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 MelancholyDemocritus Junior to His Book.

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Modern English Page · Branch 16 of 1495

Democritus Junior to His Book.

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1651 English

Si Criticus Lector, tumidus Censorque molestus, Zoilus & Momus, si rabiosa cohors: Ringe, freme, & noli tum pandere, turba malignis Si occurrat sannis invidiosa suis.Fac fugias; si nulla tibi sit copia eundi, Contemnes, tacitè scommata quæque feres. Frendeat, allatret, vacuas gannitibus auras Impleat, haud cures, his placuisse nefas.Verum age si forsan divertat purior hospes, Cuique sales, ludi, displiceantque joci, Objiciatque tibi sordes, lascivaque: dices, Lasciva est Domino & Musa jocosa tuo;Nec lasciva tamen, si pensitet omne; sed esto; Sit lasciva licet pagina, vita proba est.Barbarus, indoctusque rudis spectator in istam Si messem intrudat, fuste fugabis eum, Fungum pelle procul (jubeo) nam quid mihi fungo? Conveniunt stomacho non minus ista suo.Sed nec pelle tamen; læto omnes accipe vultu, Quos, quas, vel quales, inde vel unde viros. Gratus erit quicunque venit; gratissimus hospes Quisquis erit, facilis difficilisque mihi:Nam si culparit, quædam culpasse juvabit, Culpando faciet me meliora sequi. Sed si laudarit, neque laudibus efferar ullis, Sit satis hisce malis opposuisse bonum.Hæc sunt quæ nostro placuit mandare libello, Et quæ dimittens dicere jussit Herus.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Democritus Junior to His Book.

p. 16

If the reader is a critic, a pompous and troublesome censor, A Zoilus or Momus, if a rabid crowd arrives, Bare your teeth and growl; do not open then, If the envious crowd confronts you with spiteful sneers.

Make your escape; if you have no chance to leave, Disdain them and bear every taunt in silence. Let the crowd gnash its teeth and bark, filling the empty air With yelps; do not care. To please them would be wrong.

But suppose a more scrupulous visitor turns aside to you, Who dislikes wit, games and jokes, And charges you with filth and indecency: say That your master’s Muse is playful and fond of jokes;

Yet not indecent, if he weighs everything; but grant it: Though the page may be wanton, the life is upright.

If a barbarous, ignorant, uncultivated spectator Intrudes into this harvest, drive him away with a stick. Chase that mushroom far away, I command; what use have I for a mushroom? These pages suit his stomach no less.

Yet do not drive him away; receive everyone with a cheerful face, Men or women, whatever they are like, wherever they come from. Whoever comes will be welcome, a most welcome guest, Whoever it is, easygoing or difficult with me.

For if he finds fault, it will help that some faults were found; By finding fault he will make me pursue better things. But if he praises me, I will not be carried away by any praise; Let it be enough to have set something good against these ills.

These are the things he chose to entrust to our little book, And what its master, sending it away, ordered it to say.

55.Zoilus and Momus are conventional names for carping critics: Zoilus as the hostile critic of Homer, Momus as the personification of fault-finding. The book is now told to bite, reversing its earlier instructions to be gentle.

56.Lasciva can mean playful or sexually wanton. Burton moves between those senses as he stages the objection and reply; the next couplet makes his distinction explicit.

57.An adaptation of Martial, Epigrams 1.4.8, separating the character of the writing from the conduct of the writer. The final Latin line is printed in roman type, unlike the surrounding verse.

58.Fungus, mushroom, insults a dullard; the harvest is the book’s material. Both inspected 1638 and 1651 pages read non minus, no less. Their agreement supports retaining this wording, not settling its meaning. The abrupt comparison may be ironic or anticipate the welcome that follows. The translation remains literal; no correction is imposed.

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.