Then we find the statement that this "Circle of
Tales" or "Circle of Dramas" is "not fit for this
Writing " or Book, If those words are to convey any
sense at all, what else can they mean but that, in as
clear words as possible, reference is being made to
another Book, written by the same author, and which
indeed contained a " Circle of Tales " ?

Those sentences are the last two in the Volume of
Essays. Like the whole final Essay, they were new
in 1625, and the volume containing those Essays was



Digitized by VjOOQIC



FRANCIS BACON'S CRYPTIC RHYMES 209

the last thing which Bacon had printed while he was
yet alive. In other words, those two sentences are
the very last thing which Bacon himself published in
printed form ; they are the final words of his literary
Will On such occasions one is not in the habit of
writing at random anything that comes into one's
mind The other " Writing," the Book containing the
printed " Circle of Tales/' the " Circle of Dramas/'
the ** Circle of Plays," to which Bacon's concluding
words have reference, is no other than :

Mn William Sbakespeares Comedies, Histories, &
TragedieSi

the Folio with the thirty-six dramas which, two years
before, Francis Bacon, assisted by his friend Ben
Jonson, had given to the world and posterity, under
the mask of the Actor's name.
It almost stands to reason that Bacon should have
" curiously rhymed " those words, belonging as they
do to the most important contained in diie Book.
Translated into verse, they would run thus :

But it is not goo€lf
to looke too long, upon these turning IVheeks
of Viassi/w£r,
lest we become Giidy.
