--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Seamen three! what men be ye? Gotham's…" description: "\"Seamen three! what men be ye? Gotham's three Wise Men we be. Whither in your bowl so free? To rake the moon from out the sea. The bowl goes trim. The m..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/thomas-love-peacock-12564_ballast_seamen-three-what-men-be-ye-gotham-s-thr_2332585.png" --- # Seamen three! what men be ye? Gotham's three Wise Men we… ![“Seamen three! what men be ye? Gotham's three Wise Men we be. Whither in your bowl so free? To rake the moon from out the sea. The bowl goes trim. The moon doth shine, And our ballast is old wine.” quote by Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/thomas-love-peacock-12564_ballast_seamen-three-what-men-be-ye-gotham-s-thr_2332585.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/thomas-love-peacock-12564_ballast_seamen-three-what-men-be-ye-gotham-s-thr_2332585.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/thomas-love-peacock-12564_ballast_seamen-three-what-men-be-ye-gotham-s-thr_2332585.png) > “Seamen three! what men be ye? Gotham's three Wise Men we be. Whither in your bowl so free? To rake the moon from out the sea. The bowl goes trim. The moon doth shine, And our ballast is old wine.” [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A whimsical dialogue about identity and the absurdity of pretensions, using nautical metaphors. **In simple terms:** Men question their roles while using playful sea imagery. Key Takeaway Embrace humor to reveal truth. Themes identity absurdity humor language Mood playful ironic Type literary satirical When to use this quote - theatrical performance - literary analysis - creative writing Key Concepts self‑reflection metaphor satire Questions to Reflect On - What does the bowl symbolize? - How does absurdity reveal truth? A Different Perspective The humor may obscure deeper meaning for some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ballast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ballast/) [Gotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gotham/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Old wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-wine/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Seamen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seamen/) [Shining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shining/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) [Wise men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise-men/) ## Related quotes > [I realize that they giggle and I actually laugh, that they show their cleavage and I have none to show, but just so you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-realize-that-they-giggle-and-i-actually-laugh-that-they-show-their/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/once-again-we-find-ourselves-enmeshed-in-the-holiday-season-that-very/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [“ Celebrations Christmas is Italy’s biggest holiday. Stores decorate in gold, silver, red, and white. At home, many people celebrate Christmas Eve with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-f-blashfield/celebrations-christmas-is-italy-s-biggest-holiday-stores-decorate-in/) [Jean F. Blashfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-f-blashfield/) > [The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/the-supreme-court-has-ruled-that-they-cannot-have-a-nativity-scene-in/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [The reason why I wear gold - I wear gold for three reasons. One, when Jesus was born, three wise men came from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mr-t/the-reason-why-i-wear-gold-i-wear-gold-for-three-reasons-one-when/) [Mr. T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mr-t/) > [Grace! It's Christmas for goodness sake! Think about the baby Jesus. Up in that tower letting his hair down, so that the three wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-walker/grace-it-s-christmas-for-goodness-sake-think-about-the-baby-jesus-up/) [Karen Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-walker/) > [When I was a kid, the miracles of my life were the Resurrection, a candlelight service on New Year's Eve, the Virgin Birth, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/when-i-was-a-kid-the-miracles-of-my-life-were-the-resurrection-a/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [My mom didn't write, but she loved to read. She liked books 'that made you a little nervous.' Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Peter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-easton/my-mom-didn-t-write-but-she-loved-to-read-she-liked-books-that-made/) [Michael Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-easton/) > [Black Mask is new money. He's rich. He's very, very powerful. He's made it. He's known for being brutal and sadistic. And particularly at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-holmes/black-mask-is-new-money-he-s-rich-he-s-very-very-powerful-he-s-made/) [Eric Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-holmes/) > [Each Catwoman is specific to the Gotham City she lives in and the director that helps shape her. So it's kind of hard to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-hathaway/each-catwoman-is-specific-to-the-gotham-city-she-lives-in-and-the/) [Anne Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-hathaway/) > [ First of all, what made him \[Duke in "Zero Year"\] captivating is this sense of somebody who wants to save the city regardless of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-snyder/first-of-all-what-made-him-duke-in-zero-year-captivating-is-this/) [Scott Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-snyder/) > [The great thing about Gotham is it encompasses so many different worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-heller/the-great-thing-about-gotham-is-it-encompasses-so-many-different/) [Bruno Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-heller/) > [Beware The Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-snyder/beware-the-court-of-owls-that-watches-all-the-time-ruling-gotham-from/) [Scott Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-snyder/) > [I naturally gravitate to darker characters. Gotham. Batman's suit. It's all dark; he's very interesting. It all comes from his builds and guts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-finch/i-naturally-gravitate-to-darker-characters-gotham-batman-s-suit-it-s/) [David Finch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-finch/) > ['Sex and The City' was made to correct the myth that if you were single at a certain age, you were a leper. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-patrick-king/sex-and-the-city-was-made-to-correct-the-myth-that-if-you-were-single/) [Michael Patrick King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-patrick-king/) ## More by Thomas Love Peacock > [But though first love's impassioned blindness Has passed away in colder light, I still have thought of you with kindness, And shall do, till…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/but-though-first-love-s-impassioned-blindness-has-passed-away-in/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [A book that furnishes no quotations is no book - it is a plaything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/a-book-that-furnishes-no-quotations-is-no-book-it-is-a-plaything/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [Names are changed more readily than doctrines, and doctrines more readily than ceremonies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/names-are-changed-more-readily-than-doctrines-and-doctrines-more/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [“She discovered, when it was too late, that she had mistaken the means for the end—that riches, rightly used, are instruments of happiness, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/she-discovered-when-it-was-too-late-that-she-had-mistaken-the-means/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [Man yields to death; and man's sublimest works Must yield at length to Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/man-yields-to-death-and-man-s-sublimest-works-must-yield-at-length-to/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [When Scythrop grew up, he was sent, as usual, to a public school, where a little learning was painfully beaten into him, and from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/when-scythrop-grew-up-he-was-sent-as-usual-to-a-public-school-where-a/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [“He had some taste for romance reading before he went to the university, where, we must confess, in justice to his college, he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/he-had-some-taste-for-romance-reading-before-he-went-to-the/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [I like the immaterial world. I like to live among thoughts and images of the past and the possible, and even of the impossible,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/i-like-the-immaterial-world-i-like-to-live-among-thoughts-and-images/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [Marriage may often be a stormy lake, but celibacy is almost always a muddy horse pond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/marriage-may-often-be-a-stormy-lake-but-celibacy-is-almost-always-a/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [“On the top of Cadair Idris, I felt how happy a man might be with a little money and a sane intellect, and reflected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/on-the-top-of-cadair-idris-i-felt-how-happy-a-man-might-be-with-a/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [There are two reasons for drinking wine...when you are thirsty, to cure it; the other, when you are not thirsty, to prevent it... prevention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/there-are-two-reasons-for-drinking-wine-when-you-are-thirsty-to-cure/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [In a bowl to sea went wise men three, On a brilliant night of June: They carried a net, and their hearts were set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/in-a-bowl-to-sea-went-wise-men-three-on-a-brilliant-night-of-june/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [How troublesome is day! It calls us from our sleep away; It bids us from our pleasant dreams awake, And sends us forth to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/how-troublesome-is-day-it-calls-us-from-our-sleep-away-it-bids-us/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [The truth, I am convinced, is that there is no longer a poetical audience among the higher class of minds, that moral, political, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/the-truth-i-am-convinced-is-that-there-is-no-longer-a-poetical/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) > [The highest wisdom and the highest genius have been invariably accompanied with cheerfulness. We have sufficient proofs on record that Shakespeare and Socrates were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-love-peacock/the-highest-wisdom-and-the-highest-genius-have-been-invariably/) [Thomas Love Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) [Explore all 54 Thomas Love Peacock quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-love-peacock/) ## More Ballast quotes > [ The more modest its intellectual ballast, the more exclusively it takes into consideration the emotions of the masses, the more effective \[propaganda\] will be. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-more-modest-its-intellectual-ballast-the-more-exclusively-it/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [Praise a fool, and slay him; for the canvas of his vanity is spread; His bark is shallow in the water, and a sudden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-farquhar-tupper/praise-a-fool-and-slay-him-for-the-canvas-of-his-vanity-is-spread-his/) [Martin Farquhar Tupper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-farquhar-tupper/) > [The mind must have for ballast the clear conception of duty, if it is not to fluctuate between levity and despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-frederic-amiel/the-mind-must-have-for-ballast-the-clear-conception-of-duty-if-it-is/) [Henri Frederic Amiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-frederic-amiel/) > [Hatred is the ballast of the rock which lies upon our necks and underfoot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/hatred-is-the-ballast-of-the-rock-which-lies-upon-our-necks-and/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [A hot air balloon requires a great deal of fuel to keep it aloft, so that you can't fly it even for one day.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-fossett/a-hot-air-balloon-requires-a-great-deal-of-fuel-to-keep-it-aloft-so/) [Steve Fossett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-fossett/) > [A vow imparts stability, ballast and firmness to one's character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/a-vow-imparts-stability-ballast-and-firmness-to-one-s-character/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [My remembrance of the past is a novel I am constantly recomposing; and it would not be a historical novel, but sheer fiction, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/my-remembrance-of-the-past-is-a-novel-i-am-constantly-recomposing-and/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Somehow this literary genre, which most people condemned, acted as a sort of counterbalance to Charles's soul; it was the ballast that prevented him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-lix-j-palma/somehow-this-literary-genre-which-most-people-condemned-acted-as-a/) [Félix J. Palma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-lix-j-palma/) > [Habit is the ballast that chains the dog to his vomit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/habit-is-the-ballast-that-chains-the-dog-to-his-vomit/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“The boat—no, it was a ship, as one of the crew had explained, since it had a solid superstructure and was stabilized by ballast,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-l-chalker/the-boat-no-it-was-a-ship-as-one-of-the-crew-had-explained-since-it/) [Jack L. Chalker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-l-chalker/) > [Wit gives an edge to sense, and recommends it extremely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-penn/wit-gives-an-edge-to-sense-and-recommends-it-extremely/) [William Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-penn/) > [Her purse was a weight, ballast; it tethered her to the earth as her mind floated away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/her-purse-was-a-weight-ballast-it-tethered-her-to-the-earth-as-her/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [It becomes necessary to learn how to clear the mind of all clouds, to free it of all useless ballast and debris by dismissing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indra-devi/it-becomes-necessary-to-learn-how-to-clear-the-mind-of-all-clouds-to/) [Indra Devi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indra-devi/) > [“No point carrying useless ballast. It won't change a thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-harris/no-point-carrying-useless-ballast-it-won-t-change-a-thing/) [Joanne Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-harris/) > [Ignorance and prejudice are the ballast of our ship of state - however, ships without ballast are not seaworthy and cannot sail in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/ignorance-and-prejudice-are-the-ballast-of-our-ship-of-state-however/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Browse all 33 Ballast quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ballast/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Seamen three! what men be ye? Gotham's three Wise Men we be. Whither in your bowl so free? To rake the moon from out the sea. The bowl goes trim. 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