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 261 of 454
The Third Century · Meditation III.47
Centuries of Meditations
p. 26147
1A life of Sabbaths here beneath! Continual jubilees and joys! The days of Heaven, while we breathe On Earth! where Sin all Bliss destroys: This is a triumph of delights That doth exceed all appetites: No joy can be compared to this, It is a life of perfect Bliss.2Of perfect Bliss! How can it be? To conquer Satan, and to reign In such a vale of misery, Where vipers, stings, and tears remain, Is to be crowned with victory. To be content, divine, and free, Even here beneath is great delight And next the Beatific Sight.3But inward lusts do oft assail, Temptations work us much annoy We’ll therefore weep, and to prevail Shall be a more celestial joy. To have no other enemy But one; and to that one to die: To fight with that and conquer it, Is better than in peace to sit.4Tis better for a little time; For he that all his lusts doth quell, Shall find this life to be his prime And vanquish Sin, and conquer Hell. The next shall be his double joy; And that which here seemed to destroy Shall in the other life appear A root of bliss; a pearl each tear.Socrates
Reading Centuries of Meditations · The Third Century · Meditation III.47
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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.