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 4. Prognosis of Religious Melancholy.

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Facing Pages · Branch 1009 of 1495

Subsection 4. Prognosis of Religious Melancholy.

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1651 English

679–680

So that he that will not rejoyce and enjoy himself, making good use of such things as are lawfully permitted, non est temperatus, as he will, sed superstitiosus. There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his Soul enjoy good in his labour, Eccles. 2. 24.

And as one said of hauking and hunting, ut solatia in hac ægri orbis calamitate mortalibus tædiis deus objecit, I say of all honest recreations, God hath therefore indulged them to refresh, ease, solace and comfort us.

But we are some of us too stern, too rigid, too precise, too grossely superstitious, and whilst we make a conscience of every toy, with touch not, taste not, &c. as those Pythagorians of old, and some Indians now that will eat no flesh, or suffer any living creature to be killed, the Bannians about Guzzerat;

we tyrannize over our brothers soul, lose the right use of many good gifts; honest sports, games and pleasant recreations, punish our selves without a cause, lose our liberties, and sometimes our lives.

Anno 1270, at Magdeburge in Germany, a Jew fell into a Privy upon a Saturday, and without helpe could not possibly get out; he called to his fellows for succour, but they denied it, because it was their Sabbath, non licebat opus manuum exercere, the Bishop hearing of it, the next day forbade him to be pulled out, because it was our Sunday: In the mean time the wretch died before Monday.

We have myriads of examples in this kinde, amongst those rigid Sabbatarians, and therefore not without good cause, Intolerabilem perturbationem Seneca calls it, as well he might, an intolerable perturbation, that causeth such dire events, folly, madness, sickness, despair, death of body and soul, and hell it self.

12651.BurtonSource page 679, star: “Vandormilius de Aucupio. cap.27.” “Vandormilius, On Fowling, chapter 27.”

12654.BurtonSource page 680, star: “Some explode all humane authors, arts, and sciences, Poets, histories, &c. so precise, their zeal overruns their wits, and so stupid they oppose all humane learning, because they are ignorant themselves and illiterate, nothing must be read but Scriptures: but these men deserve to be pitied, rather then confuted. Others are so strict they will admit of no honest game and pleasure, no dancing, singing, other playes, recreations and games, hauking, hunting, Cock-fighting, Bear-baiting, &c. because to see one beast kill another is the fruit of our rebellion against God, &c.”

12655.BurtonSource page 680, t: “Nuda ac tremebunda cruentis Irrepet genibus si candida jusserit Ino. Juvenalis. Sect.6.” “Naked and trembling, she will crawl on bloodied knees if bright Ino commands it. Juvenal, Satire 6.”

12657.BurtonSource page 680, dagger: “Munster Cosmog. lib.3. cap.444. Incidit in cloacam, unde se non possit eximere, implorat opem sociorum, sed illi negant, &c.” “Münster, Cosmography, book 3, chapter 444. He falls into a privy from which he cannot extricate himself, begs his companions for help, but they refuse, and so on.”

12659.BurtonSource page 680, u: “De benefic.7.2.” “On Benefits, book 7, chapter 2.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 4. Prognosis of Religious Melancholy.

p. 1009

Thus a person who refuses to rejoice and enjoy himself, making good use of things lawfully permitted, is not temperate, as Plato would have it, but superstitious. There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and let the soul enjoy the good of its labour, Ecclesiastes 2:24.

And as one writer said of hawking and hunting, God provided comforts for mortal weariness amid the misery of this afflicted world. I say the same of all innocent recreations: God has granted them to refresh, ease, solace and comfort us.

But some of us are too stern, too rigid, too exacting, too grossly superstitious. We make a matter of conscience of every trifle, with “do not touch, do not taste,” and so on, like the ancient Pythagoreans and some Indians today who will eat no flesh or allow any living creature to be killed—the Banians around Gujarat.

We tyrannize over our brother’s soul, lose the proper use of many good gifts—innocent sports, games and pleasant recreations—punish ourselves without cause, and lose our liberties and sometimes our lives.

In the year 1270, at Magdeburg in Germany, a Jew fell into a privy on a Saturday and could not possibly get out without help. He called to his companions for assistance, but they refused because it was their Sabbath: it was forbidden to perform manual work. Hearing of this, the bishop forbade anyone to pull him out the next day because it was our Sunday. Meanwhile the unfortunate man died before Monday.

We have countless examples of this kind among those rigid Sabbatarians. And therefore with good reason Seneca calls it an intolerable disturbance, as indeed he might: an intolerable disturbance that causes such dreadful consequences—folly, madness, sickness, despair, death of body and soul, and hell itself.

12650.The sentence about the person who will not rejoice is Burton’s application of the Platonic argument; its precise Latin wording was not found in the checked passage. He then joins a biblical warrant for enjoyment to the classical one.

12652.The margin gives Vandormilius, On Fowling, chapter 27. This attribution and the precise Latin remain uncollated. The source reads mortalibus tædiis, rendered as mortal weariness; the modern sentence resolves the compressed Latin syntax without altering the original column.

12653.Touch not, taste not recalls Colossians 2:21. Bannians is an early European term associated with Indian mercantile communities, not a precise label for a single religious doctrine. Burton’s comparison reduces differing practices of abstinence and non-violence to excessive scruple.

12656.The long English margin extends the attack to rejection of secular learning; explode means reject or denounce. The Juvenal margin parallels Satire 6.525–526, but prints tremebunda, Irrepet and Ino where the consulted text has tremibunda, erepet and Io. Io belongs to the surrounding cult of Isis; Burton’s Ino is retained and translated as printed.

12658.This hostile anecdote is attributed to Münster, Cosmography 3.444; its occurrence and wording there remain uncollated, and the event is not independently verified. It does not state the rabbinic principle that saving life overrides the Sabbath: compare Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 85b:3. Burton also condemns the bishop’s retaliatory refusal.

12660.Sabbatarians here means rigorists about observance of a weekly holy day. On Benefits 7.2 associates well-being with freedom from mental disturbances and from false ideas about the gods; the exact Latin phrase cited by Burton has not been confirmed there. His separate English restatement is retained. Subsection 4 ends here.

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.