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 MelancholyIts Object, God; What His Beauty Is; How It Attracts. the Parts and People…

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Its Object, God; What His Beauty Is; How It Attracts. the Parts and People…

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1651 English

635–636–636

This likewise should we now have done, had not our will been corrupted; and as we are enjoyned to love God with all our heart, and all our soul: for to that end were we born, to love this object, as Melancthon discourseth, and to enjoy it. And him our will would have loved and sought alone as our summum bonum, or principall good, and all other good things for Gods sake: and nature as she proceeded from it, would have sought this fountain; but in this infirmity of humane nature this order is disturbed, our love is corrupt:

and a man is like that monster in Plato composed of a Scylla, a lyon, and a man; we are carried away headlong with the torrent of our affections: the world, and that infinite variety of pleasing objects in it, do so allure and enamour us, that we cannot so much as look towards God, seek him, or think on him as we should: we cannot saith Austin, Rempub. cœlestem cogitare, we cannot contain our selves from them, their sweetness is so pleasing to us:

Marriage, saith Gualter, detains many; a thing in it self laudable, good and necessary, but many deceived and carried away with the blind love of it, have quite laid aside the love of God, and desire of his glory. Meat and drink hath overcome as many, whilest they rather strive to please, satisfie their guts and belly, then to serve God and nature. Some are so busied about merchandise to get mony, they loose their own souls, whiles covetously carried, and with an unsatiable desire of gain, they forget God; as much we may say of honour, leagues, friendships, health, wealth, and all other profits or pleasures in this life whatsoever.

In this world there be so many beautiful objects, splendors and brightness of gold, majesty of glory, assistance of friends, fair promises, smooth words, victories, triumphs, and such an infinite company of pleasing beauties to allure us, and draw us from God, that we cannot look after him. And this is it which Christ himself, those Prophets and Apostles so much thundred against, 1 John 17. 15. dehort us from; Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world: if any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him. 16. For all that is in the World, as lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world: And the world passeth away and the lust thereof; but he that fulfilleth the will of God abideth for ever.

No man, saith our Saviour, can serve two masters, but he must love the one and hate the other, &c. bonos vel malos mores, boni vel mali faciunt amores, Austin well infers: and this is that which all the fathers inculcate. He cannot (Austin admonisheth) bee Gods friend, that is delighted with the pleasures of the world: make clean thine heart, purifie thine heart, if thou wilt see this beauty, prepare thy self for it.

12020.BurtonSource page 636, u: “Lib de anima. Ad hoc objectum amandum & fruendum nati sumus; & hunc expetiisset, unicum hunc amasset humana voluntas, ut summum bonum, & cæteras res omnes eo ordine.” “On the Soul. We were born to love and enjoy this object; the human will would have sought him and loved him alone as the highest good, and all other things in that order.”

12022.BurtonSource page 636, x: “9. de Repub.” “Republic, book 9.”

12024.BurtonSource page 636, y: “Hom.9. in epist. Johannis cap.2. Multos conjugium decepit; res alioqui salutaris & necessaria, eo quod cæco ejus amore decepti, divini amoris & gloriæ studium in universum abjecerunt; plurimos cibus & potus perdit.” “Homily 9 on chapter 2 of John’s Epistle. Marriage has deceived many, though in itself wholesome and necessary, because, deceived by blind love of it, they have altogether abandoned devotion to divine love and glory. Food and drink ruin very many.”

12026.BurtonSource page 636, z: “In mundo splendor opum, gloriæ majestas, amicitiarum præsidia, verborum blanditiæ, voluptatum omnis generis illecebræ, victoriæ, triumphi, & infinita alia ab amore dei nos abstrahunt, &c.” “In the world, the splendour of riches, the majesty of glory, the support of friendships, flattering words, the enticements of pleasures of every kind, victories, triumphs and countless other things draw us away from the love of God, and so on.”

12028.BurtonSource page 636, a: “In Psal.32. Dei amicus esse non potest qui mundi studiis delectatur; ut hanc formam videas, munda cor, serena cor, &c.” “On Psalm 32. Whoever delights in worldly pursuits cannot be God’s friend. To see this beauty, cleanse your heart, calm your heart, and so on.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy: Its Object, God; What His Beauty Is; How It Attracts. the Parts and People…

p. 953

We too would now have done this, had our will not been corrupted, as indeed we are commanded to love God with all our heart and all our soul. For we were born to this end: to love this object and enjoy it, as Melanchthon explains. Our will would have loved and sought him alone as our supreme good, or principal good, and all other good things for God’s sake. And nature, having proceeded from this source, would have sought this fountain. But in the infirmity of human nature this order is disturbed, and our love is corrupted.

And a human being is like that monster in Plato, composed of a Scylla, a lion and a man. We are swept headlong away by the torrent of our passions. The world, with its infinite variety of pleasing objects, so entices and captivates us that we cannot so much as look towards God, seek him or think of him as we should. We cannot, says Augustine, set our minds on the heavenly commonwealth. We cannot restrain ourselves from these things, so pleasing is their sweetness to us.

Marriage, says Gwalther, holds many back: a thing praiseworthy, good and necessary in itself; yet many, deceived and swept away by their blind love of it, have quite abandoned the love of God and the desire for his glory. Food and drink have overcome as many, while they strive to please and satisfy their guts and bellies rather than to serve God and nature. Some are so occupied with trade and making money that they lose their own souls: carried away by greed and an insatiable desire for gain, they forget God. We may say as much of honour, alliances, friendships, health, wealth and every other profit or pleasure in this life.

In this world there are so many beautiful objects—the splendour and brightness of gold, the majesty of glory, the help of friends, fair promises, smooth words, victories, triumphs, and such an infinite multitude of pleasing beauties—to entice us and draw us away from God that we cannot attend to him. This is what Christ himself, the prophets and the apostles thundered against and warned us to avoid. In 1 John 2:15–17: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. And the world passes away, and its lust with it; but whoever fulfils God’s will remains for ever.

No one, says our Saviour, can serve two masters: he must love the one and hate the other, and so on. Good or bad loves produce good or bad conduct, Augustine rightly concludes; and this is what all the Church Fathers repeatedly teach. No one, Augustine warns, can be God’s friend while delighting in the pleasures of the world. Cleanse your heart, purify your heart; if you wish to see this beauty, prepare yourself for it.

12021.The object is God, the supreme good discussed at the end of Block 151. Burton’s argument assumes the corruption of the human will after the Fall. Melancthon is Philipp Melanchthon; the margin cites his work On the Soul. “Enjoy” here means possess or participate in the good, not merely take pleasure in it.

12023.Plato, Republic 9, 588b–589b, imagines a many-headed beast, a lion and a man enclosed within a human exterior. Scylla is one of the mythical composite creatures mentioned just before the construction; Burton substitutes her name for the many-headed beast. The separate Augustinian phrase about the heavenly commonwealth is not located by the margin’s reference to Plato.

12025.Gualter is Rudolf Gwalther, cited through his homilies on the First Epistle of John. Detains means holds back from devotion. The passage criticizes disordered attachment to otherwise legitimate goods; it expressly describes marriage as good and necessary.

12027.The print reads “1 John 17.15.” The quotation belongs to 1 John 2:15–17; the modern column supplies that reference. Burton’s wording is a composite rendering rather than an exact quotation of the King James text. The unassigned Latin margin expands the catalogue of worldly attractions.

12029.The two masters recalls Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13; good and bad loves occurs in Augustine, Letter 155.4.13. On Psalm 32, second exposition, sermon 1.7 (PL 36, col. 282), relates divine wisdom’s beauty to cleansing the heart so as to see and embrace it. This is a thematic parallel: Burton’s fuller Latin wording was not found there. His intermediary and the heavenly-commonwealth phrase remain untraced.

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.