The Anatomy of Melancholy

Name: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Author: Robert Burton

1651 English with a close modern English rendering

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The Anatomy of MelancholyTreatment of Despair Through Medicine, Good Counsel, Consolation, and So On.

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1651 English Page · Branch 1053 of 1495

Treatment of Despair Through Medicine, Good Counsel, Consolation, and So On.

Book Mode

1651 English

711–712

If there be any such supream power he takes no notice of our doings, hears not our prayers, regardeth them not, will not, cannot help, or else he is partiall, an excepter of persons, authour of sin, a cruell, a destructive God, to create our souls, and destinate them to eternall damnation, to make us worse then our dogs and horses, why doth he not govern things better, protect good men, root out wicked livers? why do they prosper and flourish? as she raved in the tragedy ——pellices cœlum tenent, there they shine,

Suásq; Perseus aureas stellas habet,

where is his providence? how appears it?

Marmoreo Licinus tumulo jacet, at Cato parvo, Pomponius nullo, quis putet esse Deos.

Why doth he suffer Turks to overcome Christians, the enemy to triumph over his Church; Paganisme to domineer in all places as it doth, heresies to multiply, such enormities to be committed? and so many such bloudy wars, murders, massacres, plagues, feral diseases? why doth he not make us all good, able, sound? why makes he venomous creatures, rocks, sands, deserts, this earth it self the muck-hill of the world, a prison, an house of correction?

Mentimur regnare Iovem, &c.

With many such horrible and execrable conceits, not fit to be uttered; Terribilia de fide, horribilia de Divinitate. They cannot some of them but think evil, they are compelled volentes nolentes, to blaspheme, especially when they come to Church and pray, read, &c. such foul and prodigious suggestions come into their hearts.

These are abominable, unspeakable offences, and most opposite to God, tentationes fœdæ & impiæ; yet in this case, he or they that shall be tempted and so affected, must know, that no man living is free from such thoughts in part, or at some times the most divine spirits have been so tempted in some sort, evil custom, omission of holy exercises, ill company, idleness, solitariness, melancholy, or depraved nature, and the divel is still ready to corrupt, trouble, and divert our souls, to suggest such blasphemous thoughts into our phantasies, ungodly, profane, monstrous and wicked conceits:

If they come from Satan, they are more speedy, fearfull and violent, the parties cannot avoid them: they are more frequent, I say, and monstrous when they come; for the divel he is a spirit, and hath means and opportunitie to mingle himself with our spirits, and sometimes more slily, sometimes more abruptly and openly, to suggest such divelish thoughts into our hearts; he insults and domineers in melancholy distempered phantasies and persons especially:

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Treatment of Despair Through Medicine, Good Counsel, Consolation, and So On.

p. 1053

If there is such a supreme power, he takes no notice of our actions, does not hear or regard our prayers, will not or cannot help; or else he is partial, shows favouritism, authors sin—a cruel and destructive God who creates our souls and destines them for eternal damnation, making us worse off than our dogs and horses. Why does he not govern things better, protect good people and root out the wicked? Why do they prosper and flourish? As she raged in the tragedy, mistresses occupy heaven: there they shine,

And Perseus has his golden stars.

Where is his providence? How does it show itself?

Licinus lies in a marble tomb, Cato in a small one, Pomponius in none: who would think that gods exist?

Why does he allow Turks to overcome Christians, the enemy to triumph over his Church, paganism to prevail everywhere as it does, heresies to multiply and such atrocities to be committed? Why so many bloody wars, murders, massacres, plagues and deadly diseases? Why does he not make us all good, capable and healthy? Why does he make venomous creatures, rocks, sands and deserts, and this earth itself the universe’s dunghill, a prison, a house of correction?

We lie when we say that Jupiter reigns, and so on.

With many other such horrible and accursed notions, unfit to be uttered: terrible things about faith, horrible things about the Godhead. Some cannot help thinking evil; they are compelled, willing or unwilling, to blaspheme, especially when they attend church, pray or read. Such foul and monstrous suggestions enter their hearts.

These are abominable, unspeakable offences, utterly opposed to God, foul and impious temptations. Yet anyone tempted and affected in this way must know that no living person is wholly free of such thoughts; at times even the most godly souls have been tempted in some degree. Evil habit, neglect of religious exercises, bad company, idleness, solitude, melancholy or corrupted nature may contribute, and the devil is always ready to corrupt, trouble and divert our souls, suggesting such blasphemous thoughts to our imaginations—ungodly, profane, monstrous and wicked notions.

If they come from Satan, they are swifter, more frightening and more violent, and the sufferers cannot avoid them. They are more frequent, I say, and monstrous when they come. For the devil is a spirit and has the means and opportunity to mingle himself with our spirits, introducing such devilish thoughts into our hearts sometimes more secretly, sometimes more abruptly and openly. He assails and dominates especially those people and imaginations disturbed by melancholy.

13156.The speaker is Juno in Seneca’s Hercules Furens 5. She complains that Jupiter’s mistresses occupy the sky as constellations. An excepter of persons is one who shows partiality. Burton uses Juno’s complaint within the imagined objection about divine justice; the following line is also hers.

13157.Seneca, Hercules Furens 13, continuing Juno’s complaint. Aureas makes golden describe the stars. Suásq; abbreviates suasque, and the reference is to the constellation Perseus.

13158.A circulating Latin epigram contrasts burial honours with merit. Camden’s Remaines prints Pompeius, Pompey, where Burton prints Pomponius, and Credimus esse Deos as its closing question. Burton’s name and wording remain; they have not been silently replaced by the parallel. The epigram’s authorship remains unresolved.

13159.Burton continues the objection from the existence of suffering and evil, using the religious conflicts and hostile terminology of his own period. World in the earth–world contrast means the larger cosmos; a house of correction was a penal institution.

13162.Lucan, Civil War 7.447, in the narrator’s outcry over civil war and divine inaction. The scan’s two dagger margins, Campanella and Lucan, are both attached here. In the Campanella margin, the final word after unde appears as colum; the familiar question would require malum, evil. The reading and tentative sense are explicitly recorded for collation.

13163.Volentes nolentes means whether willing or not. Burton moves from the content of the objections to their unwanted occurrence, particularly during religious exercises. Prodigious here means monstrous, not impressively large.

13164.Burton’s syntax compresses a list of contributing conditions before returning to the devil’s agency. Phantasies means the imagination or its representations. The religious and humoral explanation is preserved as Burton’s account, without converting it into a modern diagnosis.

13165.Spirits can refer to the subtle bodily vehicles of sensation and mental activity in early modern physiology, while Satan is described as a spiritual being. Burton combines these meanings in his explanation. Insults means attacks or assails.

About This Reading Edition

Robert Burton’s Anatomy ranges across medicine, philosophy, poetry, religion, and everyday life in its inquiry into melancholy. This complete parallel edition pairs the 1651 English text with a close modern English rendering, preserving the three Partitions, Democritus Junior’s address to the reader, verse, and the historical index.

Historical Text and Translation

The historical text follows the sixth edition, printed at Oxford for Henry Cripps in 1651, using the McGill University Library copy. The supplied edition documents missing printed pages 98–99 supplied from another 1651 copy at the Bavarian State Library. Historical folio labels and their irregularities remain visible; web reader numbers identify reflowed passages and do not claim to reproduce PDF pagination.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared the close modern English rendering and editorial matter. All 8,755 original and modern passage pairs remain aligned, with verse breaks, italics, continuations, and linked annotations preserved. Burton’s 6,781 historical notes retain their attribution; 6,895 editorial notes remain distinct. The introduction, Note on the Text, contextual lexicon, indexes, source documentation, and bibliography are included. The engraved frontispiece remains available in the original downloads.

Rights

Burton’s historical text is in the public domain. The modern English rendering, introduction, notes, and editorial matter are © 2026 Diotimos Editions and appear with the site owner’s permission. The complete supplied PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown files remain available unchanged. The PDF and Word edition preserve the original parallel page layout.