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Robert Burton

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 MelancholyMember 7 Against Rejection, Abuse, Injuries, Contempt, Disgrace, Insults…

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Modern English Page · Branch 599 of 1495

Member 7 Against Rejection, Abuse, Injuries, Contempt, Disgrace, Insults…

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1651 English

357–358

Be not dismaid then, humanum est errare, we are all sinners, daily and hourely subject to temptations, the best of us is an hypocrite, a grievous offender in Gods sight. Noah, Lot, David, Peter, &c. how many mortal sins do we commit?

Shall I say, be penitent, ask forgiveness, and make amends by the sequel of thy life, for that foule offence thou hast committed? recover thy credit by some noble exploit, as Themistocles did, for he was a most deboshed and vitious youth, sed juventæ maculas præclaris factis delevit, but made the World amends by brave exploits; at last become a new man and seek to be reformed.

He that runs away in a battle, as Demosthenes said, may fight again; and he that hath a fall may stand as upright as ever he did before. Nemo desperet meliora lapsus, a wicked liver may be reclaimed, and prove an honest man;

he that is odious in present, hissed out, an exile, may be received again with all mens favours, and singular applause; so Tully was in Rome, Alcibiades in Athens.

Let thy disgrace then be what it will, quod fit, infectum non potest esse, that which is past cannot be recalled; trouble not thy selfe, vexe and grieve thy self no more, be it obloquy, disgrace, &c. No better way, then to neglect, contemn, or seem not to regard it, to make no reckoning of it. Deesse robur arguit dicacitas: If thou be guiltless it concerns thee not:

Irrita vaniloquæ quid curas spicula linguæ, Latrantem curatne alta Diana canem?

Doth the Moon care for the barking of a dog? They detract, scoffe and raile saith one, and bark at me on every side, but I, like that Albanian dog sometimes given to Alexander for a present, vindico me ab illis solo contemptu, I lie still and sleep, vindicate my self by contempt alone.

Expers terroris Achilles armatus:

As a Tortoise in his shell, virtute meâ me involvo, or an Urchin round, nil moror ictus, a Lizard in Camomile, I decline their fury and am safe.

Integritas virtusque suo munimine tuta, Non patet adversæ morsibus invidiæ:Vertue and integrity are their own fence, Care not for envy or what comes from thence.

Let them rail then, scoffe, and slander, sapiens contumeliâ non afficitur, a wise man Seneca thinks, is not moved, because he knows, contra Sycophantæ morsum non est remedium, there is no remedy for it: Kings and Princes, wise, grave, prudent, holy, good men, divine, all are so served alike.

O Jane à tergo quem nulla ciconia pinsit, Antevorta and Postvorta Jupiters gardians may not help in this case, they cannot protect;

7316.BurtonPrinted page 358, dagger: “Camerar. emb.61. cent.3.” Camerarius, emblems, third century, no.61; the moon and the barking dog. Exact emblem collation remains pending.

7318.BurtonPrinted page 358, p: “Lipsius elect. lib.3. ult. Latrant me jaceo ac taceo, &c.” Justus Lipsius, Electa, book 3, last chapter: They bark at me; I lie still and keep silent, and so on. Exact collation remains pending.

7320.BurtonPrinted page 358, asterisk: “Catullus.” Catullus; compare poem 64, line 339.

7322.BurtonPrinted page 358, o: “Tullius epist. Dolabellæ; tu forti sis animo, & tua moderatio, constantia eorum infamet injuriam.” Cicero, letter to Dolabella: Be of good courage, and let your restraint and steadfastness bring their wrongdoing into disgrace. This repeats the page 356 note with small textual differences. Its exact anchor on page 358 is unclear; it is retained beside the images of self-command.

7323.BurtonPrinted page 358, o: “The symbole of I. Kevenbeder a Carinthian Baron saith Sambucus.” The printed name is retained. Burton cites Johannes Sambucus for this emblem; the identification and its attachment within the animal sequence await collation. The body has a dagger before the hedgehog and o before the lizard.

7324.BurtonPrinted page 358, asterisk: “The symbole of Gonzaga Duke of Mantua.” Burton associates the animal imagery with a Gonzaga emblem; the particular bearer and the mismatch between marginal and body signs remain to be checked.

7328.BurtonPrinted page 358, q: “Pres. sat.1.” Persius, Satire 1, line 58. Pres. is the printed abbreviation.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Member 7 Against Rejection, Abuse, Injuries, Contempt, Disgrace, Insults…

p. 599

Do not be dismayed, then: “to err is human.” We are all sinners, subject to temptation every day and every hour; the best of us is a hypocrite, a grievous offender in God’s sight. Noah, Lot, David, Peter and the rest: how many mortal sins do we commit?

Shall I tell you to repent, ask forgiveness and, through the rest of your life, make amends for the foul offence you have committed? Recover your reputation by some noble achievement, as Themistocles did. He was a thoroughly debauched and vicious youth, “but erased the stains of his youth with illustrious deeds”: through brave achievements he made amends to the world. Become a new man at last, and seek to reform.

As Demosthenes said, the man who runs away in battle may fight again, and the man who falls may stand as upright as ever. “Let no one who has fallen despair of better things”: someone who has lived wickedly may reform and become an honest man.

Someone who is now hated, hissed away and exiled may be welcomed back with everyone’s favour and extraordinary applause, as Cicero was in Rome and Alcibiades in Athens.

Whatever your disgrace, then, “what has been done cannot be undone”: the past cannot be recalled. Do not distress, torment or grieve yourself any longer over abuse, disgrace or anything of the kind. There is no better course than to disregard it, scorn it, or appear indifferent and make nothing of it. “Abusive wit betrays a lack of strength.” If you are guiltless, it does not concern you.

Why heed the powerless darts of an idle tongue? Does Diana on high heed a barking dog?

Does the moon care about a dog’s barking? They disparage, mock and abuse me, says one, and bark at me on every side; but I am like the Albanian dog once given to Alexander: “I defend myself against them by contempt alone.” I lie still and sleep, defending myself merely by disregarding them.

Achilles armed and free from fear.

Like a tortoise in its shell, “I wrap myself in my virtue”; or like a hedgehog curled into a ball, “I care nothing for blows”; like a lizard in camomile, I evade their fury and remain safe.

Integrity and virtue, safe behind their own defences, Are not exposed to the bites of hostile envy.

Virtue and integrity are their own defence; They disregard envy and whatever comes from it.

Let them abuse, mock and slander, then. “The wise man is unaffected by insult”: Seneca thinks he remains unmoved because he knows that “there is no remedy against a slanderer’s bite.” There is no remedy for it. Kings and princes, wise, dignified, prudent, holy, good and godly men—all are treated alike.

“O Janus, whom no stork pecks at from behind!” Antevorta and Postvorta, Jupiter’s guardians, cannot help here; they cannot protect you.

7311.The biblical names illustrate the failings of revered figures. “Mortal sins” are grave sins; Burton’s use here is a general moral indictment. His “wicked liver” in the following paragraph means a person who lives wickedly.

7312.“Credit” means reputation; “deboshed” means debauched. Burton’s account of Themistocles’ youth and subsequent reform is retained; no exact source is supplied here, and its wording remains for collation.

7313.The saying about retreat is attributed here to Demosthenes without a specific source. “Lapsed” in the Latin means fallen; the maxim refuses to treat a moral fall as irreparable. Its author remains unidentified.

7314.Burton invokes the public restoration of Cicero and Alcibiades after exile. The passage concerns recovered favour, not a claim that either man’s later fortunes were permanently secure.

7315.Quod fit is literally “what is done”; Burton’s gloss applies it to the irreversible past. Dicacitas means biting or abusive wit. The exact sources of these maxims remain unlocated.

7317.Diana is the moon goddess; the image is of the moon remaining unaffected by dogs barking below. Burton cites Camerarius, third century, emblem 61; the couplet’s exact textual source remains to be collated.

7319.“Sometimes” here means once, not occasionally. The magnificent dog sent to Alexander serves as an image of indifference to petty provocations. Burton’s Lipsius passage and the precise ancient dog narrative remain for collation.

7321.Catullus 64.339 contains expers terroris Achilles, “Achilles free from fear.” Burton adds armatus, “armed,” to the excerpt. The entire printed phrase is translated; it is not presented as an exact line of Catullus.

7325.“Urchin” means hedgehog, not a child. “I wrap myself in my virtue” recalls Horace, Odes 3.29.54–55. These are emblematic images of self-protection; the lizard’s camomile, the printed Kevenbeder, and the precise Gonzaga attribution remain to be checked. The duplicate Cicero marginal note is preserved separately.

7326.Munimen means a defence or fortification. The fresh Latin translation is followed by Burton’s distinct English gloss. No author is named for the couplet.

7327.A sycophant here is a malicious accuser or slanderer, not a flatterer. Compare Seneca, De constantia sapientis 3.3: the wise person is safe from both injury and insult. Burton’s shorter formula expresses that position but is not verbatim. The maxim about the slanderer’s bite and the immediate intermediaries remain unlocated.

7329.Persius, Satire 1.58: two-faced Janus cannot be mocked unseen from behind; the “stork” is a derisive gesture. Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.7.20, associates Antevorta and Postvorta with foresight and hindsight in his account of Janus. This supplies context, not Burton’s description of them as Jupiter’s guardians, which remains unreconciled.

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.