Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
Intimate Journals
Flares and My Heart Laid Bare · French with an independent English translation.
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English Page · Branch 22 of 118
Flares · XXI
French
p. 43Fusées. Suggestions. — Se livrer à Satan, qu’est-ce que c’est ?
Quoi de plus absurde que le Progrès, puisque l’homme, comme cela est prouvé par le fait journalier, est toujours semblable et égal à l’homme, c’est-à-dire toujours à l’état sauvage ! Qu’est-ce que les périls de la forêt et de la prairie auprès des chocs et des conflits quotidiens de la civilisation ? Que l’homme enlace sa dupe sur le boulevard, ou perce sa proie dans des forêts inconnues, n’est-il pas l’homme éternel, c’est-à-dire l’animal de proie le plus parfait ?
— On dit que j’ai trente ans ; mais si j’ai vécu trois minutes en une..., n’ai-je pas quatre-vingt-dix ans.
... Le travail, n’est-ce pas le sel qui conserve les âmes momies ?
Début d’un roman, commencer un sujet n’importe où, et, pour avoir envie de le finir, débuter par de très belles phrases.
Intimate Journals: Flares
p. 44Flares. Suggestions. — To give oneself over to Satan—what does that mean?
What could be more absurd than Progress, since man, as daily experience proves, is always like and equal to man—that is, always in a savage state! What are the perils of forest and prairie beside the daily clashes and conflicts of civilization? Whether man ensnares his dupe on the boulevard or pierces his prey in unknown forests, is he not eternal man—that is, the most perfect beast of prey?
— They say I am thirty; but if I have lived three minutes in one…, am I not ninety.
… Work—is it not the salt that preserves mummified souls?
Beginning of a novel: start a subject anywhere, and, to feel the desire to finish it, begin with very beautiful sentences.
Socrates
Reading Intimate Journals · Flares · Flares · XXI
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.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.