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Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · English Edition

Thomas Traherne

Centuries of Meditations

Annotated Edition · With an Introduction, Notes and an Outline.

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Centuries of MeditationsThe Third Century · Meditation III.94

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English Edition · Branch 308 of 454

The Third Century · Meditation III.94

Centuries of Meditations

p. 308

94

There are psalms more clear wherein he expresseth the joy he taketh in God’s works and the glory of them. Wherein he teacheth us at divers times and in divers manner to ponder on them. Among which the 145th psalm (and so onward to the last) are very eminent. In which he openeth the nature of God’s Kingdom, and so vigorously and vehemently exciteth all creatures to praise Him, and all men to do it with all kind of musical instruments by all expressions, in all nations for all things, as if ten thousand vents were not sufficient to ease his fulness, as if all the world were but one Celestial Temple in which he was delighted, as if all nations were present before him, and he saw God face to face in this earthly Tabernacle, as if his soul like an infinite ocean were full of joys, and all these but springs and channels overflowing. So purely, so joyfully, so powerfully he walked with God, all creatures, as they brought a confluence of joys unto him, being pipes to ease him.

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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.