Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition

Charles Baudelaire

Intimate Journals

Name: Intimate Journals
Author: Charles Baudelaire

Flares and My Heart Laid Bare · French with an independent English translation.

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Intimate JournalsMy Heart Laid Bare · CXVII

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English Page · Branch 118 of 118

My Heart Laid Bare · CXVII

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 235

Hygiène. Conduite. Méthode. — Je me jure à moi-même de prendre désormais les règles suivantes pour règles éternelles de ma vie :

Faire tous les matins ma prière à Dieu, réservoir de toute force et de toute justice, à mon père, à Mariette et à Poe, comme intercesseurs ; les prier de me communiquer la force nécessaire pour accomplir tous mes devoirs, et d’octroyer à ma mère une vie assez longue pour jouir de ma transformation ; travailler toute la journée, ou du moins tant que mes forces ne le permettront ; me fier à Dieu, c’est-à-dire à la Justice même, pour la réussite de mes projets ; faire, tous les soirs, une nouvelle prière, pour demander à Dieu la vie et la force pour ma mère et pour moi ; faire, de tout ce que je gagnerai, quatre parts, — une pour la vie courante, une pour mes créanciers, une pour mes amis, et une pour ma mère ; — obéir aux principes de la plus stricte sobriété, dont le premier est la suppression de tous les excitants, quels qu’ils soient.

T98.Hygiène and the dated self-descriptionHygiène historically concerns the preservation of health. Here the headings extend a regimen into conduct, prayer and work. These final numbered sections belong to Mon cœur mis à nu in the governing 1920 arrangement. The date 23 January 1862 is attached to the self-description in CIX; it does not date the entire group. Hysteria and imbecility render Baudelaire’s own historical vocabulary in that fragment.Académie française, hygiène, 1878 · BnF, Baudelaire chronology · Van Bever 1920 facsimile, printed pp. 102–112

T100.Honfleur, Ancelle and the household budgetsBaudelaire’s mother, Caroline Aupick, lived at Honfleur after 1857; Jeanne is Jeanne Duval. Narcisse Ancelle was the notary appointed to administer Baudelaire’s finances. In the debt categories, billets has its financial sense of promissory notes. The separate proposed allocations are preserved: two 500-franc shares in CXIV, a total of 800 francs a month in CXVI, and four shares in CXVII. They are plans in the notebook, not a verified account of actual payments.BnF, Charles Baudelaire and his mother · Académie française, billet, 1835 · Van Bever 1920 facsimile, printed pp. 103, 105–112

Intimate Journals: My Heart Laid Bare

p. 236

Hygiene. Conduct. Method. — I swear to myself henceforth to take the following rules as the eternal rules of my life:

Every morning, say my prayer to God, reservoir of all strength and all justice, to my father, to Mariette and to Poe, as intercessors; ask them to grant me the strength necessary to perform all my duties, and to grant my mother a life long enough to enjoy my transformation; work all day, or at least as long as my strength allows; trust in God—that is, in Justice itself—for the success of my plans; say another prayer every evening, to ask God for life and strength for my mother and for myself; divide everything I earn into four shares—one for daily living, one for my creditors, one for my friends and one for my mother;—obey the principles of the strictest sobriety, the first of which is the elimination of all stimulants, whatever they may be.

About This Reading Edition

Charles Baudelaire’s private fragments turn from art, love, and crowds to prayer, anger, work, and the discipline of writing. This complete bilingual edition presents all 117 sections of Flares and My Heart Laid Bare, including Hygiène, with an introduction and 104 explanatory notes.

Historical Text and Translation

The French follows Adolphe van Bever’s 1920 edition of Journaux intimes, printed pages 3–42 and 45–112. Its 117 Roman-numbered sections contain the complete Fusées and Mon cœur mis à nu, including Hygiène. These fragments were arranged after Baudelaire’s death; their printed sequence preserves that edition’s organization of loose sheets. The separate selection of maxims on love and the editor’s backmatter are outside this volume.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the French. Flares and My Heart Laid Bare retain the fragments’ abrupt turns, repetitions, images, and unfinished projects. French and English paragraphs remain paired, with verse, italics, and printed annotations preserved. The introduction places the notebooks in context; translator’s notes clarify references, ambiguities, and uncertain readings. All 104 notes meet the reader’s Essential criterion and remain available beside their passages.

Rights

Baudelaire’s historical French text and the 1920 printing are in the public domain in the United States. The independent English translation, introduction, and new editorial notes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. The linked facsimile and catalogue identify the printed source, while a historical transcription supplies a comparison witness. Original annotations retain their attribution, and source references distinguish the printed arrangement from the surviving manuscript sheets.