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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 How Mockery, Slander and Bitter Jokes Cause Melancholy

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Modern English Page · Branch 326 of 1495

Subsection 4 How Mockery, Slander and Bitter Jokes Cause Melancholy

Book Mode

1651 English

151

For this reason, all those that otherwise approve of jests in some cases, and facete Companions, (as who doth not?) let them laugh and be merrie, rumpantur & ilia Codro, ’tis laudable and fit, those yet will by no meanes admit them in their companies, that are any way inclined to this malady; non jocandum cum iis qui miseri sunt, & ærumnosi, no jesting with a discontented person, ’Tis Castilio’s caveat, Io. Pontanus, and Galateus, and every good mans.

Play with me, but hurt me not: Jest with me, but shame me not.

Comitas is a vertue betwixt Rusticity and Scurrility, two extremes, as Affability is betwixt Flattery and Contention, it must not exceed; but be still accompanied with that ἀβλάβεια or innocency, quæ nemini nocet, omnem injuriæ oblationem abhorrens, hurts no man, abhors all offer of injury. Though a man be liable to such a jest, or obloquie, have been overseene, or committed a foule fact, yet it is no good manners or humanity, to upbraid, to hit him in the teeth with his offence, or to scoffe at such a one; ’tis an old axiome, turpis in reum omnis exprobratio.

I speak not of such as generally taxe vice, Barclay, Gentilis, Erasmus, Agrippa, Fishcartus, &c. the Varronists and Lucians of our time, Satyrists, Epigrammatists, Comœdians, Apologists, &c. but such as personate, rayle, scoffe, calumniate, perstringe by name, or in presence offend;

Ludit qui stolidâ procacitate, Non est Sestius ille sed caballus;

’Tis horse-play this, and those jests (as he saith) are no better then injuries, biting jests, mordentes & aculeati, they are poysoned jests, leave a sting behinde them, and ought not to be used.

Set not thy foot to make the blinde to fall, Nor wilfully offend thy weaker brother: Nor wound the dead with thy tongues bitter gall, Neither rejoice thou in the fall of other.

If these rules could be kept, we should have much more ease and quietnesse then we have, lesse melancholy: whereas on the contrary, we study to misuse each other, how to sting and gaul, like two fighting bores, bending all our force and wit, friends, fortunes, to crucifie one anothers souls; by means of which, there is little content and charity, much virulency, hatred, malice, and disquietnesse among us.

3785.BurtonPrinted page 151, t: “De sermone lib. 4. cap. 3.” On Conversation, book 4, chapter 3.

3786.BurtonPrinted page 151, u: “Fol. 55. Galateus.” Galateo, folio 55.

3788.BurtonPrinted page 151, star: “Tully Tusc. quæst.” Cicero, Tusculan Disputations.

3791.BurtonPrinted page 151, star: “Mart. lib. 1. epig. 35.” Martial, book 1, epigram 35.

3793.BurtonPrinted page 151, x: “Tales joci ab injuriis non possunt discerni. Galateus fo. 55.” Such jokes cannot be distinguished from injuries. Galateo, folio 55.

3794.BurtonPrinted page 151, y: “Pybrac in his Quadrains 37.” Guy du Faur de Pibrac, Quatrains, number 37.

3796.BurtonPrinted page 151, star: “Ego hujus miseræ fatuitate & dementia conflictor. Tull. ad Attic. li. 11.” I am tormented by this wretched person’s foolishness and madness. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, book 11.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 4 How Mockery, Slander and Bitter Jokes Cause Melancholy

p. 326

For this reason, even those who otherwise approve of jokes on some occasions and of witty companions—and who does not? Let them laugh and be merry, “and let Codrus’s sides burst”; it is praiseworthy and fitting—even they will by no means allow such jesters among people at all inclined to this malady. “Do not joke with those who are miserable and afflicted”: no joking with a discontented person. This is Castiglione’s warning, and Pontano’s, and Galateo’s, and every good person’s.

Play with me, but do not hurt me; Joke with me, but do not shame me.

Pleasant sociability is a virtue between the two extremes of boorishness and coarse buffoonery, just as affability lies between flattery and quarrelsomeness. It must not go too far, but must always be accompanied by that “harmlessness,” or innocence, “which harms no one and recoils from every offer of injury”: it hurts no one and abhors all offered injury. Even if someone is open to such a joke or reproach, has behaved foolishly or committed a shameful act, it is neither good manners nor humanity to upbraid him, throw his offence in his face or mock him. As the old maxim says, “Every taunt directed at an accused man is shameful.”

I do not mean those who attack vice in general—Barclay, Gentilis, Erasmus, Agrippa, Fischart and others, the Varros and Lucians of our time, satirists, epigrammatists, comic dramatists, writers of fables and the like—but those who single people out, rail, mock, slander, attack them by name or insult them to their faces.

He who jokes with stupid insolence Is no Sestius, but a horse.

This is horseplay, and those jokes, as he says, are no better than injuries: biting jokes, “biting and barbed.” They are poisoned jokes, leave a sting behind them, and should never be used.

Do not put out your foot to trip the blind, Nor knowingly harm your weaker brother; Do not wound the dead with your tongue’s bitter venom, Nor rejoice when another falls.

If these rules could be observed, we would have far more ease and peace than we do, and less melancholy. Instead, we study how to mistreat one another, how to sting and wound, like two fighting boars, turning all our strength and wit, friends and fortunes, to tormenting one another’s souls. As a result, there is little contentment or charity among us, and much venom, hatred, malice and unrest.

3787.Rumpantur & ilia Codro adapts Virgil, Eclogue 7.26, where Codrus is to burst with envy; Burton repurposes it amid laughter. Pontanus is Giovanni Pontano; Galateus refers to Giovanni della Casa’s Galateo, a work on manners. The contrast permits sociable humour while refusing harmful jokes at distressed people’s expense.

3789.Comitas is pleasant sociability. Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 3.8.16, proposes ἀβλάβεια for innocentia, a disposition that harms no one. This locates the Greek term and the harmlessness definition; it does not establish Burton’s whole following Latin clause. Overseene means having acted foolishly; a foule fact is a shameful deed. Hit him in the teeth means reproach him directly. Reus means an accused or guilty person; the reproach maxim remains unlocated.

3790.Personate here means direct an attack at particular people; perstringe means assail or censure. Apologists here probably continues the earlier apologe, meaning writers of fables; the word can also mean writers of defences. Burton exempts general satire against vice while condemning personal abuse. Fishcartus is Johann Fischart; the intended Gentilis remains to be established.

3792.The lines are Martial 1.41.19–20, not the printed 1.35. The consulted text reads Tettius, referring back to Tettius Caballus, with a pun on caballus, horse. Burton prints Sestius; that name is retained in both columns, though it obscures the original pun. His following horseplay supplies an English equivalent of the abuse.

3795.Burton attributes these English verses to Pibrac’s Quatrains, number 37. They are modernized as his English text, without reconstructing an unprinted French original. Exact comparison with the French and the identity of the English translator remain pending.

3797.Bores means boars. Crucifie is metaphorical torment. The final marginal citation adapts Cicero, Letters to Atticus 11.25, whose transmitted text differs and is itself uncertain. Burton adds & dementia; his marginal wording is retained and freshly translated. This subsection closes by making interpersonal cruelty a collective cause of melancholy.

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.