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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 4 Subsection 1 Symptoms or Signs of Love Melancholy in Body and Mind…

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Modern English Page · Branch 811 of 1495

Member 4 Subsection 1 Symptoms or Signs of Love Melancholy in Body and Mind…

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1651 English

529–530

When she is in the meadow, she is fairer then any flower, for that lasts but for a day, the river is pleasing, but it vanisheth on a sudden but thy flowre doth not fade, thy stream is greater then the Sea. If I look upon the Heaven, methinks I see the sun faln down to shine below, and thee to shine in his place, whom I desire. If I look upon the night, methinks I see two more glorious stars, Hesperus and thy self.

A little after he thus courts his Mistress, If thou goest forth of the city, the protecting Gods that keep the town, will run after to gaze upon thee: If thou sail upon the seas, as so many small boats, they will follow thee: what river would not run into the Sea.

Another, he sighs and sobs, swears he hath Cor scissum, an heart bruised to powder, dissolved and melted within him, or quite gone from him, to his mistress bosome belike, he is in an oven, a Salamander in the fire, so scorched with loves heat; He wisheth himself a saddle for her to sit on, a posie for her to smell to, and it would not grieve him to be hanged, if he might be strangled in her garters: he would willingly die to morrow, so that she might kill him with her own hands.

Ovid would be a Flea, a Gnat, a Ring, Catullus a Sparrow,

O si tecum ludere sicut ipsa possem, Et tristes animi levare curas.

Anacreon, a glass, a gown, a chain, any thing,

Sed speculum ego ipse fiam, Ut me tuum usque cernas, Et vestis ipse fiam, Ut me tuum usque gestes. Mutari & opto in undam, Lavem tuos ut artus, Nardus puella fiam, Ut ego teipsum inungam, Sim fascia in papillis, Tuo & monile collo, Fiamque calceus, me Saltem ut pede usque calces.But I a looking-glass would be, Still to be lookt upon by thee, Or I, my Love, would be thy gown, By thee to be worn up and down; Or a pure Well full to the brims, That I might wash thy purer limbs: Or I’de be precious balm to ’noint, With choicest care each choicest joint; Or, if I might, I would be fain About thy neck thy happy chain: Or would it were my blessed hap To be the Lawn o’re thy fair pap. Or would I were thy shoo, to be Daily trod upon by thee.

O thrice happy man that shall enjoy her: as they that saw Hero in Musæus, and Salmacis to Hermaphroditus,

——Felices mater, &c. felix nutrix.—— Sed longè cunctis, longèque beatior ille, Quem fructu sponsi & socii dignabere lecti.

The same passion made her break out in the Comedy,

Næ illæ fortunatæ sunt quæ cum illo cubant,

happy are his bed-fellows; and as she said of Cyrus, Beata quæ illi uxor futura esset, blessed is that woman that shall be his wife, nay thrice happy she that shall enjoy him but a night,

10226.BurtonPrinted page 529, *: “Idem epist. in Prato cum sit flores superat; illi pulchri sed unius tantum diei; fluvius gratus sed evanescis; at tuus fluvius mari major. Si cælum aspicio, solem existimo cecidisse, & in terrâ ambulare, &c.” “The same, letter. In the meadow she surpasses the flowers; they are beautiful, but only for one day; the river is pleasing, but you vanish; yet your river is greater than the sea. If I look at heaven, I think the sun has fallen and walks on earth,” etc. The printed evanescis shifts to second person; the body instead says the river vanishes.

10228.BurtonPrinted page 529, †: “Si civitate egrederis, sequentur te dii custodes, spectaculo commoti; si naviges sequentur; quis fluvius salum tuum non rigaret?” “If you leave the city, its guardian gods will follow you, moved by the sight; if you sail, they will follow; what river would not water your sea?”

10230.BurtonPrinted page 529, t: “El. 15. 2.”

10232.BurtonPrinted page 529, *: “Carm. 30.”

10234.BurtonPrinted page 530, unmarked: “Englished by M. B. Holliday in his Technog. Act. 1. scen. 7.”

10236.BurtonPrinted page 530, *: “Ovid. Met. lib. 4.”

10237.BurtonPrinted page 530, t: “Xenophon Cyropæd. lib. 5.”

10239.BurtonPrinted page 530, †: “Plautus de milite.”

10241.BurtonPrinted page 530, †: “Lucian.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Member 4 Subsection 1 Symptoms or Signs of Love Melancholy in Body and Mind…

p. 811

“When she is in the meadow, she is fairer than any flower, for that lasts only a day. The river is pleasing, but it suddenly vanishes; yet your flower does not fade, your stream is greater than the sea. If I look at heaven, I seem to see the sun fallen down to shine below, and you, whom I desire, shining in its place. If I look at the night, I seem to see two more glorious stars: Hesperus and yourself.”

A little later he courts his mistress in these words: “If you leave the city, the protecting gods who guard the town will run after you to gaze at you. If you sail on the seas, they will follow you like so many small boats. What river would not run into the sea?”

Another sighs and sobs, swears he has “a heart torn apart,” a heart crushed to powder, dissolved and melted within him—or gone from him altogether, into his mistress’s bosom, presumably. He is in an oven, a salamander in the fire, so scorched is he by love’s heat. He wishes himself a saddle for her to sit on, a posy for her to smell; he would not mind being hanged if he could be strangled in her garters. He would willingly die tomorrow if she might kill him with her own hands.

Ovid would be a flea, a gnat, a ring; Catullus, a sparrow:

Oh, if I could play with you as she does, And ease the sorrowful cares of my heart!

Anacreon would be a mirror, a gown, a necklace—anything:

But let me become a mirror, So you may always look at me, your own; And let me become a garment, So you may always wear me, your own. I wish, too, to be changed into water, So that I may wash your limbs. Let me become spikenard, girl, So that I may anoint you yourself; Let me be the band about your breasts, And a necklace on your neck; And let me become a shoe, so that At least you may always tread on me.

But I would be a looking-glass, For you to gaze upon always; Or, my love, I would be your gown, For you to wear wherever you go; Or a pure well filled to the brim, That I might wash your purer limbs; Or precious balm, to anoint Each lovely joint with choicest care; Or, if I could, I would gladly be The happy necklace round your neck; Or would it were my blessed luck To be the fine linen on your fair breast; Or would I were your shoe, to be Trodden on by you each day.

O thrice-happy man who will possess her! So said those who saw Hero in Musaeus, and Salmacis to Hermaphroditus:

Happy the mother, and so forth; happy the nurse— But far, far happier than them all is he Whom you will deem worthy of the joys of marriage and a shared bed.

The same passion made the woman in the comedy exclaim:

How fortunate the women who sleep with him!

Happy are his bedfellows. And, as she said of Cyrus, “Blessed is the woman who will become his wife”: happy is the woman who will marry him; indeed, thrice happy she who will enjoy him for even one night.

10227.Hesperus is the evening star. These are extravagant comparisons within the Philostratus passage, not geographical or astronomical claims. Burton moves between third-person “she” and direct address; the modern column preserves those shifts.

10229.The salamander was traditionally imagined as able to live in fire. A posy is a small bunch of flowers. The fanciful transformations and wishes for death belong to Burton’s catalogue of erotic exaggeration.

10231.Ovid, Amores 2.15, wishes to become the ring sent to his beloved; the flea and gnat attributions require separate verification. Catullus 2.9–10 addresses the beloved’s sparrow: he wishes to play with it as she does, rather than explicitly wishing to become it. Burton supplies that interpretation and adds O to the quoted opening.

10233.A Latin rendering of an Anacreontic poem, cited as poem 30 in Burton’s edition. The exact edition and modern numbering remain unverified. Nard is a fragrant ointment; fascia a breast-band. The print reads masculine teipsum, “you yourself,” after puella, “girl.” The translation keeps the emphasis on the person addressed, while following the female addressee indicated by the context.

10235.Barten Holyday’s Technogamia, act 1, scene 7, supplies the English rendering, printed here separately from the Latin. “Lawn” is fine linen; “pap” means breast; “hap” means fortune or chance. Burton’s Holliday spelling remains in his marginal note.

10238.The passage blends the admiration of Hero in Musaeus with Salmacis’s address to Hermaphroditus in Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.320–328. Ovid blesses the young man’s family, nurse and especially his bride; Burton’s masculine ille/quem instead praises the man who will share the beloved’s bed. The scan reads fructu sponsi. The Xenophon reference is anchored within these verses although it does not identify their Ovidian wording; its placement is retained.

10240.Plautus, Miles gloriosus 65. Artotrogus, the soldier’s flattering dependant, reports women praising Pyrgopolynices; a woman does not speak the line directly on stage. The preceding exchange exposes Artotrogus’s interest in being fed. Burton moves sunt, “are,” after fortunatae and changes isto to illo, both rendered here as “him.” His quotation and separate English gloss remain distinct.

10242.The scan clearly reads Cyrus. The adjacent Lucian citation and the earlier Xenophon, Cyropaedia 5, citation do not provide a secure locator for this sentence; the attribution and anchor placement remain to be collated. The paraphrase follows Burton without silently assigning the quotation to another speaker.

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.