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 · Mon cœur mis à nu · XXVIII

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French Page · Branch 29 of 118

My Heart Laid Bare · Mon cœur mis à nu · XXVIII

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 57

Analyse des contre-religions : exemple la prostitution sacrée.

Qu’est-ce que la prostitution sacrée ?

Excitation nerveuse.

Mysticité du paganisme. Le mysticisme, trait d’union entre le paganisme et le christianisme.

Le paganisme et le christianisme prouvent réciproquement.

La Révolution et le culte de la Raison prouvent l’idée du sacrifice.

La superstition est le réservoir de toutes les vérités.

T20.Counter-religions and mysticismContre-religions remains counter-religions, an exploratory label. Excitation nerveuse is stimulation of the nerves. Mysticité becomes mystical quality, distinguished from mysticisme, mysticism. The print omits se in prouvent réciproquement; prove one another makes its elliptical reciprocal sense clear. Sacred prostitution is posed as a question here, without identifying a particular ancient institution.

T21.The cult of Reason and sacrificeThe cult of Reason refers to revolutionary ceremonies of 1793. The Convention’s record of 10 November describes a celebration at the Temple of Reason in Paris and invokes a new sacrifice. This gives historical context for Baudelaire’s comparison, without establishing that he read that record. Superstition is lowercase in XXVIII and capitalized in XXXII, as in the print.Archives parlementaires, ceremony at the Temple of Reason, 10 November 1793

Intimate Journals: My Heart Laid Bare

p. 58

Analysis of counter-religions: for example, sacred prostitution.

What is sacred prostitution?

Stimulation of the nerves.

The mystical quality of paganism. Mysticism, the link between paganism and Christianity.

Paganism and Christianity prove one another.

The Revolution and the cult of Reason prove the idea of sacrifice.

Superstition is the reservoir of all truths.

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.