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 MelancholyMember 3. Air Corrected. With a Digression on Air.

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Facing Pages · Branch 474 of 1495

Member 3. Air Corrected. With a Digression on Air.

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1651 English

258

some call his Godhead in question, his power, and attributes, his mercy, justice, providence: they will know with Cecilius, why good and bad are punished together, war, fires, plagues infest all alike, why wicked men flourish, good are poor, in prison, sick, and ill at ease. Why doth he suffer so much mischief and evill to be done, if he be able to help? why doth he not assist good, or resist bad, reform our wills, if he be not the author of sin, and let such enormities be committed, unworthy of his knowledge, wisdome, government, mercy, and providence, why lets he all things be done by fortune and chance?

Others as prodigiously enquire after his omnipotency, an possit plures similes creare deos? an ex scarabæo deum? &c. & quo demum ruetis sacrificuli? Some, by visions and revelations, take upon them to be familiar with God, and to be of privie counsell with him; they will tell how many, and who shall be saved, when the world shall come to an end, what year, what moneth, and whatsoever else God hath reserved unto himself, and to his Angels.

Some again curious phantasticks, will know more than this, and enquire with Epicurus, what God did before the World was made? was he idle? Where did he bide? What did he make the world of? why did he then make it, and not before? If he made it new, or to have an end, how is he unchangeable, infinite? &c. Some will dispute, cavill, and object, as Iulian did of old, whom Cyrill confutes, as Simon Magus is fained to do, in that dialogue betwixt him and Peter: and Ammonius the Philosopher, in that dialogicall disputation with Zacharias the Christian.

If God be infinitely and only good, why should he alter or destroy the world? if he confound that which is good, how shall himself continue good? If he pull it down because evill, how shall he be free from the evill that made it evill? &c. with many such absurd and brainsick questions, intricacies, froth of humane wit, and excrements of curiosity, &c. which, as our Saviour told his inquisitive Disciples, are not fit for them to know.

But hoo! I am now gone quite out of sight, I am almost giddy with roving about: I could have ranged farther yet; but I am an infant, and not able to dive into these profundities, or sound these depths; not able to understand, much less to discuss. I leave the contemplation of these things to stronger wits, that have better ability, and happier leisure to wade into such Philosophicall mysteries: for put case I were as able as willing, yet what can one man do?

5582.BurtonPrinted page 258, first †: “In Minutius, sine delectu tempestates tangunt loca sacra & profana, bonorum & malorum fata juxta, nullo ordine res fiunt, soluta legibus fortuna dominatur.” In Minucius: storms strike sacred and profane places without distinction; good and bad meet the same fate; events follow no order; fortune reigns, unbound by laws.

5583.BurtonPrinted page 258, first *: “Vel malus vel impotens, qui peccatum permittit, &c. unde hæc superstitio?” Either evil or powerless is he who permits sin, and so forth. Where does this superstition come from?

5586.BurtonPrinted page 258, second †: “Quid fecit Deus ante mundum creatum? ubi vixit otiosus à suo subjecto, &c.” What did God do before the world was created? Where did he live, idle and apart from the object of his activity, and so forth?

5587.BurtonPrinted page 258, second *: “Lib. 3. recog. Pet. cap. 3. Peter answers by the simile of an egge-shell, which is cunningly made, yet of necessity to be broken; so is the world, &c. that the excellent state of heaven might be made manifest.” Book 3 of the Recognitions of Peter, chapter 3. Peter answers with the comparison of an eggshell, skilfully made yet necessarily broken; so with the world, so that heaven’s excellent condition may be revealed. The abbreviated locator has not been reconciled with a specific edition.

5590.BurtonPrinted page 258, y: “Ut me pluma levat, sic grave mergit onus.” As a feather lifts me, so a heavy burden sinks me.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Member 3. Air Corrected. With a Digression on Air.

p. 474

Some question his divinity, his power and attributes, his mercy, justice, and providence. Like Caecilius, they insist on knowing why good and bad are punished together, why war, fires, and plagues attack all alike, why wicked people prosper while the good are poor, imprisoned, sick, and miserable. Why does he allow so much mischief and evil if he can prevent it? Why does he not help the good, oppose the bad, or reform our wills, if he is not the author of sin? Why allow such enormities, unworthy of his knowledge, wisdom, government, mercy, and providence? Why let everything happen by fortune and chance?

Others make equally monstrous inquiries into his omnipotence: “Can he create several gods like himself? Can he make a god out of a beetle?” and so forth. “Where will you rush to at last, you paltry priests?” Some, through visions and revelations, claim intimacy with God and membership of his privy council. They will tell how many people will be saved and who they are; when the world will end, in what year and month; and everything else that God has reserved to himself and his angels.

Other prying fantasists insist on knowing still more, asking with Epicurus what God did before the world was made. Was he idle? Where did he live? What did he make the world from? Why make it then, and not earlier? If he made it anew, or intended it to end, how is he unchangeable and infinite? And so forth. Some will argue, quibble, and object, as Julian did long ago, whom Cyril refutes; as Simon Magus is represented as doing in that dialogue between himself and Peter; and as the philosopher Ammonius does in his dialogue and disputation with Zacharias the Christian.

If God is infinitely and exclusively good, why should he change or destroy the world? If he destroys what is good, how can he himself remain good? If he tears it down because it is evil, how can he be free of the evil, having made it evil? And so forth, with many such absurd, deranged questions and intricacies: the froth of human wit and the excrement of curiosity. These are things which, as our Saviour told his inquisitive disciples, it is not for them to know.

But ho! I have now gone quite out of sight. I am almost dizzy from roaming about. I could have ranged farther still, but I am an infant, unable to dive into these profundities or sound these depths; unable to understand, much less discuss them. I leave the contemplation of these matters to stronger minds, with greater ability and more fortunate leisure to wade into such philosophical mysteries. For even supposing I were as able as I am willing, what can one man do?

5584.Caecilius is the pagan speaker in Minucius Felix’s Octavius 5. Direct comparison with the Latin confirms a composite paraphrase: lightning strikes sacred and profane places, shipwrecks and fires confound innocent and guilty, and fortune seems ungoverned. Burton substitutes and compresses wording across the passage. This is Caecilius’s challenge within a dialogue, not the work’s final judgment on providence.

5585.Sacrificuli is a sneering diminutive for priests. The questions test the limits of divine omnipotence. Burton then turns to claims of private revelation and prediction of the end of the world; these are targets of his satire, not revelations endorsed by the edition.

5588.Julian is the emperor opposed by Cyril of Alexandria. The Simon–Peter exchange is located in the Clementine Recognitions III.27–28, compared in Thomas Smith’s translation: Simon questions the destruction of a good creation, and Peter answers with the eggshell that must break for the chick to emerge. Burton’s chapter 3 remains as printed; his edition is unidentified. Zacharias’s Ammonius is a dialogue about creation. The Julian, Epicurus and Zacharias passages still require direct collation.

5589.Compare Acts 1:7, where the disciples are told that the times and seasons are not theirs to know. Burton widens the warning into a rebuke of speculative theology. His violent “excrements of curiosity” is retained in the modern English.

5591.Ho! calls a halt; sound means measure depth. The feather-and-burden line is Alciato’s emblem Paupertatem summis ingeniis obesse, ne provehantur, compared in the Lyon 1550 edition, p. 132. Its speaker has talent to fly but is held down by poverty. Burton adapts that emblem to the limits of his speculative flight and the need for greater ability and leisure. The comparison identifies the verse, not his immediate edition or intermediary.

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.