Thomas Traherne: Poetry and Prose (Golden Age of Spiritual Writing) [Paperback]

Thomas Traherne (Author), Denise Inge (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2003 | Series: Golden Age of Spiritual Writing

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Denise Inge, who has recently completed a PhD on the work of Thomas Traherne, has also contributed a chapter to Fraser Watts' Perspectives on Prayer (SPCK). She is also writing an academic book on Traherne for OUP. She lives in Ely.

Product Details

• Paperback: 116 pages
• Publisher: Spck (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0281054681
• ISBN-13: 978-0281054688
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,135,090 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best selection from Traherne's writings, June 5, 2005

By 

David Buresh (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Thomas Traherne: Poetry and Prose (Golden Age of Spiritual Writing) (Paperback)

This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to know Traherne and his singular vision. Denise Inge is a leading Traherne scholar, and she offers us the best selection from Traherne's writings available today. It even includes pieces from the Lambeth Manuscripts (The Kingdom of God) which were discovered as recently as 1997.

In her introduction, Denise provides invaluable background information: Traherne's Biography, a Discovery of Works, a Literary Critique, Sources & Influences, and an Historical Context. Here is a great description of Traherne from her introduction: "He speaks of a world most of us only remember as if it were his present and his future. And that is more than part of his charm; it is his constant vision. Another world is his origin and his destination. Another world behind, in, under, above, beneath this one from which we are separted by the merest veil and yet to which we are invited by the faintest piercing birdsong and the greatest human act alike." She offers some important insights about Traherne's love for learning: "What strikes me again and again as I consider Traherne's vast array of sources and influences is his voracious appetite for learning and a conviction that every discovery could lead one further into truth. There is in him no fear of science or of exploration."

The book consists of five groupings of selections, each with an insightful introduction:

Section I: Selections from the Centuries of Meditations.

Section II: Selected Poems and Thanksgivings (including selections from the Dobell Manuscript, the Burney Manuscript, the Thanksgivings, and the Ceremonial Law.)

Section III: Selections from Christian Ethicks.

Section IV: Selections from the Select Meditations and Commentaries of Heaven.

Section V: Selections from the Lambeth Manuscript.

Denise's selections from the Lambeth Manuscript are the first pieces from Traherne's The Kingdom of God to ever appear in print. This new manuscript shows Traherne building on many of the themes he introduced in Centuries of Meditation. You won't be disappointed!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Theologian You Never Read, September 20, 2010

By 

John F. Michalski "I am a human being, and re... (Dubuque, IA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thomas Traherne: Poetry and Prose (Golden Age of Spiritual Writing) (Paperback)

The Age of Discovery is over. In 2010 there are no new continents and few new islands left to be explored, the poles have been reached and Everest has been scaled. Few opportunities remain for those hungering for the Thrill of the New. Not, however, in the world of scholarship. The world's libraries - even the most obscure ones - have been pretty well combed through, it's true. But every once in a while something Old and Lost comes to light, and revolution can rock an entire field of human learning.

One excellent example is Thomas Traherne (1636-1674). An obscure 17th century Anglican priest, he had long been dismissed as a second-rate poet and a slightly goopy (perhaps even heretical) writer of spiritual devotions. Then, in a story right out of a Dan Brown novel, several lost manuscripts were discovered in the late 20th century - one of them literally rescued from a burning rubbish bin! These finds put Traherne back on the map, and turned that map completely upside down. The mediocre poet and devotional writer is now recognized as one of the three or four most creative and profound theologians ever to write in the English language.

New editions, introductions and studies are coming fast, now. One of the best brief introductions is Thomas Traherne: Poetry and Prose, edited by Denise Inge (one of the world's leading Traherne scholars) and published by SPCK as part of its Golden Age of Spiritual Writing series. Ms. Inge provides a brief but informative introduction to Traherne's life, writings and thought, followed by extensive selections from his works. She wisely leads off with excerpts from his previously known writings (like the Centuries of Meditations and the Poems), followed by samples from the newly-discovered works (Christian Ethicks, for example, and The Kingdom of God). This enables the reader to see how the new discoveries make possible a much fuller and deeper picture of Traherne the theologian.

Pick up a copy of this little (116 page) book and you'll be introduced to a most congenial Christian thinker. In an era when many theologians pictured humanity as hopelessly depraved and steeped in sin, Traherne taught a joyful, positive view of human nature. Deeply learned in ancient theology and philosophy, he was also unusually open to the scientific discoveries of his age - discoveries that many other Christians saw as a threat to Biblical Truth. Most of all, he was passionately in love with a God whom he saw as absolute Beauty and absolute Graciousness, a God who shines in and through every aspect of creation.

I recommend that you make his acquaintance at your earliest opportunity.