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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 MelancholyBy Counsel and Persuasion, the Foulness of the Deed, the Faults of Men And…

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By Counsel and Persuasion, the Foulness of the Deed, the Faults of Men And…

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1651 English

556–557–557

If he love at all, she is either an honest woman or a whore. If dishonest, let him read or inculcate to him that 5. of Solomons Prov. Ecclus. 26. Ambros. lib. 1. cap. 4. in his book of Abel and Cain, Philo Judæus de mercede mer. Platinas dial. in Amores, Espencæus and those three books of Pet. Hædus de contem. amoribus, Æneas Sylvius tart Epistle, which he wrote to his friend Nicholas of Warthurge, which he calls medelam illiciti amoris, &c.

For what’s an whore, as he saith, but a peler of youth, a ruine of men, a destruction, a devourer of patrimonies, a downfal of honour, fodder for the divel, the gate of death, and supplement of hell? Talis amor est laqueus animæ, &c. a bitter hony, sweet poyson, delicate destruction, a voluntary mischief, commixtum cœnum, sterquilinium.

And as Pet. Aratines Lucretia, a notable quean, confesseth; Gluttony, anger, envy, pride, sacriledge, theft, slaughter, were all born that day a whore began her profession: for as she follows it, her pride is greater then a rich churls, she is more envious then the pox, as malitious as melancholy, as covetous as hell. If from the beginning of the world any were mala, pejor, pessima, bad in the superlative degree, ’tis a whore; how many have I undone, caused to be wounded, slain! O Antonia thou seest what I am without, but within God knows, a puddle of iniquity, a sink of sin, a pocky quean.

Let him now that so dotes, meditate on this; Let him see the event and success of others, Sampson, Hercules, Holofernes, &c. those infinite mischiefs attend it. If she be another mans wife he loves, ’tis abominable in the sight of God and men: adultery is expresly forbidden in Gods commandment, a mortal sin, able to endanger his soul: if he be such a one that fears God, or have any religion, he will eschew it, and abhor the loathsomness of his own fact.

If he love an honest maid, ’tis to abuse, or marry her: if to abuse, ’tis fornication, a foul fact, (though some make light of it) and almost equal to adultery it self. If to marry, let him seriously consider what he takes in hand, look before he leap, as the proverb is, or settle his affections, and examine first the party and condition of his estate and hers, whether it be a fit match, for fortunes, years, parentage, and such other circumstances, an sit suæ Veneris. Whether it be likely to proceed: if not, let him wisely stave himself off at the first, curb in his inordinate passion, and moderate his desire, by thinking of some other subject, divert his cogitations.

Or if it be not for his good, as Æneas forewarned by Mercury in a dream, left Dido’s love, and in all hast got him to Sea,

Mnesthea, Surgestumque vocat fortemque Cloanthem, Classem aptent taciti jubet ——

and although she did oppose with vows, tears, prayers, and imprecation,

—— nullis ille movetur Fletibus, aut illas voces tractabilis audit;

10704.BurtonPrinted page 557, r: “Quid enim meretrix nisi juventutis expilatrix, virorum rapina seu mors; patrimonii devoratrix, honoris pernicies, pabulum diaboli, janua mortis, inferni supplementum?” “For what is a whore but a plunderer of youth, the ruin or death of men, a devourer of inheritance, the destruction of honour, fodder for the devil, the gate of death, a recruit for hell?”

10705.BurtonPrinted page 557, *: “Sanguinem hominum sorbent.” “They suck men’s blood.”

10706.BurtonPrinted page 557, a: “Contemplatione Idiotæ c. 34. discrimen vitæ, mors blanda, mel felleum, dulce venenum, pernities delicata, malum spontaneum, &c.” “In the Contemplation of the Idiot, chapter 34: a danger to life, a flattering death, honey mixed with gall, sweet poison, delicious destruction, a willingly chosen evil, etc.”

10708.BurtonPrinted page 557, b: “Pornodidasc. dial. Ital. gula, ira, invidia, superbia, sacrilegia, latrocinia, cædes, eo die nata sunt, quo primum meretrix professionem fecit. Superbia major quam opulenti rustici, invidia quam luis venereæ, inimicitia nocentior melancholia, avaritia in immensum profunda.” “Pornodidascalus, Italian dialogue. Gluttony, anger, envy, pride, sacrilege, theft and slaughter were born on the day when a whore first entered her profession. Pride greater than a rich peasant’s, envy greater than the venereal disease’s, hostility more harmful than melancholy, greed infinitely deep.”

10709.BurtonPrinted page 557, c: “Qualis extra sum vides, qualis intra novit Deus.” “You see what I am outwardly; God knows what I am within.”

10714.BurtonPrinted page 557, †: “Virg.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy: By Counsel and Persuasion, the Foulness of the Deed, the Faults of Men And…

p. 848

If he loves at all, she is either a chaste woman or a whore. If she is unchaste, let him read, or have impressed upon him, the fifth chapter of Solomon’s Proverbs; Ecclesiasticus 26; Ambrose, book 1, chapter 4 of Abel and Cain; Philo the Jew, On the Hire of a Prostitute; Platina’s dialogue On Loves; Espencaeus; the three books of Petrus Haedus On Despising Loves; and Aeneas Sylvius’s sharp letter to his friend Nicholas of Warthurge, which he calls “a remedy for illicit love,” and so forth.

“For what is a whore,” as he says, “but a plunderer of youth, the ruin of men, a destroyer, a devourer of inheritances, the downfall of honour, fodder for the devil, the gate of death and a recruit for hell?” “Such love is a snare for the soul,” and so forth: bitter honey, sweet poison, delicious destruction, a willingly chosen evil, “a mixture of filth, a dunghill.”

And, as Lucretia, a notorious whore in Pietro Aretino, confesses: “Gluttony, anger, envy, pride, sacrilege, theft and slaughter were all born on the day a whore began her profession.” As she goes on, “Her pride is greater than a rich miser’s; she is more envious than the pox, as malicious as melancholy and as covetous as hell. If, from the beginning of the world, anyone has been bad, worse, worst—bad in the superlative degree—it is a whore. How many have I ruined, caused to be wounded or killed! O Antonia, you see what I am outwardly, but God knows what I am within: a puddle of iniquity, a sink of sin, a pox-ridden whore.”

Let the man who is so infatuated now reflect on this. Let him look at what happened to others—Samson, Hercules, Holofernes and the rest—and the countless evils that attend it. If the woman he loves is another man’s wife, it is abominable in the sight of God and men. Adultery is expressly forbidden by God’s commandment, a mortal sin that can endanger his soul. If he fears God or has any religion, he will avoid it and abhor the foulness of his own deed.

If he loves a chaste maiden, it is either to dishonour her or to marry her. If to dishonour her, it is fornication, a foul deed, though some make light of it, and almost equal to adultery itself. If to marry her, let him seriously consider what he undertakes: look before he leaps, as the proverb says, or fixes his affections. First examine the woman and the condition of his circumstances and hers: whether they are a suitable match in wealth, age, family and other such matters, “whether she is suited to his love,” and whether it is likely to go ahead. If not, let him wisely hold himself back at the outset, curb his excessive passion and moderate his desire by turning his thoughts to another subject.

Or, if it is not for his good, let him act as Aeneas did: warned by Mercury in a dream, he left Dido’s love and hurried out to sea.

He calls Mnestheus, Surgestus and brave Cloanthus, And orders them to make the fleet ready in silence—

And although she opposed him with vows, tears, prayers and curses,

No tears move him, Nor does he listen to those words with a yielding heart.

10703.“Honest” in this sexual classification means chaste; the harsh alternative is Burton’s. Ecclesiasticus is Sirach. The abbreviations name a sequence of moral and literary authorities; expansions of mercede mer., in Amores and de contem. amoribus are provisional. “Tart” means sharp or severe. Warthurge is retained as the printed place-name; these references require exact collation.

10707.A “peler” is a plunderer or one who strips another of property. The catalogue is moral invective, not a description to generalize about sex workers. The marginal “they suck men’s blood” intensifies the metaphor. The work called Contemplation of the Idiot and the precise passage remain to be identified; “idiot” in such a title can denote an unlearned person.

10710.Pietro Aretino’s dialogue is cited through the Latin title Pornodidascalus. Burton calls the speaker Lucretia; the identity, wording and relation to Aretino’s Italian require collation. “Churl” means a miserly or coarse person; “pocky” means afflicted with the pox. The comparisons personify disease and melancholy as part of the invective.

10711.“Event and success” means outcome, without the modern implication of achievement. “Fact” means deed. Burton invokes Samson, Hercules and Holofernes as examples of destructive desire and frames adultery within his Christian moral argument.

10712.“Abuse” here means sexually dishonour or seduce, not the full range of the modern term. “Estate” means circumstances or condition, including property and rank. The Latin an sit suæ Veneris is compressed and is rendered as suitability to his love; its exact source remains unidentified.

10713.Burton combines episodes in Aeneid 4: Mercury’s first warning, the preparations for departure and the later warning in a dream. The lines immediately quoted are from 4.288–289, before the dream; the sequence is Burton’s compression.

10715.The consulted Virgil reads Sergestum and fortemque Serestum; the scan prints Surgestum and fortemque Cloanthem. Burton thus alters both names, and the original column retains them. The modern rendering gives their corresponding name forms, Surgestus and Cloanthus.

10716.Virgil, Aeneid 4.438–439. Burton replaces voces ullas with illas voces and changes their order. Tractabilis means yielding or susceptible to persuasion; the translation retains Burton’s “those words.”

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.