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 1815 · Entry 7299

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English Page · Branch 3518 of 4529

YEAR 1815 · Entry 7299

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 7035

Naturellement l’âme se chante à elle-même tout ce qui est beau, ou tout ce qui semble tel. Et, elle ne se le chante pas toujours avec des vers ou des paroles mesurées, mais avec des expressions et des images où il y a un certains sens, un certain sentiment, une certaine forme et une certaine couleur qui ont une certaine harmonie l’une avec l’autre et chacune en soi.

Quand il arrive à l’âme de procéder ainsi, on sent que les fibres se montent et se mettent toutes d’accord. Elles résonnent d’elles-mêmes et malgré l’auteur, dont tout le travail consiste alors à s’écouter, à remonter la corde qu’il entend se relâcher et à détendre celle qui rend des sons trop haut, comme sont contraints de le faire ceux qui ont l’oreille délicate quand ils jouent de quelque harpe. Ceux qui ont produit quelque pièce de ce genre m’entendront bien et avoueront que pour écrire et composer ainsi, il faut jouer et que, pour jouer de la sorte, il faut d’abord faire de soi ou devenir à chaque ouvrage un instrument organisé.

Et, en ce genre, le diapazon, hors duquel il n’y a plus de chant, mais du bruit, ou tout au plus un gazouillement. Et à chaque air, l’exécution sur une clef déterminée qu’il faut garder jusqu’à la fin sans en changer un seul instant.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1815

p. 7036

Naturally the soul sings to itself everything that is beautiful, or everything that seems so. And it does not always sing it to itself in verse or measured words, but in expressions and images in which there is a certain sense, a certain feeling, a certain form and a certain color that have a certain harmony with one another and each within itself.

When the soul happens to proceed in this way, one feels the fibers tighten and all come into tune. They resound of themselves and despite the author, whose whole labor then consists in listening to himself, tightening again the string he hears slackening and loosening the one that gives sounds too high, as those with a delicate ear are obliged to do when they play some harp. Those who have produced some piece of this kind will understand me well and acknowledge that to write and compose in this way, one must play, and that to play in this fashion, one must first make oneself, or become with each work, an organized instrument.

And, in this kind, the diapason, outside which there is no longer song, but noise, or at most chirping. And for each air, performance in a determined key, which must be kept to the end without changing it for a single instant.

T112.The reflexive singing, beautiful/seems-beautiful alternative, not-always qualification and measured/unmeasured contrast remain. All five certain formulations and the four sense/feeling/form/color terms are preserved. The mutual and inward harmony relations remain; no physiological mechanism is supplied. Literal un certains sens retains anomalous plural certains after singular un. The feminine l’une/l’autre/chacune most directly resumes form and color; a broader harmony across the preceding list is a contextual reading rather than a uniquely fixed French attachment.

T488.Three paragraphs remain one undated unit. Paragraph 1 literally prints un certains sens with final s on certains despite singular un; the later certain/certaine forms remain distinct. The self-directed song, not-always qualification, alternatives, harmony and feminine l’une/l’autre/chacune sequence remain. Paragraph 2 retains its musical operations, all/tout forms, malgré, two future predicates, repeated jouer, paired obligations and final faire/devenir alternative. Haut is printed without plural s in sons trop haut. Travail retains ordinary i at the qualified color level. The visible right-edge endings remain complete despite show-through; no additional gap is inferred. Paragraph 3 preserves the initial dependent/nominal construction, literal diapazon with z, ne...plus, at-most alternative and the second nominal air/execution formulation. The exé-/cution wrap is complete. All three paragraphs are roman.

T113.The soul, fibers, strings and harp remain one extended image. All, of-themselves, despite and whole labor retain their force. Tightening and loosening keep the opposed tuning actions; high refers contextually to pitch. The repeated play formulations remain, with make-oneself/become alternatives and each work. Organized preserves organisé. The complete 1798 Académie Organiser entry supports functional arrangement and bodily, musical and figurative associations; it does not establish that Joubert means the entry’s specific organ-and-keyboard construction or a biological mechanism. French sons trop haut retains singular haut despite plural sons; English high has no corresponding agreement ending.

T114.Both And openings and the nominal musical formulations remain. Diapason retains the source technical word, glossed by the complete 1798 Académie entry as the range of a voice or instrument between its lowest and highest sounds. It stays distinct from the following key; neither a tuning fork nor a fixed reference pitch is supplied. The dictionary’s diapason does not authorize changing Joubert’s visible diapazon. No-longer, at-most, each, must, end and single instant retain their limits. Chirping preserves gazouillement without making it a fully formed song.

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.