Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
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English Page · Branch 44 of 121
1833 · June 15, 1833
French
p. 87Le 15.
Strange dream! J’ai rêvé que je me trouvais seul dans une vaste cathédrale. J’étais là sous l’impression de la présence de Dieu et dans cet état de l’âme où l’on n’a plus conscience que de Dieu et de soi-même, lorsqu’une voix s’est élevée. Cette voix était infiniment douce, une voix de femme et qui pourtant remplissait toute l’église comme eût pu faire un grand concert. Je l’ai reconnue aussitôt, c’était la voix de L..., silver-sweet sounding.
The Green Notebook: 1833
p. 88June 15, 1833
Strange dream! I dreamed I was alone in a vast cathedral. I was there under the impression of God’s presence, in that state of soul in which one is conscious only of God and oneself, when a voice arose. This voice was infinitely sweet, a woman’s voice, and yet it filled the whole church as a great concert might have done. I recognized it at once; it was L...’s voice, silver-sweet sounding.
Socrates
Reading The Green Notebook · 1833 · June 15, 1833
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Maurice de Guérin’s journal moves between close attention to nature, friendship, faith, and the inward demands of poetry. This bilingual edition presents the complete Journal section of the 1864 printing, with a separate appendix of earlier printed passages from 1861.
Historical Text and Translation
The French follows G. S. Trébutien’s sixth edition of Journal, lettres et poèmes (Paris: Didier et Cie, 1864), pages 3–126. Its 116 dated entries run from July 1832 to October 1835. Five earlier passages from Reliquiae (1861) appear separately in the appendix. Completeness refers to the printed Journal, rather than the autograph notebook; the following letters and poems are outside this edition.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the French, preserving Guérin’s imagery, repetitions, intimate voice, and original paragraph divisions. French and English remain aligned for comparison. Translator’s notes clarify words, quotations, and allusions, while historical editor notes retain their separate attribution. The Essential setting keeps explanations useful to reading; All also includes the note on the edition’s typographic treatment.
Rights
The historical French printings are in the public domain in the United States. The independent English translation and new editorial notes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. The linked facsimiles identify the printed witnesses used for this edition. Historical annotations and editorial conjectures remain attributed to their source editors, and the earlier variant passages are presented separately from the later Journal text.