From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordQuintessence is the purest or most concentrated essence.
- In TraherneThe beloved receives another soul’s most excellent life in the act of being loved.
- In this editionThe historical cosmological and alchemical senses illuminate the metaphor; the meditation itself develops its meaning through love.
- A place to beginBeing loved gives the soul’s quintessence directly and achieves the end for which riches are sought.
Meaning
Quintessence is the purest or most concentrated essence. The supplied note traces the word to the fifth essence beyond the four elements and to the alchemist’s ideal extract.
Use in the book
The beloved receives another soul’s most excellent life in the act of being loved. Traherne surrounds quintessence with images of cream, flower, glory, and readiness: love contains the best of a person together with the willingness to help. Material riches ordinarily promise affection, honour, and security; actual love gives those ends immediately. The word’s concentrated richness consequently serves an argument against mistaking means for ends. Presence and affection delight a loving person more than crowns could please an alienated one. This is a description of personal relationship, not an instruction in extracting a substance.
Places to read
- II.59Being loved gives the soul’s quintessence directly and achieves the end for which riches are sought.
In this edition
The historical cosmological and alchemical senses illuminate the metaphor; the meditation itself develops its meaning through love.
Source note
Primary text: II.59. Supplied 2026 editorial note 132 at II.59 supplies the fifth-essence and alchemical background.