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 MelancholyTreatment of Despair Through Medicine, Good Counsel, Consolation, and So On.

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Facing Pages · Branch 1061 of 1495

Treatment of Despair Through Medicine, Good Counsel, Consolation, and So On.

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1651 English

718–718–719

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted, Matth. 5. 4. a blessed and an happy state, if considered aright, it is, to be so troubled. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, Psal. 119. before I was afflicted I went astray: but now I keep thy word. Tribulation works patience, patience hope, Rom. 5. 4. and by such like crosses and calamities we are driven from the stake of securitie.

So that affliction is a School or Academy, wherein the best Schollers are prepared to the commencements of the deity. And though it be most troublesome and grievous for the time, yet know this, it comes by Gods permission and providence, he is a spectator of thy groans and tears, still present with thee, the very hairs of thy head are numbred, not one of them can fall to the ground, without the express will of God: he will not suffer thee to be tempted above measure, he corrects us all numero, pondere, & mensura. The Lord will not quench the smoaking flax, or break the bruised reed. Tentat (saith Austin) non ut obruat, sed ut coronet, he suffers thee to be tempted for thy good.

And as a mother doth handle her child sick and weak, not reject it, but with all tenderness observe and keep it, so doth God by us; not forsake us in our miseries, or relinquish us for our imperfections; but with all piety and compassion support and receive us; whom he loves he loves to the end.

Rom. 8. Whom he hath elected, those he hath called, justified, sanctified, and glorified. Think not then thou hast lost the spirit, that thou art forsaken of God, be not overcome with heaviness of heart, but as David said, I will not fear though I walk in the shadows of death.

We must all go, non a delitiis ad delitias, but from the cross to the crown, by hell to heaven, as the old Romans put vertues Temple in the way to that of honour: we must endure sorrow and miserie in this life.

’Tis no new thing this, Gods best servants and dearest children have been so visited and tryed. Christ in the garden cryed out, My God my God why hast thou forsaken me: his son by nature, as thou art by adoption and grace. Job in his anguish said, The arrows of the Almighty God were in him, Job 6. 4. His terrors fought against him, the venom drank up his spirit, cap. 13. 26. He saith, God was his enemie, writ bitter things against him, (16. 9.) hated him. His heavy wrath had so seized on his soul.

David complains, His eyes were eaten up, sunk into his head, Ps. 6. 7. His moisture became as the drought in Summer, his flesh was consumed, his bones vexed: yet neither Job nor David did finally despaire. Job would not leave his hold, but still trust in him, acknowledging him to bee his good God. The Lord gives, the Lord takes, blessed be the name of the Lord, Job 1. 21. Behold I am vile, I abhor my self, repent in dust and ashes, Job 39. 37. David humbled himself, Psal. 31. and upon his confession received mercy.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Treatment of Despair Through Medicine, Good Counsel, Consolation, and So On.

p. 1061

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted, Matthew 5:4. Rightly considered, to be troubled in this way is a blessed and happy condition. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, Psalm 119. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. Tribulation produces patience, and patience hope, Romans 5:4. Such troubles and calamities drive us away from the stake to which our complacency has tethered us.

Affliction, then, is a school or academy in which the best students are prepared for graduation into divine life. Though it is deeply troublesome and grievous for the time, know that it comes by God’s permission and providence. He witnesses your groans and tears and is always present with you. The very hairs of your head are numbered; not one can fall to the ground without God’s express will. He will not allow you to be tried beyond measure; he disciplines us all by number, weight and measure. The Lord will not extinguish the smouldering wick or break the bruised reed. He tests us, says Augustine, not to overwhelm us, but to crown us; he allows you to be tried for your good.

As a mother treats her sick and weak child, refusing to reject it but watching over and tending it with every tenderness, so God treats us. He does not forsake us in our miseries or abandon us for our imperfections, but supports and receives us with all tenderness and compassion. Those he loves, he loves to the end.

Romans 8: Those he has elected, he has called, justified, sanctified and glorified. Do not think, then, that you have lost the Spirit or that God has forsaken you. Do not be overcome by heaviness of heart, but say with David, I will not fear though I walk in the shadows of death.

We must all pass not from delights to delights, but from the cross to the crown, through hell to heaven, just as the ancient Romans placed the temple of Virtue on the way to the temple of Honour. We must endure sorrow and misery in this life.

This is nothing new. God’s best servants and dearest children have been afflicted and tested in this way. Christ cried out in the garden, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He was God’s Son by nature, as you are by adoption and grace. In his anguish Job said that the arrows of Almighty God were within him, Job 6:4; God’s terrors fought against him and their poison drank up his spirit. In chapter 13:26 he says that God was his enemy and wrote bitter things against him; in 16:9, that he hated him. So heavily had God’s wrath seized his soul.

David complains that his eyes were wasted away and sank into his head, Psalm 6:7; that his moisture became like the drought of summer, his flesh was consumed and his bones tormented. Yet neither Job nor David finally despaired. Job would not let go, but still trusted him, acknowledging him as his good God: The Lord gives, the Lord takes; blessed be the name of the Lord, Job 1:21. See, I am vile; I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes, Job 39:37. David humbled himself, Psalm 31, and received mercy on confessing.

13239.The Psalm quotations are 119:71 and 119:67. Burton compresses Romans 5:3–4, omitting the intervening experience or proven character. His abbreviated chain is retained. The stake image presents complacency as a fixed attachment from which suffering drives a person.

13241.Commencements are university degree ceremonies, extended metaphorically to divine life. Number, weight and measure recalls Wisdom 11:20; the numbered hairs and falling image combine gospel assurances. Smoaking flax is a lamp wick. The scan reads coronet, crown, not curet, heal. Exact Augustinian loci remain unverified.

13242.Observe and keep means watch over and care for. Piety here includes compassionate devotion, rather than religious observance alone. The final phrase recalls John 13:1.

13243.Burton adapts Romans 8:29–30: the verse’s sequence is not quoted exactly, and sanctified is added. The final assurance paraphrases Psalm 23:4. His expanded sequence and wording remain in the body.

13244.The paired temples make virtue the necessary route to honour. Here through hell extends the metaphor of extreme suffering in the present life; it should not silently be made into a new doctrine about the afterlife.

13245.The cry of abandonment is spoken on the cross in Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34, not in the garden; Burton’s conflation remains visible. Job 6:4 supplies arrows, poison and terrors. The enemy image is at 13:24; bitter things at 13:26. Visited here means afflicted or tested.

13246.The moisture image is Psalm 32:4; the passage combines several laments. Job 39:37 follows Geneva numbering for what is Job 40:4 in the King James Bible; the added repentance in dust and ashes is Job 42:6. Psalm 31 is retained, though confession and forgiveness particularly recall Psalm 32:5.

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.