Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
Intimate Journals
Flares and My Heart Laid Bare · French with an independent English translation.
Explore the LexiconSwipe or use the arrow keys.
Facing Pages · Branch 13 of 118
Flares · XII
French
p. 25Y a-t-il des folies mathématiques et des fous qui pensent que deux et deux fassent trois ? En d’autres termes, l’hallucination peut-elle, si ces mots ne hurlent pas [d’être accouplés ensemble], envahir les choses de pur raisonnement ? Si, quand un homme prend l’habitude de la paresse, de la rêverie, de la fainéantise, au point de renvoyer sans cesse au lendemain la chose importante, un autre homme le réveillait un matin à grands coups de fouet et le fouettait sans pitié jusqu’à ce que, ne pouvant travailler par plaisir, celui-ci travaillât par peur, cet homme, le fouetteur, ne serait-il pas vraiment son ami, son bienfaiteur ? D’ailleurs, on peut affirmer que le plaisir viendrait après, à bien plus juste titre qu’on ne dit : l’amour vient après le mariage.
De même, en politique, le vrai saint est celui qui fouette et tue le peuple, pour le bien du peuple.
Mardi, 13 mai 1856.
Prendre des exemplaires à Michel.
Ecrire à Moun,
à Urriès,
à Maria Clemm.
Envoyer chez Mme Dumay savoir si Mirès...
Ce qui n’est pas légèrement difforme a l’air insensible ; d’où il suit que l’irrégularité, c’est-à-dire l’inattendu, la surprise, l’étonnement sont une partie essentielle et la caractéristique de la beauté.
Intimate Journals: Flares
p. 26Is there such a thing as mathematical madness, and are there madmen who think that two and two make three? In other words, can hallucination, if these words do not shriek [at being coupled together], invade matters of pure reasoning? If, when a man grows accustomed to laziness, reverie and idleness, to the point of continually putting off the important task until tomorrow, another man were to wake him one morning with heavy strokes of a whip and whip him mercilessly until, unable to work for pleasure, he worked out of fear, would that man, the whipper, not truly be his friend, his benefactor? Besides, one may affirm that pleasure would come afterwards, with far better reason than when people say: love comes after marriage.
So too, in politics, the true saint is the one who whips and kills the people for the people’s good.
Tuesday, 13 May 1856.
Collect copies from Michel.
Write to Moun,
to Urriès,
to Maria Clemm.
Send someone to Mme Dumay’s to find out whether Mirès…
Whatever is not slightly misshapen seems unfeeling; from this it follows that irregularity, that is, the unexpected, surprise, astonishment, is an essential part and the distinguishing mark of beauty.
Socrates
Reading Intimate Journals · Flares · Flares · XII
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.