Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Parallel Edition

Robert Burton

The Anatomy of Melancholy

Name: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Author: Robert Burton

1651 English with a close modern English rendering

Explore the Lexicon

The Anatomy of MelancholySubsection 5 Alteratives and Cordials That Strengthen the Body, Disperse The…

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

1651 English Page · Branch 646 of 1495

Subsection 5 Alteratives and Cordials That Strengthen the Body, Disperse The…

Book Mode

1651 English

391

But these are Epicureall tenents, tending to looseness of life, Luxury and Atheism, maintained alone by some Heathens, dissolute Arabians, prophane Christians, and are exploded by Rabbi Moses Tract. 4. Guliel. Placentinus lib. 1. cap. 8. Valescus de Taranta, and most accurately ventilated by Io. Sylvaticus, a late writer and Physician of Millan, med. cont. cap. 14. where you shall finde this tenent copiously confuted.

Howsoever you say, if this be true, that wine and strong drink have such vertue to expell fear and sorrow, and to exhilarate the minde, ever hereafter lets drink and be merry.

Prome reconditum Lyde strenua cæcubum, Capaciores puer huc affer Scyphos, Et Chia vina aut Lesbia.Come lusty Lyda, fill’s a cup of sack, And sirrah Drawer, bigger pots we lack, And Scio wines that have so good a smack.

I say with him in A. Gellius, let us maintain the vigor of our souls with a moderate cup of wine, Natis in usum lætitiæ scyphis, and drink to refresh our minde; if there be any cold sorrow in it, or torpid bashfulness, lets wash it all away. ———Nunc vino pellite curas: so saith Horace, so saith Anacreon,

Μεθύοντα γὰρ με κεῖσθαι Πολὺ κρεῖσσον ἢ θανόντα.

Let’s drive down care with a cup of wine: and so say I too, (though I drink none my self) for all this may be done, so that it be modestly, soberly, opportunely used: So that, they be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, which our Apostle forewarns;

for as Chrysostome well comments on that place, ad lætitiam datum est vinum, non ad ebrietatem, ’tis for mirth wine, but not for madness: And will you know where, when, and how that is to be understood? Vis discere ubi bonum sit vinum? Audi quid dicat Scriptura, hear the Scriptures, Give wine to them that are in sorrow, or as Paul bid Timothy drink wine for his stomack sake, for concoction, health, or some such honest occasion.

Otherwise as Pliny telleth us: If singular moderation be not had, nothing so pernicious, ’tis meer vinegar, blandus dæmon, poyson it self.

But hear a more fearfull doom, Habac. 2. 15. & 16. Wo be to him that makes his neighbour drunk, shamefull spewing shall be upon his glory.

7900.BurtonPrinted page 391, m: “Hor.” Horace.

7903.BurtonPrinted page 391, n: “Lib. 15 2. noct. Att. Vigorem animi moderato vini usu tueamur, & calefacto simul, refotoque animo si quid in eo vel frigidæ tristitiæ, vel torpentis verecundiæ fuerit, diluamus.” Attic Nights, book 15, chapter 2: “Let us preserve the vigour of the mind by moderate use of wine; and, with the mind warmed and refreshed, let us wash away whatever cold sadness or numbing shyness may be in it.”

7904.BurtonPrinted page 391, dagger: “Hor. l. 1. Od. 27.” Horace, Odes, book 1, ode 27.

7905.BurtonPrinted page 391, dagger: “Od. 7. lib. 1.” Odes, book 1, ode 7.

7907.BurtonPrinted page 391, asterisk: “26. Nam præstat ebrium me quam mortuum jacere.” “26. For it is better that I lie drunk than dead.”

7909.BurtonPrinted page 391, dagger: “Ephes. 5. 18. ser. 19. in cap. 5.” Ephesians 5:18; sermon 19 on chapter 5. The latter reference points to Chrysostom’s commentary discussed in the following sentence.

7912.BurtonPrinted page 391, o: “Lib. 14. 5. Nihil pernitiosus viribus si modus absit, venenum.” Book 14, chapter 5: “Nothing is more harmful to the strength if moderation is absent: it is poison.” The source spelling pernitiosus is retained.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Subsection 5 Alteratives and Cordials That Strengthen the Body, Disperse The…

p. 646

But these are Epicurean doctrines, tending towards loose living, sensual indulgence and atheism, upheld only by certain pagans, dissolute Arabs and irreligious Christians. They are rejected by Rabbi Moses, treatise 4, Gulielmus Placentinus, book 1, chapter 8, and Valescus de Taranta, and examined with the greatest care by Joannes Sylvaticus, a recent writer and physician of Milan, Medical Controversies, chapter 14, where you will find this doctrine extensively refuted.

However, you say, if it is true that wine and strong drink have such power to drive out fear and sorrow and enliven the mind, then from now on let us drink and be merry.

Brisk Lyde, bring out the stored Caecuban wine; Boy, bring larger cups here, And wine from Chios or Lesbos.

Come, lively Lyda, fill us a cup of sack, And you, wine-server, we need larger pots, And wines from Chios with their excellent flavour.

I say with the writer in Aulus Gellius: let us sustain the vigour of our souls with a moderate cup of wine, “with cups made for joy,” and drink to refresh our minds. If there is any cold sorrow in the mind, or paralysing shyness, let us wash it all away. “Now drive away your cares with wine”: so says Horace; so says Anacreon,

For it is much better that I should lie here drunk Than dead.

Let us drown care with a cup of wine. And so say I too, though I drink none myself, for all this may be done provided wine is used moderately, soberly and at the right time; provided people are not “drunk with wine, in which there is excess,” as our Apostle warns.

For, as Chrysostom aptly comments on that passage, “wine was given for cheerfulness, not for drunkenness”: wine is for merriment, not madness. Would you know where, when and how to understand this? “Do you wish to learn where wine is good? Hear what Scripture says.” Listen to the Scriptures: give wine to those in sorrow; or, as Paul told Timothy, drink wine for your stomach’s sake—for digestion, health or some similarly proper reason.

Otherwise, as Pliny tells us, without exceptional moderation nothing is so harmful: it is mere vinegar, “a coaxing demon,” poison itself.

But hear a more terrible judgment, Habakkuk 2:15–16: “Woe to the man who makes his neighbour drunk; shameful vomiting shall cover his glory.”

7898.“Epicureall” is a hostile moral label here; it does not establish an accurate account of Epicurus’ philosophy. “Luxury” means sensual excess; “exploded” means repudiated; “ventilated” means thoroughly examined. The religious and ethnic judgments belong to Burton’s polemic and are retained as such. His medical counter-authorities remain for bibliographic collation.

7899.“You say” introduces an imagined reader’s response, temporarily turning the preceding praise into an invitation to perpetual merriment. This change of voice matters: Burton will answer it with restrictions and his own declaration that he abstains from wine.

7901.The first line combines words from Horace, Odes 3.28.2–3; the next two adapt Epodes 9.33–34. Caecuban is an Italian wine, while Chios and Lesbos name Greek island wines. Burton’s arrangement and word order are preserved. See Horace 3 and the Epodes below.

7902.“Fill’s” means fill us; a “drawer” draws and serves wine; “sack” names a historical class of wines. Scio is Chios. Burton’s English version introduces sack and omits the Latin alternative of Lesbian wine. The two verse units remain separate, with neither adjusted to match the other.

7906.Gellius, Attic Nights 15.2.8, says moderate drinking should preserve temperance and self-control; Burton’s Latin instead makes vigour of mind the object of preservation. The rest closely adapts the passage, in a discussion of Plato and controlled drinking. Horace’s fragments are Odes 1.27.1 and 1.7.30, the latter spoken by Teucer before the voyage. Each Latin fragment is translated in the modern prose.

7908.Burton attributes these lines to Anacreon and the margin numbers them 26. They occur as Anacreontea 48.9–10 in the compared Greek collection. Their meaning is that lying drunk is better than lying dead, as Burton’s Latin margin also says. The next English sentence about driving away care is retained separately. The original’s Greek ligature for gar is expanded mechanically. See the Anacreontea Greek text below.

7910.Burton’s assertion that he drinks no wine belongs in the modern text as part of his personal voice. His three qualifications precede the warning from Ephesians 5:18. The paragraph permits bounded use while rejecting intoxication; it does not endorse the imagined reader’s unrestricted conclusion.

7911.Chrysostom, Homily 19 on Ephesians, connects Ephesians 5:18 with Proverbs 31:6 and Paul’s counsel to Timothy, 1 Timothy 5:23. The Latin uses “drunkenness,” while Burton’s English develops the opposition as mirth and madness. Both are kept. “Honest occasion” means a proper or legitimate reason. See Chrysostom below.

7913.Pliny, Natural History 14.58, contrasts usefulness to bodily strength with the danger of unmoderated enjoyment. Burton’s marginal summary combines these into harm to strength; it is an adaptation, not an exact quotation. His book 14, chapter 5 and spelling pernitiosus remain. The coaxing demon image belongs to Burton’s surrounding warning.

7914.Burton draws together Habakkuk 2:15–16. The humiliating reversal of glory into vomiting gives the warning both a moral and bodily force. “Doom” means judgment, and the second clause refers back to the person who makes a neighbour drunk.

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.