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 MelancholyJealousy: Its Different Meanings, Name, Definition, Extent and Various Kinds…

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Jealousy: Its Different Meanings, Name, Definition, Extent and Various Kinds…

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1651 English

595–596

Petronius calleth this passion amantium furiosam æmulationem, a furious emulation; and their symptomes are well expressed by Sir Jeffery Chaucer in his first Canterbury tale.

It will make the nearest and dearest friends fall out; they will endure all other things to bee common, goods, lands, monyes, participate of each pleasures, and take in good part any disgraces, injuries in another kinde; but as Propertius well describes it in an Elegy of his, in this they will suffer nothing, have no corrivals.

Tu mihi vel ferro pectus, vel perde veneno, A domina tantùm te modo tolle mea: Te socium vitæ, te corporis esse licebit, Te dominum admitto rebus amice meis. Lecto te solum, lecto te deprecor uno, Rivalem possum non ego ferre Jovem.Stab me with sword, or poison strong Give me to work my bane; So thou court not my lass, so thou From mistress mine refrain. Command my self, my body, purse, As thine own goods take all, And as my ever dearest friend, I ever use thee shall. O spare my Love, to have alone Her to my self I crave, Nay, Jove himself Ile not endure My Rival for to have.

This Jealousie which I am to treat of, is that which belongs to maried men, in respect of their own wives; to whose estate, as no sweetness, pleasure, happiness can be compared in the world, if they live quietly and lovingly together; so if they disagree or be jealous, those bitter pils of sorrow and grief, disasterous mischiefes, mischances, tortures, gripings, discontents, are not to be separated from them.

A most violent passion it is where it taketh place, an unspeakable torment, a hellish torture, an infernal plague, as Ariosto cals it, A fury, a continual fever, full of suspition, fear, and sorrow, a martyrdome, a mirth-marring monster.

The sorrow and grief of heart of one woman jealous of another, is heavier than death, Ecclus. 28.6. as Peninnah did Hannah, vex her and upbraid her sore.

’Tis a main vexation, a most intolerable burden, a corrosive to all content, a frenzy, a madness it self, as Benedetto Varchi proves out of that select Sonnet of Giovanni de la Casa, that reverend Lord, as he stiles him.

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Jealousy: Its Different Meanings, Name, Definition, Extent and Various Kinds…

p. 900

Petronius calls this passion “the furious rivalry of lovers”: a furious rivalry. Their symptoms are well expressed by Sir Geoffrey Chaucer in his first Canterbury tale.

It will make the closest and dearest friends quarrel. They will tolerate the sharing of everything else—goods, lands, money—share one another’s pleasures, and take any other kind of insult or injury in good part. But, as Propertius aptly describes it in one of his elegies, in this matter they will yield nothing and admit no rivals.

Destroy my heart with steel or poison, Only keep away from my mistress. You may share my life and my body; I grant you mastery of my possessions, my friend. Only my bed, that one bed, I beg you to leave alone: I cannot endure even Jupiter as a rival.

Stab me with a sword, or give me strong poison To bring about my death, Provided you do not court my girl, provided you Keep away from my mistress. Command me, my body and my purse; Take everything as your own property, And as my dearest friend I shall always treat you. Oh, leave my love alone; I long To have her to myself. No, I will not endure even Jove himself As my rival.

The jealousy I am to discuss is that of married men concerning their own wives. Just as no sweetness, pleasure or happiness in the world can compare with their condition if they live peacefully and lovingly together, so, if they quarrel or become jealous, those bitter pills of sorrow and grief—disastrous harms, misfortunes, torments, agonies and discontents—cannot be separated from them.

Where it takes hold, it is an extremely violent passion, an unspeakable torment, a hellish torture, an infernal plague, as Ariosto calls it: “a fury, a continual fever, full of suspicion, fear and sorrow, a martyrdom, a monster that destroys joy.”

“The sorrow and grief of heart of one woman jealous of another is heavier than death,” Ecclesiasticus 28:6; as Peninnah did to Hannah, “tormenting her and bitterly reproaching her.”

It is a great affliction, an utterly intolerable burden, something that eats away all contentment, a frenzy, madness itself, as Benedetto Varchi demonstrates from that choice sonnet by Giovanni della Casa, that reverend lord, as he styles him.

11424.Petronius, Satyricon 99.2: the speaker pleads that furious jealousy is beyond lovers’ control. Chaucer’s first Canterbury tale is The Knight’s Tale, whose rival kinsmen Palamon and Arcite love Emelye. Sir is Burton’s form of address here.

11425.Propertius, Elegies 2.34.13–18. The lover offers his friend everything except access to his mistress’s bed. Jupiter, also called Jove, supplies the extreme example of a rival he will not tolerate. The following English expansion remains separate from this translation of the Latin.

11427.The unmarked R.T. stands beside the poem on printed page 595. It is provisionally attached to the English rendering and understood as Robert Tofte’s initials; exact attribution awaits collation with his Blazon. Work my bane means cause my death, and use thee means treat you.

11428.Ariosto is Ludovico Ariosto. Burton gives no canto or line reference for this chain of descriptions; the extent of the quotation remains unverified. A fury evokes a tormenting spirit, while martyrdome here means prolonged suffering.

11430.The parallel for the jealous woman is Ecclesiasticus, or Sirach, 26:6, not Burton’s 28:6; heavier than death is an additional part of his formulation, not that verse’s wording in the King James Apocrypha. In 1 Samuel 1:6, Peninnah repeatedly provokes Hannah about her childlessness.

11432.Varchi’s lecture expounds Giovanni della Casa’s sonnet beginning Cura, che di timor ti nutri e cresci, “Care, which feeds and grows on fear.” Burton returns to the authority used at the beginning of this subsection. Reverent social and ecclesiastical address is retained in reverend lord.

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.