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.

Explore the Lexicon

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume IIYEAR 1814 · Entry 7174

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Facing Pages · Branch 3393 of 4529

YEAR 1814 · Entry 7174

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6785

Il y a dans Lafontaine une plénitude de poësie qu’on ne trouv[…] nulle part dans les autres auteurs français, pas même dans Boileau[…] pas même dans Racine; Fontanes à cet égard est l’homme qui lui ressemble le plus.

Qu’est-ce donc que la poësie? Je n’en scais rien en ce momen[…] Mais je soutiens qu’il se trouve dans tous les mots employés par l[…] vrai poëte, pour les yeux un certain phosphore, pour le goût un certain nectar, pour l’attention une ambrosie, pour le tact même un[…] mollesse qui n’est pas dans les autres mots.

Mollesse dans les mots. Ce qui la cause. S’il ne tenoit qu’à moi a d[…] la mollesse. Si j’en étois le maître n’en a pas. (Mollesse ou flou.)

Que le mot n’étreigne pas trop la pensée. Qu’il soit pour elle u[…] corps qui ne la serre pas. Rien de trop juste : grande règle dans le[…] ouvrages et dans les mœurs. (Corps de baleine.)

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1814

p. 6786

There is in Lafontaine a fullness of poetry [found] nowhere in the other French authors, not even in Boileau[…] not even in Racine; in this respect Fontanes is the man who resembles him most.

What, then, is poetry? I know nothing about it at this [moment]. But I maintain that in all the words used by [the] true poet there is, for the eyes, a certain phosphor; for taste, a certain nectar; for attention, an ambrosia; even for touch, [a] softness that is not in other words.

Softness in words. What causes it. If it depended only on me has softness. If I were its master has none. (Softness or indistinctness.)

Let the word not clasp the thought too tightly. Let it be [a] body for the thought, one that does not squeeze it. Nothing too tight: a great rule in works and in morals. (Whalebone stays.)

T77.The whole comparison, repeated not even, in-this-respect restriction and superlative remain. The source name Lafontaine is retained as one word; no broader ranking is claimed outside Joubert’s judgment. [Found] renders damaged trouv[…] within the passive English recast; the negation is intact. The suspected gap after the complete name Boileau remains unfilled: it may concern punctuation, but its presence and extent are uncertain, so no comma is asserted there.

T204.Four separately indented paragraphs remain under one separator-bounded unit. Lafontaine and Fontanes remain literal names; the two poësie forms and poëte have readable upper e-components consistent with diaereses. Scais is not modernized. Paragraph 1 preserves the negative nulle part and both pas même comparisons. The endings after trouv and Boileau are not certified; the second gap may include only punctuation and its presence/extent at the folded edge remains uncertain. The ordinary res-/semble wrap retains a qualified identifiable s and does not itself imply a missing letter. Paragraph 2 preserves the direct question, unknown-knowledge statement and the four faculty/material pairings. At the right edge only momen, l and un are complete at the marked losses; any following terminal punctuation after momen is also not certified. The ordinary cer-/tain wrap is readable at a qualified level, without an extra gap. Paragraph 3 retains both nominal fragments and the positive/negative contrast between the two formulations. S’il ne tenoit qu’à moi and Si j’en étois le maître are italic; a, the lost ending after d, the later n’en a pas and the parenthesis remain roman. Only the complete d is retained before the damaged component; no e is restored. The comparative force is not made a new ordinary conditional consequence. Paragraph 4 preserves both Que clauses, both negatives, the trop degree and the exact colon after juste. Only u and le are complete at the right-edge losses. The final parenthesis remains the literal Corps de baleine image without an explanatory replacement. The bounded independent comparison now agrees with the right-edge gaps, qualified wrap distinctions and four italic boundaries on 804, without certifying missing letters or the presence/extent of the Boileau slot.

T78.The question and present admission of ignorance remain beside the ensuing assertion. All four sensory relations, both certain qualifications and even touch remain. Phosphor preserves phosphore as a luminous substance rather than turning the passage into a scientific explanation; attention is not changed into another bodily sense. English semicolons clarify the four coordinated relations without claiming French punctuation. [Moment], [the] and [a] render momen[…], l[…] and un[…]. The period after moment is an English sentence division, not a recovered mark at the damaged source ending.

T79.The four short formulations and final alternative parenthesis remain. The two compared expressions alone receive corresponding italics; no quotation marks are added. Its preserves en without naming its referent. In has softness, has renders intact a and softness intact mollesse; the damaged d[…] has no separately rendered English partitive counterpart. Indistinctness renders the artistic flou as an alternative to mollesse without collapsing the two words.

T80.Both exhortations, both bodily verbs and the practical comparison remain. Tight contextually interprets juste through the body and whalebone-stays image; the French’s possible association with exactness is not erased. The parenthesis is clothing, not a whale’s anatomical body. The complete official electronic Académie Baleine entry of 1798 describes the flexible material and gives bodice and busk examples, supporting the clothing sense. It does not give this exact compound. The Corps article was not accessible, and no original dictionary page was inspected. [A] before body renders u[…]. The damaged plural article le[…] has no separate English counterpart in generic in works. The colon after too tight is intact, while the ordinary English article in a great rule is not a loss restoration.

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.