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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 MelancholyBy Counsel and Persuasion, the Foulness of the Deed, the Faults of Men And…

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1651 English Page · Branch 852 of 1495

By Counsel and Persuasion, the Foulness of the Deed, the Faults of Men And…

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1651 English

560

to be admired for her person, a most incomparable, unmatchable peece, aurea proles, ad simulachrum alicuius numinis composita, a Phœnix, vernantis ætatulæ Venerilla, a Nymph, a Fairy, like Venus her self when she was a maid, nulli secunda, a meer quintessence, flores spirans & amaracum, fœminæ prodigium: Put case she be, how long will she continue?

Florem decoris singuli carpunt dies:

Every day detracts from her person, and this beauty is bonum fragile, a meer flash, a Venice glass, quickly broken,

Anceps forma bonum mortalibus, —— exigui donum breve temporis,

it will not last. As that fair flower Adonis, which we call an Anemony, flourisheth but one month, this gracious all commanding beauty fades in an instant. It is a jewell soon lost, the painters Goddesse, falsa veritas, a mere picture. Favour is deceitfull, and beauty is vanity, Prov. 31. 30.

Vitrea gemmula, fluxaq; bullula, candida forma est, Nix, Rosa, ros, fumus, ventus & aura, nihil.A brittle Jem, bubble, is beauty pale, A Rose, dew, snow, smoke, winde, air, naught at all.

If she be fair, as the saying is, she is commonly a fool: if proud, scornfull, sequiturq; superbia formam, or dishonest, rara est concordia formæ atq; pudicitiæ, can she be fair and honest too? Aristo the son of Agesicles married a Spartan lass, the fairest Lady in all Greece next to Helen, but for her conditions the most abominable, and beastly creature of the world.

So that I would wish thee to respect, with Seneca, not her person but qualities. Will you say that’s a good blade which hath a guilded scabbard, imbroidered with gold, and Jewels? No, but that which hath a good edge and point, well tempered mettle, able to resist.

This beauty is of the body alone, and what is that, but as Gregory Nazianzen telleth us, A mock of time and sickness? or as Boëthius, as mutable as a flowre, and ’tis not nature so makes us, but most part the infirmity of the beholder.

For ask another, he sees no such matter: Dic mihi per gratias qualis tibi videtur, I pray thee tell me how thou likest my sweet-heart, as she asked her sister in Aristænætus, whom I so much admire, me thinks he is the sweetest gentleman, the properest man that ever I saw: but I am in love, I confess, (nec pudet fateri) and cannot therefore well judge.

But be she fair indeed, golden-haired, as Anacreon his Bathillus, (to examine particulars) she have

Flammeolos oculos, collaq; lacteola,

a pure sanguine complexion, little mouth, corall lips, white teeth, soft and plump neck, body, hands, feet, all fair and lovely to behold, composed of all graces, elegances, an absolute piece,

10761.BurtonPrinted page 560, †: “Qualis fuit Venus cum fuit virgo, balsamum spirans, &c.” “Such as Venus was when she was a maiden, breathing balsam, etc.”

10763.BurtonPrinted page 560, *: “Seneca.”

10765.BurtonPrinted page 560, a: “Seneca Hyp.” “Seneca, Hippolytus.”

10767.BurtonPrinted page 560, b: “Camerarius emb. 68 cent. 1. flos omnium pulcherrimus statim languescit, formæ typus.” “Camerarius, Emblems, first century, 68. The most beautiful of all flowers immediately withers: an emblem of beauty.”

10769.BurtonPrinted page 560, †: “Bernart. Bauhusius Ep. l. 4.”

10771.BurtonPrinted page 560, a: “Pausanias Lacon. lib. 3. uxorem duxit Spartæ mulierum omnium post Helenam formosissimam, at ob mores omnium turpissimam.” “Pausanias, Laconia, book 3. He married the most beautiful of all the women of Sparta after Helen, but in character the foulest of them all.”

10773.BurtonPrinted page 560, b: “Epist. 76. gladium bonum dices, non cui deauratus est baltheus, nec cui vagina gemmis distinguitur, sed cui ad secandum subtilis acies & mucro munimentum omne rupturus.” “Letter 76. You will call a sword good, not because its belt is gilded or its scabbard decorated with jewels, but because it has a keen cutting edge and a point that will break through every defence.”

10775.BurtonPrinted page 560, h: “Pulchritudo corporis, temporis & morbi ludibrium. orat. 3.” “Bodily beauty, the plaything of time and sickness. Oration 3.”

10776.BurtonPrinted page 560, c: “Florum mutabilitate fugacior, nec sua natura formosas facit, sed spectantium infirmitas.” “More fleeting than the changefulness of flowers; it is not their own nature that makes women beautiful, but the weakness of those who look at them.”

10778.BurtonPrinted page 560, †: “Epist. 11. Quem ego depereo Juvenis mihi pulcherrimus videtur; sed forsan amore percita de amore non recte judico.” “Letter 11. The young man I love desperately seems most beautiful to me; but perhaps, stirred by love, I do not judge love rightly.”

10781.BurtonPrinted page 560, †: “Luc. Brugensis.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy: By Counsel and Persuasion, the Foulness of the Deed, the Faults of Men And…

p. 852

admirable in her appearance, an utterly incomparable, matchless creature, “a golden offspring, fashioned in the likeness of some divinity, a phoenix, a little Venus in the bloom of youth,” a nymph, a fairy, like Venus herself when she was a maiden, “second to none,” perfection distilled, “breathing flowers and marjoram, a wonder of a woman.” Suppose she is: how long will she remain so?

Each passing day plucks away the flower of beauty.

Every day takes something from her appearance; this beauty is “a fragile good,” a mere flash, a Venetian glass, quickly broken,

Beauty is a doubtful blessing for mortals, A brief gift of a little time.

It will not last. As that beautiful flower of Adonis, which we call an anemone, blooms for only a month, so this graceful, all-commanding beauty fades in an instant. It is a jewel soon lost, the painter’s goddess, “a false truth,” a mere picture. “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting,” Proverbs 31:30.

Fair beauty is a little glass jewel, a passing bubble, Snow, a rose, dew, smoke, wind and a breeze—nothing.

Pale beauty is a brittle gem, a bubble, A rose, dew, snow, smoke, wind, air—nothing at all.

If she is beautiful, as the saying goes, she is commonly a fool; if proud, she is scornful, “and pride follows beauty”; or she is unchaste, for “beauty and chastity seldom agree.” Can she be beautiful and chaste too? Ariston, son of Agesicles, married a Spartan girl, the most beautiful woman in all Greece after Helen, but in character the most abominable, beastly creature in the world.

So I would have you follow Seneca in valuing her qualities rather than her appearance. Will you call a blade good because it has a gilded scabbard, decorated with gold and jewels? No: call it good if it has a good edge and point, well-tempered metal and the strength to withstand resistance.

This beauty belongs to the body alone; and what is it but, as Gregory Nazianzen tells us, “the plaything of time and sickness”? Or, as Boethius says, “as changeable as a flower”; it is not nature that makes us seem so, but chiefly the weakness of the beholder.

Ask someone else: he sees nothing of the sort. “Please tell me what you think of him”—tell me, I beg you, how you like my sweetheart, as the woman in Aristaenetus asked her sister: “I admire him so much; I think he is the sweetest gentleman, the handsomest man I ever saw. But I am in love, I confess”—“and I am not ashamed to admit it”—“so I cannot judge properly.”

But suppose she is truly beautiful, golden-haired like Anacreon’s Bathyllus; to examine the details, suppose she has

Little fiery eyes and a milk-white neck,

a clear, rosy complexion, a little mouth, coral lips, white teeth, a soft, plump neck, body, hands and feet, all beautiful and lovely to look at, made up of every grace and elegance, a perfect creation,

10762.“Quintessence” means the purest concentrated essence; Venerilla is a diminutive of Venus, and ætatula a tender or youthful age. Nulli secunda means second to none. The short marginal comparison with the maiden Venus has no named source.

10764.The line occurs at Octavia 550, in the character Seneca’s reply to Nero. Burton’s margin simply says “Seneca”; the work is transmitted in the Senecan dramatic corpus. Attribution and textual history should be distinguished from the speaker’s name.

10766.Seneca, Phaedra 761–762, also called Hippolytus. Anceps means uncertain, two-sided or perilous: beauty is a doubtful blessing. Venetian glass supplies a separate image of fragility in Burton’s surrounding prose.

10768.“Favour” means pleasing appearance or charm; “vanity” transience or emptiness. The flower and one-month claim belong to Burton’s emblematic comparison. Camerarius’s marginal reference is retained for collation; it is not a modern botanical finding.

10770.Candida forma is fair or radiant beauty, while Burton’s English version says “beauty pale.” Gemmula and bullula are diminutives, rendered “little jewel” and “bubble.” The abbreviated Bauhusius attribution and numbering are reproduced without claiming the poem has been independently located.

10772.Pausanias 3.7.7 says that Ariston’s wife had been the ugliest girl in Sparta and became the most beautiful through Helen’s intervention. It does not make Burton’s allegation about her character. His body text and Latin margin are both retained, but this discrepancy is material. “Honest” here means chaste; “conditions” character or disposition.

10774.Seneca, Letter 76.14, compares a good sword’s practical edge and point with its decorated belt and scabbard. Burton’s English compresses the equipment into a scabbard; his Latin margin retains baltheus, belt. The consulted Latin has auratus and an explicit est after acies. His adaptation remains visible in both columns.

10777.Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy 3, prose 8, compares beauty’s transience with spring flowers and attributes its appearance to the weakness of the observer’s eyes. Burton’s margin compresses and recasts that passage. Gregory’s attribution and oration number remain to be collated.

10779.“Properest” means most handsome or well-formed. Burton juxtaposes a Latin request, its English gloss, a longer speech and an additional Latin aside. All are retained in sequence. The Aristaenetus letter and the relation between its text and Burton’s version remain for collation.

10780.Bathyllus is the beloved named in the Anacreontic tradition. The named comparison is retained without treating the catalogue of features as a continuous quotation from one poem. The following Luc. Brugensis abbreviation remains unexpanded pending exact identification.

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.