Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · English Edition
Centuries of Meditations
Annotated Edition · With an Introduction, Notes and an Outline.
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English Edition · Branch 413 of 454
The Fourth Century · Meditation IV.99
Centuries of Meditations
p. 41399
The reason why learned men have not exactly measured the faculties of the soul, is because they know not to what their endless extent should serve. For till we know the universal beauty of God’s Kingdom, and that all objects in His omnipresence are the treasures of the soul, to enquire into the sufficiency and extent of its powers is impertinent. But when we know this, nothing is more expedient than to consider whether a soul be able to enjoy them. Which if it be, its powers must extend as far as its objects. For no object without the sphere of its power, can be enjoyed by it. It cannot be so much as perceived, much less enjoyed. From whence it will proceed, that the soul will to all Eternity be silent about it. A limitation of praises, and a parsimony in love following hereupon, to the endangering of the perfection of God’s Kingdom.
Socrates
Reading Centuries of Meditations · The Fourth Century · Meditation IV.99
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Thomas Traherne’s Centuries explore felicity, childhood vision, love, and the soul’s capacity to enjoy the world. This annotated English edition presents all 410 meditations across five Centuries, with an introduction, explanatory notes, an outline, and textual apparatus.
Historical Text
The Centuries survive in Traherne’s manuscript and were first published by Bertram Dobell in London in 1908. The supplied edition follows the corrected Dobell text, with manuscript readings documented in its Note on the Text and Textual Notes. The four complete Centuries contain one hundred meditations each; the unfinished Fifth contains ten.
About This Edition
Diotimos Editions prepared the introduction, explanatory notes, glossary, reading guide, outline, and textual apparatus for this English original. Century and meditation numbers preserve the work’s structure, while verse line breaks, italics, and struck-through manuscript cancellations remain visible. Notes accompany their passages in the reader and Book Mode.
Rights
Thomas Traherne’s historical text and Bertram Dobell’s 1908 printing are in the public domain. The introduction, notes, and apparatus are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. Historical printing and transcription links identify the edition’s copy-text; manuscript corrections and unresolved readings are documented in the supplied editorial apparatus.