Thomas Traherne - In Making Bodies Love Could Not Express

Song Meaning

The lyrics present a fascinating argument: divine love and artistic expression are inherently limited by physical form, and to truly manifest, bodies had to be made *less*. Imagine a human with mountain-sized thumbs or toes; the sheer impracticality of such a being, needing to devour worlds and drink oceans just to survive, highlights the inherent constraints of excessive physicality. This isn't about humility, but about the necessary limitations that allow for expression and interaction. The central tension lies in the paradox of divine creation. God's wisdom, the lyrics suggest, repressed His power in the act of making man. The narrator posits that an infinite understanding and an everlasting sight, capable of enjoying all things, are the true measures of greatness, not physical stature. These internal, boundless qualities are what make a soul divine and a person truly complete, far more than any physical attribute. The most striking craft element is the repeated contrast between excessive, inconvenient bulk and the necessary smallness of the body. A body like a mountain is "cumber," and an "endless body is but idle lumber." This excessive size would spoil "converse" and "devour" time, rendering the being unable to see, have form, motion, beauty, or grace. The lyrics emphasize that such a state is "most injurious" to the very "conveniences" that define human experience and interaction. Ultimately, these lyrics resonate because they flip conventional notions of power and greatness on their head. The profound insight that "God made man greater while He made him less" is a powerful statement on the nature of creation and existence. It suggests that true value and capacity for experience are found not in boundless physical scale, but in the contained, infinite potential of the soul and understanding, made possible by a deliberately limited physical form.