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

~ Thomas Traherne (Author), Denise Inge (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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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 (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,858,509 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 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 (REAL NAME)

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!