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

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Facing Pages · Branch 1062 of 1495

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

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1651 English

719–719–720

Faith, hope, repentance, are the soveraign cures and remedies, the sole comforts in this case; confess, humble thy self, repent, it is sufficient. Quod purpura non potest, saccus potest, saith Chrysostome; the King of Ninive’s Sackcloth and ashes did that which his purple robes and crown could not effect; Quod diadema non potuit, cinis perfecit.

Turn to him, he will turn to thee; the Lord is neer those that are of a contrite heart, and will save such as be afflicted in spirit, Psal. 34. 18. He came to the lost sheep of Israel, Mat. 15. 14. Si cadentem intuetur, clementiæ manum protendit, he is at all times ready to assist. Nunquam spernit Deus Pœnitentiam, si sincerè & simpliciter offeratur, he never rejects a penitent sinner, though he have come to the full height of iniquity, wallowed and delighted in sin; yet if he will forsake his former waies, libenter amplexatur, he will receive him.

Parcam huic homini, saith Austin, (ex persona Dei) quia sibi ipsi non pepercit; ignoscam quia peccatum agnovit. I will spare him because he hath not spared himself; I will pardon him, because he doth acknowledge his offence; let it be never so enormous a sin, his grace is sufficient, 2 Cor. 12. 9.

Despaire not then, faint not at all, be not dejected, but rely on God, call on him in thy trouble, and he will heare thee, he will assist, help, and deliver thee; Draw near to him, he will draw near to thee, Jam. 4. 8. Lazarus was poor and full of boyles, and yet still he relied upon God, Abraham did hope beyond hope.

Thou exceptest, these were chief men, divine spirits, Deo chari, beloved of God, especially respected; but I am a contemptible and forlorne wretch, forsaken of God, and left to the merciless fury of evil spirits. I cannot hope, pray, repent, &c. How often shall I say it! thou maist performe all these duties, Christian offices, and be restored in good time.

A sick man loseth his appetite, strength and ability, his disease prevaileth so far, that all his faculties are spent, hand and foot performe not their duties, his eyes are dimme, hearing dull, tongue distasts things of pleasant rellish, yet nature lies hid, recovereth again, and expelleth all those fæculent matters by vomit, sweat, or some such like evacuations.

Thou art spiritually sick, thine heart is heavy, thy mind distressed, thou maist happily recover again, expell those dismal passions of fear and grief; God did not suffer thee to be tempted above measure; whom he loves (I say) he loves to the end; Hope the best.

David in his misery prayed to the Lord, remembring how he had formerly dealt with him; and with that meditation of Gods mercy confirmed his faith, and pacified his own tumultuous heart in his greatest agony. O my soul, why art thou so disquieted within me, &c.

Thy soul is eclipsed for a time, I yeeld, as the Sun is shadowed by a cloud; no doubt but those gracious beams of Gods mercy will shine upon thee again, as they have formerly done; those embers of faith, hope and repentance, now buried in ashes, will flame out afresh, and be fully revived.

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

p. 1062

Faith, hope and repentance are the sovereign cures and remedies, the only comforts in this case. Confess, humble yourself and repent: that is enough. What purple cannot do, sackcloth can, says Chrysostom. The king of Nineveh’s sackcloth and ashes accomplished what his purple robes and crown could not: what the diadem could not do, ashes achieved.

Turn to him and he will turn to you. The Lord is near those whose hearts are contrite and will save those afflicted in spirit, Psalm 34:18. He came to the lost sheep of Israel, Matthew 15:14. If he sees someone falling, he stretches out a merciful hand: he is always ready to help. God never scorns repentance if it is offered sincerely and without pretence: he never rejects a penitent sinner, even one who has reached the height of wickedness and wallowed and delighted in sin. If that person will abandon his former ways, he gladly embraces him; he will receive him.

I will spare this person, says Augustine, speaking in God’s person, because he has not spared himself; I will forgive him because he has acknowledged his sin. I will spare him because he has not spared himself; I will pardon him because he acknowledges his offence. However enormous the sin, his grace is sufficient, 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Do not despair, then, or lose heart at all; do not be cast down, but rely on God. Call on him in your trouble and he will hear you, support, help and deliver you. Draw near to him and he will draw near to you, James 4:8. Lazarus was poor and covered in sores, yet still relied on God; Abraham hoped beyond hope.

You object: these were eminent people, godly spirits, dear to God, beloved by him and especially favoured. But I am a contemptible and abandoned wretch, forsaken by God and left to the merciless fury of evil spirits. I cannot hope, pray, repent and so on. How often must I say it? You may perform all these duties and Christian observances, and be restored in due time.

A sick person loses appetite, strength and ability. His illness advances so far that all his powers are exhausted: hand and foot cannot do their work, his eyes are dim, hearing dull, and his tongue finds pleasantly flavoured things distasteful. Yet nature lies hidden, recovers and expels all that foul matter through vomiting, sweat or similar discharges.

You are spiritually sick; your heart is heavy and your mind distressed. You may yet recover and drive out those dreadful emotions of fear and grief. God did not allow you to be tried beyond measure. Those he loves, I say, he loves to the end. Hope for the best.

In his misery David prayed to the Lord, remembering how God had formerly dealt with him. By meditating on God’s mercy he strengthened his faith and calmed his own turbulent heart in its greatest agony. O my soul, why are you so troubled within me? And so on.

I grant that your soul is darkened for a time, as the sun is obscured by a cloud. Yet those gracious beams of God’s mercy will surely shine upon you again, as they have before. Those embers of faith, hope and repentance, now buried in ashes, will burst into fresh flame and fully revive.

13247.Jonah 3:6 supplies the king’s descent from his throne into sackcloth and ashes. The antitheses occur in the Chrysostomic On Repentance tradition, with a parallel at PG 49.311–312. Both Latin formulations and Burton’s intervening English restatement are preserved.

13248.The lost sheep saying is Matthew 15:24, not the printed 15:14. Each Latin sentence and Burton’s separate English elaboration remain. A related assurance about sincere return appears in Chrysostom’s To Theodore After His Fall; the precise sources of all three Latin phrases still require collation.

13250.The Latin and English versions are both retained. The margin prints On Psalm 52. A related argument about confession, self-judgement and pardon occurs in Augustine’s exposition of Psalm 50 in Latin numbering, commonly Psalm 51 in English; this parallel does not establish the exact source of Burton’s quotation.

13251.Lazarus is the beggar of Luke 16:19–31, not the man raised from the dead in John 11. Abraham’s hope recalls Romans 4:18. Faint means lose courage or give up.

13252.Exceptest means raise an objection; chief means eminent. The Latin dear to God and Burton’s immediate English repetition remain. His repeated answer maintains possibility and deferred recovery rather than demanding a present feeling of certainty.

13253.Fæculent means foul or dreg-like. This is Burton’s bodily analogy for powers that seem absent but may recover, expressed through the period’s theory of evacuation; it is not a prescription offered by the modern edition.

13254.Happily here carries the sense of perhaps or by good fortune, not merely cheerfully. Passions means powerful emotions. The bodily comparison now becomes an argument for possible spiritual recovery.

13255.The repeated question recalls Psalms 42:5, 42:11 and 43:5. Burton calls the speaker David in keeping with his broad treatment of the Psalms; the attribution is retained.

13256.Burton moves from a clouded sun to embers under ashes: what is hidden is not necessarily extinguished. Eclipsed is used broadly for darkening, not as a precise astronomical explanation.

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.