From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordPomp is outward splendour, ceremonial display, or worldly magnificence.
- In TrahernePomps belong to the world men have invented through distorted valuation, set against the beautiful world made by God.
- In this editionThe 2026 note to I.7 connects the phrase with the baptismal renunciation in the Prayer Book.
- A place to beginInvented riches, pomps, and vanities characterize the humanly manufactured world.
Meaning
Pomp is outward splendour, ceremonial display, or worldly magnificence. In Traherne’s plural uses it names ostentatious additions that people can mistake for necessary riches.
Use in the book
Pomps belong to the world men have invented through distorted valuation, set against the beautiful world made by God. The Socratic episode similarly separates enjoyment of freely prepared creation from dependency on trivial splendours. The criticism therefore falls on the prestige and supposed necessity of display, not on all magnificence or all visible beauty. Traherne can elsewhere value coronations, palaces, and ceremonial splendour as images or gifts. The local grouping with vanities tells the reader when magnificence has become a distraction from true treasure.
Places to read
In this edition
The 2026 note to I.7 connects the phrase with the baptismal renunciation in the Prayer Book. That resonance gives moral weight to an apparently decorative noun.
Source note
Primary text: I.7, I.40; liturgical resonance: 2026 edition note to I.7.