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 MelancholySubsection 11. the Will

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1651 English Page · Branch 166 of 1495

Subsection 11. the Will

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1651 English

Fertur equis auriga, nec audit currus habenas,

as so many wilde horses run away with a chariot, and will not be curbed. We know many times what is good, but will not do it, as she said,

Trahit invitum nova vis, aliudque cupido, Mens aliud suadet. —

Lust counsels one thing, reason another, there is a new reluctancy in men.

Odi, nec possum, cupiens non esse, quod odi.

We cannot resist, but as Phædra confessed to her Nurse, Quæ loqueris, vera sunt, sed furor suggerit sequi pejora: she said well and true, she did acknowledge it, but headstrong passion and fury made her to do that which was opposite. So David knew the filthiness of his fact, what a lothsome, foule, crying sin adultery was, yet notwithstanding he would commit murther, and take away another mans wife, enforced against Reason, Religion, to follow his Appetite.

Those natural and vegetal powers are not commanded by Will at all; for who can adde one cubit to his stature? These other may, but are not: and thence come all those headstrong passions, violent perturbations of the Minde; and many times vitious habits, customs, feral diseases; because we give so much way to our Appetite, and follow our inclination, like so many beasts. The principal Habits are two in number, Vertue and Vice, whose peculiar definitions, descriptions, differences, and kinds, are handled at large in the Ethicks, and are indeed the subject of Moral Philosophy.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 11. the Will

p. 166

The horses carry the driver away; the chariot ignores the reins.

As wild horses run away with a chariot and refuse the curb. We often know what is good but will not do it, as she said:

A new force drags me on against my will; Desire urges one course, reason another.

Lust advises one thing, reason another; a new struggle arises within us.

I hate what I am, yet cannot cease to be it, though I long to.

We cannot resist. As Phaedra confessed to her nurse, “What you say is true, but passion urges me to follow the worse course.” She acknowledged that the nurse spoke well and truly, yet headstrong passion and frenzy made her do the opposite. So David knew the vileness of his deed and what a loathsome, foul, flagrant sin adultery was. Nevertheless, he would commit murder and take another man’s wife, compelled to follow his appetite against reason and religion.

The natural and vegetative powers are not commanded by the will at all—for who can add a cubit to his height? The other powers can be governed, but are not. Hence come all those headstrong passions and violent disturbances of the mind, and often vicious habits, customs and deadly diseases, because we give such free rein to our appetite and follow our inclinations like so many beasts. There are two principal habits, virtue and vice. Their particular definitions, descriptions, distinctions and kinds are discussed at length in ethics and are indeed the subject of moral philosophy.

1787.Virgil, Georgics 1.514. Burton prints nec where the consulted Latin has neque. His following chariot gloss is retained. “Lists” in the preceding paragraph means bounds or limits.

1789.Medea in Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.19–20. Burton’s invitum is masculine; the consulted text has invitam, agreeing with the female speaker. The English preserves the first-person struggle without reproducing that grammatical mismatch. “Reluctancy” in Burton’s gloss means inward resistance or conflict.

1791.Ovid, Amores 2.4.5. The speaker hates his own conduct but cannot escape it despite wishing to change. The translation supplies the implicit object of odi from the rest of the line.

1793.Burton paraphrases Phaedra’s response to her nurse in Seneca, Phaedra 177–179; his Latin is translated as printed. David’s adultery with Bathsheba and his arrangement of Uriah’s death are narrated in 2 Samuel 11. “Fact” means deed. Burton brings pagan drama and biblical narrative together as examples of knowing the good but following desire.

1794.The question about adding a cubit to one’s stature echoes Matthew 6:27 in the English biblical tradition. The vegetative powers are nutrition and growth, discussed earlier. “Feral” is read in its older death-related sense as deadly; it does not here describe an animal that has escaped domestication. “Ethicks” denotes the study of moral conduct.

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.

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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.

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