From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordPreternatural means outside or beyond nature’s proper course.
- In TraherneGold, ribbons, feathers, and glittering toys require explanation before they can seem precious.
- In this editionThe sentence about calling preternatural things natural is syntactically abrupt.
- A place to beginThe child resists imposed valuations, and natural endowments are distinguished from invented riches.
Meaning
Preternatural means outside or beyond nature’s proper course. In this passage it describes acquired ways of valuing things that the untrained child does not spontaneously recognize.
Use in the book
Gold, ribbons, feathers, and glittering toys require explanation before they can seem precious. Traherne presents his early resistance to that lesson as evidence of nature’s sound judgment. Natural riches are souls, bodies, faculties, and the world prepared for their enjoyment. The opposed riches depend upon human invention and erroneous esteem. Preternatural thus marks a distortion in education and valuation, rather than an uncanny event. His attack reaches the claim that houses and land are naturally riches in their conventional proprietary sense; it does not deny that the created world itself is beautiful and valuable.
Places to read
- III.9The child resists imposed valuations, and natural endowments are distinguished from invented riches.
In this edition
The sentence about calling preternatural things natural is syntactically abrupt. Its condemnation continues the contrast between nature’s riches and invented wealth.
Source note
Primary text: III.9.