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 373 of 454
The Fourth Century · Meditation IV.59
Centuries of Meditations
p. 37359
Is it unnatural to do what Jesus Christ hath done? He that would not in the same cases do the same things can never be saved. For unless we are led by the Spirit of Christ we are none of His. Love in him that in the same cases would do the same things, will be an oracle always inspiring and teaching him what to do how far to adventure upon all occasions. And certainly he whose love is like his Saviour’s, will be far greater than any that is now alive, in goodness and love to God and men. This is a sure rule: Love studies not to be scanty in its measures, but how to abound and overflow with benefits. He that pincheth and studieth to spare is a pitiful lover, unless it be for other’s sakes Love studieth to be pleasing, magnificent and noble, and would in all things be glorious and divine unto its object. Its whole being is to its object, and its whole felicity in its object, and it hath no other thing to take care for. It doth good to its own soul while it doth good to another.
Socrates
Reading Centuries of Meditations · The Fourth Century · Meditation IV.59
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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.