One of Traherne’s most poetic and profound concepts is the Trinity of Love. Though the origin of the concept can be traced back to Augustine, the poetic quality of Traherne’s explication is uniquely his own. It occupies approximately 30 of Traherne’s meditations in the 2nd Century.

Professor Martz  explains its role in the Centuries:

“Thus Traherne moves toward the central portion of his Second Century, containing his highly Augustinian analysis of the Trinitarian nature of Love, both in God, and in man. The theme emerges in all its formal grandeur at the opening of Meditation 39: “God by Loving Begot His Son. For God is Lov. And by loving He begot His Lov.” So begins the mode of interpretation that dominates the next thirty meditations; a trinity of Love is found at work throughout the universe.” (The Paradise Within, p. 74)

Martz goes on to highlight Traherne’s striking statement about man propagating himself through love:

“’By Loving a Soul does Propagat and beget it self,’ Traherne declares: ‘when it loveth, it gaineth Three Subsistencies in it self by the Act of Loving. A Glorious Spirit that Abideth within: a Glorious Spirit that floweth in the Stream. A glorious Spirit that resideth in the Object.’” Century 2.56 (TPW, p. 75)