Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · English Edition
Centuries of Meditations
Annotated Edition · With an Introduction, Notes and an Outline.
Explore the LexiconSwipe or use the arrow keys.
English Edition · Branch 263 of 454
The Third Century · Meditation III.49
Centuries of Meditations
p. 26349
1Sin! O only fatal woe, That mak’st me sad and mourning go! That all my joys dost spoil, His Kingdom and my Soul defile! I never can agree With thee!2Thou! Only thou! O thou alone, And my obdurate heart of stone, The poison and the foes Of my enjoyments and repose, The only bitter ill, Dost kill!3Oh! I cannot meet with thee, Nor once approach thy memory, But all my joys are dead, And all my sacred Treasures fled As if I now did dwell In Hell.4Lord! O hear how short I breathe! See how I tremble here beneath A Sin! Its ugly face More terror, than its dwelling place Contains (O dreadful Sin!) Within!Socrates
Reading Centuries of Meditations · The Third Century · Meditation III.49
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
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.