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← ExitThe Anatomy of Melancholy

Reading language

Contextual Lexicon

The word. Nepenthe names Homer’s grief-banishing drug, used here through an interpretation that makes it timely, consoling speech. Burton’s argument depends on the capacity of words to ease distress.

In Burton. Gentle speech becomes a remedy, a charm and refreshment for an agitated mind. Burton invokes an interpretation of the Homeric gift as speech suited to its occasion, rather than a medicinal plant. The sequence makes the manner and timing of consolation part of its efficacy.

The places. Nepenthe becomes the culminating image for timely consolation. (p. 292 [296]–297; DJR-084-21.)

In this edition. “Nepenthe” → “nepenthe” (DJR-084-21); “opportunity of speech” → “speech suited to the occasion” (DJR-084-21). The name is retained while opportunity is explained as fitness to the occasion. The reading follows Burton’s appeal to the allegorical interpretation, without replacing Homer’s narrative with it.

See also. Mirth.

Nice

Source forms: nice; nice education; nice gentlewomen; nicely

The word. Nice can mean delicate or fastidious; nice education is an excessively delicate upbringing. Nicely can mean with excessive scruple. These examples do not use nice simply to praise pleasantness.

In Burton. The gentlewoman’s disgust and the pampered child’s upbringing both concern delicacy. The discussion of women’s illness extends the word into a class-based contrast between labour and leisure. In the account of games, excessive scruple is distinguished from reasonable objections to actual abuse.

The places. Nice describes the gentlewoman whose disgust is intensified by speech. (p. 147; DJR-051-13.) Nice education is paired with coddling. (p. 149 [sequence; printed 145]; DJR-050-53.) Nice gentlewomen belong to Burton’s contrast with labouring women. (p. 204; DJR-063-09.) Nicely describes excessive objections to games. (p. 274–275; DJR-080-01.)

In this edition. “nice Gentlewoman” → “delicate gentlewoman” (DJR-051-13); “nice education” → “delicate upbringing” (DJR-050-53); “nice gentlewomen” → “delicate gentlewomen” (DJR-063-09); “too nicely” → “too scrupulously” (DJR-080-01). Delicate and scrupulously distinguish the personal, educational and moral contexts. The account of games still allows justified criticism of harmful conduct.

See also. Curiosity.

Non naturals

Source forms: non-natural; non-natural things

The word. The six non-naturals are conditions of life that can support or disturb health: diet, retention and evacuation, air, exercise and rest, sleep and waking, and the passions. Non-natural is a technical category, not a judgment that these things are unnatural.

In Burton. Burton calls them necessary because people cannot avoid their influence. Their use or misuse changes the body, so they supply a framework for both causes and the management of illness. The synopsis gives the same category a structural place among the necessary causes.

The places. Necessary causes are explained as unavoidable conditions of life. (p. 65; DJR-033-29.) The synopsis introduces the six non-natural things. (p. 99; DJR-020-35.)

In this edition. “six non-natural things” → “six non-natural things” (DJR-033-29); “six non-naturall things” → “six non-natural things” (DJR-020-35). The technical name is retained and explained. Necessary does not mean that their harmful misuse is inevitable; it describes the conditions themselves.

See also. Air; Diet and regimen; Exercise; Waking; Perturbation; Rectification.

Obnubilate

Source forms: obnubilate

The word. To obnubilate is to cloud or darken. Burton uses the verb for a mind supposedly obscured by melancholy vapour.

In Burton. The cloud covering the Sun and smoke rising through a chimney give visible form to his account of vapours ascending from the abdomen to the brain. Their supposed effect explains how ordinarily wise and judicious people may think and act in uncharacteristic ways.

The places. Cloud and smoke comparisons explain the darkening of the mind. (p. 200; DJR-062-18.)

In this edition. “obnubilate the minde” → “clouds the mind” (DJR-062-18). Cloud preserves the governing image while replacing the unfamiliar verb. The historical physiology remains distinguishable from the comparison used to illustrate it.

See also. Imagination; Vapours.

Obsession and possession

Source forms: obsession; possession

The word. Obsession here means harassment or assault by a spirit, placed beside possession by devils. It does not name an intrusive recurring thought in the modern psychiatric sense.

In Burton. Burton includes the paired terms in a catalogue of states classified under fury or madness, together with visions, prophetic transports, poetic frenzy and conditions attributed to poisons. The grouping records a historical scheme with several kinds of alleged cause.

The places. Obsession and possession appear among the reported kinds of fury. (p. 9; DJR-022-24.)

In this edition. “Obsession or possession of devils” → “demonic harassment or possession” (DJR-022-24). Harassment makes the older sense of obsession explicit. Possession remains the name of the reported supernatural state.

See also. Daemon and genius.

Occult

Source forms: occult

The word. Occult means hidden in its workings. In this passage it describes a quality whose attractive operation is not visible, without making occult a separate name for magic.

In Burton. Burton concedes an honourable, natural love and describes its force through a hidden snare and magnetic attraction. Occult belongs to that account of love’s compelling power, alongside adamantine and virtue.

The places. A hidden attractive property explains the supposed force of natural love. (p. 442; DJR-115-02.)

In this edition. “occult” → “hidden” (DJR-115-02). Hidden fits the immediate account. Magnetic and force clarify the neighbouring words, preserving their contribution to the image of attraction.

See also. Fascination; Virtue.

Oppilation

Source forms: oppilations

The word. Oppilations are blockages or obstructions within the body. The term belongs here to a list of harmful effects explained through digestion and humours.

In Burton. Burton’s catalogue moves from undigested matter and wind through obstruction, corrupt humours, excessive fullness and poor digestion to sudden death. Oppilation names one stage or condition in that accumulation of consequences.

The places. Oppilations occurs among the bodily consequences listed under Fernel’s authority. (p. 72; DJR-035-04.)

In this edition. “oppilations” → “obstructions” (DJR-035-04). Obstructions gives the general meaning without identifying a specific modern disease or location that the sentence does not specify.

See also. Concoction.

Ordinary

Source forms: ordinary preacher; ordinary

The word. Ordinary means regular or usual in these passages. An ordinary preacher holds a regular role; ordinary recreations are customary pastimes.

In Burton. The minister’s regular public activity makes his withdrawal through shame especially striking. The recreation catalogue describes familiar winter occupations rather than judging their quality as unexceptional.

The places. Ordinary identifies the minister’s regular preaching. (p. 99–100 [supplied; scan p. 200]; DJR-040-34.) Ordinary identifies customary winter recreations. (p. 274; DJR-079-41.)

13582.Edited source passages: p. 147 (DJR-051-13); p. 149 [sequence; printed 145] (DJR-050-53); p. 204 (DJR-063-09); p. 274–275 (DJR-080-01). Existing edition notes: DJR-050:E40, DJR-051:E10, DJR-063:E09, DJR-080:E01. DJR-050:E40 locates part of the Quintilian material at 1.2.6–8 rather than the printed 1.3, without identifying the opening maxim there. DJR-063:E09 qualifies the social generalization. DJR-080:E01 explains Gataker’s recreational lots. The supplied sequence page 149 and printed 145 remain distinguished.

13583.Edited source passages: p. 65 (DJR-033-29); p. 99 (DJR-020-35). Existing edition notes: DJR-020:E23, DJR-033:E17. DJR-033:E17 explains the pairings that yield six, including exercise as the heading for motion and rest. DJR-020:E23 provides the enumeration and distinguishes these conditions from incidental circumstances such as poverty or imprisonment.

13584.Edited source passages: p. 200 (DJR-062-18). Existing edition notes: DJR-062:E16. DJR-062:E16 explains the verb, chimeras and callings, and identifies the vapours as part of the period’s account rather than an independently established mechanism.

13585.Edited source passages: p. 9 (DJR-022-24). Existing edition notes: DJR-022:E21. DJR-022:E21 distinguishes obsession from the modern psychiatric usage and explains enthusiasm and reduce to in the surrounding classification.

13586.Edited source passages: p. 442 (DJR-115-02). Existing edition notes: DJR-115:E02. DJR-115:E02 explains honest, virtue and adamantine. It also preserves the Latin’s statement that men cannot be separated from women beside Burton’s shorter English paraphrase.

13587.Edited source passages: p. 72 (DJR-035-04). Existing edition notes: DJR-035:E01, DJR-035:E02. DJR-035:E01 retains printed cruelties while explaining the contextual conjecture crudities behind undigested matter; Fernel remains uncollated. E02 identifies Juvenal 1.144 and distinguishes dying without a will from anything intestinal, despite Burton’s printed Sat. 5.

13588.Edited source passages: p. 99–100 [supplied; scan p. 200] (DJR-040-34); p. 274 (DJR-079-41). Existing edition notes: DJR-040:E27, DJR-079:E35. DJR-040:E27 preserves the marginal fear of accusation beyond the embarrassment in the body; Foreest’s exact case remains uncollated. The supplied-page qualification, displayed 99–100 span and scan locator remain explicit. DJR-079:E35 leaves some game rules and small trunks unresolved.