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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 MelancholySubsection 4. Sorrow as a Cause of Melancholy.

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1651 English Page · Branch 251 of 1495

Subsection 4. Sorrow as a Cause of Melancholy.

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1651 English

96 repeated [PDF198]–97 repeated [PDF199]

It hinders concoction, refrigerates the heart, takes away stomack, colour, and sleep, thickens the blood, (Fernelius l. 1. c. 18. de morb. causis) contaminates the spirits, Piso) Overthrowes the natural heat, perverts the good estate of body and minde, and makes them weary of their lives, cry out, howle and roar for very anguish of their soules.

David confessed as much, Psal. 38.8. I have roared for the very disquietness of my heart. And Psal. 119.4. part.4.v. My soul melteth away for very heaviness, vers. 38. I am like a bottle in the smoak. Antiochus complained that he could not sleep, and that his heart fainted for grief, Christ himself, Vir dolorum, out of an apprehension of grief, did sweat blood, Mark 14. His soul was heavy to the death, and no sorrow was like unto his.

Crato consil. 21. l. 2. gives instance in one that was so melancholy by reason of grief: and Montanus consil. 30. in a noble Matron, that had no other cause of this mischief. I. S. D. in Hildesheim, fully cured a patient of his, that was much troubled with melancholy, and for many years, but afterwards by a little occasion of sorrow, he fell into his former fits, and was tormented as before.

Examples are common, how it causeth melancholy, desperation, and sometimes death it self; for (Ecclus. 38.15.) Of heaviness comes death. Worldly sorrow causeth death, 2 Cor. 7.10. Psal. 31.10. My life is wasted with heaviness, and my years with mourning. Why was Hecuba said to be turned to a dog? Niobe into a stone? but that for grief she was sensless and stupid. Severus the Emperor dyed for grief: and how many myriads besides?

Tanta illi est feritas, tanta est insania luctus.

Melancthon gives a reason of it, the gathering of much melancholy blood about the heart, which collection extinguisheth the good spirits, or at least dulleth them, sorrow strikes the heart, makes it tremble and pine away, with great pain: And the black blood drawn from the spleen, and diffused under the ribs, on the left side, makes those perilous hypochondriacall convulsions, which happen to them that are troubled with Sorrow.

2835.BurtonRepeated page 96, f: “Crato consil. 21. lib. 2. mœstitia universum infrigidat corpus, calorem innatum extinguit, appetitum destruit.” “Sadness chills the whole body, extinguishes its innate heat and destroys appetite.” Crato, consultation 21, book 2.

2836.BurtonRepeated page 96, g: “Cor refrigerat tristitia, spiritus exsiccat, innatumque calorem obruit, vigilias inducit, concoctionem labefactat, sanguinem incrassat, exaggeratque melancholicum succum.” “Sadness chills the heart, dries the spirits, overwhelms the innate heat, induces wakefulness, impairs digestion, thickens the blood and increases the melancholy humour.”

2837.BurtonRepeated page 96, h: “Spiritus & sanguis hoc contaminatur. Piso.” “The spirits and blood are contaminated by this.” Piso; the printed Latin’s singular verb is retained.

2839.BurtonRepeated page 97, f: “Marc. 6. 16. 11.” Printed beside the Antiochus/Christ passage, with the body marker before Christ. The wording about Antiochus corresponds to 1 Maccabees 6:10–11; the printed abbreviation and numbers are retained.

2841.BurtonRepeated page 97, g, without a clearly visible body marker: “Mœrore maceror, marcesco & consenesco miser, ossa atque pellis sum misera macritudine. Plaut.” “Grief wastes me; I wither and grow old in misery. I am skin and bone with wretched emaciation.” Plautus. Attached here near its position in the margin. Compare Captivi 133–135: Burton abridges and alters Ergasilus’s lament. The following lines make his lost meals part of the joke; the original context is comic.

2842.BurtonRepeated page 97, h: “Malum inceptum & actum à tristitia sola.” “The illness began and developed from sadness alone.”

2843.BurtonRepeated page 97, i: “Hildesheim. spicel. 2. de melancholia, mœrore animi postea accedente, in priora symptomata incidit.” “When grief of mind subsequently arose, he fell back into his earlier symptoms.” Hildesheim, Spicilegium 2, on melancholy.

2845.BurtonRepeated page 97, k: “Vives 3. de anima. c. de mœrore. Sabin. in Ovid.” Vives, On the Soul, book 3, chapter on grief; Sabinus on Ovid.

2846.BurtonRepeated page 97, l: “Herodian. l. 3. mœrore magis quam morbo consumptus est.” “He was consumed more by grief than by disease.” Herodian, book 3.

2847.BurtonRepeated page 97, m: “Bothwellius atribilarius obiit Brizarrus Genuensis hist. &c.” “Bothwell died melancholy.” Bizzarri’s Genoese history, cited in the printed form Brizarrus; the exact passage remains unlocated.

2850.BurtonRepeated page 97, n: “Mœstitia cor quasi percussum constringitur, tremit & languescit cum acri sensu doloris. In tristitia cor fugiens attrahit ex Splene lentum humorem melancholicum, qui effusus sub costis in sinistro latere hypochondriacos flatus facit, quod sæpe accidit iis qui diuturna cura & mœstitia conflictantur. Melancthon.” “In sadness the heart contracts as if struck, trembles and languishes with a sharp sense of pain. In grief the shrinking heart draws a thick melancholy humour from the spleen; spreading beneath the ribs on the left side, this causes hypochondriacal wind, as often happens to those struggling with prolonged care and sadness.” Melanchthon. The Latin says flatus, wind; the body has convulsions.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 4. Sorrow as a Cause of Melancholy.

p. 251

It hinders digestion, chills the heart, takes away appetite, colour and sleep, thickens the blood—Fernel, On the Causes of Diseases, book 1, chapter 18—contaminates the spirits, according to Piso, overthrows the natural heat, destroys the healthy condition of body and mind, and makes people weary of life, crying out, howling and roaring from sheer anguish of soul.

David confessed as much in Psalm 38:8: “I have roared because of the very unrest of my heart.” And in Psalm 119, part 4, verse 4: “My soul melts away from sheer heaviness”; verse 38: “I am like a wineskin in the smoke.” Antiochus complained that he could not sleep and that his heart fainted with grief. Christ himself, “a man of sorrows,” sweated blood through the apprehension of grief, Mark 14. His soul was sorrowful to the point of death, and no sorrow equalled his.

Crato, in consultation 21, book 2, gives an example of someone made melancholy by grief; and Montanus, in consultation 30, of a noblewoman whose illness had no other cause. I. S. D., in Hildesheim, completely cured a patient who had been severely troubled with melancholy for many years. But afterwards a slight occasion for sorrow brought back his former attacks, and he suffered as before.

Examples abound of sorrow causing melancholy, despair and sometimes death itself; for “Death comes from heaviness,” Ecclesiasticus 38:15. “Worldly sorrow causes death,” 2 Corinthians 7:10. “My life is wasted with heaviness, and my years with mourning,” Psalm 31:10. Why was Hecuba said to have been turned into a dog, or Niobe into a stone, except that grief left her numb and senseless? The emperor Severus died of grief—and how many tens of thousands besides?

So fierce is his grief, so great its madness.

Melanchthon gives the reason: a great quantity of melancholy blood gathers around the heart, and this accumulation extinguishes the good spirits, or at least dulls them. Sorrow strikes the heart, makes it tremble and waste away in great pain. The black blood drawn from the spleen and spread beneath the ribs on the left side causes those dangerous hypochondriacal convulsions that occur in people troubled by sorrow.

2838.“Concoction” means digestion, “stomack” appetite, and “natural heat” the innate warmth believed to sustain life. Burton’s unmatched closing parenthesis after Piso is retained on the original side and resolved syntactically in modern English.

2840.Psalm 119, part 4, verse 4 corresponds to verse 28: the psalm’s fourth group of eight verses begins at verse 25. The following printed “38” is an apparent reversal of 83, the wineskin passage. Burton’s reference is preserved in the body. The sweating of blood belongs to Luke 22:44; Mark 14:34 supplies the sorrow unto death. “Man of sorrows” recalls Isaiah 53:3. The marginal “Marc. 6. 16. 11.” is defective; Antiochus’s sleepless grief is in 1 Maccabees 6:10–11.

2844.The physicians’ cases illustrate both an onset attributed to grief and a relapse after apparent recovery. I. S. D. remains unidentified; the initials are retained rather than expanded speculatively. The precise Crato, Montanus and Hildesheim cases await source collation.

2848.The death-from-sorrow wording appears at Sirach 38:18 in the consulted numbering, rather than Burton’s 38:15. Hecuba and Niobe illustrate emotional numbness; “stupid” means stupefied. Herodian 3.15.1–2 describes Severus’s illness, Caracalla’s attempt to hasten his death, and his end chiefly through grief. This supports the substance of Burton’s reference, without identifying his Latin version. Bizzarri’s Bothwell passage remains unlocated.

2849.Adapted from Statius, Silvae 5.5.23. The consulted Latin reads “tanta mihi feritas” (“such fierceness in me”); Burton substitutes “illi est,” shifting the reference to another person. The modern version follows Burton’s altered text.

2851.“Hypochondriacal” refers to the region beneath the ribs. Melanchthon’s Book on the Soul, Corpus Reformatorum 13, columns 126 and 129, supplies the stricken heart and humour drawn from the spleen. Column 129 describes obstructions and dangerous hypochondriacal diseases, rather than Burton’s flatus or convulsions. The consulted witness therefore confirms the account’s substance, but does not settle Burton’s wording or source edition. The English and marginal Latin remain separately translated as printed.

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.