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 394 of 454
The Fourth Century · Meditation IV.80
Centuries of Meditations
p. 39480
By choosing a man may be turned and converted into Love, which, as it is an universal sun filling and shining in the Eternity of God, so is it infinitely more glorious than the Sun is, not only shedding abroad more amiable and delightful beams, illuminating and comforting all objects: yea glorifying them in the supreme and sovereign manner, but is of all sensibles the most quick and tender, being able to feel like the long-legged spider; at the utmost end of its divaricated feet; and to be wholly present in every place where any beam of itself extends. The sweetness of its healing influences is inexpressible. And of all beings such a being would I choose to be for ever: One that might inherit all in the most exquisite manner; and be the joy of all in the most perfect measure.
Socrates
Reading Centuries of Meditations · The Fourth Century · Meditation IV.80
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.