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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Facing Pages · Branch 88 of 118
My Heart Laid Bare · LXXXVII
French
p. 175De la haine de la jeunesse contre les citateurs. Le citateur est pour eux un ennemi.
« Je mettrais l’orthographe même sous la main du bourreau. »
Théophile Gautier.
Beau tableau à faire : la canaille littéraire.
Ne pas oublier un portrait de Forgues, le pirate, l’écumeur de lettres.
Goût inamovible de la prostitution dans le cœur de l’homme, d’où naît son horreur de la solitude. — Il veut être deux. L’homme de génie veut être un, donc solitaire.
La gloire, c’est rester un, et se prostituer d’une manière particulière.
C’est cette horreur de la solitude, le besoin d’oublier son moi dans la chair extérieure, que l’homme appelle noblement besoin d’aimer.
Deux belles religions, immortelles sur les murs, éternelles obsessions du Peuple : une p... (le phallus antique) et « Vive Barbès ! » ou « A bas Philippe ! » ou « Vive la République ! »
Intimate Journals: My Heart Laid Bare
p. 176On the hatred of the young for those who quote. The man who quotes is an enemy to them.
‘I would spell correctly even under the executioner’s hand.’
Théophile Gautier.
A fine picture to make: the literary rabble.
Do not forget a portrait of Forgues, the pirate, the buccaneer of letters.
An unshakeable taste for prostitution in the heart of man, from which arises his horror of solitude. — He wants to be two. The man of genius wants to be one, and therefore solitary.
Fame means remaining one and prostituting oneself in a particular way.
It is this horror of solitude, the need to forget one’s self in flesh outside oneself, that man nobly calls the need to love.
Two splendid religions, immortal on the walls, eternal obsessions of the People: a p... (the ancient phallus) and ‘Long live Barbès!’ or ‘Down with Philippe!’ or ‘Long live the Republic!’
Socrates
Reading Intimate Journals · My Heart Laid Bare · My Heart Laid Bare · LXXXVII
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.