The Ship of Fools. Sebastian Brant.
The Ship of Fools.
Sebastian Brant.
Dover: 1962/1944/1494
Originally written in 1494, this book is comprised of 112 poems, each describing a particular "foolishness" in an insightful and frequently humorous way. This book has been both influential and well read over the centuries, and I decided to read it more out of curiousity and/or an educational impulse than for enjoyment. Imagine my surprise, then, when I not only found the book very enjoyable, but even inspiring, as I read about my own foibles and why I should try to improve myself.
Brant was a conservative Catholic in Reformation-era Germany, and some of the sins he takes on are a little outdated in today's America, but the vast majority of the book covers general faults of humanity: bad manners, causing discord, complacency, adultery, sloth, etc.
The translation is among the best poetry translations I've read--smooth reading, and the poems even rhyme still. Perhaps the original is easy to read as well, but this English translation is definitely so. I had not intended to keep this, but it is worth rereading certain of these poems which are most applicable to my own faults.
Trivia note: this is the first book to refer to the discovery of America.
Sebastian Brant.
Dover: 1962/1944/1494
Originally written in 1494, this book is comprised of 112 poems, each describing a particular "foolishness" in an insightful and frequently humorous way. This book has been both influential and well read over the centuries, and I decided to read it more out of curiousity and/or an educational impulse than for enjoyment. Imagine my surprise, then, when I not only found the book very enjoyable, but even inspiring, as I read about my own foibles and why I should try to improve myself.
Brant was a conservative Catholic in Reformation-era Germany, and some of the sins he takes on are a little outdated in today's America, but the vast majority of the book covers general faults of humanity: bad manners, causing discord, complacency, adultery, sloth, etc.
The translation is among the best poetry translations I've read--smooth reading, and the poems even rhyme still. Perhaps the original is easy to read as well, but this English translation is definitely so. I had not intended to keep this, but it is worth rereading certain of these poems which are most applicable to my own faults.
Trivia note: this is the first book to refer to the discovery of America.
posted by Scott Givens at 7:45 AM
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