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 406 of 454
The Fourth Century · Meditation IV.92
Centuries of Meditations
p. 40692
Knowing myself beloved and so glorified of God Almighty in another world, I ought to honour Him in this always, and to aspire to it. At midnight will I rise to give thanks unto Thee because of Thy righteous judgments. Seven times a day will I praise Thee, for Thy glorious mercy. Early in the morning will I bless Thee, I will triumph in Thy works, I will delight in Thy law day and night; at evening will I praise Thee. I will ever be speaking of Thy marvellous acts, I will tell out of Thy greatness, and talk of the glorious majesty of Thy excellent Kingdom; those things ought ever to breathe in our souls. We ought to covet to live in private, and in private ever to overflow in praises. I will boast in Thee all the day long, and be glad in the Lord. My exceeding joy, my life, my glory, what shall I render to Thee, for all His benefits? I will sing and be glad. Let all nations sing unto Him, for He covereth the earth as it were with a shield. My lips shall be fain when I sing unto Thee, and my soul, O Lord, which Thou hast redeemed. God is unseen till He be so known: and David’s Spirit an inscrutable mystery, till this [is] experienced.
Socrates
Reading Centuries of Meditations · The Fourth Century · Meditation IV.92
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.