Sir Francis Bacon is a name that you might have heard in many disciplines; he was a prolific philosopher, scientist, statesman, writer, and poet. The Life of Man is a poem that shows his experience as a poet, philosopher, and statesman.
Life of Man is quite a depressing poem as it is about the complete loss of hope in achieving anything meaningful. Right from the start to the finish, Bacon described the perils of man and how there is no escape from it.
An important note; Sir Francis Bacon lived during the dark ages of Europe; disease was rampant, poverty everywhere, and superstition rules everything. It was a terrible time to be born in that world.
Science was just an infant and people suffered more than lived. With all that in mind, one can understand why Bacon is so blunt in this poem.
Let’s take a look at ‘The Life of Man’ by Sir Francis Bacon and then at the meaning of it. We’ll try to see if we can find a drop of hope in this arid and dry poem.
The Life of Man by Sir Francis Bacon
The world’s a bubble; and the life of man less than a span. In his conception wretched; from the womb so to the tomb: Curst from the cradle, and brought up to years, with cares and fears. Who then to frail mortality shall trust, But limns the water, or but writes in dust. Yet, since with sorrow here we live oppress’d, what life is best? Courts are but only superficial schools to dandle fools: The rural parts are turn’d into a den of savage men: And where’s a city from all vice so free, But may be term’d the worst of all the three? Domestic cares afflict the husband’s bed, or pains his head: Those that live single, take it for a curse, or do things worse: Some would have children; those that have them none; or wish them gone. What is it then to have no wife, but single thralldom or a double strife? Our own affections still at home to please, is a disease: To cross the sea to any foreign soil, perils and toil: Wars with their noise affright us: when they cease, W’ are worse in peace: What then remains, but that we still should cry, Not to be born, or being born, to die. Sir Francis Bacon
Meaning of The Life of Man by Sir Francis Bacon
Since the poem is quite large, we’ll divide the poem into four sections and look at the meaning of each individual part to understand it better.
Part 1: Birth and Life
The world’s a bubble; and the life of man less than a span.
In his conception wretched; from the womb so to the tomb:
Curst from the cradle, and brought up to years, with cares and fears.
Who then to frail mortality shall trust,
But limns the water, or but writes in dust.
Right off the bat, we start with a depressing tone and sentence; the life of man is just momentary in this bubble of a world, and from the very act of being born to death is wretched. This is just the beginning of the poem!
Bacon then says that being born is a curse; to get a life and then grow up with fear and care. We are afraid of everything; from diseases to disasters. There is nothing the frail mortality can trust.
It paints in water and writes in dust in one of the most powerful lines ever written. It means that mortality creates a painting in water and writes in the dust; in both cases, nothing would last or matter. This line indicates the worthlessness of living.
Part 2: Life and Career
Yet, since with sorrow here we live oppress’d, what life is best?
Courts are but only superficial schools to dandle fools:
The rural parts are turn’d into a den of savage men:
And where’s a city from all vice so free,
But may be term’d the worst of all the three?
Now we come to the second phase of life; career and adulthood. Here again, Bacon gives scathing remarks about the uselessness of all the things in this phase.
It does not matter where we live or what we do, since we are living an oppressed life, nothing really matters.
Courts are superficial places where fools go to think that what they are doing is worth anything. The rural parts of the city are filled with savage people who lack education.
And there is not a single city that is not filled with all the vices. He says that these cities can be called the worst of all the three.
Part 3: Domestic Life
Domestic cares afflict the husband’s bed, or pains his head:
Those that live single, take it for a curse, or do things worse:
Some would have children; those that have them none; or wish them gone.
What is it then to have no wife, but single thralldom or a double strife?
The third part takes us inside our houses and describes how domestic life is also a waste of time and effort. Bacon did not leave anything to find happiness.
Living a married life is yet another struggle. There is always going to be pain in married life. And people who cannot marry take it as a curse.
Some people even have kids, or some people who have kids don’t want them or just want them to be gone. No one can even be satisfied with their domestic life, no matter what you choose.
So should people not marry then and remain single? Well, even then you’d be a slave to being alone and make your struggles double.
Part 4: Final Part
Our own affections still at home to please, is a disease:
To cross the sea to any foreign soil, perils and toil:
Wars with their noise affright us: when they cease,
W’ are worse in peace:
What then remains, but that we still should cry,
Not to be born, or being born, to die.
Now we come to the final stanza of the poem and the conclusion of the suffering. Bacon says that our desire to stay at home comfortably is a disease. But so is crossing the sea to foreign land.
Wars are frightening but when the wars are over, we are worse when there is peace. What makes it even worse is that we still cry, not because we are born or born, but that one day we will die.
Bacon says that the fact that we will die should bring peace to people as this ceaseless suffering can come to an end. But yet people cry when they think about their death. That is the only thing left for people.
Summary
So the poem is actually a depressing one, and there is nothing hopeful about it. But the poem was written hundreds of years ago and the world has changed. And the world changed due to people like Francis Bacon!
He was the one to advocate the use of the scientific method that has led to all the advancements in the world. So perhaps we can take that from the poem as something hopeful.
Understanding the meaning of the poem “I Felt a Funeral in my Brain” by Emily Dickinson.