Discuss with reference to any one essay in
your syllabus, the prose style of Bacon.
It was the greatness of Bacon as a stylist
that he sets up a model of writing prose particularly in Essays. His prose style was
suitable for all kinds of subjects ranging from heaven to earth. His aphoristic
style combines wisdom in thought with extreme brevity. Bacon’s utilitarian prose is
well-structured and prescriptive, logical and illustrative. His didactic method
also abounds with the use of figurative language. Climactic, often maxim-like,
sentences woven into the strong and sound fabric of his prose. Bacon's prose
was permeated with practical wisdom, and he addressed his readers in an
oracular voice. Many of his observations have become proverbial expressions in
the English language.
The style of Bacon remains for the main part
aphoristic. These are a terseness of expression and epigrammatic brevity in the
essays of Bacon. In fact, the essays of Bacon have to be read slowly because of
the compact and condensed thought. There are a number of lines, which are read
like proverbs. The essay, Of
Studies, abounds in
aphoristic or epigrammatic sentences some of which have become so famous that
they are on the lips of even those men who have never heard the name of Bacon.
“Crafty men condemn studies; simple men
admire them; and wise men use them.”
“Some books are to be tasted, others to be
swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.”
“Reading maketh a full man; conference a
ready man; and writing an exact man.”
The very first line of “Of Travel”
