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← ExitThe Anatomy of Melancholy

Reading language

Contextual Lexicon

In this edition. “temporize as other men do” → “trim their conduct to circumstances as others do” (DJR-007-14); “this temporising age” → “this opportunistic age” (DJR-110-23). The renderings make the adjustment of conduct explicit and retain its critical force. The surrounding language of promotion, patronage and bribery explains what the accommodation is meant to secure.

See also. Policy; Ambodexter.

Temptation

Source forms: tentation; temptation; temptations

The word. Temptation, also written tentation, can mean a trial or testing, an inducement to wrongdoing, or a troubling impulse. The context determines which force is present.

In Burton. Adversity tests a Christian as a storm tests a sailor. The later discussion calls a trial of faith divine temptation, following Perkins. In the examples attributed to Platter, temptations instead names impulses towards self-destruction. A single modern equivalent would obscure this change of sense.

The places. Temptation and misery test the Christian’s endurance. (p. 311; DJR-087-29.) Divine temptation names the testing of faith. (p. 700; DJR-165-08.) Temptations refers to destructive impulses in the reported cases. (p. 704; DJR-166-04.)

In this edition. “tentation & misery” → “temptation and misery” (DJR-087-29); “divine temptation” → “divine testing” (DJR-165-08); “such temptations” → “such temptations” (DJR-166-04). Divine testing clarifies the theological use without implying that God entices people to wrongdoing. Where temptation remains unchanged, the article distinguishes trial from the impulses described in the narrative.

See also. Conscience.

Tires and weeds

Source forms: tires; tyres; weeds

The word. Tires and tyres are forms of attire: dress or adornments. Weeds can likewise mean clothes, without its familiar botanical sense.

In Burton. Dress participates in courtly imitation and in the appearance of wealth. The magnificent clothing attributed to Cyrus helps explain why people are judged by their exterior. Chariclea’s beggar’s weeds supply the opposite appearance: beauty is said to remain visible even beneath impoverished clothing.

The places. Tires are the fashions imitated along with gestures and conduct. (p. 37; DJR-011-04.) Gay tyres are magnificent dress that encourages admiration. (p. 156; DJR-052-41.) Beggar’s weeds are the clothes in which Chariclea’s beauty still shines. (p. 469; DJR-120-22.)

In this edition. “fashions in tires” → “fashions in dress” (DJR-011-04); “gay tyres” → “magnificent dress” (DJR-052-41); “beggers weeds” → “beggar’s clothes” (DJR-120-22). Dress and clothes identify the material sense. Magnificent preserves the splendour of gay in this setting. The Chariclea example forms part of Burton’s comparison of natural beauty with deliberate enhancement, not a botanical metaphor.

See also. Habit and disposition; Brave; Homely.

Tædium vitae

Source forms: tædium vitæ

The word. Tædium vitæ is weariness or disgust with life. The expression describes aversion to living, more deeply than passing boredom.

In Burton. Burton places it among symptoms that include restlessness, dissatisfaction, thoughts of self-injury and alternating desires to live and die. The rapid changes between staying and leaving, rising and going to bed give the phrase its immediate setting.

The places. Weariness of life appears amid restless changes of purpose and desire. (p. 184; DJR-059-09.)

In this edition. “tædium vitæ” → “Weariness of life” (DJR-059-09). The translation states the Latin sense directly. The surrounding passage preserves both the seriousness of the distress and the alternation of desires, without turning Burton’s historical symptom description into a modern diagnostic category.

See also. Sorrow.

Usury

Source forms: usury

The word. Usury can mean lending at interest generally. It does not invariably carry the narrower sense of an exceptionally high or extortionate charge.

In Burton. Burton’s imagined commonwealth excludes biting usurers but makes a concession to human imperfection by tolerating some lending at interest. The force of the passage depends on that distinction between the rejected abuse and the admitted practice.

The places. The rejection of extortionate lenders is followed by a qualified allowance of interest. (p. 66; DJR-017-08.)

In this edition. “biting usurers” → “extortionate moneylenders” (DJR-017-08); “some kinde of usury” → “some lending at interest” (DJR-017-08). The two equivalents preserve the distinction within the paragraph. Reading both expressions as extortion would conceal the scope of Burton’s concession.

See also. Legal evidence; Commodity.

Vapours

Source forms: vapours

The word. Vapours are bodily exhalations in the historical physiology invoked here. Their presence or absence is used to explain sleep and disturbances of the mind.

In Burton. Burton links severe fasting to a lack of the vapours thought necessary for sleep, and sleeplessness to mental disorder and frightening sounds. He gives a physiological explanation to material drawn from accounts of Hilarion and Antony.

The places. Lack of vapours is offered as the reason fasting prevents sleep. (p. 656; DJR-156-09.)

In this edition. “for want of vapours he could not sleep” → “For lack of vapours he could not sleep” (DJR-156-09). Vapours is retained because it belongs to the causal model Burton is reporting. Substituting a present-day physiological agent would replace that model rather than explain it.

See also. Hypochondria; Obnubilate.

Venery

Source forms: Venus; Venery; debt

The word. Venery means sexual intercourse in these passages. Venus names the activity through the goddess of love; the marital debt is another expression for sexual relations, framed as an obligation between spouses.

In Burton. Sexual activity appears within the historical regimen of retentions and evacuations, where both excess and absence may be blamed for illness. Frequent venery is also among the reported causes in an individual case. The debt passage joins a scriptural allusion to a medical author’s claim about the quality of offspring.

The places. Venus names sexual activity in a catalogue of bodily discharges and retentions. (p. 78; DJR-036-08.) Frequent venery is one of the causes attributed to a medical case. (p. 176; DJR-057-27.) The marital debt provides the language for a claim about procreation. (p. 64; DJR-033-14.)

In this edition. “immoderate, or no use at all of Venus” → “excessive sexual activity or none at all” (DJR-036-08); “frequent use of Venery” → “frequent sexual intercourse” (DJR-057-27); “they pay their debt” → “They pay their debt” (DJR-033-14). The explicit sexual equivalents clarify the first two expressions. Debt remains as the scriptural metaphor, with its reciprocal marital context explained. The assertion about offspring remains attributed to the historical medical writer.

Venial sin

Source forms: venially; venialiter

The word. Venial sin is a lesser sin, distinguished from mortal sin in the theological classification Burton cites. Venially and the Latin venialiter mean in that lesser degree.

In Burton. In the argument against excessive parental restrictions on marriage, Burton reports that marrying for physical beauty is not even a venial sin. The qualification strengthens the cited permission; it does not concede a minor fault.

13662.Edited source passages: p. 311 (DJR-087-29); p. 700 (DJR-165-08); p. 704 (DJR-166-04). Existing edition notes: DJR-087:E21, DJR-165:E08, DJR-166:E02. DJR-087:E21 supplies a close Augustinian parallel, not the exact wording, and leaves the Basil reference uncollated. DJR-165:E08 identifies the discussion in Perkins’s Cases of Conscience while leaving Burton’s edition unidentified. DJR-166:E02 treats the Platter cases as attributed reports, not evidence of their frequency.

13663.Edited source passages: p. 37 (DJR-011-04); p. 156 (DJR-052-41); p. 469 (DJR-120-22). Existing edition notes: DJR-011:E03, DJR-052:E38, DJR-120:E19. DJR-011:E03 preserves the court anecdotes as Burton’s reports. DJR-052:E38 explains the satire on seeming wealth and the placement of the Xenophon marginal note. DJR-120:E19 identifies weeds as clothes and leaves the precise Heliodorus passage uncollated. DJR-120-22 supplements the selected evidence for the existing compound headword.

13664.Edited source passages: p. 184 (DJR-059-09). Existing edition notes: DJR-059:E09. DJR-059:E09 relates the slow and joyless passage of time to Horace, Epistles 1.1.23–24. The Aurelianus reference is retained as printed; its particular edition remains unchecked.

13665.Edited source passages: p. 66 (DJR-017-08). Existing edition notes: DJR-017:E05. DJR-017:E05 explains the regulated exception and the ensuing provision for lenders, borrowers, rates and a common bank. The Latin clauses and Burton’s English restatements are both retained.

13666.Edited source passages: p. 656 (DJR-156-09). Existing edition notes: DJR-156:E09. DJR-156:E09 compares Jerome’s Life of Hilarion 5–6 and Athanasius’s Life of Antony 7–9. Antony’s bodily equilibrium in section 14 limits the attribution: not every detail of Burton’s combined account can be assigned equally to both figures.

13667.Edited source passages: p. 78 (DJR-036-08); p. 176 (DJR-057-27); p. 64 (DJR-033-14). Existing edition notes: DJR-033:E11, DJR-036:E06, DJR-057:E23. DJR-036:E06 explains Venus and the adjoining anatomical terms. DJR-057:E23 identifies headpiece as a helmet but leaves the medical case and Caesius identification unverified. DJR-033:E11 distinguishes the reciprocal duty in 1 Corinthians 7:3 from the author’s added claim about weak offspring; no missing marginal note has been invented.

13668.Edited source passages: p. 577 (DJR-140-85). Existing edition notes: DJR-140:B34, DJR-140:E54. DJR-140:E54 explains the distinction, corrects the Rachel reference to Genesis 29 and preserves the limits of Burton’s description of the captive-marriage conditions. The Bonaventure and Apuleius passages remain uncollated. DJR-140:B34 supplies the marginal Latin and its translation.