From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordTo expatiate is to range freely over a spacious field.
- In TraherneScripture gives the narrator room to move among ages, persons, and works of love.
- In this editionThe modern sense “speak at length” is too narrow for these passages.
- A place to beginThe revealed history of Scripture lets the reader expatiate among divine works and holy persons.
Meaning
To expatiate is to range freely over a spacious field. The field may be intellectual or spiritual, while the verb preserves an image of unconfined movement.
Use in the book
Scripture gives the narrator room to move among ages, persons, and works of love. Its historical abundance proves better than an isolated miraculous revelation delivered only to him. Divine infinity supplies a second and still larger field in which thought can range without restraint. In both occurrences, liberty depends on rich objects and relations; it is not merely aimless wandering or prolonged talk.
Places to read
In this edition
The modern sense “speak at length” is too narrow for these passages. “Range freely” preserves the spatial and participatory force of the attested verb; “expatiation” is a useful related search form.