From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordFain can mean gladly or eagerly; with forms of be and an infinitive it can mean obliged or constrained.
- In TraherneThese senses pull differently within the book.
- In this editionThe 2026 note to IV.92 identifies the Prayer Book wording and glosses glad.
- A place to beginThe lost childhood light makes relearning necessary.
Meaning
Fain can mean gladly or eagerly; with forms of be and an infinitive it can mean obliged or constrained. As an adjective it can mean glad, as in the singing lips of the Psalter.
Use in the book
These senses pull differently within the book. The speaker was fain to relearn the childhood knowledge that social custom obscured: necessity dominates that construction. Christians who would fain enjoy heaven now express eagerness rather than compulsion. The psalmic lips that shall be fain are joyful. Holding the range together prevents a reader from making every instance either reluctant duty or willing pleasure. Traherne’s argument repeatedly joins desire with the work needed for its fulfilment, but the small word records the particular balance in each sentence.
Places to read
In this edition
The 2026 note to IV.92 identifies the Prayer Book wording and glosses glad. The different constructions at III.7 and IV.9 require their own contextual senses.
Source note
Primary text: III.7, IV.9, IV.92; Psalter wording and glad: 2026 edition note to IV.92.