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

Joseph Joubert

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II

Name: The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II
Author: Joseph Joubert

Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.

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The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume IIYEAR 1808 · Entry 5685

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English Page · Branch 1904 of 4529

YEAR 1808 · Entry 5685

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 3807

18 avril.

Cette division n’est pas complette; car le chant lui même peut être l’objet du chant. Et s’il peint alors une âme en harmonie, un talent qui s’élève et qui redescend par une belle échelle ou une belle succession de sons, une existence qui s’égaye et qui se jouë entre la terre et le ciel, libre de soins et livrée à mille affections qui se succèdent d’elles mêmes, enfin une intelligence désoccupée qui vole au hazard comme l’abeille, qui s’arrête dans son chemin sur mille objets sans se fixer sur aucun, qui caresse toutes les fleurs et qui bourdonne son plaisir.

Cette peinture en vaut une autre; — et « qui d’une voix légère, passe du grave au doux, du plaisant au sévère » : c’est le mérite d’un beau concerto.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1808

p. 3808

April 18.

This division is not complete; for song itself can be the object of song. And if it then paints a soul in harmony, a talent that rises and descends again through a beautiful scale or a beautiful succession of sounds, an existence that makes merry and plays between earth and heaven, free of cares and given over to a thousand affections that follow one another of themselves, finally an unoccupied intelligence that flies at random like the bee, that stops along its way on a thousand objects without fixing on any, that caresses all the flowers and hums its pleasure.

This painting is as good as another; — and “who with a light voice passes from the grave to the gentle, from the playful to the severe”: that is the merit of a beautiful concerto.

T220.Song remains both subject and object, and the long And if construction has no supplied consequent. Scale retains échelle as both an ascending structure and a musical term. The repeated thousand, the affections following one another of themselves, and the unoccupied intelligence remain. Hums keeps the bee’s sound applied to pleasure.

T221.The relative who remains without an added antecedent. The quoted passage stays inline in the second paragraph, followed by a colon. Grave, gentle, playful, and severe retain the successive contrasts without reducing them to named pitches. The passage adapts L’Art poétique I.75–76. Boileau’s longer opening governs the infinitive Passer; Joubert abbreviates it and writes the finite passe. The shortened quotation remains inline in his discussion of a concerto.

About This Reading Edition

Joubert’s notebooks return to the work of thinking and writing, the demands of friendship, and questions of faith, beauty and conduct. This edition pairs the French with a new English translation, preserving the order of the chosen source and the unfinished character of its fragments. Dates and source references allow readers to follow a thought through time or return to its printed context.

Historical Text and Translation

The French text follows André Beaunier’s 1938 edition of Les Carnets de Joseph Joubert, published by Gallimard from Joubert’s autograph manuscripts. Volume II continues the notebooks and includes seventy undated pieces. French and English are aligned paragraph by paragraph, retaining the source order, printed dates and page references so readers can return to the facsimile.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared this new English translation directly from the French, preserving Joubert’s distinctions, recurring images, ambiguities and unfinished thoughts. Translator’s notes clarify wording, references and uncertain readings: Essential keeps notes that help explain a passage, while All includes technical detail. Annotations from the 1938 source edition remain distinct from the new translator’s notes.

Rights

The linked facsimile records identify the French source as public domain in the United States. The new English translation and editorial notes are © 2026 Diotimos, with source annotations and new editorial contributions credited separately. This edition pairs the complete French notebooks with an independent English translation, preserving the distinction between Joubert’s text and its accompanying notes.