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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 MelancholyMember 3 Against Poverty and Want and Other Such Adversities

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Facing Pages · Branch 564 of 1495

Member 3 Against Poverty and Want and Other Such Adversities

Book Mode

1651 English

329

how happy art thou if thou couldst be content. Godlinesse is great gain, if a man can be content with that which he hath, 1 Tim. 6.6. And all true happinesse is in a mean estate. I have a little wealth, as he said, sed quas animus magnas facit, a kingdom in conceit:

—— nil amplius opto Maiâ nate, nisi ut propria hæc mihi munera faxis;

I have enough and desire no more.

Dii bene fecerunt inopis me quodque pusilli Fecerunt animi ——

’tis very well, and to my content. Vestem & fortunam concinnam potius quàm laxam probo, let my fortune and my garments be both alike, fit for me. And which Sebastian Foscarinus sometime Duke of Venice, caused to be engraven on his Tomb in Saint Markes Church, Hear, O ye Venetians, and I will tell you which is the best thing in the world: To contemne it. I will engrave it in my heart, it shall be my whole studie to contemne it.

Let them take wealth, Stercora stercus amet, so that I may have security; bene qui latuit, bene vixit; though I live obscure, yet I live clean and honest; and when as the lofty oke is blown down, the silly reed may stand. Let them take glory, for that’s their misery; let them take honour, so that I may have hearts ease.

Duc me o Jupiter & tu fatum, &c. Lead me, O God, whither thou wilt, I am ready to follow; command, I will obey. I doe not envie at their wealth, titles, offices;

Stet quicunque volet potens Aulæ culmine lubrico, Me dulcis saturet quies,

let me live quiet and at ease. Erimus fortasse (as he comforted himself) quando illi non erunt, when they are dead and gone, and all their pomp vanished, our memory may flourish:

—— dant perennes Stemmata non peritura Musæ.

Let him be my Lord, Patron, Baron, Earl, and possesse so many goodly Castles, ’tis well for me that I have a poor house, and a little wood, and a Well by it, &c.

His me consolor victurum suavius, ac si Quæstor avus pater atque meus, patruusque fuissent.

I live I thank God as merrily as he, and triumph as much in this my mean estate, as if my father and uncle had been Lord Treasurer, or my Lord Major. He feeds of many dishes, I of one; qui Christum curat, non multum curat quam de preciosis cibis stercus conficiat; what care I of what stuffe my excrements be made?

6777.BurtonPrinted page 329, m: “Lip. miscell. ep. 40.” Justus Lipsius, Miscellaneous Letters, letter 40; the edition and exact passage remain to be established.

6779.BurtonPrinted page 329, n: “Sat. 6. lib. 2.” Horace, Satires 2.6.4–5.

6781.BurtonPrinted page 329, †: “Hor. Sat. 4.” Horace, Satires 1.4.17–18.

6783.BurtonPrinted page 329, *: “Apuleius.” Compare Apuleius, Apology 19.2–3.

6784.BurtonPrinted page 329, †: “Chytreus in Europæ deliciis. Accipite cives Veneti quod est optimum in rebus humanis; res humanas contemnere.” Chytraeus, Deliciae Europae. “Learn, citizens of Venice, what is best in human affairs: to despise human affairs.” The inscription and its attribution remain to be checked.

6786.BurtonPrinted page 329, o: “Vah, vivere etiam nunc lubet, as Demea said, Adelph. Act. 4. Quam multis non egeo, quam multa non desidero, ut Socrates in pompa, ille in nundinis.” “Ah, even now it is a pleasure to live,” as Demea said in The Brothers, act 4. “How many things I do not need, how many I do not desire”; like Socrates at a procession, the other at a market. Burton’s compressed juxtaposition and ambiguous ille (“the other/he”) are retained; the Terence attribution and anecdote require collation.

6788.BurtonPrinted page 329, *: “Epictetus 77. cap. quo sum destinatus, & sequar alacriter.” Epictetus, chapter 77 as printed: “where I am appointed to go, and I shall follow gladly.” The quotation continues the appeal to Jupiter and Fate; chapter numbering requires edition-specific collation.

6791.BurtonPrinted page 329, p: “Puteanus ep. 62.” Erycius Puteanus, letter 62; precise collection and wording remain uncollated.

6793.BurtonPrinted page 329, †: “Marullus” Marullus; precise poem remains unlocated.

6795.BurtonPrinted page 329, q: “Hoc erit in votis; modus agri non ita parvus, Hortus ubi & tecto vicinus jugis aquæ fons, et paulum sylvæ, &c. Hor. Sat. 6. lib. 2. Ser.” “This will be among my wishes: a piece of land not so small, with a garden and a spring of flowing water near the house, and a little woodland,” and so on. Horace, Satires 2.6.1–3; Burton’s erit and parvus differ substantively from the consulted text.

6798.BurtonPrinted page 329, r: “Hieronym.” Jerome; the precise source of the following Latin saying remains unlocated.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Member 3 Against Poverty and Want and Other Such Adversities

p. 564

How happy you are, if only you could be content! “Godliness is great gain, if a man can be content with what he has,” 1 Timothy 6:6. All true happiness lies in a moderate condition. I have a little wealth, as he said, “but the mind makes it great”: a kingdom in my estimation.

I wish for nothing more, Son of Maia, except that you make these gifts securely mine.

I have enough and want no more.

The gods did well in making me Of a poor and humble spirit.

It is very well, and I am content. “I approve of clothes and fortune that fit, rather than hang loose.” Let my fortune and my clothes alike fit me. Sebastian Foscarinus, formerly Duke of Venice, had this engraved on his tomb in Saint Mark’s Church: “Listen, Venetians, and I will tell you the best thing in the world: to despise it.” I will engrave that in my heart; despising the world will be my whole concern.

Let them take wealth—“let dung love dung”—provided I may have peace of mind. “He who has lived in obscurity has lived well.” Though I live unknown, I live cleanly and honestly; when the lofty oak is blown down, the frail reed may stand. Let them take glory, for that is their misery; let them take honour, provided I may have peace at heart.

“Lead me, O Jupiter, and you, Fate,” and so on. Lead me, O God, wherever you will; I am ready to follow. Command, and I will obey. I do not envy their wealth, titles, or offices.

Let whoever wishes stand powerful On the slippery summit of the court; Let sweet repose satisfy me.

Let me live quietly and at ease. “Perhaps we shall still be when they are no more,” as he comforted himself: when they are dead and gone and all their splendour has vanished, our memory may flourish.

The everlasting Muses bestow Pedigrees that will not perish.

Let him be my lord, patron, baron, earl, and possess all those splendid castles. It is enough for me to have a humble house, a little wood, and a well beside it, and so on.

I comfort myself that I shall live more pleasantly this way Than if my grandfather, father, and uncle had been quaestors.

I live as merrily as he does, thank God, and rejoice in my humble condition as much as if my father and uncle had been Lord Treasurer or Lord Mayor. He eats many dishes; I eat one. “He who cares for Christ cares little how costly the food is from which he makes his excrement.” What do I care what my excrement is made from?

6778.Burton paraphrases 1 Timothy 6:6. Mean estate means a moderate or humble condition, not a morally mean one. Conceit here means estimation or imagination. The Lipsius quotation is not yet collated against a specified edition.

6780.Horace, Satires 2.6.4–5. Son of Maia is Mercury. The consulted Latin reads oro (pray) where Burton has opto (wish); the translation follows Burton. Propria asks that the gifts remain securely the speaker’s.

6782.Horace, Satires 1.4.17–18. Burton’s second Fecerunt differs from the consulted finxerunt (formed). In context Horace speaks of modest poetic capacity, contrasting his small spirit with another poet’s copious production; Burton reuses the words as an expression of contentment.

6785.The clothing comparison adapts Apuleius, Apology 19.2–3: fortune should fit like a tunic, rather than trail so far as to trip its wearer. Burton changes the wording. The purported Foscarinus tomb inscription is mediated through Chytraeus; the person’s identification, ducal title, location and exact text remain unverified.

6787.The dung image is deliberately coarse. Bene qui latuit, bene vixit is Ovid, Tristia 3.4.25. The margin’s Demea saying comes from Terence, Adelphoe 445, in act 3 scene 3: seeing the honourable Hegio makes Demea glad to be alive. Burton prints act 4 and applies the words to contentment. “Silly” means frail; the oak and reed recall the fable of yielding to a storm. The adjacent Socrates saying remains uncollated.

6789.The appeal to Jupiter and Fate is the Stoic prayer attributed to Cleanthes and preserved by Epictetus (Handbook 53 in common modern numbering, 52 in the consulted Carter version). Burton’s marginal 77 requires collation with his edition. His English gloss substitutes the single Christian God for Jupiter and Fate; both layers are kept.

6790.Seneca, Thyestes 391–393, from a choral meditation on kingship and freedom from desire. Aulæ is the royal court; its summit is slippery because power is precarious.

6792.Erimus fortasse quando illi non erunt is literally perhaps we shall be when they will not be. Burton explains this as survival in memory. The translation preserves the Latin’s tentative phrasing; Puteanus’s exact source remains uncollated.

6794.The Muses confer enduring distinction through poetry. Stemmata literally means pedigrees or genealogical honours; its figurative force contrasts literary remembrance with inherited rank. The attribution to Marullus has not yet been traced to a specific poem.

6796.Horace, Satires 2.6.1–3, begins Hoc erat in votis, modus agri non ita magnus: this was my wish, a piece of land not so large. Burton’s marginal erit (will be) and non ita parvus (not so small) change tense and reverse the size adjective. Both readings are preserved in his note and its translation; the main paragraph itself still praises modest possessions.

6797.Horace, Satires 1.6.130–131. A quaestor was a Roman magistrate with financial responsibilities. Burton prints plural fuissent where the consulted text has fuisset. His English gloss omits the grandfather and domesticates the office as Lord Treasurer or Lord Mayor; it remains alongside the fresh Latin translation.

6799.The Latin and Burton’s English gloss deliberately reduce luxurious dining to its bodily end. Jerome is named without a work; the attribution remains uncollated. Feeds of means eats from or eats.

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.