ALEXANDER BARCLAY

The Ship of Folys [The Ship of Fools]

London, England, 1509
Translation of the original German text Das Narrenschiff
by Sebastian Brant; Basel, Germany, 1494

title page illustration engraving, poem five

Poem Five: “Of the foolish description and inquisition

of diverse countries and regions”

Of the folysshe descripcion and inquisicion Of the foolish description and inquisition
of dyuers contrees and regyons of diverse countries and regions

Who that is besy to mesure and compace Who that is busy to measure and compass
The heuyn and erth and all the worlde large The heaven and earth and all the world large,
Describynge the clymatis and folke of euery place Describing the climate and folk of every place,
He is a fole and hath a greuous charge He is a fool and hath a grievous charge
Without auauntage, wherfore let hym discharge Without advantage, wherefore let him discharge
Hym selfe, of that fole whiche in his necke doth syt Himself of that folly which in his neck doth sit
About suche folyes dullynge his mynde and wyt. About such follies, dulling his mind and wit.

That fole, of wysdome and reason doth fayle That fool, of wisdom and reason doth fail, 1
And also discression labowrynge for nought. And also discretion, laboring for naught.
And in this shyp shall helpe to drawe the sayle And in this ship shall help to draw the sail
Which day and nyght infixeth all his thought Which day and night enfixeth all his thought
To haue the hole worlde within his body brought To have the whole world within his body brought,
Measurynge the costes of euery royalme and lande Measuring the coasts of every realm and land
And clymatis, with his compace, in his hande And climate, with his compass in his hand.

He coueytyth to knowe, and compryse in his mynde He coveteth to know, and comprise in his mind,
*
National Humanities Center, 2006: www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/pds/pds.htm. In T. H. Jamieson, ed., The Ship of Fools Translated by Alexander Barclay (Edin-
burgh: Wm. Paterson / London: H. Sotheran & Co., 1874, 2 vols.), Vol. II, pp. 23-27. Modern English translation by John Wall, Professor of English,
North Carolina State University; Fellow, National Humanities Center, 1980-1981. Complete image credits at www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/pds/amerbegin/image
credits.htm.
1
I.e. “That fool whose wisdom and reason fail him, / And also his discretion, laboring for nothing.”
Euery regyon and euery sundry place Every region and every sundry place
Whiche ar nat knowen to any of mankynde Which are not known to any of mankind
And neuer shall be without a specyall grace And never shall be without a special grace.
Yet suche folys take pleasour and solace Yet such fools take pleasure and solace
The length and brede of the worlde to mesure The length and breadth of the world to measure
In vayle besynes, takynge great charge and cure In vain busyness, taking great charge and care.

They set great stody labour and besynes They set great study, labor, and busyness
To knowe the people that in the east abyde To know the people that in the east abide
And by and by theyr mesures after dres And by and by their measures after dress 2
To knowe what folke the west and north part gyde To know what folk the west and north part guide
And who the sowth, thus all the worlde wyde And who the south; thus all the world wide
By these folys is meated by ieometry By these fools is meated 3 by geometry
Yet knowe they scant theyr owne vnwyse body Yet know they scant their own unwise body.

Another labours to knowe the nacions wylde Another labors to know the nations wild,
Inhabytynge the worlde in the North plage and syde Inhabiting the world in the North plage 4 and side,
Metynge by mesure, countrees both fyers and mylde Meeting by measure countries both fierce and mild
Vnder euery planete, where men sayle go or ryde Under every planet, where man sail, go, or ride,
And so this fole castyth his wyt so wyde And so this fool casteth his wit so wide
To knowe eche londe vnder the fyrmament To know each land under the firmament
That therabout in vayne his tyme is spent That thereabout in vain his time is spent.

Than with his compace drawyth he about Then with his compass draweth he about
Europe, and Asye, to knowe howe they stande Europe and Asia, to know how they stand,
And of theyr regyons nat to be in dout And of their regions not to be in doubt.
Another with Grece and Cesyll is in honde Another with Greece and Sicily is in hand
With Apuly, Afryke and the newe fonde londe With Apulia, 5 Africa, and the new found land,
With Numydy and, where the Moryans do dwell With Numidia, 6 and where the Mauryans 7 do dwell
And other londes whose namys none can tell And other lands whose names none can tell.

He mesureth Athlant, calpe, and cappadoce He measureth Atlantic, 8 Calpe, 9 and Cappadocia, 10
The see of Hercules garnado and Spayne The sea of Hercules, 11 Granada, and Spain,
The yles there aboute shewynge all in groce The isles thereabout, showing all in gross,
Throwynge his mesure to Fraunce and to Brytayne Throwing his measure to France and to Brittany
The more and lesse, to Flaundres and almayne The more and less, to Flanders and Almayne. 12
There is no yle so lytell that hath name There is no isle so little that hath name
But that these Folys in hande ar with the same But that these Fools in hand are with the same. 13

And regyons that ar compasyd with the se And regions that are compassed with the sea

2
Dres, or dress, here means “to organize,” “to put in order,” to arrange,” or “to divide” their “measures,” or activities. The word refers to the process
of thought by which the “fools” who want to know about the peoples of the world organize or arrange their efforts so that they may know who lives in
the east, in the west and north, and in the south.
3
Meated, as in “fed by”; these people feed their minds with the study of the world, but neglect their bodies.
4
Plage: region, section, zone.
5
Apulia: region in southeast Italy.
6
Numidia: ancient north African kingdom.
7
Mauryan Empire: first unified empire of India.
8
Athlant: variant spelling of “Atlantic”; in Barclay’s day, the sea on the western shore of Africa, hence linked to Calpe (Gibraltar) and the Sea of
Hercules.
9
Calpe: Gibraltar.
10
Cappadoca: ancient country, now Turkey.
11
Sea of Hercules: Mediterranean Sea.
12
Almayne: Germany.
13
I.e., “There is no island that has a name that is too little to be included in these fools’ efforts to encompass it.”

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They besely labour to knowe and vnderstande They busily labor to know and understand
And by what cause, nature or propertye And by what cause, nature, or property
These doth flowe, nat ouercouerynge the londe These doth flow, not overcovering the land,
So he descrybyth his cercle in his honde So he describes, his circle in his hand,
The hole worlde: leuynge no thynge behynde The whole world: leaving no thing behind
As in the Doctrynes of Strabo he doth fynde As in the Doctrines of Strabo he doth find, 14

Whiche wrote in bokes makynge declaracion Which wrote in books making declaration
Somtyme hym groundynge vpon auctoryte Sometime him grounding upon authority
Howe eche Royalme and londe had sytuacion How each Realm and land had situation,
Some in brode feldes some closyd with the see Some in broad fields, some closed with the sea. 15
But ye geometryans that of this purpose be But you geometricians, that of this purpose be,
Ye ar but folys to take suche cure and payne You are but fools to take such care and pain
About a thynge whiche is fruteles and vayne About a thing which is fruitless and vain.

It passyth your reason the hole worlde to discus It passeth your reason the whole world to discuss
And knowe euery londe and countrey of the grounde And know every land and country of the ground,
For though that the noble actour plinius For though that the noble actor Plinius 16
The same purposyd, yet fawty is he founde The same purposed, yet faulty is he found
And in Tholomeus great errours doth habounde And in Ptolemy great errors doth abound
Thoughe he by auctoryte makyth mencyon Though he by authority maketh mention
Of the descripcion of euery regyon Of the description of every region.

Syns these actours so excellent of name Since these actors, so excellent of name,
Hath bokes composyd of this facultye Have books composed of this faculty
And neuer coude parfytely perfourme the same And never could perfectly perform the same,
Forsoth it is great foly vnto the Forsooth it is great folly unto them
To labour about suche folysshe vanyte To labor about such foolish vanity.
It is a furour also one to take payne It is a furor 17 also one to take pain
In suche thynges as prouyd ar vncertayne In such things as proud or uncertain.

For nowe of late hath large londe and grounde For now of late hath large land and ground
Ben founde by maryners and crafty gouernours Been found by mariners and crafty governors
The whiche londes were neuer knowen nor founde The which lands were never known nor found
Byfore our tyme by our predecessours Before our time by our predecessors
And here after shall by our successours And hereafter shall by our successors
Parchaunce mo be founde, wherin men dwell Perchance more be found, wherein men dwell
Of whome we neuer before this same harde tell Of whom we never before this same heard tell.

Ferdynandus that late was kynge of spayne Ferdinand, that late was king of Spain,
Of londe and people hath founde plenty and store Of land and people hath found plenty and store,
Of whome the bydynge to vs was vncertayne Of whom the biding 18 to us was uncertain.
No christen man of them harde tell before No Christian man of them heard tell before.
Thus is it foly to tende vnto the lore Thus is it folly to tend unto the lore
And vnsure science of vayne geometry And unsure science of vain geometry

14
Strabo (1st C. B. C.–A. D. 1st C.): Greek philosopher, historian, and geographer; author of the seventeen-volume Geographica.
15
I.e., “closed by the sea.”
16
Pliny the Elder (1st C. A. D.): Roman military commander and natural philosopher; author of the thirty-seven-volume Naturalis Historia (Natural
History), of which four volumes summarized the geographical knowledge of his time.
17
Furor: mania, i.e., “It is a mania for someone to put such an effort into such proud or uncertain things.”
18
Biding: abiding, i.e., “Ferdinand, the King of Spain, has found a large number of people and lands; we did not know who lived [abided] there, we did
not know they existed.”

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Syns none can knowe all the worlde perfytely Since none can know all the world perfectly.
THENUOY OF BARKLAY THE ENVOY OF BARKLAY
Ye people that labour the worlde to mesure You people that labor the world to measure
Therby to knowe the regyons of the same Thereby to know the regions of the same
Knowe firste your self, that knowledge is moste sure Know first your self; that knowledge is most sure,
For certaynly it is rebuke and shame For certainly it is [a] rebuke and shame
For man to labour. onely for a name For man to labor only for a name,
To knowe the compasse of all the worlde wyde To know the compass of all the world wide
Nat knowynge hym selfe, Not knowing himself,
nor howe he sholde hym gyde nor how he should him guide.

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