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 2 Love’s Origin, Object, Definition and Divisions

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Modern English Page · Branch 677 of 1495

Subsection 2 Love’s Origin, Object, Definition and Divisions

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1651 English

413–413–414

And nothing can more please our ears then musick, or pacifie our minds. Fair houses, pictures, orchards, gardens, fields, a fair Hawk, a fair horse is most acceptable unto us; whatsoever pleaseth our eys and ears, we call beautifull and fair; Pleasure belongeth to the rest of the senses, but grace and Beauty to these two alone. As the objects vary and are diverse, so they diversly affect our eys, ears, and soul it self.

Which gives occasion to some, to make so many severall kindes of love as there be objects: One beauty ariseth from God, of which and divine love S. Dionysius with many Fathers and Neotericks, have written just volumes, De amore Dei, as they term it, many parænetical discourses; another from his creatures; there is a beauty of the body, a beauty of the soul, a beauty from vertue, formam martyrum Austin calls it, quam videmus oculis animi, which we see with the eys of our minde, which beauty, as Tully saith, if we could discern with these corporeal eyes, admirabiles sui amores excitaret, would cause admirable affections, and ravish our souls.

This other beauty which ariseth from those extreme parts, and graces which proceed from gestures, speeches, severall motions, and proportions of creatures, men and women (especially from women, which made those old Poets put the three Graces still in Venus company, as attending on her, and holding up her train) are infinite almost, and vary their names with their objects, as love of mony, covetousness, love of Beauty, Lust, immoderate desire of any pleasure, concupiscence, friendship, love, good will, &c. and is either vertue or vice, honest, dishonest, in excesse, defect, as shall be shewed in his place: Heroicall love, Religious love, &c.

which may be reduced to a twofold division, according to the principall parts which are affected, the Braine and Liver: Amor & amicitia, which Scaliger exercitat. 301. Valesius and Melancthon warrant out of Plato φιλεῖν & ἐρᾶν from that speech of Pausanias belike, that makes two Veneres and two loves.

One Venus is ancient without a mother, and descended from heaven, whom we call cælestiall; The younger, begotten of Jupiter and Dione, whom commonly we call Venus. Ficinus in his comment upon this place cap. 8. following Plato, calls these two loves, two Divels, or good and bad Angels according to us, which are still hovering about our souls.

The one rears to heaven, the other depresseth us to hell; the one good, which stirs us up to the contemplation of that divine beauty, for whose sake we perform Justice, and all godly offices, study Philosophy, &c. the other base, and though bad, yet to be respected; for indeed both are good in their own natures: procreation of children is as necessary as that finding out of truth, but therefore called bad, because it is abused, and withdrawes our soul from the speculation of that other, to viler objects; So far Ficinus.

8238.BurtonPrinted page 413, k: “Nihil hinc magis animos conciliat quàm musica, pulchræ picturæ, ædes &c.” “Nothing, then, wins over minds more than music, beautiful pictures, buildings and so on.”

8239.BurtonPrinted page 413, l: “In reliquis sensibus voluptas, in his pulchritudo & gratia.” “In the other senses there is pleasure; in these, beauty and grace.”

8240.BurtonPrinted page 413, dagger, unanchored in the body: “Lib. 4. de divinis.” Book 4, On Divine Things. Placed here with Dionysius, whose discussion of beauty and love is in chapter 4 of The Divine Names.

8243.BurtonPrinted page 413, unmarked citation: “Convivio Platonis.” In Plato’s Symposium. Placed with the following reference to Pausanias’s speech.

8245.BurtonPrinted page 413, m, with lower-page continuation: “Duæ Veneres duo amores; quarum una antiquior & sine matre, cœlo nata, quam cœlestem Venerem nuncupamus; altera vero Junior à Jove & Dione prognata, quam vulgarem Venerem vocamus.” “Two Venuses, two loves: one is older and without a mother, born of heaven, whom we call Heavenly Venus; the younger was born of Jupiter and Dione, whom we call Common Venus.”

8246.BurtonPrinted page 413, n, lower margin: “Alter ad superna erigit, alter deprimit ad inferna.” “One raises us to the heights; the other casts us into the depths.” The printed n anchor precedes the phrase about angels, although its sense belongs with the next sentence.

8248.BurtonPrinted page 413, o, with lower-page continuation: “Alter excitat hominem ad divinam pulchritudinem lustrandam, cujus causa philosophiæ studia & justitiæ &c.” “One stirs a person to contemplate divine beauty, for whose sake there are the studies of philosophy and justice, and so on.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 2 Love’s Origin, Object, Definition and Divisions

p. 677

“Nothing can please our ears or soothe our minds more than music.” Fine houses, pictures, orchards, gardens and fields, a fine hawk or a fine horse are most welcome to us. Whatever pleases our eyes and ears we call beautiful and fair. “Pleasure belongs to the other senses, but grace and beauty to these two alone.” As the objects vary and differ, so they affect our eyes, ears and soul itself in different ways.

This leads some to distinguish as many kinds of love as there are objects. One beauty arises from God; on this and on divine love Saint Dionysius, many Church Fathers and more recent writers have written whole volumes—On the Love of God, as they call them—and many works of exhortation. Another arises from his creatures. There is beauty of the body, beauty of the soul and beauty arising from virtue, “the beauty of the martyrs,” Augustine calls it, “which we see with the eyes of the mind”: which we see with our mind’s eyes. This beauty, Cicero says, if we could perceive it with our bodily eyes, “would awaken wondrous love for itself”: it would arouse wonderful affections and transport our souls.

This other beauty, arising from outward parts, and the graces proceeding from the gestures, speech, various movements and proportions of creatures, of men and women—especially women, which made the ancient poets always place the three Graces in Venus’s company, attending her and holding up her train—are almost infinite. The loves they arouse take different names from their objects: love of money, covetousness; love of beauty, lust; immoderate desire for any pleasure, concupiscence; friendship, love, goodwill, and so on. Love is either virtue or vice, honourable or dishonourable, excessive or deficient, as will be shown in its place: heroic love, religious love, and so forth.

These may be reduced to two divisions according to the principal organs affected, the brain and liver: “love and friendship.” Scaliger in Exercise 301, Valesius and Melanchthon support this distinction from Plato’s “to love as a friend” and “to love erotically,” presumably from Pausanias’s speech, which makes two Venuses and two loves.

“One Venus is ancient, without a mother, and descended from heaven; we call her celestial. The younger was begotten by Jupiter and Dione, and is the one we commonly call Venus.” Ficino, commenting on this passage in chapter 8 and following Plato, calls these two loves two spirits—or, in our terms, good and bad angels—continually hovering about our souls.

“One raises us to heaven; the other casts us down to hell. The good one stirs us to contemplate that divine beauty for whose sake we practise justice, perform all godly duties and study philosophy. The other is lower and, though bad, still deserves regard; for in fact both are good in their own natures. Begetting children is as necessary as discovering truth. It is called bad because it is misused and draws our soul away from contemplation of the other towards baser objects.” So far Ficino.

8241.“Neotericks” means recent writers; “parænetical” means exhortatory. The unanchored locator is placed with Dionysius, The Divine Names 4. Cicero, On Duties 1.15, invoking Plato, describes love awakened by visible moral beauty; Burton’s differing Latin and English remain. Augustine, Exposition of Psalm 64.8, compares inward beauty with the martyrs’ bodily suffering. This is a contextual parallel, not an exact match for Burton’s compressed phrase; see Block 110.

8242.“Extreme parts” means outward or external parts. “Concupiscence” means strong desire, often sexual desire. The syntax moves from beauty and its graces to the kinds of love they inspire; the modern version makes that transition explicit.

8244.Burton associates love with bodily organs under the older account of the faculties. The Greek verbs distinguish affection or friendship from erotic love. Pausanias’s account of two Aphrodites and two loves is in Plato, Symposium 180d–181c; Burton uses the Roman name Venus.

8247.The first Venus is described as motherless, born from Heaven; the second as the daughter of Jupiter and Dione. The Latin margin calls the second “Common Venus,” while Burton’s English says she is commonly called Venus. Both formulations are preserved. “Spirits” continues the philosophical sense of daemons, which Burton then compares to good and bad angels.

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.

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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.