Francis Bacon "Of Youth and Age" Essay Subject: This paper is a detailed examination and analysis of a single

sentence from Fran cis ...... More... Paper Abstract: This paper is a detailed examination and analysis of a single sentence from Fran cis Bacons essay, Of Youth and Age. The sentence shows Bacon s style and sensibilit y. Paper Introduction: This paper is a detailed examination and analysis of a singlesentence from Franc is Bacon\ s essay Of Youth and Age The firstessayist to write in English used th is new literary form to offer succinctadvice and observations on a wide range of topics This single sentenceoffers a good example of his style of writing the st rength of hisopinions and his wisdom even when delivered in a fairly dry and hig h-minded manner Bacon set the style for a particular kind of publicationthat now fills large Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scram bled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our paper s and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From thi s text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. This single sentenceoffers a good example of his style of writing, the strength of hisopinions, and his wisdom, even when delivered in a fairly dry and high-min ded manner. Anderson reports: Bacon earned a great deal of money, but his tastes , like his ambitions for science, succeeded always in outstripping his means. Ev en thealliteration of "more might" provides a smooth bridge in the secondstateme nt. Francis Bacon and the Transformation of Early-Modern Philosophy. Francis Bac on, unlike his French counterpart, Michel de Montaigne,did not seek to communica te much about himself through his essays. Though he could not know it, he still had27 years to live, but he was definitely a middle-aged man, and he couldwell h ave been thinking about how much more he wanted to do with his time.He could als o have been focusing on all that he wanted to have startedsooner, including publ ishing his writing. Cambridge, England: Cambridge U P, 2 1. By the time Essays w as published, however, he was more focused on theend of life than its beginnings . Francis Bacon: His Career and His Thought. The firmness with which he makes th is pronouncement about youth spotential destructiveness suggests that he speaks from experience. He was 46 years old when it was introducedto the public, an age that put him much closer to the point of longing"that more might have been done " than one likely to ruin an enterprisethrough callow inexperience. Works CitedA nderson, Fulton H. The first part is a simple statement in itself: "Theerrors of young men, are the ruin of business." Although it is phrased asa definitive abs olute, Bacon is of course not suggesting that every errorby every young man alwa ys results in business ruin. As language, however, the whole sentence has a plea sing structure anda poetic flow. . Bacon s tone is didactic throughout" (1 1). S tephenGaukroger observes that Bacon s writings "were generally aphoristic andtho ught-provoking: They were not designed to survey a field in any detail.. From su chevidence, Bacon might well have felt that youthful errors could causeruination . FultonH. "Of Youth and Age." Retrieved on May 12, 2 9, from http://www.westegg .com/bacon/youth.htmlGaukroger, Stephen. Published in1597, Essays is his first b ook. Bacon s command of language allowed him enviable economy with words.This se ntence shows the master at work. These regrets may well be the only ones an alde

r man mighthave, yet they are profound indeed and have a somewhat melancholy rin g tothem. He lived lavishly, and the arrangements of his household, which was no t well managed, were always in full keeping with what he considered his role at Court (37).In addition, the Earl of Essex, a close friend (whom he was later for ced byQueen Elizabeth to prosecute), had severe financial problems. Age 46 is ra ther long in thetooth to begin a career as a writer, and he may well have felt h e d gottena late start. In his essay, "Of Youth and Old Age," he says, "The erro rs of youngmen, are the ruin of business; but the errors of aged men, amount but tothis, that more might have been done, or sooner" (Bacon). Bacon set the style for a particular kind of publicationthat now fills large sections of the modern bookstore. . This paper is a detailed examination and analysis of a singlesente nce from Francis Bacon s essay, "Of Youth and Age." The firstessayist to write i n English used this new literary form to offer succinctadvice and observations o n a wide range of topics. The two halves mirror one another, summing up the begi nning and endof a man s life, not unlike the greater complexity of Shakespeare s "sevenages of man" (and such a subtle similarity is one of many reasons that so mescholars hypothesize Bacon as the true author of the Shakespeare plays).The li nguistic reflection of the first phrase with the second is melodiousand well-exp ressed, as befits a man used to using words expertly. Nevertheless, hiswriting r eveals more than he might have imagined about the man himself. Los Angeles: U of Southern California P, 1962.Bacon, Francis. Yet the sentenceintimates that yout hful indiscretion is a simple thing with simple, broad-reaching consequences. Th e second part of the sentence hints at the complexities andcontradictions that a ge brings, including its tendency to encouragereflection and regret: "The errors of aged men, amount but to this, thatmore might have been done, or sooner." Alt hough the start of this sectionimplies a simple "error," the balance of it revea ls a not-so-simple tangleof sorrows. A Glossary OF ARCHAIC WORDS AND PHRASES Abridgment: miniature Absurd: stupid, unpolished Abuse: cheat, deceive Aculeate: stinging Adamant: loadstone Adust: scorched Advoutress: adulteress Affect: like, desire Antic: clown Appose: question Arietation: battering-ram Audit: revenue Avoidance: secret outlet Battle: battalion Bestow: settle in life Blanch: flatter, evade Brave: boastful Bravery: boast, ostentation Broke: deal in brokerage Broken: shine by comparison Broken music: part music Cabinet: secret Calendar: weather forecast Card: chart, map Care not to: are reckless Cast: plan Cat: cate, cake

Charge and adventure: cost and risk Check with: interfere Chop: bandy words Civil: peaceful Close: secret, secretive Collect: infer Compound: compromise Consent: agreement Curious: elaborate Custom: import duties Deceive: rob Derive: divert Difficileness: moroseness Discover: reveal Donative: money gift Doubt: fear Equipollent: equally powerful Espial: spy Estate: state Facility: of easy persuasion Fair: rather Fame: rumor Favor: feature Flashy: insipid Foot-pace: lobby Foreseen: guarded against Froward: stubborn Futile: babbling Globe: complete body Glorious: showy, boastful Humorous: capricious Hundred poll: hundredth head Impertinent: irrelevant Implicit: entangled

In a mean: in moderation In smother: suppressed Indifferent: impartial Intend: attend to Knap:knoll Leese: lose Let: hinder Loose: shot Lot: spell Lurch: intercept Make: profit, get Manage: train Mate: conquer Material: business-like Mere-stone: boundary stone Muniting: fortifying Nerve: sinew Obnoxious: subservient, liable Oes: round spangles Pair: impair Pardon: allowance Passable: mediocre

Pine-apple-tree: pine Plantation: colony Platform: plan Plausible: praiseworthy Point device: excessively precise Politic: politician Poll: extort Poser: examiner Practice: plotting Preoccupate: anticipate Prest: prepared Prick: plant Proper: personal Prospective: stereoscope Proyne: prune Purprise: enclosure Push: pimple Quarrel: pretext Quech: flinch Reason: principle Recamera: retiring-room Return: reaction Return: wing running back Rise: dignity Round: straight Save: account for Scantling: measure Seel: blind Shrewd: mischievous Sort: associate Spial: spy Staddle: sapling Steal: do secretly Stirp: family Stond: stop, stand Stoved: hot-housed Style: title Success: outcome Sumptuary law: law against extravagance Superior globe: the heavens Temper: proportion Tendering: nursing Tract: line, trait Travel: travail, labor Treaties: treatises Trench to: touch Trivial: common Turquet: Turkish dwarf Under foot: below value Unready: untrained Usury: interest Value: certify Virtuous: able Votary: vowed Wanton: spoiled Wood: maze Work: manage, utilize

[The end] Francis Bacon s essay: Of Youth And Age