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← ExitThe Anatomy of Melancholy

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Subsection 5. Causes of Melancholy Arising From the Whole Body.

Subsection 5. Causes of melancholy arising from the whole body.

As before, the cause of this kind of melancholy is internal or external. Internal: when the liver is prone to generate such a humour, or the spleen is naturally weak and unable to perform its function. A melancholic temperament, suppression of haemorrhoidal bleeding, menstrual flow and nosebleeds, long illnesses, fevers and all those six non-natural things increase it.

But especially bad diet, as Piso thinks: pulses, salted meat, shellfish, cheese, dark wine, and so on. Mercurialis, citing Averroes and Avicenna, condemns all herbs; Galen, in book 3, chapter 7 on affected parts, especially cabbage. So likewise fear, sorrow, discontents and so on—but these have been discussed before. Thus, in brief, you have had the general and particular causes of melancholy.

Now go and brag of your present happiness, whoever you are! Brag of your constitution, of your good qualities; exult, triumph and boast! You see how fragile your condition is, how soon you may be brought low, in how many different ways: by bad diet, bad air, a small loss, a little sorrow or discontent, a fever, and so on. How many sudden events may bring about your ruin, how slight your hold on happiness in this life, how weak and helpless a creature you are!

“Humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God,” 1 Peter 5:6. Know yourself, acknowledge your present misery and put that knowledge to proper use. “Let whoever stands take care not to fall.”

You flourish now and possess “the goods of mind, body and fortune”—goods of body, mind and fortune. “You do not know what late evening may bring with it”: you do not know what storms and tempests the late evening may bring.

Do not be complacent, then; “be sober and watch.” “Treat fortune with respect,” if you are fortunate and rich; if sick and poor, govern yourself with moderation. I have said my say.

4303.“Retention” governs haemorrhoidal bleeding, monthly discharges and nosebleeds: their suppression is intended, rather than the bleeding itself. “Temperature” means bodily temperament. This third kind is attributed to the body’s overall humoral state.

4305.“Pulse” means peas, beans, lentils and similar edible seeds; “salt meat,” preserved meat; “black wine,” dark-coloured wine. “Herbs” is broader than modern culinary seasonings and can include green vegetables. Burton reports the dietary judgements of his authorities.

4306.“Insult” here means exult or vaunt oneself; “good parts” means good qualities or abilities; “silly” means weak or helpless in this context. The medical catalogue turns into direct moral address, exposing the precariousness of the reader’s apparent good fortune.

4307.The first quotation is 1 Peter 5:6. Qui stat videat ne cadat abbreviates 1 Corinthians 10:12, which warns the person who thinks he stands to take care lest he fall. Burton applies the scriptural warning to confidence in health and worldly success.

4308.The Latin lists mind, body and fortune; Burton’s English reverses the first two, and both orders are preserved. The evening proverb resembles the title of Varro’s Menippean satire quoted in Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights 13.11.1, Nescis quid vesper serus vehat. Burton adds storms and tempests in his English expansion.

4310.“Be sober and watch” recalls 1 Peter 5:8. Ausonius, Epigrams 2.7–8 in Evelyn-White’s numbering, advises respect for fortune after recounting how King Agathocles remembered his humble origin. “Secure” means overconfident or complacent. “I have said” closes the section on causes, before Section 3 turns to symptoms.