Francis Bacon was born on 22 January 1561. Ben Jonson wrote "Lord Bacon's Birthday" to celebrate his sixtieth birthday:
Hail, happy genius of this ancient pile!
How comes it all things so about thee smile ?
The fire, the wine, the men! And in the midst,
Thou stand'st as if some mystery thou didst!
Pardon, I read it in thy face, the day
For whose returns, and many, all these pray:
And so do I. This is the sixieth year
Since Bacon, and thy lord was born, and here;
Soon to the grave wise Keeper of the Seal,
Fame, and foundation of the English weal.
What then his father was, that since is he,
Now with a title more to the degree;
England's high Chancellor: the destined heir
In his soft cradle to his father's chair,
Whose even thread the Fates spin round and full,
Out of their choicest, and their whitest wool.
'Tis a brave cause of joy, let it be known,
For 'twere a narrow gladness, kept thine own.
Give me a deep-crowned bowl, that I may sing
In raising him the wisdom of my king.
