John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
1971 Franis Baon 1561-1626 John Bartlett
| NUMBER: | 1971 |
| AUTHOR: | Francis Bacon (1561–1626) |
| QUOTATION: | Whence we see spiders, flies, or ants entombed and preserved forever in amber, a more than royal tomb. 1 |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Historia Vitæ et Mortis; Sylva Sylvarum, Cent. i. Exper. 100. |
| Note 1. The bee enclosed and through the amber shown, Seems buried in the juice which was his own. Martial: book iv. 32, vi. 15 (Hay’s translation). I saw a flie within a beade Of amber cleanly buried. Robert Herrick: On a Fly buried in Amber. Pretty! in amber to observe the forms Of hairs, or straws, or dirt, or grubs, or worms. Alexander Pope: Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, line 169. [back] |