Thomas Traherne

Thomas Traherne
One of the four Traherne Windows in Audley Chapel, Hereford Cathedral, created by stained-glass artist Tom Denny
Bornc. 1636–38
Hereford, England
Died27 September 1674
Alma materBrasenose College, Oxford
Occupation(s)Poet, author, priest, theologian
Notable workCenturies of Meditations
Stylemetaphysical poetry, meditations, theology

Thomas Traherne (/trəˈhɑːrn/; 1636 or 1637 – c. 27 September 1674) was an English poet, Anglican cleric, theologian, and religious writer. The intense, scholarly spirituality in his writings has led to his being commemorated by some parts of the Anglican Communion on 10 October (the anniversary of his burial in 1674) or on 27 September.

The work for which Traherne is best known today is the Centuries of Meditations, a collection of short paragraphs in which he reflects on Christian life and ministry, philosophy, happiness, desire and childhood. This was first published in 1908 after having been rediscovered in manuscript ten years earlier. His poetry likewise was first published in 1903 and 1910 (The Poetical Works of Thomas Traherne, B.D. and Poems of Felicity).[1] His prose works include Roman Forgeries (1673), Christian Ethics (1675), and A Serious and Patheticall Contemplation of the Mercies of God (1699).[2]

Traherne's writings frequently explore the glory of creation and what he saw as his intimate relationship with God. His writing conveys an ardent, almost childlike love of God, and is compared to similar themes in the works of later poets William Blake, Walt Whitman, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. His love for the natural world is frequently expressed in his works by a treatment of nature that evokes Romanticism—two centuries before the Romantic movement.

  1. ^ Brother Tristam, SSF (2003). "Thomas Traherne, Poet, Spiritual Writer". Exciting Holiness: Collects and Readings for the Festivals and Lesser Festivals of the Calendars of the Church of England, the Church of Ireland, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church in Wales (2nd ed.). Norwich: Canterbury Press. p. 428. ISBN 978-1-85311-479-3 – via Hymns Ancient and Modern.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference EncBrit1911 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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