From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordMercy is beneficent concern for need or misery.
- In TraherneThe bodily and spiritual endowments required for happiness are prepared through mercy in I.40.
- In this editionMercy can signify a bestowed benefit as well as the disposition that gives it.
- A place to beginFreedom from enslaving error allows one to inhabit the world as paradise.
Meaning
Mercy is beneficent concern for need or misery. In Traherne it includes rescue and forgiveness, but also the free provision of the conditions of blessed life.
Use in the book
The bodily and spiritual endowments required for happiness are prepared through mercy in I.40. Their unearned availability allows the person to live without the artificial necessities of pomp and display. Mercy is therefore evident before the discussion reaches an exceptional deliverance from danger.
It can also name release from the mistaken valuations through which the world becomes a prison. That two people can inhabit the same world as Eden and torment reveals the importance of an altered apprehension. In the Psalms, mercy joins faithfulness and righteousness as something positively enjoyed. Traherne’s emphasis is not only relief from what hurts but admission to the abundance the relief makes accessible.
Places to read
In this edition
Mercy can signify a bestowed benefit as well as the disposition that gives it. Its scope here exceeds pardoning a particular offence.