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 173 of 454
The Second Century · Meditation II.59
Centuries of Meditations
p. 17359
Though no riches follow, yet we are all naturally delighted with Love: both for what we receive, and for what we give. When we are beloved we receive the quintessence and glory of another’s Soul, the End of Heaven and Earth, the cream and flower of all perfections, the tribute of God Almighty, peace and welfare, pleasure and honour, help and safety, all in readiness. And something infinitely more, which we are not able to express. When we are beloved, we attain the End of riches in an immediate manner, and having the end need not regard the means. For the end of riches is that we may be beloved. We receive power to see ourselves amiable in another’s soul; and to delight and please another person. For it is impossible to delight a luke-warm person, or an alienated affection with giving crowns and sceptres, so as we may a person that violently loves us with our very presence and affections.
Socrates
Reading Centuries of Meditations · The Second Century · Meditation II.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.