The Anatomy of Melancholy

Name: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Author: Robert Burton

1651 English with a close modern English rendering

Explore the Lexicon

The Anatomy of MelancholyPersistence and Opportunity of Time and Place; Meetings, Conversation…

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Modern English Page · Branch 777 of 1495

Persistence and Opportunity of Time and Place; Meetings, Conversation…

Book Mode

1651 English

497–498–498

Nothing so common to this sexe, as oaths, vows, and protestations, and as I have already said, tears, which they have at command; for they can so weep, that one would think their very hearts were dissolved within them, and would come out in tears, their eys are like rocks, which still drop water, diariæ lachrymæ & sudoris in modum turgeri promptæ, saith Aristænetus, they wipe away their tears like sweat, weep with one eye, laugh with the other; or as children weep and cry, they can both together.

Neve puellarum lachrymis moveare memento, Ut flerent oculos erudiêre suos.Care not for womens tears, I counsel thee, They teach their eys as much to weep as see.

And as much pitty is to be taken of a woman weeping, as of a Goose going bare-foot. When Venus lost her son Cupid, she sent a Cryer about, to bid every one that met him take heed.

Si flentem aspicias, ne mox fallare, caveto; Sin arridebit, magis effuge; & oscula si fors Ferre volet, fugito; sunt oscula noxia, in ipsis Suntque venena labris, &c.Take heed of Cupids tears, if cautelous, And of his smiles and kisses I thee tell, If that he offer’t, for they be noxious, And very poyson in his lips doth dwell.

A thousand years, as Castilio conceives, will scarce serve to reckon up those allurements and guiles, that men and women use to deceive one another with.

9678.BurtonPrinted page 498, c: “Epist. 20. l. 2.” Letter 20, book 2.

9679.BurtonPrinted page 498, d: “Matronæ flent duobus oculis, moniales quatuor, virgines uno, meretrices nullo.” “Married women weep with two eyes, nuns with four, maidens with one, prostitutes with none.” The marginal d has no clear matching body marker; it is attached here to the passage on calculated tears.

9681.BurtonPrinted page 498, y: “Ovid.” Ovid.

9683.BurtonPrinted page 498, z: “Imagines deorum fol. 332. è Moschi amore fugitivo, quem Politianus Latinum fecit.” Images of the Gods, folio 332, from Moschus’s Runaway Love, translated into Latin by Poliziano.

9685.BurtonPrinted page 498, a: “Lib. 3. mille vix anni sufficerent ad omnes illas machinationes, dolosq; commemorandos, quos viri & mulieres ut se invicem circumveniant, excogitare solent.” Book 3. “A thousand years would scarcely suffice to recount all the schemes and tricks that men and women commonly devise to deceive one another.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Persistence and Opportunity of Time and Place; Meetings, Conversation…

p. 777

Nothing is more common among this sex than oaths, vows and protestations, and, as I have already said, tears, which they can produce at will. They can weep so much that you would think their very hearts had dissolved within them and were pouring out in tears. Their eyes are like rocks that continually drip water: “daily tears, ready to be wiped away like sweat,” says Aristaenetus. They wipe their tears away like sweat, weep with one eye and laugh with the other; or, like children weeping and crying, they can do both together.

Remember not to be moved by girls’ tears; They have trained their eyes to weep.

Pay no heed to women’s tears, I advise you; They teach their eyes as much to weep as to see.

You should pity a weeping woman as much as a goose going barefoot. When Venus lost her son Cupid, she sent a crier around to warn everyone who met him to beware:

If you see him weeping, beware of being quickly deceived; If he smiles, flee all the more; and if he happens To offer kisses, run: his kisses are harmful, And poison lies upon his very lips, and so on.

If you are prudent, beware Cupid’s tears, And his smiles and kisses, I tell you, If he offers them, for they are harmful, And poison itself dwells on his lips.

A thousand years, Castiglione thinks, “would scarcely suffice to count all the enticements and tricks that men and women use to deceive one another.”

9680.The source prints turgeri, an uncertain form. The modern translation takes it in the sense of tergeri, “to be wiped away,” supported by Burton’s following English gloss; this is an explicit interpretive emendation, not a confirmed reading of Aristaenetus. The unanchored marginal d is preserved here. The final “weep and cry” and “both” remain awkward in the source; no opposite verb has been silently inserted.

9682.Ovid, Remedies for Love 689–690. Burton prints memento, “remember,” where the consulted text has caveto, “beware.” His English couplet expands the thought by comparing weeping with seeing.

9684.Moschus, Runaway Love, in the Latin adaptation by Angelo Poliziano cited through Images of the Gods. The Greek poem’s closing warning includes feigned tears, laughter, kisses and poison. Burton prints a Latin version and then his own English verse; both remain distinct. Cautelous means cautious or wary.

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.