosophers. ^ i. e. this great resurrection is token of thine own. I [36] [37] In Ohitum honoratissimi Baronis Verulamiensisy &c. En iteriim auditur (certe instauratio magna est ! ) Stellata camera fulgidus ore Bacon : Nunc vere albatus, judex purissimus audit ; Cui stola ( Christe) tuo sanguine tincta datur. Integer ut fiat, prius exuit ipse seipsum : Terra, habeas corpus ; (dixit,) et astra petit. Sic, sic, Astrceam sequitur praenobilis umbra, Et Verulam verum nunc sine nube videt. X On the Death of the Most Honored Baron Verulam^ &c. Look ye ! in sooth 't is a great instauration ! Again is Bacon, with radiant face, heard in the chamber of the stars.^ Now in real robe of white, the most pure judge is listening, to whom, oh Christ, a stole dipped in Thy blood is given. To make himself complete, he first did doff himself. " Earth, keep the body," quoth he, and hied him to the stars. Thus, doth the all-noble shade follow Astraea, and seeth now that very Verulam without a cloud. 1 A most tasteless allusion to Bacon's triumphs in the Star Chamber. i' ii y [38] [39] XI De Connuhio Hosarum. Septimus Henricus non aere et marmore vivit ; Vivit at in chartis (magne Bacone) tuis. Junge duas {Henrice) rosas ; dat mille Baconus ; Quot verba in libro, tot reor esse rosas. T. P. XI On the Marriage of the Hoses. The seventh Henry liveth not in bronze or marble, but he liveth, great Bacon in thy page.^ Mate, Henry, thy roses twain : Bacon gives a thousand. As many the words in his book, so many the roses, I ween. T. P. 5| li 1 1* i. e. the History of Henry VII. / A: [40] XII In Obitum nohilissimi doctissimique Viri Dom. Fran. Bacony Baronis VerulamiensiSy &c. Sic cadit Aonii rarissima gloria coetus ? Et placet Aoniis credere semen agris ? Fragantur calami, disrumpanturque libelli, Hoc possint tetricae si modo jure deae. Heu quae lingua silet, quae jam f acundia cessat, Quo f ugit ingenii nectar et esca tui ? Quomodo musarum nobis contingit alumnis Ut caderet nostri praeses Apollo chori ? Si nil cura, fides, labor, aut vigilantia possint, Sique f eret rapidas, de tribus, una, manus ; Cur nos multa brevi nobis proponimus aevo ? Cur putri excutimus scripta sepulta situ ? Scilicet ut dignos aliorum a morte labores Dum rapimus nos mors in sua jura trabat. Quid tamen incassum nil proficientia f undo Verba ? quis optabit te reticente, loqui ? Nemo tuam spargat violis fragantibus umam. Nee tibi pyramidum mole sepulchra locet ; Nam tiia conservant operosa volumina famam, Hoc satis, haec prohibent te monumenta mori. Williams. \ [41] XII On the Death of the Most Noble and Most Learned Many Sir Francis Bacon^ Baron Verulaniy &c. Thus the rarest glory of the Aonian band is fallen I And would you consign the seed to the Aonian plain ?^ Let pens be broken and writings torn, if the stern goddesses may rightly do this. Ah me, what a tongue is silent, what elo- quence now ceases ! Whither is fled the nectar, the bread of thy wit ? How doth it befall us, the Muses' fosterlings, that Apollo, the master of our choir should be stricken down ? If care and fidelity, labor or vigilance can nought avail, if one of the Three shall swiftly interpose its hand ,2 why set we many aims for us in this brief span ? ^ Why strike off works that are buried in rotting decay? In sooth, the while we snatch others' worthy toil from death. Death may hale us to his court. Yet why do I pour forth in vain these fruitless words? Who, when thou art silent shall desire to speak? Let no man heap thy urn with fragrant violets, nor set thy tomb in the pyramids' pile. For thy laborious volumes pre- serve thy fame. This is enough: these monuments forbid that thou shouldst die. Williams. 1 i. e. cultivate the barren Muse. * i. e. one of the three Parcce stands ever ready to thwart man's under- taking. • of. Horace C. ii. 16, 17, Quid drevi fortes iaculamur cevo mvlta f \ N [42] XIII In Obitum honoratissimi Domini, D. Francisci Vice- comitis Sancti Albania Baronis Verulamiiy Viri incomparabilis. Parcite : noster amat facunda silentia luctus, Postquam obiit solus dicere qui potuit : Dicere, quae stupeat procerum generosa corona, Nexaque sollicitis soluere jura reis. Vastum opus. At nostras etiam Verulamius artes Instaurat veteres, condit et ille novas. Non qua majores : penitos verum ille recessus Naturae, audaci provocat ingenio. Ast ea, siste gradum, serisque nepotibus^ (inquit,^ Linque quod inventum scecla minora juvet. Sit satis his sese quod nohilitata inventis^ Jactent ingenio tempora nostra tuo. Est aliquid^ quo mox ventura superhiet cetas ; Est soli notum quod decet esse mihi : Sit tua lauSy pulchros corpus duxisse per artus, Integra cui nemo reddere membra queat : Sic opus artijicem infectum commendat Apellem, Cum pingit reliquam nulla manus Venerem. Dixit, et indulgens caeco natura furori, Praesecuit vitae filum operisque simul. At tu, qui pendentem audes detexere telam, Solus quern condant haec monumenta scies. H. T., Coll. Trin. Socius. \ [43] XIII On the Death of the Most Honored Gentleman ^ Sir ^ Francis, Viscount St. Alban, Baron Verulam, Incomparable Man. Desist : our grief loves eloquent silence now that he is dead who alone could speak — aye, speak things to amaze the circle of the well-born Eminent — and could loose the laws entwined about the anxious prisoner. A work immense. But, besides, Verulam restores our old arts, and himself founds new. Not so the ancients ; for he with daring genius chal- lenges the hidden nooks of Nature. But she saith, " Stay thy steps, and leave to thy late grand- sons some discovery, to gratify the younger age. Be it enough that our times, ennobled by these discoveries, boast of thy genius. Something there is which shall make proud the ages soon to come : something there is which it behooves me alone to know. Thine be the praise to have drawn the body with all its beauteous parts, whereto no man may restore entire mem- bers. Thus the unfinished work commends the artist Apelles, while no hand paints whate'er of Venus he has left to do." So Nature spake, and giving way to her blind rage cut short the thread of life and of his work as well. But you alone, who dare to finish the hanging warp, shall know what manner of man these monuments enshrine.^ H. T. Fellow of Trinity College. ^ Domini. a i. e. only a man who could complete Bacon's work could really appreci- ate him. Condant does not mean verbergen as Bormann imagines (p. 11), but (as often in classical Latin) merely 'preserve,' 'enshrine.' XIV In Obitum nobilissimi Viriy Frandsd Domini Verulaniy Vicecomites Sancti AlbanL Te tandem extincto secum mors laeta triumphat Atque ait ; hoc majus sternere nil potui , Hectora magnanimum solus laceravit Achilles^ Obrutus ac uno vulnere Ccesar obit : Mille tibi morbos dederat mors, spicula mille, Credibile est aliter te potuisse mori ? Tho. Rhodes, Col. Regal. f £45] XIV On the Death of the Most Noble Man Francis Lord Verulaniy Viscount St. Alban. At lenotli at thy demise, gay Death holds triumph with him- self and says : " Nothing greater than this man could I lay low." Achilles all alone mangled great hearted Hector, and Caesar struck by one blow fell. To thee had Death given a thousand ills, and sent a thousand darts at thee. Can we believe that thou couldst else have died ? Thomas Rhodes, OF King's College, Cambridge. I [46] XV In clarissimi Viri Francisci Bacon, Baronis de VerulamiOy Vicecomitis Sancti Albani, Memoriam. Naturae vires pandens, artisque labores, Arte potens quondam studio indagavit anhelo Anglus^ Bogerius Bacon^ celeberrimus olim : Optica qui chymicis, physicisque mathemata jungens, Perspectiva, suae praeclara molimina mentis, Vivit in aeternum praeclarae munere famae. Anglus et alter erat clarus Bacon Joannes^ Abdita Scripturae reserans oracula Sacrae. Stirps Baconiadum quamvis generosa Britannis Pignora plura dedit, longe celebrata per orbem ; Franciscum tandem tulit hunc : generosior alter Ingenio quisquamne fuit ? majora capessens ? Ditior eloquio ? compluraque mente revolvens ? Scripta docent ; veterum quels hie monumenta sophorum Censura castigat acri ; exiguoque libello Stupendos ausus docet Instauratio magna ; Ventcyrum Historim ; Vitceque et Mortis imago. Quis mage magnanimus naturam artesque retexens ? Singula quid memorem, quae multa et clara supersunt ? Pars sepulta jacet ; parti quoque visere lucem. Kawletus praestat Francisco fidus Achates, ROBERTUS ASHLEYUS, MeDIO-TeMPLARIUS. / [47] XV To the Memory of the Most Eminent Man, Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam, Viscount St, Alban. Revealing Nature's powers and the works of Art, potent him- seK in art, a man of England once ^ followed his quest in breathless zeal — Roger Bacon, in former times far famed. Who, uniting Optic Science with Chemical, with Physical, Per- spective — these glorious emprises of the mind — liveth for- ever with the boon of glorious fame. Another man of England too attained renown — John Bacon, who unlocked the secret oracles of Sacred Scripture. Albeit the race of Bacon gave to the Britains many pledges, far famed in all the world, at last it bare our Francis. Whoe'er in genius was better born than he ? What man of greater undertakings ? Who with more wealth of eloquence ? Who that revolved more thoughts in his mind ? His writings show. In them with piercing judgement, he castigates the works of ancient Sages : in a little book, his great Instauration reveals its stupendous aims : The Histories of Winds, the Image of Life and Death. Who ofreater-souled than he unbarred Nature and the Arts ? Why should I speak of each in turn, when many writings of great fame abound? A part of them lies buried ;2 that a part should see the light, Rawley, faithful Achates unto Francis, hath achieved. Robert Ashley, OF the Middle Temple. 1 Like Lucretius' primum Grains homoy i. 66. 2 i. e. still in the manuscript, unedited. [48] [49] XVI In Domini Frandsci Baconi jam mortui Historiam Vitae et Mortis, Historiae scriptor Vitce Mortisque Bacone, Sera mori, ac semper vivere digne magis ; Cur adeo aeternas praefers extinete tenebras, Nosque baud victuros post te ita tecum aboles ? Nostrum omnium Historiam Vitce Mortisque (Bacone) Scripsti ; quaeso tuam quis satis bistoriam Vel vitae, vel mortis, lo ? quin cedite Graii, Cede Maro Latia primus in bistoria.. Optimus et fandi, et scribendi, et nomine quo non Inclytus, eximius consilio atque scbola ; Marte idem, si Mars artem pateretur, et omni Excellens titulo semibomoque ac studio ; Temptor opum, atque aurum tenui dum postbabet aurae, Terrea regna polo mutat, et astra solo. XVI On the History of Life and Deaths hy the late Sir Francis Bacon. Tbou writer of tbe bistory of life and deatb, Bacon, worthy late to die, aye, ratber ever to live, wby dost tbou, extinct, so cberisb tbe sbades, and tbus efface us witb tbyself, wbo sball not live after tbee ? Tbou bast written. Bacon, tbe bistory of tbe life and deatb of us all. Pritbee wbo sball write well tbe story eitber of tby life or deatb — ab wbo ? Nay, yield, ye Greeks, yield Maro, first in Latin bistory.^ Most excellent in botb tbe spoken and tbe written word, and famed in wbatever way,^ great at counsel^ and in tbe scbool ; * excelling too in Mars, if Mars could suffer art,^ and in every title, in every aim, more tban a man.^ Despiser of wealtb, tbe wbile be rates gold lower tban tbe unsubstantial breeze, be cbanges eartbly realms for tbe sky, and tbe ground for tbe stars. ^ cf. Propertius, iii. 34, 65, cedite Romani Scriptores cedite Graii. ^ The full construction would be, non est nomen quo non inclytus erat. 8 Refers to his career as Privy Councillor, or to his statesmanship in general. * Refers to his attainments in philosophy. ^ Meurer's interpretation (p. Ill), 'if Mars could suffer him this art,* seems pointless. • A queer use of semihomo. In classical Latin it means ' half-beast,' not * half-god/ ! 1 [50] [51] XVII In eundem Virum Moquentissimum. Viderit Utilitas, moniti meliora, sed adde Ex Ithaca, f andi fictor, et omne tenes. E. F., Regal. XVII On the same most Eloquent Man. Let Utility look on liim,^ oh ye of better learning,^ but add a bit of Ithaca, thou forger of tales,^ and then thou shalt have aU.* E. F. OF King's College (Cambridge). I < ■V. J ^ or ' take notice ; * the idea is, let utilitas be reckoned as one of Bacon's cnaracteristics. ^ moniti meiioraf i. <5, doctiores, men of understanding. ' Ulysses is here addressed. Fandi fictor is applied to him inYi^eilt -aSn. ix. 602. * i. e. with the capacity for useful learning. Bacon unites a sprightly imagination. [52] [53] XVIII In Obitum literatissimi juxta ac nobilissimi Viri Francisci Domini Verulaniy Vicecomitis Sancti Albani. Occidit ante diem musarum phosphorus ! ipsa Occidit ah clarii eura, dolorque Dei. Deliciae (natura) tuse ; mundique Baconus : Mortis (quod mirum est) ipsius ipse dolor. Quid non crudelis voluit sibi parca licere ? Parcere mors vellet, noluit ilia tamen. Melpomene objurgans hoc nollet ferre ; deditque Insuper ad tetricas talia dicta deas. .Crudelis nunquam ver^ prius Atropos ; orbem Totum habeas, Fhoebum tu mode redde meum. XVIII On the Death of the Most Cultured, and, too. Most Noble Man, Francis Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban} The Day star of the Muses hath fallen ere his time I Fallen ah me, is the very care and sorrow of the Clarian god ,2 thy darling. Nature, and the world's — Bacon : aye — passing strange — the grief of very Death. What privilege did not the cruel Destiny ^ claim ? Death would fain spare, and yet she would it not. Melpomene, chiding, would not suffer it, and spake these words to the stern goddesses : " Never was Atropos truly heartless before now ; keep thou all the world, only give my Phoebus back." Ah me, alas ! nor Heaven nor Death nor the Muse, oh Bacon, nor my prayers could bar the fates. y Hei mihi ! nee ccelum, nee mors, nee musa (BacONE) Obstabant fatis, nee mea vota tuis. 1 Translated into German by Cantor, p. xv. * Phoebus is meant. * Parca. m [54] XIX In Obitum ejusdem. Si repetes quantum mundo musisque (Bacone) Donasti, vel si creditor esse velis ; Conturbabit amor, mundus, musaeque, Jovisque Area, preces, ccelum, carmina, thura, dolor ; Quid possunt artes, quidve invidiosa vetustas ? Invidiam tandem desinat esse licet : Sustineas faelix, maneasque (Bacone) necesse est, Ah natura nibil, quod tibi solvat, habet. [65] XIX On the Death of the Same. If thou shalt review how much thou hast given to the world and to the Muses, Bacon ; if thou shouldst care to be a cred- itor, then love, the world, the Muses, Jove's secrets, prayers, Heaven, songs, incense and grief will confound the score.^ What can art avail, and what the envious age ? It is vouch- safed at last that envy should cease to be.^ So Bacon, thou must needs preserve thy state and keep thy happy lot.^ Ah, Nature has naught to pay thee. \\V 1 Conturbabit is not as Meurer says (p. 104) used for conturbabitur, but ai in the sense of Catullus' conturbabimus ilia (v. 11). 2 Envy cannot hope to aspire to achievements like Bacon's. * i. e. let things stand as they are — do not attempt such a reckoning. [66] [67] XX In Obitum ejusdemy i i wi— •m 'p^'i'^piwi i t' wi p [66] XXV In Obitum honoratissimi Domini, Domini Francisci Baronis de Verulamio, Viceco7nitis S. Albani. Qui f uit legis moderator, ilia Lege solutus, reus ipse mortis Sistitur, nostram politeia turbat Sic RadamanthL Qui Novo summum sophiae magistrum Organo tandem docuisset uti Mortis antiqua methodo coactus Membra resolvit. Quippe prsemissis valide novicis Parca conelusum voluit supremum Huic diem, sensus ratione fatis Insit iniquis. Multa qui baud uno revelanda seclo K/ovTTTa naturae patefecit, ipse Justa naturae facili novercae Debita solvit. Artium tandem meliore vena Occidit plenus, moriensque monstrat Quam siet longa ars, brevis atque vita, Fama perennis ; Qui fuit nostro rutilans in orbe Lucifer, magnos et honoris egit Circulos, transit, proprioque fulget Fixus in orbe. [67] XXV On the Death of the Most Honored Gentleman, Sir Francis, Baron Verulam, Viscount St, Alhan. He that was governor of law, now from that law set free, himself is brought before death's bar ; thus does the realm of Rhadamanthus confound our own. He that at last had taught the greatest master of wisdom ^ to use a New Or- ganon^ constrained by death's ancient mode, hath loosed his limbs. Verily Destiny, from most vicious premises, hath willed as the conclusion his last day, to show if sense or rea- son dwell in the unjust fates. He who disclosed many of Nature's hidden things, to be revealed to not one age alone, himself to Nature, kindly Stepdame, hath paid his bounden dues. At last then he is fallen, filled with art's richer vein, and dying shows how long is art, how fleeting life, and how undying fame. He who was the ruddy day star in our world and through the great orbits of honor drove, hath passed beyond and shineth fixed in his own sphere. ^ i. e. Aristotle. [68] XXVI Carmen Sepidchrale. Sub tumulo est corpus, (nou debita praeda sepulchri) Virtutum exterius nomina marmor habet ; Sic pia saxa loqui docuit vestigia figens Marmore in hoc virtus, ipsa datura f ugam : Nostra dabunt tumulumque seternum corda, loquantur Ut f amam illius saxa hominesque simul. Hexr. Ferne, Trin. Coll. Soc. [69] XXVI Burial Hymn. Under the mound is the body (the grave's unmerited prize ; ) the title of his virtues the outer marble holds. Thus hath virtue, making its impress on this marble, taught the pious stones to speak, the while herself prepares for flight. And our hearts, too, will offer an eternal tomb, that stones and men alike may speak his fame. Henry Ferne (Fellow of Trinity College). t« ; r:'':,.:r. . y 9 E, ' : f ' ' j-^^ ' '-^-— iF^ -' — — - — ■ [70] [71] XXVII Ad statuam literatissimi vereque nobilissimi Viri Domini Francisci Bacon. Octoginta negat qui te numerasse Decemhres, Frontem, non libros inspicit ille tuos : Nam virtus si cana sanem, si serta Minervce, Keddant ; vel uatu Nestore major eras. Quod si forma neget, veterum sapientia monstret ; Long£ev» aetatis tessera certa tuse. Vivere namque diu cornicum condere lustra Non est, sed vita posse priore frui. G. Nash, Aul. Pem. XX vn On the Statue of the Most Lettered and Truly Noble Man, Sir Francis Bacon. He that denies that thou hast numbered eighty Decembers, looks upon thy forehead, not upon thy books. For if hoary virtue, if Minerva's garlands can make old, then wast thou Nestor's elder. Yes, if thy features refuse, let the wisdom of the ancients show it — a certain token of thy lengthy life. For to live long is not to fulfil the luster's ^ of the crow, but to have power to enjoy past life. G. Nash, Pembroke Hall (Cambridge.) [1 Luster = literally a period of five years, i. e. ages.] [72] XXVIII De Inundatione nnperh Aquarum. Solverat Eridanus tumidarum flumina aquarum : Solverat ; et populis non levis horror erat : Quippe gravis Pyrrhm metuentes tempera cladis Credebant simili crescere flumen aqua. Ille dolor fuerat saevus, lachrymaeque futuri Funeris, et justis dona paranda novis. Scilicet et fluvios tua (vir celeberrime) tangunt Funera, nedum homines, moestaque corda virum. James. [73] XXYIII On the Recent Flood, Eridanus had unbarred his swollen waters' streams. He had unbarred them : and to the nations, that was no slight alarm : fearing in sooth, the times of Pyrrha's fell disaster,^ they thought the river grew with similar flood. That was but a savage sorrow, and tears for the coming death — an offering made ready for the newly sainted. In sooth, renowned man, thy fate moves streams to sorrow, not to speak of humankind and the sad hearts of men. James. ^ cf. Horace, Carm. i. 2, 5. [74] XXIX In Ohitum honoratissimi Viri Frmicisci Bacon, Vice- comitis Sancti Albaiii, Baronis de Verulam, &c. Ergo te quoque flemus ? et seternare Camoenas Qui poteras, poteras ipse (Bacone) mori ? Ergo nee setherea f ruerere diiitius aura ? (Indigni scriptis Ventus et Aura tuis ;) Scilicet indomiti tandem vesania fati Placari voluit nobiliore rogo : S^vaque vulgares jam dedignata triumplios Ostendit nimio plus licuisse sibi ; Unaque lux tanti nunc luctus conscia, peste Insolita quanti nee prior annus erat. [75] XXIX On the Death of the Most Honored Man Francis Bacony Viscount St. Alhan, Baron Verulam, etc. Shall we then mourn for thee as well? Thou who couldst immortalize the Muses, couldst thou thyself, oh Bacon, die ? Shalt thou then no more exult in the breezes of heaven? (Breezes and wind unworthy of thy writing !) ^ In sooth the rage of unconquered fate wished to be appeased at last by a more noble pyre, and fiercely spurning triumphs already commonplace showed all too well that this was in her power. Yes, this one day is conscious now of such a woe as the past year with its unwonted ruin was not. R. L. i it •i * Alludes to the Historia Ventorum. [76] XXX In Obitum nohilissimi Viri, Frcuicisci Baconis, olim Magni SigiUi Anglm Custodis. Quid ? an apud deos coorta lis f uit ? An ^mulurn senex Saturnus filium Jovem vocavit in jus, rursus expetens Kegnum ? sed illic advocatum non liabens Relinquit astra, pergens in terras iter, Ubi citb invenit parem sibi virum, Baconem scilicet, quern falce demetens Jus exequi coegit inter angelos, Et ipsum se Jovemque filium suum. Quid ? an prudentia Baconis indigent Dei ? vel liquerit deos Astrma f Ita est : abivit : ipsaque astra deserens, Ministrabatur huic Baconi sedule. Saturnus ipse non felicioribus Degebat sevum sseculis, quibus nomen Vel aureum fuit, (sunt hsec poetica) Quam judicante nos Bacone degimus : Beatis ergo nobis numina invidentia, Volebant gaudium hoc commune demere : Abiit, abiit : sat hoc doloribus meis Est protulisse : non dixi est mortuus : Quid est opus jam vestimentis atris? en en Arundo nostra tinctura fluit nigra ; Camcenarumque fons siccum se f ecent, In lacrymas minutas se dispertiens : Frequentibusque nimbis Aprilis madet Dolores innuens : quippe insolentius % '•'i i H I [77] XXX On the Death of the Most Noble Ma7i, Francis Bacon, sometime Keei^er of the Great Seal of England. What ? Hath strife arisen among the gods ? Hath then old Saturn called Jove, his emulous son, to court, suing again for his realm ? But having no advocate there, he left the stars, winning his way to the earth, where speedily he found him a meet man, Bacon, in sooth, whom mowing with his scythe,^ he forced to champion his suit before the angels, before his very self and Jove his son. What ? Do gods need Bacon's skill ? Or has Astraea left the gods ? So it is : she went away, and leaving the very stars was sedulously minis- tering to Bacon here. Saturn himself in no more prosperous ages passed his time — those that were given the name of gold in poets' idle tales ^ — than we have spent when Bacon was our judge. Therefore the powers envying our bliss, washed to deprive us of this common joy. He has gone, he has gone, 'T is enough for my grief to have uttered this much : I said not, " He is dead." What need of black raiment is there any more ? See, see, our reed flows with black tincture : the Muses' fountain will run dry, disporting in tiny tears, and April drips with many a cloud, thus intimating woe. 1 A tasteless confusion of Saturn's sickle with the scythe of Death. ' Thia is the coimotatioii of haec sunt poetica. [78] Furit f raterna ventorum discordia : Uterque scilicet gemens non desinit Ab intus altius suspirium trahens, O omnibus bone, ut videntur omnia Amasse te virum, et dolere mortuum ! Henr. Ockley, C. Tr. •«««■» [ 79] Immoderately rude, I ween, rages the brotherly discord of the winds : each verily stays not its moans, drawing from within a deeper sigh. Oh thou good to all, how all things seem to have loved thee living and to mourn thee dead ! Hexry Ockley, of Trinity College. / [ 80 ] [81 J XXXI In Languorum diuturnwii, sed Mortem inojmiatam, nohilissimi Domini sui, Vicecomitis Sancti Alhani. Mors prius aggressa est, f uit inde repulsa ; putabam. Incepti et sceleris poenituisse sui. Callidus obsessas ut miles deserit urbes Incautis posito quo ferat arma metu ; Mors pariter multum hunc vulnus defendere doctum, Averso a musis lumine sseva ferit. Quam cupiam lacrymis oculos absumere totos ; Nostra sed heu libris lumina servo suis. Sic maculis chartam lugentum emittere cordi est ; Nil salis hie nisi quod lacryma salsa dedit. GuiL. Atkins, dominationis suce servus domesticus. XXXI On the Long Illness but Unexpected Death of the Most Nolle Lord,' Viscount St. Alban, Death first drew nigh, and then was driven hence. Me- thought he had repented of his errand and his crime. As the shrewd soldier deserts beleaguered towns, again to attack them when the unwary townsmen have discarded fear, Death in like manner, seeing him skilful to fend off the wound, struck cruelly when he had turned his eyes from the Muses.' How would I fain waste my whole sight in tears : but, ah me, I guard my eyes for their own 2 books. Thus am I glad to send forth this page with mourning stains : no [Attic] salt is here, save what a salt tear gives. William Atkins, Household Servant of his Lordship. 1 Or, ' of his (i. e. the writer's) most noble Master.' ' i. e. the books they so love — the works of Bacon. / r^lkiMMamn n i. ; -i» " On . i.j>>;,. ' j|L»,..JX!Jb..^^.l-M— .J. — it^-Hii itfi— ijiii IHIWMl ttmmmmmmmmtmgn^i / [ 82 ] [ 83 ] XXXII Li Ohifum Domini Francisci Baconi, Baronis de Verulamio et totiiis Angliae nuperi Cancellarii, Duin morieus tantam nostris Verulamlus heros Tristitiam musis, luminaque uda f acit : Credimus heu nullum fieri post fata beatum, Credimus et Samium desipuisse senem. Scilicet hie miseris foelix nequit esse Camoenls Nee se quam musas plus amat iste suas. At luctantem animam Clotho imperiosa coegit. Ad ccelum iuvitos traxit in astra pedes. Ergone Phoeheias jacuisse putabimus artes? Atque herbas Clarii nil valuisse dei? Phcehus idem potuit, nee virtus abfuit berbis, Hunc artem atque illas vim retinere putes : At Phoelum (ut metuit ne rex foret iste Camoenls) Kivali medicam crede negasse manum. Huic dolor est ; quod cum Phcebe Verulamlus beros Major erat reliquis, bac foret arte minor. Vos tamen, 6, tantiim manes atque umbra, Camainm, Et pene inferni pallida turba Jovls, Si spiratis adbuc, et non lusistis ocellos, Sed neque post ilium vos superesse putem : Si vos ergo aliquis de morte reduxerit Oij^heus, XXXII On the Death of Sir Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam and late Chancellor of all Englayid^ ^ Since Verulam's hero, dying, hath brought to our Muses such sadness and wet eyes, we think, ah me, that no man can be happy after death ; we think insensate the Samian old man.2 He 3 verily cannot be happy when the Muses are abject, nor does he love himself more than his own Muses. But imperi- ous Clotho forced his struggling soul to heaven, and dragged him with reluctant feet to the stars. Shall then we think that Phoebus' arts are fallen, that the herbs of the Clarian god ^ have lost their strength ? Such power had Phoebus, nor did those herbs lack virtue ; believe it, he kept his art, and they their potency. But know that Phtjcbus (as he feared that Bacon should be king among the Muses) refused to his rival his healing hand. Hence is this woe. For while Veru- lam's hero exceeded Phcebus in other arts, in this art^ was he less. You though, oh ye Muses, were ghosts and shade, and now well-nigh the pallid troop of the infernal Jove,^ if 3-6 yet breathe, and have not mocked mine eyes (though I could not think that after him you could survive) ; if then some Or- pheus shall bring you back from the dead, and you are not an 1 Translated into German by Cantor, p. x, also into English by the same writer in his Resurrectio Divi Quirini. ' i. e. Pythagoras, whose doctrines emphasized the belief in a blessed immortality. ' i. e. Racon. * i. e. Apollo, here in his character as god of healing. ^ i. e. in the art of healing. ^ i. e. after Bacon's death the Muses are in danger of being reduced to the ranks of the infernal deities. i ( I- [ 84 ] Istaque non aciem falllt imago meam : Discite nunc gemitus et lamentabile carmen, Ex oculis vestris lacryma multa fluat. En quam multa fluit ? veras agnosco Camcenas Et lacrymas, Helicon vix satis unus erit ; DeucalioncBis et qui non mersus in undis Parnassus (mirum est) hisce latebit aquis. Scilicet hie periit, per quern vos vivitis, et qui Multa Fierias nutriit arte deas. Vidit ut hie artes nulla radice retentas, Languere ut summo semina sparsa solo ; Crescere Pegaseas docuit, velut hasta Quirini Crevit, et exiguo tempore Laurus erat. Ergo Ileliconiadas docuit cum crescere divas, Diminuent hujus secula nulla decus. Nee ferre ulterius generosi pectoris sestus Contemptum potuit, diva Minerva, tuum. Restituit calamus solitum divinus honorem Dispulit et nubes alter Ai^ollo tuas. Dispulit et tenebras sed quas obfusca vetustas Temporis et prisci lippa senecta tulet ; Atque alias methodos sacrum instauravit acumen, Gnossiaque eripuit, sed sua fila dedit. Scilicet antiquo sapientura vulgus in aeto Tam claros oculos non habuisse liquet ; Hi velut Eoo surgens de littore Phoebus^ Hie velut in media fulget Apollo die : Hi veluti Tiphys tentarunt sequora primum, At vix deseruit littora prima ratis, Pleiadas hie Hyadasque atque omnia sydera noscens, Syrtes, atque tuos, improba Scylla^ canes ; 1 [ 85 ] image that deceives my sight,^ learn ye now groans and songs of lamentation : let many a tear flow from your eyes. Look ye, how many have flowed ! I recognize the very Muses and their tears : one Helicon will scarcely be enough. Parnassus,^ too, that was not buried in Deucalion's waves — a thing of marvel — will hide within these waters. In sooth he has per- ished through whom ye live, he who hath fed the Pierian goddesses with rich art. When he saw the arts here held by no root and languishing like seeds scattered on top of the soil, he taught the Pegasean Maids ^ to grow even as the spear of Romulus grew and in short time was a bay. So since he taught the Heliconian goddesses to grow, no ages will lessen his renown. Nor could the fire of a well born breast, bear further, divine Minerva, men's neglect of thee. His heavenly reed ^ restored thy wonted honor ; a second Apollo routed thy clouds. He routed the shadows, too : aye, those brought on by dusky old age and the blear senility of a former time. And other methods did his divine sagacity restore : he tore the Cretan skein away, but gave one of his own.^ In sooth 't is clear that in antique days the troop of wise men had not such clear eyes. They were like Phoebus rising from the orient shore ; he like Apollo shining at mid-day. They first like Tiphys ^ essayed the seas, but the bark scarce left the nearest shores ; he discerning Pleiades and Hyades and all the stars, the Syrtes, and, Scylla, thy hounds, knows w^hat is to be 1 istaque non aciem faUit imago meam : or * if such a picture does not deceive my sight' (Cantor). ^ The only mountain not covered in the flood, s Understand divas * goddesses ' as Heliconiadas — divas follows. Cantor supplies artes from the second line above. * i. e. pen. 6 Alluding to the story of Ariadne and Theseus. ^ The pilot of the Argo, according to one tradition the first man to sail a ship across the seas. |-1i- ■"i«**«^«— "*S -<.«*■- "'T*' Mim i i j i % \ II Scit quod vitandum est, quo dirigat aequore navem, Certius et cursum nautica monstrat acus : Infantes illi Musas, hie gignit adultas ; Mortales illi, gignit at iste deas. Palmam ideo reliquis Magna Instauratio libris Abstulit, et cedunt squalida turba sophi. Et vestita novo Pallas modo prod it amictu Anguis depositis ut nitet exuviis. Sic Phcenix cineres speetat modo nata paternos, JEsonis et rediit prima iuventa senis. Instaurata suos et sic Verulamia muros lactat, et antiquum sperat ab inde decus. Sed quanta effulgent plus quam mortalis ocelli Lumina, dum regni mystica sacra canat ? Dum sic naturse leges, arcanaque regum, Tanquam a secretis esset utrisque, canat ; Dum canat Ilenricum^ qui rex idemque sacerdos, Connubio stabili iunxit utramque rosam. Atqui hfec sunt nostris longe maiora Cama^nis^ Non haec infaelix Granta^ sed Aula sciat : Sed cum Granta labris admoverit ubera tan t is lus habet in laudes (maxime alumne) tuas. lus habet, ut moestos lacrymis extingueret ignes, Posset ut e medio diripuisse rogo. At nostra? tibi nulla ferrat encomia musse. Ipse canis, laudes, qua possumus arte, caneraus, Si tamen ars desit, laus erit iste dolor. Th. Raxdolph, T. C. ■ I [87] shunned, and on what waters to guide the ship ; for him more certainly the mariner's needle points the course. They begat infant Muses, he adult: they, mortal, but he goddesses. Therefore his Magna Instauratio snatched the palm from other books, and the sages, squalid throng, now slink away. Aye, even now Pallas steps forth, clad in new robe, as a snake glistens when he sloughs off his coat. Thus the new born Phoenix gazes on his paternal ashes ; thus to old Aeson his pristine youth returns ; thus too Verulam,^ restored, disports its walls and hopes therefrom its ancient glory. But how large shine his eyes, with glance more bright than that of a mortal, while he sings the sacred mysteries of the realm ; while he so sings of Nature's laws and princes' secrets, as though he were privy councillor ^ of them both ; while he sings of Henry, who king and priest as well, united in firm wedlock either rose.^ But such strains are by far too lofty for our Muse.* Let not unhappy Granta ^ know them, but the court.^ But since Granta moved her breasts to lips so eminent, she hath a right, thou mighty fosterling, to thy praise. She hath a right to quench the melancholy fires with her tears, a right to snatch thee from the mid- pyre. Yet, after all, our Muse can bring thee no encomium ; thou thyself art singer " and singest, there- ^ i. e. the Mauor. 2 A secretis = * privy councillor ' (Geheimrat) just as ah epistulis = * scribe ' — as Meurer (p. Ill) well remarks. ^ Alluding to Bacon's History of Henry VII. * An unexpected touch of Horatian modesty (C. iii. 3, end). ^ Another name for the Cam ; here denotes the University of Cam- bridge. « i. e. this touching lay is too sad a strain for Bacon's alma mater: let the court sing, let lamentation turn to eulogy. 7 Not necessarily ' poet.' Bacon ' sings ' the history of Henry VII. (v. nine lines above). 1 [88 ] fore, thine own praise. Notwithstanding we will sing tliy praise with whatsoever art we can : and if art fail, this grief will still be eulogy. Thomas Randolph, T. C. {i. e. OF Trinity College). Italics in Latin text follow Blackbourne, Works of Bacon, London, 1730, vol. i. pp. 204-217. FINIS. ' .1 Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton &» Co. Cambridge, Mass., U. S. 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