"Shakespere's" Sonnets were first mentioned as being in existence in 1598 by Francis Meres.
In Sonnet 73 the poet confesses that he was then a prematurely old man. The poet, if Will Shaksper, would at that date be thirty-four; if Bacon, he would be thirty-seven. Bacon considered himself an old man when he had reached the age of thirty-one as appears from a letter he wrote to Lord Burleigh in 1592, where he says:

"I am now somewhat ancient; one and thirty years is a great deal of sand in the hour glass."

Is it a coincidence that "Shakespeare" and Bacon both considered themselves old men or before reaching the age of thirty-seven?